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Hero's Journey and the Essay
The Hero's Journey pattern relates clearly to literature
and film, but does it also relate to writing the essay? We may be stretching
the point, but we think it does. We hope teachers agree.
- by Reg Harris
Co-author, The Hero's Journey: A Guide to Literature and Life
The Journey and the Essay?
The connections between the Hero's Journey pattern and
writing are most evident in writing short stories. In stories, the plot
must follow the journey pattern in some way or another, so knowing the
pattern can help the student writer plan and structure the story effectively.
However, though it is not as evident, there is a strong
connection between the Hero's Journey pattern and the essay. In fact,
looking at an essay as an "intellectual journey" of sorts can give fresh
insights into the essay writing process. In addition, if students can
visualize the essay as an intellectual journey, they will have a better
overall view of what they are trying to accomplish in the paper.
The Hero's Journey pattern has three segments: separation
from the known world, initiation/transformation in the unknown, and return
to the known, with a gift/new insight or skills. In a general sense, a
good essay follows the same pattern.
The goal of the essay is to present a new idea (or an
old idea in a new way); to explore the idea, creating a new understand,
and then to return the reader from the journey, carrying with him or her
an enlarged view or perception. Along the way, we can see strong similarities
with the journey pattern.
The Call
In the journey, the first stage is the call to the adventure,
a call to growth, change or new insight. This corresponds closely to the
idea of the introduction or "hook" in an essay. The introduction presents
the idea of the essay, often with a quote, an anecdote, an excerpt or
an idea.
The hook piques the reader's interest and "calls" him
or her into the paper and its argument. The introduction sets the stage
for the intellectual journey to follow.
Following the introduction, typically, is the thesis
statement. This might be paralleled to the Threshold Guardian. The functions
of the Guardian are to challenge the initiate, to be sure he or she is
ready for the journey, and then, when the initiate is ready, to step aside
and point the way.
The thesis statement serves, in a way, the same purpose,
challenging the reader with a new idea and pointing the direction which
the paper will follow.
In the journey, the threshold often offers up another
element: a mentor, or someone who guides the initiate, helping the initiate
stay focused and on track. In the essay, the thesis statement serves this
function as well, functioning as both as a map to the journey ahead and
a guide to keep the writer and reader on the right path.
The Unknown
Once the initiate crosses the threshold, he or she enters
the trail of challenges and temptations. These challenges break down the
initiate's resistance to change, allowing growth to occur. In the essay,
the challenges are the series of main points or key ideas. These ideas
gradually move the reader to understand the new insight which the essay
is presenting.
In the journey, the initiate encounters helpers along
the way. They help the initiate meet the challenges, providing direction
and assistance as needed. In the essay, at each key point, the reader
also has helpers: the support given for each key idea. As is the case
with the journey, the helpers in an essay take many forms: examples, quotes,
anecdotes and passages. They enter the essay at just the right moment
to make a point and move the reader along on the journey.
At the risk of stretching this analogy beyond its breaking
point, I will suggest that an essay may contain an "abyss," although not
in the "ultimate challenge" sense common in the journey.
In the journey, the abyss has other characteristics which
we see in a well-crafted essay. It is a place of death and rebirth, the
death (or releasing of) an old view or attitude and the rebirth (embracing)
of a new view or attitude. This death/rebirth is the result of a revelation
(change in thinking) and a transformation (change in action or behavior).
In an essay, this process occurs in the reader. The reader,
at some point, "sees" what the writer is trying to say in a more profound
and encompassing way, has his or her thinking changed or enlarged by it.
This, I believe, is the abyss or transformative experience in the essay.
The final stage of the transformation process is the
atonement, where the new aspects of personality are fully integrated,
where the hero becomes "at-one" with the his or her new self. This, too,
occurs in a good essay. The reader absorbs the thesis idea and is able
to act on it. (This is not to say that the reader must agree or accept
the thesis, only understand it.)
The Return
The final stage of the journey, the Return, corresponds
to the conclusion or close in the essay. In the journey, the initiate
(now a hero) returns to his or her former life, bringing a gift, usually
a new insight, skill or understanding.
In the essay, the writer brings the reader full circle,
returning him or her to the beginning, but with a new insight or understanding.
A good close will "echo" the essay's introduction in some way to make
the essay feel whole. It will provide a final idea or illustration that
nails down the thesis and confirms the thesis idea in the reader's mind.
This new or expanded understanding is the "gift" that
the reader brings back after the intellectual journey he or she has taken
through the essay.
While the comparison between the Journey pattern and
the essay may seem, at times, a bit strained, the general process in both
is the same. The journey takes us through the process of growth and change,
lifting us from our known world, changing us through a series of challenges,
and then returning us to our world, stronger and more capable.
The essay, too, takes us from our current understanding
of an idea or piece of literature, changes or enlarges our understanding
of that idea, and returns us with a new insight or understanding.
Certainly, the essay lacks the excitement and drama of
a good Hero's Journey story, but it is no less of a journey.
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