Hero's Journey - Stage 4
Meeting the Mentor
I CAN
- Return to developing the character I designed in first semester
- Learn about the 4th stage in the hero's journey
- Create/design/illustrate a mentor character to interact with my hero
- Illustrate a panel about how my hero meets the mentor as a sketchbook assignment
6th and 7th grade classes may do this on their iPad, or photograph their physical drawing and submit in Schoology in the SB: Stage 4 Assignment within the Hero's Journey folder.
Reminder Video
Meeting the Mentor
The Hero Meets a Mentor to gain confidence, insight, advice, training, or magical gifts to overcome the initial fears and face the threshold of the adventure.
A Hero may not wish to rush into a Special World blindly and, therefore, seeks the experience and wisdom of someone who has been there before. This Mentor has survived to provide the essential lessons and training needed to better face the Journey’s Tests and Ordeals. The Mentor may be a physical person, or an object such as a map, a logbook, or hieroglyphics. In Westerns and Detective stories, the Hero may hold an Inner Mentor, a strong code of honor or justice that guides him through the Journey.
The mentor is the wise old man or woman every hero meets fairly early in the most satisfying stories.
The role is one of the most recognizable symbols in literature. Think Dumbledore from Harry Potter, Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, Yoda from Star Wars (it isn't always human), Haymitch from Hunger Games, the list is very long.
The mentor represents the bond between parent and child, teacher and student, doctor and patient, god and man. The function of the mentor is to prepare the hero to face the unknown, to accept the adventure.
Example of Hero Meeting Mentor: Lion King
Who Is Your Mentor?
Who are people in your life that have mentored you? How can they inspire this character?
Who are the mentors in your story? How could you introduce your mentor in a surprising way? Is the mentor a basic fairy godmother or white-bearded guy? Will you use the reader/viewer by letting their expectations of such a basic mentor exist but introduce them to a completely different mentor?
Think about why the hero's relationship with the mentor or mentors is important to the story. One reason is usually that reader/viewer can relate to the experience by remembering a mentor they have had. People enjoy being a part of an emotional relationship between hero and mentor.
Mentors show up when a story seems stuck. Mentors are the ones who provide aid, advice, or magical equipment when all appears doomed. They reflect the reality that we all have to learn life’s lessons from someone or something.
Assignment:
- Create a mentor for your hero
- Illustrate at least one panel that shows how your hero meets their mentor(s)
This can be done digitally or in your sketchbook. 6th and 7th grade must submit their assignment on Schoology as a digital file or photo in the Hero's Journey folder/SB Stage 4 Assignment