peer review

My peer review was done by Sharon.
my strengths/weaknesses
1) can see progression throughout the story.
I can work on my detail and expression throughout the progression of the story.
2) clear section changes.
Elaborate more on my feelings about quitting and what helped me pull through.
3) Lesson is clear.
Add something towards the end to tie in with the lesson.

I will use the peer review to help me clean up the ending and tie it into the lesson more and not make it so confusing and end so quickly.

annotation 4: ordinary world/call to action

This reading explained the ordinary world of the hero and the calling to action of the hero. It began on explaining on how to begin the story, before the ordinary world, by using a prologue, opening image, or showing a picture. It then explains the ordinary world and how to introduce the hero. And the last thing for the ordinary world, it explains how to connect the audience with the hero and give the hero a background. In the call to adventure, it explains the different ways the hero can receive the call, via a note, the herald offering the hero a challenge, or the call of temptation.

I feel that this really helped me understand what the ordinary world is and what events happen to the hero in it. It also helps me understand how to begin a story and introduce the hero so that the audience will want to follow it. It also was good in using familiar stories to help me get a better picture of what he was trying to explain.

This reading was easy to understand and follow. This also links to the paper we are currently writing and helps me in writing my story by giving me good ideas to introduce the character and his home. It also helps me with the call to action.


1) Why does the hero have to have a tragic flaw?
2) Can the ordinary world and the special world be the same?
3) Can the call to action be delivered by the hero himself?

strong/weak areas

strong: 1) introduction: i felt this was strong because i was clear and gave good detail about the hero's life before his calling
2) paragraph 4 (crossing the threshold): i felt i gave good detail on all the experiences when he crossed the threshold into the new world

weak: 1) 2nd paragraph: i feel i could more detail about his calling and introduce and something the lesson
2) last paragraph: i could use more detail, but could get help from the revision of paragraph 2.

vogler annotation 3

The reading touched on some key characters in a story of a hero. These characters that were explained were the threshold guardian, herald, shapeshifter, shadow, ally, and trickster. The reading explains the threshold guardian as a character that the hero must pass by in order to gain access to the villan. The herald was explained as a person who could pose as a messenger and bring the hero a message that calls him to power. A shapeshifter is generally someone who starts out as an ally to the hero, but eventually turns on the hero, or vice versa. Shadows are considered to be energy that represents the dark side and the face of the shadow is the villain. The ally is a character that serves as a companion to the hero, which also allows the hero to have someone to talk to, spar with, and fight alongside with him. And the tricksters are generally characters that cause laughter or relaxation in the story for the hero.


I felt that this reading was interesting and went into great detail on explaining the roles of each character. I also felt that Vogler did a good job of using references from movies to explain the roles of the characters to help me get the picture of each one. My favorite reference that Vogler used was the reference to the voice from field of dreams as a herald. The reference helped clarify that the herald doesn’t have to be an actual person in the story.


This reading relates to class discussions because it allows us to understand what each person in the story stands for. It also connects with our first paper, because it helps us come up with possible character ideas for our hero story. I thought it was interesting that the herald, or messenger doesn’t have to be an actual character, and that it can be a letter or a voice speaking to the hero.


1) What is your favorite example of a shapeshifter in a story?
2) Could the herald also be the hero?
3) Can you think of any stories where one character is the threshold guardian, herald, shapeshifter, shadow, ally, and the trickster?

fairy tale character

Tommy Pickles, from the cartoon show Rugrats, was a cartoon character that I could relate to when I was younger. Rugrats was my favorite show as a kid and I had to have Tommy as my favorite character. We shared many similarities, we were adventurous, naive, leaders amongst our friends, and we enjoyed having fun. Although there were still some differences, for example, Tommy was an only child when the show first started, when I have a younger sister, Tommy also celebrated Hanuka because his mother was Jewish, and I do not because I am Catholic.

practical guide.

A Practical Guide gave an explanation about the basic story line for a hero story. It stated that all hero stories are the same story, but retold from another’s perspective. It then goes into detail about the phases of the hero story, which are; the departure, descent/initiation, and return. And also it explains general meeting places of allies, enemies, and loves of the hero, which in many stories is a bar.


I feel that this book gave the basic idea for a hero’s journey. I also agree that the hero stories are all the same, but are told from a different point of view. All hero stories have the same basic beginning; have a mentor to look up to, a reason for a quest, and an arch enemy.

In Western Heritage last semester we read many books that were classified as hero stories. All of the stories followed the same basic pattern explained in this book. Also this opened my eyes as to I never really realized that all hero stories are based off a same basic story.
Can you name any hero stories that don’t follow all twelve phases?
Have you ever had a “hero journey” in your life? And what happened on this journey?
Why does it continuously refer to the hero as she?