In order for this to be a successful unit, there will be some information that will be necessary for the reader to have to deliver instruction on this topic well. Some of the areas of general interests such as mythology, the hero’s journey, orality, and the work of Joseph Campbell, Otto Rank, Lord Raglan, and Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Mythology is a narrative genre that utilizes specific patterns to impart wisdom upon its readers. In myths, there is often a hero at the center of the story who enters a quest in order to prove himself and achieve the recognition of the community at large as a hero. These were often tales that were told, rather than written.1 In examining mythology, it is important to understand what orality is and how it would impact the development of myths.
Campbell, Rank, and Raglan are all individuals who have specifically worked on developing their own theories on the construction of myths, particularly the hero and their journey. Gates’ work is more specific to another critical figure in myth and legend category, the trickster. It is my hope by examining Gates’ work in context of the modern world alongside hero’s journey theorists that students will begin to expand and create their own ideas on what it means to be a hero.
