fandomhigh | Monomyths [Tuesday, January 12, Period 3]

"We're going to start today by talking about your final," Cindy announced as soon as class began. "I know it seems like a long way away, but if you look at the syllabus I handed out last week, you'll realize it's only about fourteen weeks away and the nature of the final requires a lot of advanced prep work." The grin she flashed the class was more mischievous than evil, though they were welcome to interpret it any way they liked. "One of the things I want to stress in this class is that even though the concept of the heroic journey has its roots in works written millennia ago, it's a concept that is still at work today, influencing your own culture. Thus, to really bring that home, you final exam will consist of an essay to be handed in the final day of class. To prepare for your essay--in addition to coming to class and such--you'll be watching all seven seasons of Wendy the Werewolf Stalker. Does Wendy embark on a masculine heroic journey? A feminine heroic journey? Both? Neither? Drawing upon examples from the show and concepts we cover in class, that's the question you'll be answering." She smiled at them again. "Now you understand why I'm telling you this now. Seven seasons, fourteen weeks. You're all in high school and are capable of doing the math."

She leaned against her desk to continue. "Should you decide, for whatever reason, that you don't wish to base your final exam on Wendy that's fine. However, by the midterm, I will need a major work that you would prefer to write on instead. This will give me enough time to familiarize myself with the work in question and decide upon its suitability. Best to give me three choices, just in case your first and second choice don't work out."

She straightened again. "One last bit of prep before we get to class--Anemone? Blysse? You're the TAs for this class. Please feel free to see me after class if you'd like to discuss what that entails. That's settled; let's get to learning, shall we? Today we'll be discussing the basic the difference between the masculine and feminine journey. Now, before you start taking notes, there's something I want to stress. Just because the journey is referred by one gender or the other, it doesn't follow that the hero must be of that same gender. Men can undergo the feminine journey just as easily as women and vice versa. We clear? Good. Let's begin."

On the chalkboard before class, Cindy had written:

Feminine Journey--
*The journey where the hero must go deep inside herself and change throughout the story.
*She 'awakens' in Act I and journeys towards rebirth
*She comes into her power to realize her authentic goals and connectedness;
*Thus, her journey is the path that leads her to power and control.
*At the beginning of the story, the hero does not realize she's living a life filled with other people's goals and ambitions. They have no idea what they truly want or are capable of doing until they are forced to reexamine everything as part of their journey.
*Generally, the hero is not supported at the outset. She may face censure and public disapproval for her desire to leave the community and embark on her journey.
*Character-based stories and Lifetime Originals

Masculine Journey--
*The journey where the hero resists inner change until Act III, where he must choose to awaken and go onto victory or choose to rebel and go onto failure
*He starts with his power intact and awakens only when he realizes his power is holding him back from fully experiencing life.
*He must let go of his power to realize his authentic goals and connectedness;
*Thus, his journey is the path that leads him to give up that power and control.
*At the beginning of the story, the hero does not realize the power he has in the world only helps him reach the goals society deems acceptable. He does not realize that he must give up some of that power for him to fulfill inner goals that do are not socially approved.
*Generally, the hero is fully supported by the group and society as a whole when he chooses to embark upon his journey. He may even be assured that things will be taken care of in his absence.
*Action films, cop movies, buddy movies.

"That's a lot of information in a very few lines," Cindy said, aware her students might argue the 'very few' part. "So let's talk."

[OCD up!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Taking notes is encouraged. So is asking questions.

Other activities not so encouraged, but good luck trying.

Gabrielle, luckily, had at some point invested in actual notebooks even though she hated the flimsy paper and its funny lines (she ignored those anyway). She'd have run out of scroll parchment fast in this class. Her notebook, as it was, was crammed to the margins.

Ugh. They had to do a report on Wendy? Did they realize all the stuff that glamorized? Angela supposed next they'd have to do an oral report on Barry Plodder, too.

Claire took notes and idly wondered if she could get away with doing her final project on Ninth Wonders. Or would that be cheating since it was based in part on her own life?

Firekeeper was... not going to take notes, so much.

She was just going to squint in confusion at the marks on the board and wonder how she had managed to get chosen to be a TA for this class.

Blind Seer was just trying not to be visibly amused by the whole thing.

Anemone was half-tempted to put her hand up and ask if you could have both, depending on who was driving your brain that day, but figured that miiiight not be the best thing to ask after being named the TA. Making her classmates paranoid about her sanity levels would be counter-productive.

So instead, she took notes. Lots and lots of notes, with the occasional picture doodled in the margin.

So much of what had happened in the past few months seemed like an exact retelling of the first bit on the board ~~thank you, Anne McCaffrey~~. It was almost enough to silence her into thought, wondering how such a big thing was apparently perfectly normal here.

Liir took notes, unable to keep his mind from the question of which journey was his own. To be honest, his almost sounded like the feminine journey... and the whole thing had him thinking on the nature of anger again, his own anger. Women's anger, men's anger... how he thought and how he acted.

Was this the fault of Nanny and the Witch? Perhaps just the fault of a life without a father. He couldn't say.

But he took notes to consider it later.

Zayne had his datapad out and was taking notes as quickly as his fingers could input the information.

That was pretty quick, for the record. He had survived a couple Ghanima classes, after all.

Monomyths [Tuesday, January 12, Period 3]

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