6. Approach to the Inmost Cave to face the Ordeal

At this stage of our course, we have now reached the special world of the hero and will focus our blogging attention on two of the final stages of the journey. Today, you will connect specifically to The Approach to the Inmost Cave and the Ordeal.

The stage, Approach to the Inmost Cave, is described as a time when the hero makes the preparations needed to approach the dark place that leads to the central crisis (the ordeal). Maps may be reviewed, lists made, attacks planned, a spy plan launched, and possibly the enemy's force whittled down before the hero can face his greatest fear, or the supreme danger lurking ahead.  

The Ordeal can be described as the central life-or-death crisis, during which the hero faces their greatest fear, or confronts their most difficult challenge.

Think about what you would do to prepare for an imminent natural disaster, like a hurricane.

YOUR TASK TODAY:
In your novel, identify and describe the preparations or the conflicts and complications (approach to the inmost cave) that your main character deals with in order to face and eventually resolve his or her crisis (ordeal). If a character does NOT prepare to face and solve his/her crisis, how does this impact his or her success at the ordeal stage?

Add an image with your post (of the book cover or to symbolize either stage of the journey you are writing about).

**Include at least one direct quotation from your novel to support each stage of the journey. Build a quotation sandwich by introducing the quotation, inserting the quotation, and then explaining the quotation's significance to the stage of the journey.  Include a proper in-text citation (Author, Title page) following each quotation.

A student sample is below:

APPROACH TO THE 

INMOST CAVE

In the novel The Opposite of Tidy by Mac Carrie, Junie is living in a unique situation. Her mother is a compulsive hoarder that chooses to put material objects before her own daughter's happiness. Although many of her friends do support her during the transition into a new and more stable life, Junie did not make any type of preparations to approach the inmost cave. Having multiple opportunities to talk to others, a fear of neglect and hope scared her, even lying to her friend Wade who had been nothing but honest with her. "'So it was all a lie'. His words all had edges, each and every one of them cutting into her, drawing blood. 'You've been lying to me this whole time (184).' She did not tell the people that she was closest to about her situation at home and when it came time to face that situation she was not ready and neither were her friends.

This has a major effect on how well she is able to get through the ordeal stage of her journey. Had she gotten help from others she would not have had to lie to Wade, or at least told him the truth earlier and prevented a fight. She could have also avoided the entire world from seeing the state of her and her house on live television because of Evelyn St. Claire. It made it a lot harder to get through because she not only had to help her mother with her mental health during the process but also fix her relationships with others, a new bullying issue at school, and her family life.
A.D. 2017

5. Tests, Enemies and Allies

"Believe in yourself, take on your challenges, dig deep within yourself to conquer fears. Never let anyone bring you down. You got to keep going." 

Chantal Sutherland

________________

Once the hero crosses the threshold into the new, special world of the journey, the adventure really begins. It is here in the special world that the hero faces their biggest tests, forms essential allies and tries to defeat their enemies. 

Focus your attention on ONE of these as they connect to the main character in your novel by answering the prompt associated with this stage of the journey. Start your response with the quotation given to you in the prompt. 

Make sure that you provide a direct quotation to help you support your thinking. Always include an in-text citation following every direct quotation. (Author, Title page)

___________________

TESTS 

"Our ability to handle life's challenges is a 

measure of our strength of character." 

Les Brown. 

The hardest challenges are yet to come for the hero once they have accepted the call to adventure and crossed the threshold into the new and special world of the journey  Tests can come in a physical (man vs man), mental or emotional (man vs self) form. Each test creates a conflict or complication for the hero in that many of the tests have to be overcome in order for the hero to progress (physically and emotionally).  Which specific test has been the most challenging to overcome for your character so far in the novel? What have you learned about your character's 'strength' from how they have overcome this test?

ENEMIES 

"When somebody challenges you, fight back. 

Be brutal, be tough." 

Donald Trump. 

On the journey, there are many people who will get in the way of the hero meeting their goals. They might be jealous, spiteful or just plain bad. Regardless of their motivation, the 'enemy' or antagonist works against the hero and makes life challenging for them. Who in your novel has challenged your main character? How? How has your character displayed their 'toughness' in fighting against this person or this force?

ALLIES

"Together we can face any challenges as 

deep as the ocean and as high as the sky." 

Sonia Gandhi. 

An important step in the journey is to find a good mentor who will lift you up and help guide you through the challenges of the journey. The mentor is not the only person who helps the hero conquer their fears or find the strength of character to meet the challenges they will face on the journey. Many other people can become important allies on the hero's journey. Who is one person that your main character depends upon (except the mentor)? How has this person helped to guide your character through the challenges they have faced on their journey?


A set of student samples is below:

TESTS

"Our ability to handle life's challenges is a 

measure of our strength of character." 

Les Brown. 

  There can be all kinds of different tests in the Hero's journey such as a physical challenge, an emotional challenge or a mental challenge. In my novel, Alex faces a couple of challenges along his way to save his friends. For example when Alex had to rebuild an entire village filled with magical creatures, when he had to take the thorn necklace out of the silent girl's, and her brothers, neck and when they had to escape an island that was about to sink. A test that was the most challenging for Alex and his crew was when they had to save Samheed and Lani from a silent island. This was the toughest challenge because this plan needed the most intelligence and courage. They needed lots of people to succeed in this test or else they would all join Lani and Samheed in being captured for good. I have learned that Alex has a lot of strength physically and mentally. In the novel, when they were saving Samheed and Lani, Alex had accidentally killed one of his men in an attempt to free Sam Heed from the thorn necklace sown into his neck. 

"Just as he breathed the dangerous magical word, a Warbleran grabbed a squirrelicorn from the air and threw her at Alex. The squirrelicorn's horn hit Samheed's neck jolting them all. And as the thorns vanished, so did the creature." ( Lisa McMann, The Unwanteds. 327-328) Alex had to have lots of mental strength to move on from this experience of killing his own people.

ENEMIES

 "When somebody challenges you, fight back. 

Be brutal, be tough." Donald Trump.

   
In my novel, there are many characters that have challenged my main character. As Jin is the only Asian-American in the school, I guess a lot of other kids found it "funny" and found ways to bully him. "My momma says Chinese people eat dogs" and "What the hell is that?! Stay away from my dog!" (at lunch) (Yang 31-32) are some things kids said to him on the first couple days of school.  Even all his teachers mess up his name and just expected him straight from China, even though Jin lived in San Francisco for a couple years. He is alone most of the time until Wei-Chen moves to his school. Their friendship developed quickly. School is now okay for Jin until he falls in love with Amelia, an American girl. He daydreams about her, dreams about her, and thinks about her every second of his life, and she seems to like Jin back. He is having the time of his life until Greg, one of Amelia's best friends comes up to Jin and asks him to not hang out with Amelia again. He then gets jealous and changes his hair into the same hair Greg has. An afro. Jin gets teased even more by other kids at his school.

Jin has displayed his toughness to the world by continuing to like and hang out with Amelia, who is one of the most popular kids in the school. An unpopular kid dating one of the most popular girls in school? Even right after Greg (also popular) told Jin not to hang out with Amelia, Jin found the confidence to ignore Greg and go for the girl he likes. "Can you do me a favour?"((Greg) repeatedly in Jin's mind) "No." "NO!" "HELL NO!" "YEAH-THE FAVOUR OF A PUNCH IN THE FACE!" (Yang 182) is what Jin fantasizes about all day regretting how he said "yeah sure" the day before to Greg when he was asked not to hang out with Amelia. Kids that have always looked at Jin as a minority started considering him as one of the"cool kids".

ALLIES

"Together we can face any challenges as deep as the ocean 

and as high as the sky." - Sonia Gandhi.

      In Not Suitable for Family Viewing, as soon as Robin enters Port Minton she realizes there is little to nothing there. After making a brief visit to the high school her mom went to, trying to get some answers, she is hit with a massive rainstorm. She has no idea where she is going, no place to stay, and no idea who anybody is. Until she meets Levi, Levi is kind enough to give her a ride to a hostel in a nearby town near Shelton where she stays and is looked after by Kay. Robin tells us, "The guy goes, 'C'mon. Get in!' He reaches over and lifts my suitcase" (47).Both of which help her look for answers and show her around the town. Robin is still unsure whether or not to trust anybody in the town, especially Levi. But, they soon become friends, involved and he helps introduce her to others that may be able to help her on the quest for answers about her mother. Levi was able to help support Robin in more ways than her own mother had been able to. A big challenge that made Robin’s journey much harder was that she didn’t believe in herself. So, when Levi came along and made her feel strong, confident, and welcomed, she was able to complete the task she set out to do and even realize how beautiful and amazing she was as a person, and not just when she is compared to her mother.

4. Crossing the Threshold

The stage of the journey that represents the hero's commitment to the journey is the CROSSING THE THRESHOLD. It is at this moment in the hero's story where the hero is compelled to physically, emotionally or spiritually leave the comfort of their ordinary world and start their journey.

To open your response, find an image or symbol that you believe represents the hero's commitment to the call to adventure. (You may also want to put an image of the cover of the novel you wish to use for this post as well.)

YOUR TASK:
Which important life lessons can be learned from how one of your characters has successfully or unsuccessfully navigated the call to adventure and crossed the threshold into the special world?

Be sure that you use at least one direct quotation in your response. Follow each direct quotation with an in text citation (Author, Novel Title page) that tells your reader WHERE it came from.

Choose a direct quotation that helps to show your reader that the character has crossed a threshold into a new world, or a quotation that helps to reveal the lesson you have learned about human characteristics, human nature or behaviour from the character successfully or unsuccessfully navigating the stage.

HERE ARE SOME STUDENT SAMPLES:

STUDENT ONE:

          The moment that I believe Seraphina, from the novel Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, crossed the threshold happened even before the book started. I believe that Seraphina crossed the threshold when she accepted the job of Assistant Music Mistress and entered the castle on her first day of work. She left behind her ordinary world and took a risk to enter a new world.  The following quotation was said by Seraphina’s father to Seraphina, “Under no circumstances are you to draw attention to yourself. If you won’t think of your own safety, at least remember all I have to lose. “ (Hartman, Seraphina 8)  It shows both components of her ordinary world and her new world. Her ordinary world was too confining to stay in but these reasons for being confined still exist, she still can’t totally be free to do as she wishes.
 I will be writing about the threshold that Seraphina crosses in the white pine novel 

             This shows the lesson that if someone feels too confined and like they aren’t as free as they want to be, they will take chances to change that. Seraphina was unhappy with her ordinary world and decided that it was time to cross the threshold, despite the risks she knew that she would face every day. This proves the theory that if someone is unhappy somewhere, they are often willing to take the risks necessary to gain the world they want to live in.  The character realizes that living in the world that they want to live in is worth the risk. - A. McP. 2016

STUDENT TWO:

The crossing of the threshold is the stage in which the hero crosses over from the ordinary world into the unfamiliar, special world.  In the case of Jacob in Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, he does not cross the threshold knowingly.  Jacob is exploring the ruins of the old house, trying to get answers about his grandfather's childhood.  He sees a mysterious girl watching him, and follows her through the cairn.  This transports him back in time to September third, 1940.  Jacob can leave the time loop and go back to the present whenever he pleases, but he chooses to go back into the loop every day.  During his time in and out of the loop, he faces challenges, which I why I believe that Jacob crossed the threshold into the special world when he began visiting the loop.

    One lesson we can learn about human nature from how Jacob navigated this stage is that human beings will do almost anything to find acceptance.  When Jacob crossed the threshold he found people there who were accepting of him and valued what he had to say.  Additionally, these were supposedly young people, which hit home for Jacob since he never had many friends growing up.  This caused Jacob to continue to go into the time loop, even though it is incredibly dangerous and it is not a place he truly belongs. The people in the time loop are trapped there; unable to escape to the present. They are also being treated like children despite all being over seventy years old. The time loop is not the paradise it seems like to Jacob. Evidence of Jacob's growing attachment to being in the time loop is when he says: "I sparked with excitement-not only at her touch, but at the thought of the day ahead, full of endless possibility." (Riggs 184). This proves that Jacob sees the time loop as a place where he can be his authentic self, despite how unreal and dark the situation truly is. R.W. 2017

3. Refusal of the Call and Meeting the Mentor

 

This week you will concentrate on the stages of the journey: REFUSAL OF THE CALL and MEETING THE MENTOR

Start by finding an image of a SYMBOL for the mentor or the refusal of the call online. This symbol should represent the role or the purpose of the mentor in helping a character move past the refusal OR symbolize what might cause a hero to refuse a call to adventure. 

Place this image somewhere in your post. Be sure to add a link to the original source of the image. 
Refusal of the Call

Meeting the Mentor

This week's blog post is meant to help you further connect to these stages of the journey: 

Start your entry by describing the role of the mentor OR what the factors are in refusing the call in general. Go back to your handout for the stages of the journey to help you with this description. (Remember that a mentor can be willing or unwilling.) How can a mentor help a hero to move past the limiting beliefs and pressures found his/her ordinary world to accept the call to adventure?

THEN: As the body of your blog post answer the following questions:
-Who plays the role of the mentor to your main character? (pick one character to discuss) and which three important characteristics does their mentor have? 
-What specifically does this character help your protagonist do or achieve? 
-How does the mentor help the protagonist to get over the doubts and limiting beliefs that have caused them to 'boil' in their ordinary world and refuse the call to adventure? 
-Ultimately - HOW significant is the mentor in the journey (or at the start of the journey) of your character?

(IF YOUR CHARACTER DOES NOT HAVE A MENTOR . . . yet . . . you can also write about why the protagonist might NEED a mentor and discuss the qualities that their mentor would need to have to help the character do or achieve something...You as the reader can act as this character's mentor - what advice would you give the main character and why?)

Make sure that you use at least ONE DIRECT quotation from your novel to help you support your thinking. Following the direct quotation, be sure to add a properly formatted in-text citation (Author, Title page).

HERE IS A STUDENT SAMPLE:

    This week's blog post is focusing on Meeting the Mentor and refusal of the call. In the book If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan, the symbol I have chosen to help represent Sahar's mentor is of a person that is speaking soft words (represented by a dove) but on the inside, they're deceiving and cunning (represented by the snake). This is because Sahar's mentor, her cousin Ali, is known as the city's delinquent because he smuggles and provides illegal imports from America to people who are willing to pay lots of money for them, "Ali has been selling DVDs, CDs, and other banned items. He doesn't need the money, but it keeps him popular in certain circles." (Sara Farizan, If You Could Be Mine 29). Sahar is worried about him because he's not to be trusted, but she needs help from someone and he's the only one who's willing to help her.

     Ali is very significant to Sahar in her journey because without him, she would have no one to talk to about how she feels for Nasrin (Ali is also gay). He also helps her keep her identity to herself and he offers (reluctantly) to help her get testosterone injections for her to start her sex transition. Without Ali's help, Sahar would've never had anyone to talk to about how she feels about Nasrin and she would never be able to get the treatment she desired without Ali's help which would have had her refuse her call to adventure.
     The three important characteristics that Ali has are he is cunning, useful, and smart. Ali is cunning because he is able to persuade or bribe people using deceit or evasion. An example of Ali being cunning is when he sold illegal copies of American movies to buyers in his home town but he lied and said they were totally legal. Ali being cunning helps Sahar because she is given copies of illegal American movies for her enjoyment.
     Ali is useful because since he has so many connections with people and he is well-known, Sahar gets the special treatment from everyone she knows because she's related to him.
     Ali is smart because he knows how to stay away from the police force and keep his illegal transactions between himself and his clients. When Nasrin, Sahar's girlfriend, was taken by the police because she was showing too much skin, one of the police officers recognized Sahar and he immediately let Nasrin go because he didn't want to get on Ali's bad side.
    -J.S. 2016

2. The Ordinary World and the Call to Adventure

**Have you posted your blog address on the BOOK LIST?  IF NOT. . . do that first

In this post you will connect to the ordinary world and call to adventure of the character in the novel you are currently reading.

FIRST: Set up a GADGET or a PAGE to help you make a list for the books you have loved in your past, are reading or would love to have time to read this year in grade 9.  

You can do this in a few ways:

1. You can add a links list: add a link to the cover of the book or to a website that reviews the book. (You will need to go into the LAYOUT option on your dashboard and select ADD A GADGET.) **I have done this with blogs you went to for your first few assignments.

2. You can add an image (of the book cover) and a caption. (You will need to go into the LAYOUT option on your dashboard and select ADD A GADGET.) NOTE: I have done this in the sidebar of the class blog. 

3. You can add a PAGE on which you post images of book covers and short reviews about each book. (You will do this through PAGES on your dashboard - your PAGES will show up across the TOP of your blog.) **I have added one to the top of the class blog called "Books I am reading".

_________________

THEN: You can work on your new blog post connecting your novel to the ordinary world and the call to adventure. 

Start your post with a title (use the same title that I have).
Then introduce your post by inserting an image of the cover of the book you are going to refer to for today's post (see the toolbar at the top of the 'New Post' page. 
Finally, (you can use: http://www.easybib.com/) create a proper MLA style bibliographic citation for the book and place that under or near the image. 

It will look like this: Author's Last Name, First Name. Title. Place of Publication: Publisher, year of publication. Print.

(eg. Riggs, Ransom. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Philadelphia: Quirk, 2014. Print.)

THEN WRITE YOUR RESPONSE: 

1. How is the character in your novel's ordinary world conventional OR unconventional?

2. Which sources of conflict, change, circumstance, longing, pain or sorrow (may) lead or force the character into a ‘Call to Adventure’ OR (may) compel the character to stay put in their ordinary world and ‘Refuse the Call to Adventure’?

3. Why does/might the character LEAP or BOIL?

                    _________________

HERE IS A SAMPLE RESPONSE FROM LAST SEMESTER'S CLASS: (the only thing that it is missing is a direct quotation from the novel)

Riggs, Ransom. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Philadelphia: Quirk, 2014. Print.

In the novel Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, Jacob's ordinary world is conventional because he has a stable part time job at Smart Aid.  He will have a job lined up there when he graduates high school, because his family owns it.  Jacob lives in a safe neighborhood and is well off; he gets good grades in school, and has a best friend.  Jacob's ordinary world can also be considered unconventional because his current situation is destructive to his happiness.  He hates working at Smart Aid, his parents don't get along, his grandfather is losing his cognizance, and he has almost no friends.  Jacob may have a stable ordinary world; but it is not a fulfilling one.

    The call to adventure for Jacob is when his grandfather mysteriously dies.  Jacob feels compelled to visit the island where his grandfather grew up to learn more about his past, and how he died.  The sources that lead him to accept the call to adventure are his longing to understand his grandfather better, the sorrow of losing a close relative, and the pain his nightmares were forcing him to endure.  Jacob's longing to understand his grandfather better leads him to accept the call because no one in his country has any information about his grandfather's death.  The sorrow that Jacob felt from losing his grandfather leads him to accept the call because he feels finding out what killed his grandfather would give him closure.  Finally, the pain of Jacob's nightmares leads him to accept the call because he feels the nightmares will stop if he finds out what the creature was that killed his grandfather.

    The sources of doubt that Jacob has about accepting the call to adventure are the fear of the horrible creatures that he believes killed his grandfather, and the fear that his grandfather was actually a horrible person.  Jacob has doubts about accepting the call because he is afraid of the creatures that killed his grandfather, and he doesn't think he can protect himself from them.  Jacob has doubts about accepting the call to adventure because he is afraid that he might find out some horrible things about his grandfather.  This scares him because he has always idolized his grandfather, and he would be devastated if he were to find out that his grandfather was not who he said he was.

Jacob chooses to "leap" and accept the call to adventure by travelling to the small European island where his grandfather grew up. Jacob chooses to do this because he isn't happy with his current life in America, and becasue he wants answers about his grandfather. R.W. 2016