General Table of Contents | The Hero's Journey: Life's Great Adventure.

The Hero’s Journey: A Guide to Literature and Life contains ten chapters and twenty-six individual lessons. You can teach chapters and lessons as they are from the teacher’s guide, or you can adapt them to fit your individual needs and curriculum. For a detailed list of contents and projects, click here.

Chapter

Title and Description

1 Ritual and Rite of Passage An introduction to the process of transformation as a foundation for studying the pattern and dynamics of hero’s journey
2 The Hero’s Journey
An introduction to the eight-stage universal model of the hero’s journey pattern, including the basic dynamics of each stage
3 Gawain and the Green Knight
A retelling of the traditional legend focusing on Gawain’s journey and the physical and psychological challenges he faced as an example of the hero’s journey in legend.
4 The End of Eternal Spring
A retelling of the Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone, emphasizing the role that negotiation and compromise may play in our journeys.
5 The Legend of the Buddha
A retelling of the legend of Siddhartha as an example of the spiritual journey.
6 Hero’s Journey Film Project
A group project in which students study a film (Field of Dreams in the guide or a film of your choice) as a hero’s journey, introducing the interconnectedness of our journeys.
7 Write a Hero’s Journey Short Story
An individual project in which the students build and write their own hero’s journey story using the journey model as a template.
8 The Call Refused
A study of the film Groundhog Day (or a film of your choice) and the Greek myth “Minos and the Minotaur” to explore the dangers and results of refusing the Call.
9 Hero’s Journey Group Presentation
A group project in which students research non-Greek/Roman hero myths and present the myths creatively in class as a group.
10 My Journey
Two individual projects in which students explore their personal journeys: a personal mandala project—involving symbolism, art and writing—and an autobiographical essay.
Appendix Supplementary materials and handouts that you can use to explore the journey pattern in other works and in other ways.

Click here to Order the Teacher’s Guide