NOTE: You are welcome to link to this article, but do not copy or repost it. If you would like a PDF copy to use in your class or work, please contact me. To become who we can be, we must first become who we are One of great the paradoxes of the hero’s journey […]

ON SALE FOR MAY: Half price ($4.98) for our 64-page guide to Campbell’s monomyth. Click here for details. Elaborating on the Theme of Transformation Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey model, the monomyth, is described as containing between 4 and 17 stages. Ironically, perhaps the most famous model of the monomyth isn’t even Campbell’s, but the “Writer’s […]

When most of us think of the Hero’s Journey, we think of Joseph Campbell and his monomyth. But the Hero’s Journey transcends mythology: it is the pattern of all human growth and experience. Thus, when you study the structure of any story—literature, film, fact or fiction–you will find the Hero’s Journey pattern or its elements […]

NOTE: You are welcome to link to this article, but do not copy or repost it. If you would like a PDF copy to use in your class or work, please contact me. Beyond Censorship: Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 Written more 60 years ago, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is as relevant today as it was in […]

NOTE: You are welcome to link to this article, but do not copy or repost it. Yes, even there! (While this article, written in 2003, is about an experience I had in my classroom in 2002 that focused on The Simpsons, you need to remember that all “stories,” from cartoons to Shakespeare, contain elements of […]

NOTE: You are welcome to link to this article, but do not copy or repost it. If you would like a PDF copy to use in your class or work, please contact me. Thesis, Antithesis and Synthesis Gerog W. F. Hegel Nineteenth century German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel is known primarily for being an […]

Your feedback is important! If you have questions or suggestions, compliments or complaints, or if you just want to have a dialogue about the Hero’s Journey, please contact me. The best way to contact me is by e-mail. I check mail several times each day, so I will get back to you quickly. You can […]

NOTE: You are welcome to link to this article, but do not copy or repost it. If you would like a PDF copy to use in your class or work, please contact me. Exploring our Experience of Being Hermeneutics in a Historical Context Hermeneutics is a complicated philosophy, but―over-simplified―it is “the art of interpretation.” Hermeneutics […]

NOTE: You are welcome to link to this article, but do not copy or repost it. If you would like a PDF copy to use in your class or work, please contact me. How the Hero’s Journey Aids Learning One of the most important models for learning to emerge in recent decades is schema theory. […]

NOTE: You are welcome to link to this article, but do not copy or repost it. If you would like a PDF copy to use in your class or work, please contact me. This article is from The Hero’s Journey: A Guide to Literature and Life (2007). For an updated version of the article, see […]

NOTE: You are welcome to link to this article, but do not copy or repost it. If you would like a PDF copy to use in your class or work, please contact me. The Paradox: Self-Responsibility Sets Us Free Several months ago, a former student—who is now, by the way, a neurobiologist studying motivation—recommended a […]

NOTE: You are welcome to link to this article, but do not copy or repost it. If you would like a PDF copy to use in your class or work, please contact me. The Journey and Brain-Based Teaching (2015 NOTE: I wrote this article in 2001, but even though it is a bit dated, current […]

NOTE: You are welcome to link to this article, but do not copy or repost it. If you would like a PDF copy to use in your class or work, please contact me. Self-Expression Triggers Self-Realization To express oneself―that is, to translate one’s feelings and understanding into actions, forms and words―is to realize oneself, in […]

NOTE: You are welcome to link to this article, but do not copy or repost it. If you would like a PDF copy to use in your class or work, please contact me. The Hero’s Journey: A Myth to Live By Adapted from the 1995 edition of The Hero’s Journey: A Guide to Literature and […]