QUOTING EVIDENCE
AND ADDING COMMENTARY
FOR HERO’S JOURNEY PROJECT
Step 1: Identify the stage of the hero’s journey you are looking for and find the general
section of the book where you believe the hero experiences this stage. Type the stage
name at the top of your quoted evidence.
Step 2: Confirm the location of this stage with your group. Make sure you agree, so you
don’t throw off the chronology of others’ examples of later or earlier stages.
Step 3: Pinpoint the BEST quotation(s) you can find that help reveal that stage to the
reader. Look for 3-4 lines (i.e. 1-2 sentences) in the book.
Note that in some cases, you may want to use ellipses (…) to connect 2 or more phrases
or sentences that are separated by unnecessary, superfluous text.
Step 4: Type your selected lines. Put quotation marks around them. Use single quotation
marks (‘ ’) around quoted dialogue.
Add a parenthetical citation at the end of your quotation like this (author’s last name
page). This is called MLA format.
*The period follows the parenthetical citation if the parenthetical citation is located at the
end of a sentence.
Examples: (White 3).
(Card 4).
(Adams 7).
Rules for direct citations from a book: 1. Enclose in quotation marks anything that is not
already in quotation marks. 2. Use single quotation marks around quoted dialogue. 3.
Single quotation marks become double quotation marks and double quotation marks
become single quotation marks. 4. Include the last name of the author and page number
in parentheses after the cited information. The period follows the citation.
Step 5: Add your commentary that explains:
A) Context and Explanation: What is happening in this scene? Who is involved?
Where is he/she? What is he/she doing? Help your audience understand. (at
least three sentences) [Summarization]
B) Connection to the hero’s journey: Why is this a significant moment/situation
for the hero? How does this lead him/ her forward? (at least three sentences)
[Analysis]
Example:
Crossing the Threshold
“Goldilocks warily pushed the open door. She could see 3 large bowls of
steaming oatmeal on the table…. She stepped inside and sat down in the first
chair she came to” (Southey 8).
Context: Goldilocks has been walking for hours in the forest, and she is tired and hungry.
Being a child, she is naturally curious. Since the bears have left their door open, she
decides to step in. She is now completely in the bears’ territory.
Connection: Goldilocks has already answered her “call to adventure” by taking the path
through the woods. Here she definitively crosses the threshold into an extraordinary
world of talking bears by trespassing boldly into their personal space. An atmosphere of
trepidation is established by her “warily” pushing open the door, a portal into the world
of the unexpected and unexplored.
Archetypal Analysis – Explain in at least three sentences the significance of the
archetype within the work of literature. What does the archetype represent? How is this
representation created? (plot details, imagery, word choice, etc.) How does the archetype
contribute to the meaning of the work? (e.g., comparison/contrast; setting; tone; mood;
conflict; irony; characterization; etc.)
Example
In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mr. Hyde epitomizes the archetype of the devil. In
remorselessly trampling a young girl, he displays no regard for life. His epitomization of
pure evil is further emblematized by the “visible misgiving of the flesh” his countenance
prompts (Stevenson 54).