Begin class with silent
reading.
Bring Archetypes notes
packet to class.
Describe your favorite
movie.
An Archetype is an original model or
type after which other similar things
are patterned.
Frankenstein
and Dracula are
examples
of many horror
story archetypes
• The word archetype (Greek archaeo --ancient) (typos—image,
pattern, model) means an original or ideal model or pattern from
which all things of the same type are derived or copied. In
literature, an archetype is a symbol, story, pattern, or character
type that recurs frequently and evokes strong, often unconscious,
associations in the reader. For example, the wicked witch and the
enchanted prince are character types widely dispersed through
folk tales and literature. The story of a hero who undertakes a
dangerous quest, as in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a
recurrent story pattern.
• A symbol is something that represents something in itself but also
represents something with a deeper meaning.
Circle stories are one of the most common patterns. Circle stories begin and
end in the same place. They involve a journey that may or may not be
physical. Books about time travel, journeys, adventures, dreams, entering
other worlds, and self-acceptance are often circle stories.
All stories with archetypal characters must
have the following properties:
Primordial - existing from the beginning
of time
Universal – common to all cultures
Recurring – occurring over and over again
Archetypal patterns are evident in
Literature and movies.
Joseph Campbell, an American writer who is
considered an authority on mythology and
archetypes, was asked to sit in on the making
of Star Wars to
justify the
archetypal patterns.
As you take notes, think of movies
and literature that contain these patterns
There are three main archetypal
Patterns which are evident
in literature.
Situation - where a “hero” takes a
“full circle” journey
Characters - types of characters who play
an important part in the hero’s journey
Symbolic – where symbols or objects
stand for something else
Characteristics of Situation Archetypes
The Quest:
The search for someone or some object
that will restore fertility to a wasted land
In “The Chronicles of
Narnia” the children
search for Aslan to bring
life back to Narnia
The Task:
The hero must perform some deed so that
he can assume his rightful position in life.
Arthur must pull
the sword out of
the stone to
assume his
position as king.
The Initiation
The maturing of the hero during the quest
The Journey:
The search that the hero must take
in order to restore fertility to his
kingdom
The Journey consists of three parts...
Separation – the hero is physically, mentally,
or spiritually separated from others.
Usually a hero goes through a dark, trial period during this
time.
Gandalf separates
Bilbo from the
group.
Transformation- The hero goes
through a transformation or change
and becomes what he should be.
Usually during this time the hero has
to face his own faults.
I have
overcome
my fears
Return- The hero returns to his home or village and
then takes charge.
This is when fertility and hope are restored to the
homeland.
Bilbo restores
peace to
Middle Earth
and returns to
Hobbiton.
The Hero’s Situation
The Unhealable Wound- can be either
physical or physiological and can never be
fully healed.
Achilles was dipped in the
river Styx in infancy,
making him invulnerable
to attack, except on his
heel.
The Fall- The hero “falls” to a lower state of being,
usually because of disobedience.
Achilles was a
wild child and
sent to study
under Chiron,
a centaur (half
man, half
animal), whom
he eventually
disobeyed.
The Magic Weapon- the extraordinary
gift or quality that a hero posses. No
one else can use it to its full potential.
Remember Arthur’s
sword Excalibur?
Other Situational Archetypes
Death and Rebirth
This is the most common situational
archetype mirroring the cycle of life with
death and rebirth.
Think about the
“Circle Of Life” in
The Lion King.
Nature versus the Mechanical World
Nature is good and
science, technology, society are bad.
(The Terminator and Jurassic Park)
Dinosaurs in Jurassic
Park are a good
example.
Good vs. Evil
Hope of optimism for good to triumph over evil
despite great conflict
We hope
that Aslan
can defeat
the White
Witch in the
Battle
The Ritual
Ceremonies that mark a hero’s rite of
passage.
The Presentation
of Simba and then
later his cub to the
animal kingdom.
‘Not Another Teen Movie”
• This movie basically
makes fun of the
archetypes that you
see repeatedly in
teen movies.