Mrs. Peters-Bryant

This unit will challenge students to explore the concept of heroism from various vantage points. Through a thorough study of fiction and non-fiction texts, students will analyze the hero’s journey narrative pattern. Next, students will discuss how an author’s treatment of heroism in literature encourages greater good. Finally, students will critique the heroic archetype in literature by studying the hero’s journey narrative pattern will conclude the year’s thematic study of human resilience as it recounts an individual’s tale of navigating challenges and eventual triumph.   At the conclusion of the unit, students will have gained the understanding that a hero, both real and fictitious, (a) does not have to fit a mold and (b) that a hero’s journey can inspire others. Students will also demonstrate their understanding of the hero’s journey by crafting their own hero’s journey story using media of their own selection.

 

Students will read the novel, The Ear, the Eye and the Arm, by Nancy Farmer, to explore how everyday people can overcome obstacles to transform into heroes. The six focal passages for The Ear, the Eye and the Arm highlight six important phases of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey narrative structure. The focal scenes allow students to delve deeper and examine how the narrative structure is used to reveal themes of resilience, heroism, and triumph. Further, this unit’s Cornerstone provides students with the opportunity to develop their own tale of heroism that follows the hero’s journey narrative structure.

 

Students reflecting on themselves as evolving writers is another vital component of this unit. In addition to crafting two new, written texts, students will revisit one piece of writing from a previous unit to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses, gain insight about who they are as writers, and refine the writing skills they have obtained over the course of the school year.

 

The unit is organized into 4 phases that guide teaching about heroism, from understanding the phases of the hero’s journey to students applying this knowledge to create their own tales of heroism.

                                                                                                                                                                                        Synopsis District of Columbia Public Schools