Fantasy Genres: Heroic Fiction & the Hero Archetype; Setting & Character Exercises

Let's start today with some advice about reading. You may wish to write some better bits of advice in your journal:

• Power of Reading from a Reluctant Teenager
• The Benefits of Reading

Then, let's read:

Fantasy literature is divided into various subgenres. While all should appeal to a fantacist or escapist reader and all are obviously made up or fictional, certain rules apply when writing them. We're introduced you to Magical Realism--stories where magic is an accepted part of the setting/culture written from a realistic perspective/voice (The Enchanted, "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings", Like Water for Chocolate, etc.), but let's look at the more popular forms of fantasy writing:

• High Fantasy (also known as "epic fantasy"):
• Stories are set in a medieval or mythological period, often focusing on good/evil. High fantasy focuses a lot on setting and tone, often including politics (Game of Thrones or the Lord of the Rings cycle, for example)
• Heroic Fantasy
• Similar to high fantasy, this medieval or Dark Age technology/setting focuses on the actions and powers of heroes--often attempting to overthrow evil, rescue a fair lady, or  gain power. Magic is mysterious, as are the "gods"; the focus is on action and the clever activities of the protagonist (the hero); the genre is also often called Sword & Sorcery--where brute strength and human ingenuity, battles powerful magic or demi-gods and monsters
• RPG (role-playing game) fantasy: Mostly fan based, RPG fantasy refers to the fantasy settings created by role-playing game fans or authors. Dungeons & Dragons is the best example--ask Mr. Gallagher about RPG games...

Classroom: Reading "The Test of the Twins", "The Bleak Shore", "Liane, The Wayfarer", "The Sword of Conan"

Spotlight on Heroic or High Fantasy Fiction:

• What makes a hero (short video)
• This subgenre of fantasy is devoted to heroes. A hero is a character who possesses a strength, skill, or talent that ordinary people lack. A hero is often tested by facing adversity or problems--most life-threatening--so that he/she can prove his/her worth, strength, or talent as a hero.
• All heroes in stories act as role models for us (see the: benefits of reading video above). They teach us how to behave, how to be the best that we can be, how to react when faced with adversity.
• The hero will usually "go on an adventure" in this subgenre of heroic fantasy--sometimes for self-gain, sometimes to save others or to test one's heroic quality/talents.
• The hero will usually go through part or all of the following pattern:
• The Hero Archetype's Call to Adventure:
• Status Quo
• Call to adventure
• Assistance
• Departure
• Trials
• Approach
• Crisis
• Treasure
• Result
• Return 
• New Life
• Resolution/Status quo
• As we continue to read, look for how this pattern repeats itself in these stories. 
• Additionally, for our benefit as writers, create a word bank of fantasy tropes: objects, details or descriptions (diction), characters, and events that keep repeating in what we read. Make a list of these words in your journal...
• Finally, continue to look for how a writer uses verisimilitude (description) and imagery to make what is completely false and unreal into something we can believe is real. Remember to note passages or paragraphs where description and detail helps paint a picture (activates neurons) in our imagination.

Writing Lab Task: Setting Exercise: 
Setting Description Exercise: 

Choose one of the following pictures below and use it as inspiration to describe a specific setting. You are not necessarily writing a story; instead, you are describing a place in detail using imagery: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, temperature, weather, etc.

Consider:

• Sight/Visual Imagery: What does the eye see? What is most obvious about the setting visually? What are some of the small visual details (objects, places, etc.)
• Sound/Aural Imagery: What does the ear hear? What sounds might we hear in this environment (consider time of day as well...)
• Smell/Olfactory Imagery: What does the nose smell? Ex. wood smoke, brimstone, methane gas, rot, sweat, decay, mildew, earth, clay, blossoms, incense, manure, garbage, hay, cooking food or meat, flowers, cut grass, etc. Olfactory imagery is created by the mention of the smell. Usually smells linger on the air, or contrasting smells compete with one another to be most noticeable. See gustatory imagery below. Smells are often described as cloying or overwhelming--and there's always a source of the smell (whether it can be seen or heard or touched). 
• Touch/Kinesthetic Imagery: What does the body feel? How hot/cold is the wind? What does the foot or boot feel as it travels? How humid or dry is the air? What do objects held feel like? Ex. slimy, coarse, rough, prickly, smooth, bumpy, soft, hard, wet, dry, cool, hot, etc.
• Taste/Gustatory Imagery: What does the tongue taste? Similar to olfactory imagery, what might a person taste in the air, from the breeze, as a result of traveling through this area or location? Blood, by the way, tastes metallic--some say like a penny or copper. Ex. sweet, sour, slimy, fishy, rancid, succulent, bitter, acrid, etc.

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4. 

Write a descriptive paragraph or two detailing the setting of one of these places. Turn in your description by the end of class today.

HOMEWORK: What reading we did not complete in class, please complete as homework. Answer the questions on the handout to turn in for participation credit on Monday, March 26.