Hero's Journey
In this initial stage, the hero exists in their everyday life, unaware of the adventures to come, like Luke Skywalker on his uncle’s farm or Katniss Everdeen in District 12.
What is The Ordinary World?
This rhetorical appeal relies on the use of facts, statistics, and "cold, hard" reasoning to persuade an audience.
What is Logos?
A Great Dane named "Tiny."
What is Verbal Irony?
This type of character undergoes a significant internal change, such as a shift in personality, perspective, or values, by the end of the story.
What is a dynamic character?
This narrative perspective uses "I" or "we" and allows the reader to experience the story directly through the eyes of the protagonist.
What is First Person Point of View?
This stage represents the hero’s "point of no return," where they commit to the adventure and physically or metaphorically leave their known world for the "Special World."
What is Crossing the Threshold?
This logical fallacy occurs when a speaker attacks their opponent's character rather than the actual argument being made.
What is Ad hominem?
What Iago is to Othello.
What is a character foil?
When an author tells the reader exactly what a character is like through straightforward adjectives—such as "He was a cruel and greedy man"—they are using this method.
What is direct characterization?
Often confused with a theme, this is a recurring image, word, or sound in a literary work that helps develop a larger symbolic meaning.
What is motif?
Named for a biblical motif, this stage involves the hero being "swallowed" into the unknown, representing a final separation from their old self and a total immersion into the zone of magnified power.
What is Entering the Belly of the Whale?
This fallacy, often used in mystery novels, is a literary device that leads readers toward a false conclusion by planting a misleading clue.
What is a Red herring?
"He carried a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men."
What is zeugma?
Often used to highlight the protagonist's traits, this is a character who contrasts sharply with another character (usually the hero) to emphasize specific qualities.
What is a character foil?
While "tone" refers to the author’s attitude, this term describes the emotional atmosphere or "vibe" created for the reader, often established through setting and imagery.
What is mood?
During this stage of transformation, the hero undergoes a period of rest or peace, often achieving a "god-like" state of consciousness or divine knowledge before beginning the journey home.
What is Apotheosis?
Often called "jumping to conclusions," this fallacy occurs when a speaker bases a broad claim on an insufficient or non-representative sample size.
What are hasty generalizations?
"Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country."
What is chiasmus?
This term describes a complex, multi-faceted character who possesses many different, and sometimes contradictory, personality traits, making them seem like a real person.
What is a round character?
This specific point of view utilizes a narrator who can see into the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of every character in the story.
What is Third person omniscient Point of View?
Upon the journey's completion, the hero achieves this title, representing their ability to balance their mundane life with their newfound spiritual or heroic wisdom.
Who is the Master of Two Worlds?
Also known as Post hoc ergo propter hoc, this fallacy incorrectly assumes that because one event followed another, the first event must have caused the second.
What is a false cause argument?
What is synedoche?
Authors use this method to show a character's personality through their speech, thoughts, effects on others, actions, and looks, requiring the reader to make inferences.
What is indirect characterization?
This term refers to an author's specific word choice and style of expression, which can be categorized as formal, informal, colloquial, or poetic.
What is Diction?