During this classroom performance assessment, students will have an opportunity to think carefully about the idea of a “hero’s journey.” They will be asked to think and write about the possibility and the nature of heroism in the contemporary world as they focus on a selection of short fiction they have encountered in high school.
The work begins with an analysis of two perspectives on the nature of the hero’s journey — the first, Joseph Campbell’s famous theory of the “monomyth,” the second, by psychiatrist Jonathan Shay, author of the book Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming. These two perspectives are intended to function as lenses for the analysis portion of the work.
This task consists of five parts; the student completes each part and then the component pieces are scored using a holistic rubric. Students receive an overall score, but must demonstrate comprehension, analysis, presentation, and writing skills within the five parts.
