The Hero's Journey

Narrative Format

In semester two we studied Blake Snyder's 'Save the Cat', his definitions of the twelve archetypal genres, and the beat sheet. You can see a copy of this below if you need to refresh your memory!

Much of the beat sheet is built on the foundation of Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces, wherein he developed the Twelve Stages of the Hero's Journey.

For more information on The Hero's Journey, you can use this document for an example of Star Wars and The Lion King, or refer to this document for a more detailed explanation of each stage and the character archetypes involved.

But these can be simplified, as demonstrated by the work of Dan Harmon, creator of Community & Rick & Morty. Dan Harmon's Plot Circles are an easy way of considering this important literary theory.