PowerPoint By: Matthew Brumley

1. PowerPoint By: Matthew Brumley

2. 1. Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It’s Not)

3. What does it consist? • A knight • A dangerous road • A Holy Grail • At least one dragon • One evil knight • One princess On the surface sure. But let’s think structurally.

4. 1. A quester A questor is just a person who goes on a quest, whether or not he knows it’s a quest. Usually the questor does not know.

5. 2. A place to go3. A stated reason to go there Someone tells the protagonist, our hero, who does not look very heroic, to go somewhere and do something. For example: go in search of the Holy Grail, go to the store for bread, go to Vegas and whack a guy. The tasks vary in nobility, but are all structurally the same. Go there, do that.

6. 4. Challenges and trials Challenges and trials include any task on the way of their quest that hinder them to get to their location. • Nasty German shepherds. • Battle between man or creature. • Test to prove manhood. • Etc.

7. 5. The real reason to go The real reason for a quest never involves the stated reason. In fact, more often than not, the quester fails at the stated task. A quester goes because of the stated task, mistakenly believing that it is their real mission. We know, however, that their quest is educational. The real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge. That’s why questers are so often young, inexperienced, immature, and sheltered.

8. A few stories that follow conventions of a quest tale… • Huck Finn • The Lord of the Rings • North by Northwest • Star Wars • And most other stories of someone going somewhere and doing something, especially if the going and the doing wasn’t his idea in the first place.

9. “Always” and “Never” “Always” and “never” are not words that have much meaning in literary study. For one thing, as soon as something seems to always be true, some wise guy will come along and write something to prove that it’s not.

10. Once you figure out quests, the rest is easy.