Blog Post #5: Character Archetypes

Threshold Guardian

We have just reviewed character archetypes in class.

For the seven archetypes, you have highlighted the main points in the descriptions of the archetypes, found examples of the character archetypes in ancient and modern stories, applied the characteristics to a family member, and linked them to career paths. 

This week, let's examine what possible character archetypes are present in the novel(s) you have read so far.

The Shapeshifter

SELECT one of the characters you have met through reading, IDENTIFY the archetype he or she is most like,  and DESCRIBE how he/she exemplifies the qualities of that archetype.

N.B. Do NOT choose the HERO, as we will be examining and exploring this archetype in classes to follow.

If you find that the character you select shares some qualities of an archetypal character, but generally is very different from the definition you have been given, you may also wish to discuss how the character is atypical of the archetypal characteristics.

The Herald

PROVE IT:

Incorporate at least one well chosen excerpt (direct quote) from the novel to help support the ideas in your comparison.

Remember to begin your post by introducing the book source and the author by title and name, and properly citing this source following your direct quotation (Author, Title page #).

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Here are a couple of examples from last year to help you get started...

In the novel, The Gathering by Kelly Armstrong, one of the characters named Rafael is a perfect example of a shapeshifter. He can physically shift into a cougar, but he also shifts his loyalty in order to achieve what he wants. You never really know if he is telling the truth. Often he wants information from Maya, the hero. He changes his attitude and honesty to makes himself irresistible, so she will let her gaurd down and fall for him. In the beginning, Rafael is trying to be the cool guy, but to get Maya under his controls, he acts more like himself. 

Rafael could also be Maya's mentor beacuse he helps explain many of the questions she has about herself:  "Real skin-walkers, like us, go back to before Columbus 'discovered' America. It's a kind of supernatural race. We're born into a family of skin-walkers" (Armstrong, The Gathering 251).

In the novel The Perfect Cut, by Julie Burtinshaw, the protagonist's father is an example of the SHADOW.   Bryan's dad always treats Bryan and his mother badly, and he makes Bryan feel worthless  and unwanted. He makes Bryan feel like his son will never compare to his late daughter Michelle. Bryan's father is part of the reason Bryan suffers from depression, which is why he could be considered the shadow. Bryan's father is rude, cold hearted, and insensitive. His father is all around a negative person to be around, and I think this represents the shadow.

In the following excerpt, the reader has access to the mother's internal thoughts, giving insight to the effect that Bryan's dad has on him: "She reflects on how Bryan just looks down when Dad berates him, how he does exactly what he's told, even if he disagrees, how he almost believes that he is as useless as Dad intimates" (Burtinshaw 52).