AP Lit Archtypes
Archtypal characters and situations
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| an individual understands his/her responsibility; often a rite of passage into adulthood. | ||
| sometimes the initiate undergoes an ordeal and assumes a new role as an adult. | ||
| an extraordinary feat which must be accomplished to save the day. | ||
| the search for someone or something needed to save the day. | ||
| the difficulties which the hero must undergo to accomplish the task, usually involves traveling | ||
| an official ceremony; may be a part of the initiation or rite of passage | ||
| a loss of innocence or a fall from grace which often includes expulsion from paradise. | ||
| as in the cycles in nature; an actual spiritual death, equated with the seasons of fall and winter, evening. | ||
| again, like nature, renewal, equated with spring and summer, morning. | ||
| the joining, often of opposites, which restores peace. | ||
| we want good to win. | ||
| usually nature is good, technology is evil. | ||
| some characters, though ignorant, exhibit a natural wisdom. This is often shown in animals. Others, though educated, have no "street smarts" a make poor decisions. | ||
| may be physical or psychological | ||
| usually bestowed upon by a mentor to the hero | ||
| the gods help (or hurt) the hero | ||
| light represents hope and illumination; dark indicates hopelessness and the unknown. Light shines from heaven=goodness, dark draws one into it=evil, sin | ||
| supreme beings and mythological gods live in the skies; evil forces, including Satan, come from the underworld | ||
| havens are places of comfort and safety=Camelot and Garden of Eden. Wilderness is any place of danger | ||
| water is life; birth; rebirth and baptism vs. lack of life, desolation, and Jesus is tempted by Satan in the desert | ||
| fire is knowledge and life vs iice represents ignorance and death | ||
| usually rises from a rather lowly birth to become a leader or king after facing many trials | ||
| taken from home and returns with a new perspective | ||
| innocents who train for the quest | ||
| teachers or counselors for the initiates | ||
| usually an older person who gives the hero wise counsel | ||
| protector of rituals and traditions | ||
| generational tension | ||
| loyal to hero at all cost | ||
| a true and loyal friend; often a servant | ||
| helps hero | ||
| a wise fool, a rascal, a troublemaker | ||
| purely evil | ||
| redeems himself by the end of the story | ||
| sacrificed animal or human who takes on the sins and punishment for others | ||
| person banished from society | ||
| fate is against them | ||
| female character who provides life and nourishment | ||
| beautiful woman who brings about the distruction of the hero | ||
| the woman on a pedestal who inspires the hero, but with whom the hero has no physical relationship | ||
| a married woman involved in an illicit affair | ||
| must be rescued by the hero, who is often trapped when he comes to her aide | ||
| monsters who threaten the hero |