Be as creative as you want.
Use the boxes in the mind-map activity handout
Sort them out, make groups
Find examples of different kinds of heroes
Tell their stories, describe their achievements, give hard facts with dates
Give adjectives and nouns that define them, give their qualities and characteristics
Give quotes
Create a book on heroism and different kinds of heroes
Give it a clear structure, link the boxes, organize your ideas
Create a poster, use bright colours and drawings
Use key questions to help you think about heroism
Get ready for exams
What makes a hero?
What qualities do heroes usually have?
What kind of heroes do people like nowadays?
Why do we need heroes?
What role do heroes play in our society?
Who are your favourite heroes? Why?
Can ordinary people be heroes?
Can villains be heroes? What makes you a villain?
Does good always prevail in modern fiction?
To what extent do heroes make history?
Use Google Slide to create a slideshow on People Who Inspire Us
Food for thought
What's "A Hero's Journey" by Joseph Campbell?
From Gods to Anti-heroes
Watch this video from PBS Idea Channel that was posted in 2014 that looks at how the notion of heroism has evolved with time. Here are some of the key ideas that are presented:
Heroes are the product of so many things, such as race, class, gender, labor, social and political standing and even luck - that it is ridiculous to give them all of the credit for progress.
History makes people, just as much as people make history.
The "Great Person" theory is still relevant because we tend to privilege the accomplishments of characters or powerful leaders and it's easy to view history as a parade of characters. These famous people, historic figures, changed the world, however this was only possible because the world needed changing or was capable of change. What's more, they couldn't have single-handedly changed the world.
Why do we need heroes?
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Sir Edmund Burke
“We must learn that passively to accept an unjust system is to cooperate with that system, and thereby to become a participant in its evil.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
Heroic action is the antidote to evil, and it starts with heroic imagination. At its core, it is the personal and social creation of a “bright line” of morality on a given issue that is defended, upheld and promoted despite a host of pressures to do otherwise. Perhaps those who earn the hero designation have developed a keener sense of “moral clarity”, as philosopher Susan Neiman might assert. Some have described the fundamental contribution of heroes as “saving the soul of a nation”.
Everyday Heroism is the Antidote to Evil
Often we imagine heroism as risking or sacrificing one’s life, but there are many less dramatic acts of heroism that occur every day in the world around us. Everyday heroism is a term we use to describe acts of heroism, however small, that are taken on a regular basis.
Traditional Emphasis on Physical Risk
Most well-known examples of heroism have emphasized acts of courage that involved bravery, gallantry, and risk of serious physical injury or death. Military heroes, and those who give their lives in service professions - the police and fire fighters - have long been given special recognition in most cultures. Their acts of heroism typically involve bravery and gallantry, which combine to become courage.
Use word clouds with key words through word association
True heroes usually are + ADJECTIVES / They tend to be... + VERB+ED
It takes a lot of + NOUN to be a hero / They need...
The banality of heroism: we are all “Heroes-in-Waiting”.
It is a choice that we may all be called upon to make at some point in time. We believe that by making heroism an egalitarian attribute of human nature rather than a rare feature of the elect few, we can better foster heroic acts in every community. Everyone has the capability of becoming a hero in one degree or another. Sometimes we might not realize it. We are all heroes to someone when we make vital sacrifices on their behalf that enhances their quality of life.
This concept acknowledges that many of us will never be “big time heroes” because we will not be given the opportunity to challenge big time evil or give aid in natural disasters, yet many of the social habits of heroism can be practised on a daily basis by each of us - as everyday heroes.
Why are there so many movies with zombies or vampires?
What do these movies tell us about our time in history?
Are we strong enough to fight monsters?
What scares us in our society?
What do zombies represent?
Think about symbols in the stories you like
Here are random sentences about heroes.
Which sentences would you use in your oral exam?
Find concrete examples, with plenty of facts and, of course, quotes from books, articles you have read, films you have seen or songs, people you talked about in class
+ Find links & organize your ideas: definitions, general ideas, longer explanations, examples, sentences I like and I want to use in the oral exam
N.B. AVOID SEXISM
> use the plural > people / heroes / they / them / their
People who fight for more rights in their country or rebel against oppression, discrimination or their government and end up in prison are heroes.
Heroes don’t mind making efforts or sacrifices to make things happen or achieve their goals.
Drawing a distinction between real life and fiction will help answer the question: What is a hero?
A myth is an ancient story about gods, heroes and magic.
Heroes believe they can change the way things are. They do their best to make this world a better place.
For 90% of a novel, readers don’t want the characters to be happy. They want them to be hunted, stressed, threatened, freaked… with a dreadful sense of looming danger and a horrible fate ahead.
As David Bowie put it in a song : « We can be heroes ». Anybody can be a hero depending on the circumstances.
Heroes don’t always need power and ability to be extraordinary.
People who have power draw our interest and fascinate us. There are many forms of power: wealth, position or physical strength.
In fantasies, we’re interested in the characters who can actually practise magic. They evoke wonder, respect and sometimes awe.
We should feel grateful towards heroes and thank them for their feat or achievement.
We cannot help but be interested in characters who are, do, or have things we want.
One of the reasons why James Bond and all the other action heroes are so popular is that, among other things, many of us would just love to live the adventures these heroes do.
A hero can be extraordinary because he or she simply has extraordinary experience or because he or she is just outrageous, bizarre, eccentric, odd or has some strange quirk.
The question “What is a hero?” raises other questions:
“What kind of people draw our interest?” and “Why do we need heroes?”
We’re also interested in people who are in danger or who present a threat of some sort. How many stories are about criminals, bank robbers, prisoners, swindlers?
People who are uncommon in some way draw our interest.
We admire heroes for what they did, not necessarily for who they are.
Heroes are people who deserve a medal and our respect.
People who are beautiful capture our attention. Heroes often evoke the image of beauty in people’s minds.
People with extraordinary skills or talents draw our interest.
In fact, true heroes, the ones who make us stand up and cheer, are the embodiment of deservingness. They are people who put their own happiness at risk to do the right thing.
We just love mysteries and secrets. We like it even better when secrets affect how much we like a character or how much we can understand the situation that the character faces and has to cope with.
We are fascinated by people who can do things well or have some gift. In fact, this ability is often seen as a type of power.
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