The Hero's Journey Sparknotes
Storyline
1. At the beginning of the month of October, a little Canadian student named Charles had a day off from school, so he decided to go for a walk in the forest right near his house. He packed a bag, took a map, and now, he’s ready to leave his house.
2. As Charles walks down a grassed path, he feels the forest changing. He doesn’t recognize the trail as well as when he started his trip. The surrounding trees and the sounds are different.
3. Suddenly, the trail he was following stops and leads him into a clearing surrounded by very tall bamboo trees. In the middle of the clearing, sitting on a bench under a little shelter, a little Asian boy seems to be eating something.
4. Charles decides to approach him to ask for directions. Once he gets closer, he asks the child where he is because he thinks that he’s lost. He can’t seem to find his way home. The other kid responds that he’s in Taichung, in the middle of Taiwan.
5. Charles is astounded because he never traveled out of his country before, especially not as far as Asia. He doesn’t understand how he …show more content…
could’ve traveled from Canada to Taiwan like this. Therefore, Charles decides that he needs to make the most of that unexpected trip and that he has to get to know the boy, as well as his culture.
6.
The child, named A-ming, starts to describe his cultural habits and traditions. He explains to Charles that today is a special day because it’s the Moon Festival. This festival falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. Charles sees that A-ming is eating some kind of strange cake and that he’s eating with long colored sticks. He asks A-ming what those are, as he has never seen something like that before because in Canada, people eat with forks. A-ming explains that those instruments are named chopsticks, and it’s the common way to eat in Asia. He’s also a bit surprise to learn that in Canada, almost nobody eats with chopsticks. A-ming shows to Charles the cake he’s eating. He explains that it’s called “moon cake”. It’s only during the Moon Festival that people eat it, it’s one of Taiwan’s specialities. Charles is genuinely impressed because Taiwanese culture is entirely different from
his.
7. A-ming is intrigued, he also wants to learn more about the Canadian culture and asks Charles if there are any special foods in his country. Charles explains that one of the meals associated with the Quebec province is “poutine”, which basically consists of fried potatoes, squeaky cheese and brown sauce. A-ming laughs, as he has never heard of a meal like that before. He also asks Charles what’s the logo on the hat he’s wearing. Charles explains to his new friend that it’s the logo of his favourite hockey team: the Montreal Canadians. He tells A-ming that hockey is Canada’s national sport, especially in Quebec and that the Montreal Canadians are the team that represents his province all over North America. Charles also mentions that in Canada, we can play hockey outside during the winter. The ice can freeze because of temperatures from 0 to -35 degrees Celsius. A-ming is now afraid to come to Canada because in Taiwan, the temperature rarely drops below 11 degrees, far from 0 degrees!
8. Both boys are really glad to have had the opportunity to meet a child from another country and to get to know another culture better in those circumstances. Although, they notice that it is getting late, and that Charles should start to get back home. A-ming suggests that the safest way might be to retrace his steps, hoping he can go back the same way he came. The boys decide to exchange email addresses to keep in touch when both boys are home. They say goodbye to each other as Charles starts walking back.
9. Following the trail from where he first came, Charles succeeds to come back to his house as the sun is coming down on his town. He couldn’t believe everything he just experienced, he had the chance to talk with a Taiwanese boy, a child from the other side of the world. He went to his room to unpack his bag and found a red amulet hidden in his bag. Wow, a souvenir from his unexpected trip to Asia!
THE END
1. At the beginning of the month of October, a little Canadian student named Charles had a day off from school, so he decided to go for a walk in the forest right near his house. He packed a bag, took a map, and now, he’s ready to leave his house.
2. As Charles walks down a grassed path, he feels the forest changing. He doesn’t recognize the trail as well as when he started his trip. The surrounding trees and the sounds are different.
3. Suddenly, the trail he was following stops and leads him into a clearing surrounded by very tall bamboo trees. In the middle of the clearing, sitting on a bench under a little shelter, a little Asian boy seems to be eating something.
4. Charles decides to approach him to ask for directions. Once he gets closer, he asks the child where he is because he thinks that he’s lost. He can’t seem to find his way home. The other kid responds that he’s in Taichung, in the middle of Taiwan.
5. Charles is astounded because he never traveled out of his country before, especially not as far as Asia. He doesn’t understand how he …show more content…
could’ve traveled from Canada to Taiwan like this. Therefore, Charles decides that he needs to make the most of that unexpected trip and that he has to get to know the boy, as well as his culture.
6.
The child, named A-ming, starts to describe his cultural habits and traditions. He explains to Charles that today is a special day because it’s the Moon Festival. This festival falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. Charles sees that A-ming is eating some kind of strange cake and that he’s eating with long colored sticks. He asks A-ming what those are, as he has never seen something like that before because in Canada, people eat with forks. A-ming explains that those instruments are named chopsticks, and it’s the common way to eat in Asia. He’s also a bit surprise to learn that in Canada, almost nobody eats with chopsticks. A-ming shows to Charles the cake he’s eating. He explains that it’s called “moon cake”. It’s only during the Moon Festival that people eat it, it’s one of Taiwan’s specialities. Charles is genuinely impressed because Taiwanese culture is entirely different from
his.
7. A-ming is intrigued, he also wants to learn more about the Canadian culture and asks Charles if there are any special foods in his country. Charles explains that one of the meals associated with the Quebec province is “poutine”, which basically consists of fried potatoes, squeaky cheese and brown sauce. A-ming laughs, as he has never heard of a meal like that before. He also asks Charles what’s the logo on the hat he’s wearing. Charles explains to his new friend that it’s the logo of his favourite hockey team: the Montreal Canadians. He tells A-ming that hockey is Canada’s national sport, especially in Quebec and that the Montreal Canadians are the team that represents his province all over North America. Charles also mentions that in Canada, we can play hockey outside during the winter. The ice can freeze because of temperatures from 0 to -35 degrees Celsius. A-ming is now afraid to come to Canada because in Taiwan, the temperature rarely drops below 11 degrees, far from 0 degrees!
8. Both boys are really glad to have had the opportunity to meet a child from another country and to get to know another culture better in those circumstances. Although, they notice that it is getting late, and that Charles should start to get back home. A-ming suggests that the safest way might be to retrace his steps, hoping he can go back the same way he came. The boys decide to exchange email addresses to keep in touch when both boys are home. They say goodbye to each other as Charles starts walking back.
9. Following the trail from where he first came, Charles succeeds to come back to his house as the sun is coming down on his town. He couldn’t believe everything he just experienced, he had the chance to talk with a Taiwanese boy, a child from the other side of the world. He went to his room to unpack his bag and found a red amulet hidden in his bag. Wow, a souvenir from his unexpected trip to Asia!
THE END