A comic or graphic story is partly a work of visual art and partly a piece of creative writing. To complete this lesson’s assignment, you’ll need to bring both kinds of skills to the act of storytelling. You don’t have to be a great artist, though, or spend hours drawing and coloring small details. Instead, you can use simple, basic images to suggest what would happen in your story without providing a detailed illustration. (Remember that some of the slides in Holden’s story included single objects or faces.)
The most important requirement for this assignment is that your storyboard include all of the elements of the hero’s journey. Take some time to review those elements if you don’t remember them. Then, click each tab below and follow the directions to write some notes that you can use later to imagine your story and complete your storyboard.
Your hero can be young or old, male or female, human or some other species. In your notes, describe your hero, including your hero’s strengths and weaknesses. Also write down where your hero lives and what he or she does there.
What will happen to upset your hero’s way of life? What event or problem will force your hero to leave home and embark upon a quest or attempt to change his or her situation? Identify the conflict, and describe its possible consequences.
Who will guide your hero on their journey, or provide useful advice? What kind of help will be offered, and how will your hero respond to the offer? How will your helper and the hero meet?
How will your hero be transformed into someone capable of greatness? What kinds of tests or training will lead to this change? Describe what will happen to your hero during the transformation stage of the journey.
What will your hero do after the transformation is complete? Will there be a final test that shows the hero is ready to fulfill his or her destiny or become a leader? If the hero returns home, what will happen there? Briefly describe how your story will end.
Once you have written notes about each of the topics below, use them to complete the storyboard you printed out or downloaded on the previous page. (Remember, a storyboard is a plan for your comic or graphic story―not the story itself.)
Turn it in!
For each scene in your story, fill in a frame in your storyboard. Each frame should include a few sentences describing what would happen in the scene and also, in the shaded area, a rough sketch of how you would show that event.
When you are satisfied that your storyboard meets all of this lesson’s requirements, submit it to your teacher. Your work on this assignment will be graded using the rubric below.
| Points | Criteria | |
|---|---|---|
| The Hero’s Departure 4 points |
4 | Your story includes the departure stage of the hero’s journey―details about the character and/or setting, and a conflict that forces the hero to leave or change. |
| The Hero’s Transformation 4 points |
4 | Your story includes the initiation or transformation stage of the hero’s journey, which may include a helper or guide but always involves some kind of training or a test of courage or character. |
| The Hero’s Return 4 points |
4 | Your story includes the hero’s return, a time when the hero shares the knowledge or skills gained during the transformation stage. |
| The Written Plan 4 points |
4 | For each frame, your storyboard includes a description of what would happen during that scene. |
| The Visual Plan 4 points |
4 | For each frame, your storyboard includes a rough sketch showing how the scene would be illustrated. |
