Heroes

STEP ONE: Gather Your Search Terms

Be strategic, creative, and thorough as you develop your list of search terms. You will be using these terms to search databases, catalogs, and the web.

You can search for sources about the big ideas you're exploring in class:

heroes
archetypes
myths

You can also look for sources about specific literary works/characters:

Beowulf
Odysseus
Achilles
your literary hero

Finding sources on authors can also be very helpful as you complete your analysis:

Joseph Campbell
Otto Rank
Lord Ragland
Carl Jung
your author

STEP TWO: Find Useful Topic Overviews to Build Core Knowledge

Start with the MJC Library's background reading databases. Gale eBooks and eBook Collection: EBSCOhost are two databases you can use to find topic overviews of major ideas, authors, and specific characters and works.

The articles below are just a few of your options; search the databases and you'll find many more gems.

Analysis of Jung's The Archtypes and the Collective Unconscious
Chapter from 50 Psychology Classics by Tom Butler-Bowdon
Archetypes
Overview article on Jungian archetypes from The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology
Campbell, Joseph (1904-1987)
Concise overview on Campbell and his monomyth theory.
Heroes
This article has a great section on Theories of Hero Myths
Myth
This article is dense, but discusses all the theories explored in your course.

STEP THREE: Find More Focused Information (including scholarly sources)

When you are ready to move beyond background reading, the library has databases where you can find magazine articles, journal articles, and even films. Three of the databases listed below -- Gale Databases, EBSCOhost Databases, and JSTOR -- include scholarly journal articles.

EBSCOhost Databases This link opens in a new window
Search multiple databases simultaneously covering almost any topic you need to research at MJC. EBSCO databases include scholarly journals, as well as magazines, newspapers, books, and conference proceedings.
Films on Demand This link opens in a new window
Use Films on Demand when you want educational video content. This streaming video collection contains unlimited, 24/7 access to thousands of videos.
Instructions for embedding Films on Demand into Canvas.
Gale Databases This link opens in a new window
Search multiple databases covering almost any topic you need to research at MJC. Gale databases include scholarly journals as well as magazines, newspapers, books, videos, and images.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR currently offers more than 12 million scholarly journal articles, 100,000 books, and millions of images and primary source materials in 75 disciplines
Kanopy This link opens in a new window
Kanopy is a video streaming database with a broad selection of over 26,000 documentaries, feature films and training videos from thousands of producers.
World Folklore and Folklife This link opens in a new window
Covers broad subjects like literature, gender roles, and cultural studies by exploring international topics like celebrations, rituals, myths, religion, beliefs, urban legends, music, dance, holidays, food, tales, and traditional arts and crafts

STEP FOUR: Explore the Library's Collection

Mythology by Edith Hamilton
An eBook version of your textbook.
A New Hope: Star Wars: Episode IV by George Lucas
An eBook version of your textbook.
Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
Call Number: East Campus BL313 .C28 2008
Campbell outlines the Hero's Journey, a universal motif of adventure and transformation that runs through virtually all of the world's mythic traditions.
The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious by Jung, Carl
Jung's essay is contained in this eBook
The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth, and Drama by Lord Raglan
Heroic figures, invested with a common pattern that satisfies the human desire for idealization, are the focus of this intriguing study of legendary characters -- from Oedipus and King Arthur to heroes of the Trojan War and Robin Hood.
The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler
Call Number: PN1996 .V64 2020
Publication Date: 2020
Writers are storytellers. The best of them have utilized the principles of myth to create masterful stories that are dramatic, entertaining and psychologically true. Based on the work of Joseph Campbell, this edition provides an insider's look at how writers (both fiction and non-fiction) can utilize mythic structure to create powerful narratives. Writers will discover step by step guidelines for structuring plots and creating realistic characters.

More great books are available in and through the MJC Library. Use OneSearch to connect to them.

OneSearch (Library Catalog) This link opens in a new window
One Search provides simple, one-stop searching for books and e-books, videos, articles, digital media, and more.

Related research guides

Use these MJC Library Research Guides to learn important research skills:

Evaluate Your Sources
Ready, Set, Cite MLA
Use this guide for detailed instructions on formatting, in-text citations, and works cited pages.

Your class librarian

Kathleen Ennis

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Subjects: Arts & Humanities, Biography, Citing Sources, Communication Studies, English, Faculty Guides, Library How-to, Research Tips