Heroic Debate Lesson 1

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

Today

• Heroic debate (PTA)
• Listening practise

Today

• Prepare Heroic debate (PTA)
• Optional: listening practise / news practise

Introduction heroic debate

(PTA 10%)

Assignment (PTA 10%)

• Have a debate while pretending to be a mythological hero.
• One-minute pitch in which you impersonate your mythological hero
• A 5–6-minute debate on a current affairs topic (pro-con)

Assignment requirements

• Work in pairs. 
• Both of you pick a hero or a well-known person from the same mythological tradition. 
• You can pick heroes from any mythological tradition. 
• Run your chosen heroes by your teacher before proceeding with the assignment.  

Defining Heroism

Heroic Debate

Mindmap

• What is a hero? 
• List qualities and examples of heroes from history, literature, and your own life using a mind map. 

www.ted.com

Analyse your hero

In pairs, analyse the story with the hero(ine) of your choice. 

1. What is your hero(ine) like?
2. What happens to them in each of the steps of the Hero’s Journey?
3. How does their story end?

Exchange your findings with another group.

https://creativeenglishteacher.com/pages/teaching-joseph-campbells-the-heros-journey

Wild geese

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

Keep up with the news

End-of-Year 2025 News Quiz

Practise listening in Woots.nl

Write news article

• Write an article on someone or some character you consider a hero.
• Explain why they are a hero. I.e. which characteristics does your hero have? 
• Mention an important feat of your hero in the article. Make sure your article is written in a lively and varied style. 

The Cosmic Egg, a Chinese myth 

"In the beginning there was a huge egg that held all the opposites — hot and cold, light and dark, wet and dry. Also inside was Phan Ku, a giant who was covered in hair. He had horns on his head and tusks sprang from his mouth. Phan Ku broke out of the egg and separated the opposites through all the world. Every day he carved out the mountains and oceans with his chisel and mallet. And every day, for 18,000 years he grew three metres taller. When Phan Ku died his skull became the sky, his breath, the wind, his flesh, soil, and his blood, rivers. The fleas in his hair became human beings." 

Trickster

• The trickster is a common character in myths, especially in fire myths. Read some trickster stories such as the Prometheus myth from Greece, the Anansi stories from Africa, and the Coyote stories from North America. 
• Is a trickster a hero?
• Write your own trickster tale about a naughty animal.

Trickster

• Most myths have a hero who is brave, clever or strong. Some examples are Perseus, Maui, Sigurd, Jason and Beowulf. The hero brings important gifts to his people (e.g. fire). He is a role model of right behavior and is greatly admired.
• The life story of a mythical hero usually follows this pattern:
• He has a special birth.
• He has unusual skills as a child.
• He is tested as a young man.
• He goes on a journey or quest to find something.
• He has difficult tasks to do.
• He has one weakness.
• He is rewarded for his effort.
• He dies a special death.
• Read a hero myth and see if you can find examples of each main event listed above.

Creation myths

• Look for patterns in creation myths. For example, creation myths often begin with the world in chaos, covered in water, or inside an egg. Divide the myths into categories.