ACTIVITY

A Di� erent Kind of Heroine1.12SUGGESTED LEARNING STRATEGIES: Graphic Organizer, Notetaking, Drafting

It is not typical for an adolescent female to be portrayed as a hero in literature. As your teacher shows you selected clips from Mulan, note how Mulan’s imperfections lead ultimately to her glory and the honor of her family. Take notes on the graphic orgnizer below and on the next page.

Scene Describe Mulan’s actions.How does Mulan

feel about herself?How do others feel

about Mulan?

Explain which stage in the hero’s journey this scene

refl ects.

1 Mulan attempts to be perfect but fails when the cricket jumps on the matchmaker.

Mulan feels she has failed and dishonored her family.

Others feel Mulan is a disgrace.

This scene may represent a call to adventure because it drives Mulan to honor her family.

2

3

She is nervous and is desperately trying to fi t in.

Mulan feels unsure of herself and wants to prove herself in order to gain acceptance.

Others are angry with Mulan because they have to do extra work because of something she started.

This may represent the Beginning of the Adventure, because this is when she actually begins training with the men.

Mulan buries the Huns in an avalanche and saves her fellow soldiers and her commander. She also gets hurt.

She is confi dent in her abilities and feels proud of herself.

Others call Mulan “the bravest of us all” and are very grateful to her for saving their lives.

This may represent both the Road of Trials, because of the Huns’ attack and the avalanche, or the Ultimate Boon because she has fi nally proven herself.

40 SpringBoard® English Textual Power™ Level 3

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ActiVity  1.12A Different Kind of Heroine

Materials:• Video of Mulan, directed by Tony

Bancroft and Barry Cook, 1998

Purpose:• To develop the definition of a hero

• To examine the hero’s journey in a nonprint text

steps:

TEACHER To TEACHER

If Mulan is unavailable, do not substitute a different

film; however, do have students read “Woman Warrior,” but only after you have summarized the story for them.

1Introduce the story of Mulan. You might ask a student to summarize the story for the class. (A Chinese girl fails in the traditional women’s role and goes to war in place of her ailing father. After much turmoil, she ends up saving China.) Explain to students that Mulan is an atypical hero who does great and mighty deeds, but is not perfect.

2Show the following clips from the film and ask students to take notes on the graphic organizer.

• Clip 1 (Scene 5: 0:09:08–0:11:25): Begin with Mulan outside the matchmaker’s home. End when the matchmaker tells Mulan that she will never bring honor to her family.

• Clip 2 (Scenes 14-15: 0:32:53–0:36:09): Begin when Mulan’s commander asks her name. End when Mushu sends her off to training: “My little baby off to destroy people.”

• Clip 3 (Scenes 21-22: 0:53:00–0:59:41): Begin with the scene after the company finds the burned village (“We’ll make better time through the pass”) and end where Ping is wounded.

• Clip 4 (Scene 23: 1:00:24–1:04:10): The soldiers discover that Mulan is a woman and leave her alone. End where Mushu says, “We started this thing together, and that’s how we’ll finish it, I promise.”

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continued

ACTIVITY 1.12

4

5

Writing Prompt: Write a thesis statement explaining whether Mulan’s faults help her to become a hero or hinder her. Then, write two to four sentences that support your thesis statement with evidence from the fi lm.

Mulan is sad and alone and acts defeated. She decides to return home.

Mulan feels ashamed and disgraced, as if she has shamed her father and family.

Others are angry and feel as if Mulan betrayed them by disguising herself as a man.

This may represent the Refusal of the Return because Mulan does not want to return to her old life but feels as if she must.

Mulan tries to warn people of the Huns, but they don’t listen. Then she saves the emperor and the commander from the Huns and receives honor for doing so.

She feels confi dent and proud that she has brought honor to her family and that she has proven herself.

Others feel that Mulan is a hero and should be regarded as one. The emperor wants her to join his council, but she returns to her family instead.

This represents the Crossing, or Return Threshold, because Mulan now takes all of the wisdom and confi dence gained back to her life.

Unit 1 • The Challenge of Heroism 41

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ActiVity  1.12 continued

steps:• Clip 5 (Scenes 25-28: 1:06:00–

1:16:56): The Huns survive the avalanche. Mulan wants to warn the emperor. Start with her saying “to find someone who will believe me” and end with everyone bowing to her.

3As you show each clip, reinforce students’ knowledge of the stages of the hero’s journey. Explain that they will apply this information in Embedded Assessments 1 and 2.

4Ask students to draft a brief response to the Writing Prompt. If you choose, you can ask them to expand this writing into a more complete character description.

5Direct students to expand on their response to the essential Question: What defines a hero? Students should consider strategies of definition as they incorporate ideas from the nonprint text.

teacher notes

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Unit 1 • The Challenge of Heroism ��