The Hero's Journey: An Introduction to Writing for College Courses and the Workplace

Myths About Writing

Task:

As you begin this course, you are beginning a journey a journey that adds to one that you are already undertaking as the hero in your own story. Importantly, you may be a little anxious about taking a writing course like this one; it might be because you believe some myths about writing. For instance, some people say that writing is a mysterious activity that cannot be taught or learned, and that some people who are good writers just write everything correctly the first time. It will become clear that these ideas are simply myths as your learning progresses during this course.

Throughout this course, we will be following the Hero's Journey. The Hero's Journey is a writing archetype or structure that follows a hero's progression from birth and quest to trials and epiphany, ending in death.

Further, as you work your way through the course, you will see that you are indeed on a Hero's Journey. You might wonder what this is at this point. This idea will unfold for you as you write assessments that solidify this notion, and as you progress through the course, you will see a variety of heroes depicted. As you encounter each one of them, think about what qualities you know about each and how any of these qualities might define you as your own hero.

This course emphasizes the importance of good writing, providing an introduction to the basic skills and processes used in writing for college courses and in the workplace. You will demonstrate basic skills and forms of writing that will also be used in your professional life after you complete your program at Capella. Have fun in this course!
In this course, you will learn:

Essential elements of the writing process: invention, drafting, revision, and editing.
Critical reading and thinking skills necessary to produce sound written work.
Research and documentation processes.
Strategies for producing papers with various goals.

Here are some heroes who helped others resolve obstacles and trials:

Corrie ten Boom, writer, worked with her family members to help many Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust during Second World War by hiding them in her home.
Alan Turing, father of artificial intelligence and theoretical computer science, helped the Allies defeat the Nazis by intercepting many coded messages. Although hard to measure, it is estimated that his work shortened Second World War in Europe by 2–4 years and saved millions of lives.
Emily Greene Balch, Peace Prize recipient, was an economist, sociologist, and pacifist who had long-standing interest in social issues such as poverty, child labor, and immigration.

Bill Gates, business person and technology guru, is also a philanthropist. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation focuses on health care goals, such as HIV/AIDS research and malaria vaccines.

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

Competency 1: Compose text that articulates meaning relevant to its purpose and audience.

Include information based on own professional understanding of the topic.

Competency 2: Integrate into text the appropriate use of scholarly sources and evidence.

Support the topic with academic research from one journal article.

Competency 3: Apply prewriting, planning, drafting, and revision skills.

Revise paper by incorporating feedback.

Competency 4: Apply accepted style conventions and written expression skills.

Apply proper formatting, including a title page, correct margins, font, and spacing.

Produce text with minimal grammar, usage, spelling, and mechanical errors.