This book was the primary text on mythological structure used in the course for which I wrote this paper, and draws quite a bit from the writings of Joseph Campbell (author of The Hero With a Thousand Faces).  My discussion of the ALW musical is therefore constrained to the scope of Vogler's perception of mythic structure, something he calls the "heroic journey."  In other words, this paper is very technical and may be difficult to understand if you don't have a basic understanding of Vogler's and Campbell's journey structure.

What follows is a *very brief* explanation of the main ideas used in the paper.

1.  Most stories can be broken up into twelve "Stages of the Journey" which the Hero experiences.
     (specialized terms are explained in parentheses)

• Ordinary World
• Call to Adventure (action is required)
• Refusal of the Call (reluctance to act)
• Meeting with a Mentor (teacher, advisor, etc.)
• Crossing the First Threshold (leaving home to begin the adventure, etc.)
• Enemies, Allies, Tests
• Approach to the Inmost Cave (building tension, foreshadowing, etc.)
• Ordeal
• Reward
• Road Back (the chase, or the journey home)
• Resurrection (literal or figurative, cheating of death, etc.)
• Return with the Elixer (sharing of prize & knowledge gained)

2.  The "Journey" takes place over two different realms: the Ordinary World and the Special World.
     The Hero begins in the former, crosses into the latter and then returns to the former.

3.  Archetypes dominate mythic structure.  Characters may be influenced by one or more
     archetypes, although each archetype has a specialized effect on the plot.  There may be
     subdivisions under each archetype.  Main archetypes include (but are not limited to):

• Hero
• Mentor
• Threshold Guardian
• Herald
• Shadow
• Shapeshifter

Now, if you've gotten through THAT,
on to the paper!