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11/18/15

Nick Romero
Period 5
The Martian by Andy Weir has many of the stages of the Heros Journey. One stage it
shows is the Ordinary World. Ordinary World is where the hero starts and he or she usually finds
this part unfulfilling. Watney experiences the Ordinary World when walking on Mars or doing
missions with his crew. The regular check-ins and daily tasks NASA makes them do may get
boring at times and is an unfulfilling job to Mark. Watney, although elated to be on Mars because
you only get to do such a thing once in a lifetime, also longs for more. This is represented by
Watneys groans and not wanting to get out of bed after being awoken by his commander,
Watney added his voice to a chorus of groans (Weir 132) and Bad people take pillow,
Watney groaned, unwilling to open his eyes (Weir 133). Mark definitely experiences the
Ordinary World stage in this novel, and it sets up the rest of the stages in the Heros Journey
well.
Another stage of the Heros Journey that Mark goes through is The Approach. The
Approach is a stage where the hero prepares and may mourn the dead. In this novel, Watney is
approaching a major ordeal in which he has a chance of being saved by being picked up in the
orbit of Mars. In order to do this, though, he needs to prepare very much by making adjustments
to different things. These adjustments include modifying rover, In that time, I need to modify
the rover to carry the Big Three.. (Weir 217), make plans for food and water on his trip, and
learn how to navigate the MAV he will have to launch. In the Heros Journey, the hero needs to
make these adjustments and must organize in order to complete his journey. Not only will
Watney have to prepare and plan, but so will NASA and his crew or else he will never make it
back to mankind. NASA and his crew will have to do a lot of math and they must account for

every sol Watney will be on Mars, The flyby is on Sol 549, so Ill need to leave by 449. That
gives me 257 sols to get my ass in gear (Weir 217). The Approach is a key stage in the Heros
Journey. It is where the Hero prepares in order to face the Supreme Ordeal or The Resurrection.
Watney, NASA, and his crew all prepare and work hard in order to be ready for whats about to
come.

Advanced
(10)

Proficient

7.

Partially

(8.5)

Prof. (7)

Unsatisfactory ND
(5)

Critical

The stage is

The stage is

The stage is

The definition

Thinking

thoroughly

defined and

defined, but

of the stage is

correctly

definition is

incomplete or

identified.

brief and

too brief to

lacking.

show an

The stage is

understanding

somewhat

of the stage.

correctly

The stage is

identified.

not identified

(Identificatio defined and


n)

correctly

Stage 1

identified.

correctly.
Critical

The stage

There is

There is

There is very

gives specific

evidence for

some

little evidence,

(Explanation evidence, and

this stage,

evidence to

and the

and Analysis) there is

and there is

support the

explanation of

thorough

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stage, but

how the

explanation

of how this

the

evidence

of how this

evidence

explanation

supports the

evidence

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of how the

stage is

supports this

this stage of

stage is

confusing or

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too brief.

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brief and

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an attempt to

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explain how

detailed

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of how this

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of how this

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of how this

hero and plot,

stage affects

affects the

stage affects

but is

the hero and

hero and

the hero and

ineffective,

plot.

plot.

plot.

confusing, or

Thinking

Stage 1

brief.

Critical

The stage is

The stage is

The stage is

The definition

Thinking

thoroughly

defined and

thoroughly

of the stage is

correctly

defined, but

incomplete or

identified.

definition is

too brief to

brief and

show an

lacking. The

understanding

stage is

of the stage.

somewhat

The stage is

correctly

not identified

identified.

correctly.

(Identificatio defined and


n)

correctly

Stage 2

identified.

Critical
Thinking

The stage

There is

There is

There is very

gives specific

evidence for

some

little evidence,

(Explanation evidence, and

this stage,

evidence to

and the

and Analysis) there is


Stage 2

and there is

support the

explanation of

thorough

explanation

stage, but

how the

explanation

of how this

the

evidence

of how this

evidence

explanation

supports the

evidence

supports

of how the

stage is

supports this

this stage of

stage is

confusing or

stage of the

the Heros

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too brief.

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Journey.

brief and

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an attempt to

There is

some

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explain how

detailed

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the stage

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of how this

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stage

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affects the

stage affects

but is

the hero and

hero and

the hero and

ineffective,

plot.

plot.

plot.

confusing, or
brief.

Communicati The paper is


on

The paper

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clearly

is

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communicate

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lacking in

and

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ed well with

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some

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and a

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paper either

balance

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with

has evidence

between

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or explanation

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(or both are

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more than

and

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explanation.

evidence and

one quote, and

that are

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explanation.

it is not

introduced

two quotes

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introduced or

and cited in

that are

least two,

cited correctly.

MLA format.

introduced

but they are

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No errors in

and cited in

not

errors in

grammar,

MLA

introduced

grammar,

spelling,

format.

and not cited

spelling,

mechanics,

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correctly.

mechanics,

etc.

errors in

Many errors

etc. Enough to

grammar,

in grammar,

distract or

spelling,

spelling,

confuse the

mechanics,

mechanics,

reader.

etc.

etc.

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