Today in class, we watched scenes from Star Wars, The Fellowship of the Ring, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. In those clips, Luke, Frodo, and Harry each receives a call to adventure: a summons to leave  the world he has known and to embark on a journey.  We talked about Jonas from The Giver and his call to adventure.

Students watched and then came up with a longer list of people who have received such a call, highlighted here:

• The Avengers are called to adventure by Nick Fury
• Ender Wiggin is called to adventure when he is accepted to Battle School
• Katniss is called to adventure when her sister’s name is drawn in the reaping
• Amy Pond is called to adventure when she discovers the crack in her bedroom wall
• One Direction is  called to adventure by Simon Cowell
• Superman is called to adventure by his father
• Peter Parker is called to his life as Spider Man when his uncle is killed
• Eragon is called to adventure when he finds a dragon egg
• Percy Jackson is called to adventure when he discovers he is a demigod
• Tris is called to save the factions from the Uprising
• Tony Stark is called to adventure when his father dies, leaving him a legacy to fulfill
• Stuart Little is called to adventure when the husband drops the wife’s wedding ring down the drain
• Brian Robison is called to survive in the forest after the plane crash

Here in Dan Priest’s video are more scenes from more stories that develop around a character called to adventure. Can you think of your own list of examples from fiction? How about from reality? People called to their life’s accomplishment by circumstance or inner voice?  In what way have YOU been called to adventure?