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What exactly is the archetypal task? How is it completed? (Sadie)

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What exactly is the archetypal task? How is it completed? (Sadie)

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In "Where the Wild Things Are", Max embarks on a trip in search of self-awareness and personal development. The call to adventure, the voyage, and the return home are some of the steps that make up the hero's journey a common narrative in literature. Max's thirst for freedom and adventure serves as the story's call to action. He leaves his house on a boat after being scolded by his mother in search of a freedom to do whatever he pleases. While he is on the island, he realizes his full potential as a leader and a wild thing. However, the narrative ends with Max realizing how much he misses his mother and "Max, the king of all wild creatures, felt lonely and longed to be where someone loved him best of all"(Sendak 32). The book's images show Max floating back home with a contented expression on his face, indicating that he has accepted his longing for his home. Sendak illustrates Max journey of personal development, which is the archetypal task. In Max's fantasy world, he takes position of king of the wild things; However, he realizes the value of feeling loved and at home. Additionally, Sendak employs his skill to vividly depict the journey and contrast the domesticity of family life with the wildness of the island. he hero's trip is brought to life by Sendak's skillful use of vibrant images and innovative prose. In order to emphasize the contrast between the two and the temptation of adventure and freedom, he also contrasts Max's mundane family life with the wildness of the island of the Wild Things. Additionally, he utilizes the chaos as the narrative's conclusion to emphasize the value of embracing one's wild side and letting free of social restrictions.

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Who is the magical child saving from what? What is the lesson? (Robert)

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Who is the magical child saving from what? What is the lesson? (Robert)

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Throughout the short story, Sendak utilizes Max as the magical child but the question lies in what is being saved. Sendak answers this under the lines of his diction as well as the images he used. It is not so much saving but preserving and it's the innocence of a child. Through these images, he was also able to convey the lesson of the short story as well, being that children utilize their creativity and imagination to deal with their disorderly emotions.
Sendak utilizes these images to capture the underlying emotions of the characters in the story due to the concise amount of words in the story. Sendak includes images of Max being rambunctious in the beginning, then transforming into his anger of being punished, then showing him realizing that being upset and angry is not better, and finally establishing that he is happy once again once he returns home. These images convey how a child's emotions swing fast and their feelings often dictate their actions heavily. Max was a perfect example of this when he "leaves" his room and it transforms into a jungle. He is trying to escape his mom because he was punished by her. His emotions overtake and anger turns into him choosing to leave. By leaving, Max is able to save his innocence because he doesn't handle his emotions well because he's still unaware of many things. This overall highlights the lesson as well.
All in all, Sendak uses his images to portray his lesson to the audience while using Max as the magic child. He is preserving his innocence through his imagination, creating a message that children need their imagination and creativity to eventually grow.

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What is the significance of the "Still hot dinner" left for Max at the end of the story?

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What is the significance of the "Still hot dinner" left for Max at the end of the story?

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In the beginning Sendak uses Max not getting his supper as his punishment and his mothers showing of anger but compared to at the end of the story when they make up and she's not mad at him anymore she shows her love to him by serving him with some warm food, implying that in fact she does accept him and wants him to be included and not be the "outcast"

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What is the magic? What wisdom or wickedness does the magic represent? (Robert)

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What is the magic? What wisdom or wickedness does the magic represent? (Robert)

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In the short story, Sendak incorporates how Max travels to this land of magical creatures and strangeness. Sendak specifically structures the story this way to convey that child-like feeling of creativity and innocence to his audience. He does this because of the difficulty for children to deal with their rollercoaster of emotions which shows the importance of the children's imagination.
Although Sendak doesn't specifically incorporate how Max's imagination takes him to this place where the wild things are, that is the true magic along with the wild things themselves. The magic represents the innocence of the child and the creativity of a child. Max, like most children, has many emotions throughout his life and it becomes difficult to deal with these emotions. Max essentially escapes his home to this far away land through the power of his imagination. Since this power is so strong with children, to the audience, it's only seen through the eyes of Max who truly does believe he's in this far away place. Sendak successfully depicts how the innocence and imagination of children allows them to deal with their mixed and often difficult emotions.
Overall, the magic and wisdom is truly the innocence and creativity of a child who tries to escape his problems through his own special magic; creativity. Children utilize their "magic," being their imagination, to aid in their difficulty to comprehend their emotions and truly deal with them. As Max grows he learns his emotions and has better control, allowing him to not have to rely on his imagination as much. Sendak creates Max to represent children in general and successfully explains his theme of imagination along the way.

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Sendak begins to introduce Max as a typical rebellious, misunderstood child then proceeds to show the punishment he receives from his mom, leaving him feeling helpless and filled with regret. As he enters his room his imagination starts to run off and creates a world in which he is in charge and he belongs with a group that embraces him as one of theirs by supplying supper for him and crowning him "king."
Max being  a young child with no authority leaves him to aspire to be something with exactly that, hence why he feels powerful and comfortable in his wolf costume.

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Sendak highlights Max's ability to create a world of his own. The wild child explores this fantasy jungle, in which he escapes to. Max enjoys this idea of everyone living in his magical world, praising and serving him, along with his ability to have unlimited freedom. Whereas his mother confines his freedom and fun, like when he chases his dog around with a fork. Max's mother encourages him to skip dinner since he has been acting like a "crazy beast" in the book (Sendak 7). Although Max resents his mother then, he realizes he was " lonely and longed to be where someone loved him best of all" when he is deserted on the island of the wild things(Sendak 19). Max's desire for freedom and adventure is another factor in his decision to abandon his mother. Max is shown as a creative and daring youngster who is constantly seeking out new experiences throughout the entire book. Through Sendaks use of vivid illustrations, creative language, and the juxtaposition of the of home life with the wildness of the island, he illustrates how he is angry with his mother, yearning for adventure and freedom, and going through the developmental stage of separation-individuation.

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What, really, is the "wild rumpus"? (Sadie)

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What, really, is the "wild rumpus"? (Sadie)

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The wild rumpus in “Where the Wild Things Are” revolves around the hysterical commotion on Max’s fantasy island. The wild rumpus is the story's climax because it marks the pinnacle of Max's adventure. While Max ventures his fantasy world he leads the wild rumpus that "starts getting wilder and wilder" as Max and the Wild Things dance and play (Sendak 21). The wild rumpus's themes might be interpreted as an illustration of the strength of creativity and the thrill of letting rid of restraints. Max is allowed to fully embrace his wild side during the wild rumpus, which celebrates freedom and wildness. Max is able to be himself without being constrained by conventional norms when he is at the wild rumpus. The chaos can also be viewed as one of the story's archetypal elements. The chaos can be understood as a manifestation of the "wild man," a Jungian archetype that stands for the wild and instinctual sides of human nature. Sendak emphasizes the value of embracing our wild nature and letting go of social restrictions through the chaos. He contrasts Max's mundane home life with the wildness of the wild rumpus, underlining the contrast between the two and the temptation of wildness and freedom. Sendak illustrates the wild runpus to serve as a key element of the narrative. In addition, Sendak brings the narrative to life with vibrant images, it is a frantic and chaotic celebration that symbolizes the power of creativity and the joy of letting go of inhibitions.

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Who is the magical child? How is he different from the other children? How is he "marked?" What are his magical qualities? (Robert)

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Who is the magical child? How is he different from the other children? How is he "marked?" What are his magical qualities? (Robert)

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Sendak establishes Max as the magical child with his journey to this strange world with mythical creatures. Though his journey is internal and occurs through his imagination, in this short story, Sendak is creating Max to be the central character who's magic brought him to the other word. These qualities convey Max's ability to leave the space he is in to think of this "better" mystical world and leave the "worse" world behind, thinking if he could move out of his own world and live a different life he could abandon his loneliness.
Max is somewhat of an outsider, given his rascal-like demeanor, which brings him to this other world with "people" that are different and outsiders like him. By leaving the world behind and taking this journey, Sendak marks him as the magical child who must journey to fit in and lose his loneliness. He magically teleports himself in this other jungle-like world in search of fitting in. His magic is his imagination that transforms his world into an alternate one. In his journey he finds partial happiness at times but then falls back into his own loneliness and decides it's no better.
This rambunctious kid finds nothing but more loneliness on his journey and decides this world is not better than the original world he was in and decides he'll go back to his room. He realizes that he doesn't need to fit in to feel loved and lose his loneliness. Even though he's different, he's still a part of society and welcomed even though at times it may be difficult. He also realizes there's no reason to leave his life for another because the one he has is welcoming and loving on it's own.