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The form of a quest narrative is simple. Basically, the author describes his or her desire to do something, see something, experience something, discover something.
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What is a quest in a story?
What is a quest in English?
What are the characteristics of a quest?
How do you write a quest?
How to Write a Quest. Most quests begin with similar premises and follow similar lines from beginning to end. The following are key characteristics of quests: A hero—crucial to any quest. A goal to be accomplished with innocent people relying on the hero’s success.
- I. What Is A Quest?
- II. Example of A Quest
- III. Importance of Quests
- IV. Examples in Literature
- V. Examples in Pop Culture
- VI. Related Terms
A quest (/kwest/) is a journey that someone takes in order to achieve a goal or complete an important task. Accordingly, the term comes from the Medieval Latin questa, meaning “search” or “inquiry.” Quests are heroic in nature, usually featuring one protagonist who goes on a dangerous mission against all odds to save a group of people or society. S...
Read the following short passage: The above passage introduces the audience to a man about to embark on his quest. It identifies three important things—a hero, a journey, and a goal (finding the jewel). Furthermore, it reveals that many things are relying on the man’s success, and warns that there will be significant consequences should he fail.
Authors have been creating imaginative tales about heroes embarking on quests since the beginnings of English literature. They play a central role in epics such as Beowulf and Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad, as well as in medieval romance works like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Sir Thomas Malory’s tales of King Arthur. Since it so closely follows...
Example 1
One of the most important pieces of English literature is the medieval epic poem Beowulf, which tells the story of a warrior’s quest to save a faraway kingdom. The hero and protagonist Beowulf sets out from his own kingdom to try to defeat the monster Grendel, who has been tormenting the kingdom of Herot and killing it’s people. In the passage below, Beowulf explains the reason for his arrival in Herot to the king: Here Beowulf explains that when he and his men set out on their journey, it wa...
Example 2
One of literature and film’s best-loved quests can be found at the heart of J.R.R.Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, which tells the tale of Frodo Baggins and his quest to destroy the Ring of Power. Unlike many quests, Frodo is no hero or warrior when he begins his journey, but this makes him special. Despite being a simple Hobbit and against all odds, he sets on a quest to Mount Doom in the dark lands of Mordor. His goal is to destroy the Ring, the only way to end evil and the Dark Lord Sau...
Example 1
In the film version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, a teenage Harry Potter spends the school year taking special lessons with Professor Dumbledore, where he learns about the Dark Lord Voldemort’s past and the creation of the Horcruxes, dark magical devices that split the soul so that one can keep living if they are killed. Dumbledore is guiding Harry because in order to defeat Voldemort, all of the Horcruxes must be destroyed—a task the young wizard will eventually have to complete...
Example 2
Quests don’t always have to be serious—they can be made into comedy as well. The film Monty Python and the Holy Grail by the British comedy group Monty Python is a parody of traditional tales about “the quest for the Holy Grail,” a legendary quest taken by medieval knights. In the infamous clip below, King Arthur has to defeat the Black Knight in order to cross the bridge, and a duel ensues: Battles occur all the time in quests, but the one in this clip is mocking a traditional duel by making...
Epic
An epic is a legendary tale about a great hero on quest, usually with some form of divine intervention. Epics have a particularly large presence in medieval English literature and often feature aspects of mythology. Quests and epics do go hand in hand, but people often make the mistake of using the terms interchangeably—a quest is a plot device found withinan epic, but is not an epic itself.
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- The Main Character Crash-Lands in a Mythical, Magic Land, and Must Find a Way Home. This quest story idea is the storyline of stories like the Wizard of Oz and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
- The Search for a Magical Item. Another type of quest story is a story that sends the main character in search of a magical item. For example, stories about characters who went off searching for the Holy Grail fit this story arc.
- The Call to Save the City. Another type of quest story is a call to save society or the city. This typically happens when some dire threat is bearing down on the community, and only the main character and their friends can find the solution.
- A Hero Stumbles Upon a Quest. Sometimes, the best way to write a quest story is to make it a surprise to the main character. When the character doesn’t go out in search of a quest, but rather stumbles onto a problem or something magical that sends them onto a quest.
Mar 6, 2024 · The idea of a quest involves setting a character or group of characters a task that must be completed to retrieve, find or unearth something or someone. It usually involves a journey, which is often parallel...
May 7, 2020 · The Quest is a search for a place, item, or person that requires the hero to leave home in order to find it. Sometimes the item is just a MacGuffin to drive the plot along; other times the thing driving the quest is specific to the story's circumstances.
Feb 27, 2019 · A quest is an adventurous journey undergone by the main character or protagonist of a story. The protagonist usually meets with and overcomes a series of obstacles, returning in the end with the benefits of knowledge and experience from his quest.
