WORD OF THE DAY! 3/24/12.

exile [eg-zahyl]

noun

1. Expulsion from one's native land by authoritative decree.

2. The fact or state of such expulsion: to live in exile.

3. A person banished from his or her native land.

4. Prolonged separation from one's country or home, as by force of circumstances: wartime exile.

5. Anyone separated from his or her country or home voluntarily or by force of circumstances.

verb

6. To expel or banish (a person) from his or her country; expatriate.

7. To separate from country, home,

EX. This is the last Avatar: The Last Airbender character analysis and the somewhat penultimate Word of the Day article in Avatar week. Today's subject is the exiled prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko. As the main villain for the first story arc, and the character with the most dramatic journey, there is a lot to talk about with this character.

MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT PART 1: THE CHILD HERO!
.

AND PART 2: THE MOTHER/THE DAMSEL!

AND PART 3: THE WISE FOOL

AND PART 4: THE LOVEABLE ROGUE

 AND PART 5: THE MENTOR

Zuko's story is one of transformation and passion. It is also the tale of a whiny teenager with Daddy issues.

WORD OF THE DAY! 3/21/12.

mentor [men-tahr]
noun
1. A wise and trusted counselor or teacher.
2. An influential senior sponsor or supporter.
verb
3. To teach, educate, advise; to act as a mentor.

EX. Yesterday we talked about the "Blind Bandit" and today we're talking about the "Dragon of the West." Zuko's mentor, his Uncle Iroh, stands out for a number of reasons as a character. He is one of the older characters, his goals and motives are a mystery, and he is basically Gandolf mixed with Danny Devito.

MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT PART 1: THE CHILD HERO!
.

AND PART 2: THE MOTHER/THE DAMSEL!

AND PART 3: THE WISE FOOL

AND PART 4: THE LOVEABLE ROGUE

An aside: One of my readers brought up the fact that one of the major weaknesses of the series is that it's light-hearted tone made it impossible to take the bad guys seriously. In a world torn by war and with several characters, including Iroh, with pasts defined by war and loss, such dramatic subjects were hardly covered seriously. Furthermore, the conclusion feels weak because a war, that involved massacre and genocide (only barely escaping a nation wide burning), was resolved so easily that the invading forces of the Fire Nation were basically all but unpunished for their war crimes. At least, within the context of the show.

This is relevant as Uncle Iroh, who also dips into the "Wise Fool" category also dips into two other archetypes.

WORD OF THE DAY! 3/18/12.

motherly [muth-er-lee]
adjective
1. pertaining to, characteristic of, or befitting a mother; maternal.
2. like a mother
3. protective, empathetic, gentle, loving, affectionate

EX. Today we're discussing the motherly figure of the group, who occasionally falls into the category of damsel-in-distress, Katara.

Katara is a tricky character to tie down to a single archetype, but here goes.

MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT PART 1: THE CHILD HERO!