HERO NOTES: Dave Pelzer

Using Powerpoint to Collect and Organize Your Notes

GOAL: minimum25 or more notes

Hero TAG – What kind of a hero is Pelzer according to Barron?

“For a hero, what counts is character. For a celebrity, what counts is fame.” (Barron 3)

Pelzer - blend of survivor hero and hero within.

– Survivor Hero: a person who overcomes a major survival experience such as a plane disaster, accident, or act of terrorism > > > relates to a person’s will to live (Barron 33)

– Hero Within: a person who overcomes a major battle within himself/herself > > > relates to a personal challenge such as a physical challenge, illness, addiction, depression (self rescue) (Barron 53)

Challenges – What were his challenges in his early life?-physically, mentally, verbally, and emotionally abused by his alcoholic mother

- started with small disciplinary consequences (sitting in the corner) and changed to burns and bruises (Pelzer 30)

-“Gripping my arm, Mother held it in the orange-blue flame. My skin seemed toe explode from the heat. I could smell the scorched hairs from my burnt arm.” (Pelzer 40)

Challenges – What were his challenges in his early life?

- abuse gradually came from his brothers also; took advantage of him and viewed him as a family slave with continual bullying (Pelzer 36)

- “When they approached me, my heart became hard as tone, and I am sure that they saw the hate etched in my face.” (Pelzer 135)

Challenges – What were his challenges in his adult life?

- joined the Air Force at age 18; flew plans that refueled the SR-71 Blackbird and f-117 Stealth Fighters, both used in highly secretive military operations in Iraq

- continued to deal with the consequences of his abuse as an adult and had a goal of making himself a better person (“All About Dave Pelzer.”)

Challenges – How did he overcome his challenges?

Challenges – How was his life different after the challenges?

Revelations – What did he learn about life?

Revelations – How does he pay it forward?

Return – How did he return home?

Return – What is his life like today?

Works Cited

"About Dave Pelzer." Dave Pelzer - The Official Site

N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2013.

<http://www.davepelzer.com/about.html>.

Pelzer, David J.. A child called "it": an abused child's

journey from victim to victor. Deerfield Beach,

Fla.: Health Communications, 1995. Print.