Jenny Vo

Professor Hymes
English 114B
27 January 2014
Definition of a Hero
Coates, Joseph F. "The Future of Heroism." Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 59.3
(1998): 305-308.
In this article, Coates talks about how he believes that heroism falls under four categories.
Those four categories are; people who perform deeds that are not expected, people who risk their
lives to protect others, people who break new ground despising what may happen to their
reputation, and people who risk their life to achieve some political or social objective. An
example that Coates gives from a hero who performs unexpected deeds is a Sergeant named
Andrew who took a brave challenge to protect his country. Examples of people who risk their
lives to protect others are police officers and firemen. Van Gogh the artist and Semmelweis are
examples of people who break new ground. And examples of people who risk their lives to
achieve some political or social objective are Ghandi and Mandela. All of these categories share
characteristics that define what a hero is, such as bravery, loyalty, commitment, and fearless.