What is the Ordinary World in the Wizard of Oz?

• A. Dorothy meets Glinda in Munchkinland after her house lands on the Wicked Witch of the East.
• B. Dorothy lives in Kansas with her aunt, uncle and dog Toto.
• C. Dorothy kills the Wicked Witch of the East.
• D. Dorothy is swept into the Yellow Brick Road to meet the Wizard.

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is identifying the hero’s normal life before the adventure begins. In The Wizard of Oz, that normal life is Dorothy living on a Kansas farm with her Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, and her dog Toto. This ordinary world sets the baseline: a familiar, everyday existence that contrasts with the magical, unfamiliar land she’ll enter once the journey starts. The tornado and the adventures that follow pull her away from this ordinary world, signaling the start of the quest. The other events—meeting Glinda in Munchkinland, defeating the Wicked Witch, or being swept onto the Yellow Brick Road to meet the Wizard—occur after the journey has begun and belong to the extraordinary world Dorothy experiences in Oz.