As opposed to French, which famously exists as a natural truth of the universe. Even if we had never discovered French it would still be there… waiting.

You’re correct that Jupiter is the brightest object in the night sky besides (obviously) the sun and the moon.

The brightest star is Sirius, near the constellation Orion.

Polaris is absolutely NOT the brightest star in the sky. Not even close.

How to actually find it: Find the big dipper (I know you know what it looks like). Take the two stars at the front end of the “cup” part. Draw a line through them “up” and out of the cup until you hit a star. That’s it.