Thursday, January 3, 2013

Discussion Preparation



Lord of the Flies
putting it all together discussion preparation

Significant recurring characters
(as determined by you)

Piggy
Simon
Jack
Ralph
Roger
Samneric

Robert, Maurice, Bill

Littluns: boy with mulberry birthmark, Johnny, Percival, Henry

[Ralph's father the naval officer & the naval officer at the end]
Significant visual motifs
(as determined by you)
 
* Glasses/specs
* Butterflies (and/or maybe other small creatures)
* Fire
* Conch/shell
* Pigs/boar/sow/Lord of the Flies
* Places on the island (places of power, Simon's place, and/or scar)
* Vegetation on the island: creepers, candle buds
* Painted faces/mask
* Other aspects of the boys' appearance: hair, clothing
* Shelters/hut
* Rock
* Stick sharpened at both ends
*Beast(s)/monster(s)




Essential questions

What is human nature?
How do we suffer from ignorance of our own nature?
How do human nature and human society affect each other?

Key words/concepts to use to create your own essential question:
fear / control / reason / intuition / impulse / cruelty / kindness / needs / desires / hope / pessimism / charisma / extroversion / inwardness / introversion / power / responsibility

Activities

  • Create an essential question that Lord of the Flies addresses.

  • Choose a character that Golding uses to explore the question.
  • Find four or more passages in the novel in which Golding uses the development of the character to explore the question.
  • Optional: further prepare for the discussion by jotting down an explanation of how Golding uses the character to explore the question in each passage.

  • Choose a visual motif that Golding uses to explore the question.
  • Find four or more passages in the novel in which Golding uses the development of the visual motif to explore the question.
  • Optional: further prepare for the discussion by jotting down an explanation of how Golding uses the visual motif to explore the question in each passage.

3 comments:

  1. Logan H.
    My question that the book answers is "As government and order deteriorates, and instincts take control, how does our human nature cause us to change? What parts of us stay the same?


    The character that I have chosen to closely monitor throughout the novel was Roger. Some places that I noticed the connection between this character and my vital question were on pages 22, 43, 60, 121, 151, 159 and 190. On page 22, Roger is first introduced as the quiet one who doesn't say much. On this page, he is also the one o first bring up voting for chief. On page 43, Roger looks at the conch after they try to make a fire but there wasn't any smoke and tells the rest that he is afraid that they will never get rescued because he hasn't seen any boats. On page 60, Roger and Maurice run through the sand castles of the littluns. On page 121, the boys are talking about being frightened of the beast and Roger speaks up, claiming it is just a frog. The sound of Roger's voice startles them because they forget that he is there. On page 151, Roger is acting like a savage when the boys are killing a pig. On page 159, He tells one of the people who works for Ralph that they couldn't stop him from entering even if they wanted to. Finally, on page 190, Roger sharpens a stick at both ends and implies that he wants Ralph's head on the end of one.


    The visual motif that I chose to track throughout Lord of the Flies was the rocks, which has a very close connection to my character. A few places that I spotted the relevance of the rocks in response to the main question is in page 62, 136, 175 and 180. On page 62, he is bullying a “littlun” named Henry by throwing rocks at him, aiming to miss him. On page 136, They have just killed the pig and are about to make the sacrifice to the beast when Jack asks Roger to shove the pointed stick into the Earth, and Roger shoves it in between two rocks. On page 175, when he is seen as brutal and savage, he is also throwing rocks at Piggy and Ralph, though he is aiming to miss in this scene as well. Finally, on page 180, he pushes a large rock on Piggy, killing him and shattering the conch shell.

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  3. Corinne D.

    Question: Under lack of discipline and societal law, do humans desire a lack of order? Do they take pleasure in destroying order? Do they take pleasure in the pain created by lack of order, and if so, are we all capable of such pleasure?

    Character: Roger.

    Pg. 120; Shadows and Tall Trees: Jack and Ralph leave the group to go up the mountain in the night to find out more about the supposed beast. Ralph mentions to Jack that two would not be enough to fend off the beast if the did indeed find one, and the Roger appears and, without a word, joins them on their search.

    Pg. 159; The Shell and the Glasses: Roger learns of how Jack beat Wilfred up for no particular reason except that he was mad. Roger “received this news as an illumination.” He started “assimilating the possibilities of irresponsible authority.”

    Pg. 151; At Jack's feast, the tribe does a dance to ward off the rain. In their dance, Roger at first pretends to be the pig in the middle of the circle, but then he becomes a hunter.

    Pg. 191; Cry of the Hunters: Samneric explain to Ralph that Roger is the real terror and that he has sharpened a stick at both ends for Ralph.


    Object: Weapons

    136; Gift For the Darkness: Jack instructs Roger to sharpen a stick at both ends so that they might spear the pig head and leave it as an offering for the beast.

    Pg. 135; Gift For the Darkness: Jack and his tribe are on their first hunt after breaking away from Ralph. Roger, during the killing of the pig, spear the pig through her rear.

    Pg. 60; Painted Faces and long Hair: Roger and Maurice come down to the beach. Roger smashes the littluns' sand castles and he throws rocks at Henry, aiming to miss.


    Pg. 180; Castle Rock: Roger sends the large rock tumbling down, killing Piggy and shattering the shell, destroying two symbols of order.

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