Lord of Flies

Summary for Lesson 1

In today’s lesson we began our study of Lord of the Flies by William Golding. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which should be used to help plan and write the paragraphs assigned for homework. The powerpoint contains lots of ideas on the historical context of the novel and how it connects to the central themes and motifs of the novel, thinking particularly about the life of the author and how his experiences influenced the view of human nature that pervades the novel. It also contains our work on the wider historical context of the 1950s, and on the key themes of Lord of the Flies and what lies within the book’s semantic field. We also looked at the theme of good and evil in the book, and how it is reflected in the characters, talking about whether the labels of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ can be applied in situations of survival. The class made some particularly interesting comments on the notion of power in this vein, thinking about how power shapes the moral world of the novel more so than traditional morality. We had an excellent discussion on the view of human nature that Golding subscribes to, with the students offering some really sophisticated and mature opinions on whether Golding’s quote about “the terrible disease of being human” fits their own worldview. The class also really effectively analysed what makes this book prescient seventy years after its original publication, thinking about how ideas of civilisation, morality and violence are still applicable in the world today. I was super impressed with everyone’s work today, the students worked incredibly hard and came up with some outstanding thoughts regarding the novel. Really well done everyone, I loved hearing all of your wonderfully thoughtful contributions. Keep up the incredible work and I will see you all next week! 😊

P.S. Here is an online booklet with some more ideas about the historical context of the book, thinking in particular about the impact of World War Two, the Cold War, and the structure of British society in the 1950s. Give it a read if you have some extra time, as it has some really fascinating insights into how culturally significant this book was at the time and the kinds of foibles in 1950s society that Golding is commenting on:

https://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/getattachment/Philip-Allan-Pages/Series-Pages/Literature-Guides/Series-Boxes/Sample-Pages/Lord-of-the-Flies.pdf.aspx

Homework 

Q: What do you think is more true, that the boys bring evil to the island or that the island exerts an evil influence on them? Explain your answer with reference to the text and the wider context of the book.

A: The island exerts an evil influence is truer.

The boys came from civilization and can choose democratic ways to think about the countermeasures at the beginning. Ralph was picked as Chief. He gave everyone a job so that they could be organised. Jack and some of the biguns were to help him hunt and keep a fire up so passing ships would see their smoke. Because of the rain and the wind, and the irresistible starvation, all of Jack’s group went hunting instead, because they wanted meat badly. Unfortunately, that was when a ship passed the island. Because there is no fire, the boys weren’t spotted.

The boys (Ralph and Jack) then got into an argument. From there on, the two ‘leaders’, Ralph and Jack, and the entire group divided into two parts.

The confliction between the two groups were getting fiercer.

Jack never wanted to be evil, he was only a bit bossy and arrogant at first. But he got more and more savage.

After they had accidentally killed Simon, Jack did not feel very guilty. Near the end, Jack went to steal Piggy’s glasses so that he could make cooking fire, and he did it violently. Piggy wanted the glasses back, and Roger killed him by tumbling a rock. Also, he wanted to kill Ralph by tumbling rocks, setting fire to the island, and using wooden spears.

People change from good to evil in certain circumstances, and in this case, it is the island.

😀😀😀

Hi Beth,

Here is the link to question B

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Lca6UINLn9L02pyj1qQ6XFGOJU9dVVyodb5Xil0YLeg/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you 😀 🙂

Dear Beth,

Thank you for explaining  Lord of the Flies in so much detail. Your lesson was so descriptive!!

This is my work, thanks again.

Here is my homework for Lesson 1.

Question B

I think that the island bring evil influence to the boy, as proved that Jack and the other boys were all decent, good behaviour before reaching the island, this suggests that it was actually the island that brings evil to them. Another good example is Ralph, he didn’t actually become a savage, suggesting that he didn’t bring evil, so nor did the other boys. That means the island is bringing evil to them. Although others would say that you could do the complete other way round, but if you think, if the boys bring evil to the island, then why weren’t they evil when they came, this suggests that the island bring evil into them. If the boys bring evil to the island, why and how were they so kind at the start and bad at the end? It could only mean that the island brings evil to them, and as they were rescued they were back to normal again.As seen in the film, they film, that as the longer the stories go the more savager. Even though I admit, that when you need to do it, you got to do it. That explains the behaviour of an desperate man do desperate things, and there belief of the beast grew so immense, that they killed Simon. It can also be said to be evil, because if you go back to the bible, Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat the apples on a tree, but because they ate it God made it death like. You could see they may be an connection between the two. It was also beautiful, like a paradise, just like the island, it also has rules like the island Ralph was on. So that explains how and why there was torture on the island, maybe it was based of the bible. This may suggests that Golding was religous which could see that there was always hope and a chance of getting saved. I just think that ‘The Lord Of The Flies’ is just a creepy name and suggests that it spreads evil instead of receiving evil.

So that is why I think that the island is giving the boys evil rather than receiving evil.

P.S, I didn’t like the film, it had too much swearing…

Summary for Lesson 2

In today’s lesson we continued our study of Lord of the Flies by William Golding. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which should be used to help plan and write the paragraphs assigned for homework. The powerpoint contains lots of ideas on the importance of literary techniques such as foreshadowing and symbolism in the book, and how these are simultaneously used to create atmosphere and tone, and also to suggest a deeper moral meaning lurking beneath the text. It also contains our work on social satire and allegory, thinking about how religious, political and historical allegories can be read from the book, and translating this into analysis of the symbolic importance of characters. The classes all performed really well today, I was particularly impressed with the brevity and clarity with which they were able to summarise what lies at the heart of the novel, and with their analysis and identification of foreshadowing throughout the book. They offered some really interesting ideas and opinions on the novel as allegory, and dissected the role of different characters such as Ralph and Jack in the light of this analysis, thinking about the dichotomy of civilisation and savagery and problematising the question of how clear cut it really is. Really well done everyone, I look forward to reading your answers to the homework questions. Keep up the thoughtful and analytical style you are developing in your work, it is really fantastic to hear. See you all soon! 🙂

P.S. Here is the video on symbolism if you’d like to revise it at all!

Homework

Dear Beth，

Thanks for the fab lesson!😀

Here is my homework.

Have a nice March!

Hello Beth,

Thank you for the lesson, this is my homework for lesson two.

😀😁😄

Kai

Here is my homework for Lesson 2.

Dear Beth,

Thank you for the lesson, I enjoyed it a lot!

Here’s my homework, thanks again!

Homework

Dear Beth,

Thank you for the lesson, here is the link to my writing:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PaYs9PRjxdBaeFXpBVJRNSWyMOEiLZGsaXYKzP86ZTA/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you 😀 😀

Dear Beth,

Thank you for the lesson, here is the link to my writing:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PaYs9PRjxdBaeFXpBVJRNSWyMOEiLZGsaXYKzP86ZTA/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you   😀 😀

Sorry About the last post

Please see homework for Lesson 2 attached. Thanks!

Sorry for being late, and thank you so much, Beth! The first homework still has problems but if this one can send it over, I have attached my story with it too!

Annie🦄

Summary for Lesson 3

In today’s lesson we completed our study of Lord of the Flies by William Golding. The powerpoint with all of the resources is attached below, which should be used to help plan and write the paragraphs assigned for homework. The powerpoint contains our thoughts and ideas on several critical interpretations of the novel: the religious, the political and the Freudian. It also contains some examples of critical analysis essays that use quotations and themes in an exemplary way to back up their arguments, which you can read if you’d like to get a better sense of how to write critically yourself. They are on Slides 8, 9, 10 and 12. The students all handled today’s lesson incredibly well, which I was particularly impressed with given the complexity and sophistication of the lesson’s focus. Each student summarised, argued for and against and critically evaluated their assigned interpretation beautifully, and I really enjoyed hearing about what they felt was at the core of the book’s message and how they would reflect that in the title. The students considered the most powerful themes beautifully, and I was extremely impressed at how well they all worked on some very advanced concepts. Really excellent work today guys, today’s lesson was very difficult and you all did amazingly! You should all be super proud of the work you have done, really well done! Have fun writing your final piece of Lord of the Flies homework and I hope to see you all again soon 😊

P.S. I have linked all the critical interpretation essays we used below.

Homework

Also, here is a piece of trivia about the original title of Lord of the Flies which you might find interesting! Think about it in connection to our first homework question about whether the island exerts an evil influence over the boys or whether it is the boys who exert evil over the island 

Hi Beth,

Thanks for the lesson.
This is my Homework for Lesson 3

From Kai 🙂

P.S. We shall meet in Macbeth!

Dear Beth,

Thank you for marking my homework,

the attachment is lesson 3, see u 😉

Dear Beth,

Thank you for teaching us

Here is the link to lesson three:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LWtpI0axvjEDArJfXp-E5NyNBlSY8ZDKl9qPcV9RzaM/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you 😀 😀 😀

This is my homework for Lesson 3.

Dear Beth,

Sorry I added my homework a bit late! Thanks for the lesson, Beth! 🙂

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KaitLbaO2EdOeZet5oQ8JGmgvdLZTjEHSduDwskD5Fc/edit?usp=sharing

Dear Beth,

Sorry I added my homework a bit late! Thanks for the lesson, Beth! 🙂

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KaitLbaO2EdOeZet5oQ8JGmgvdLZTjEHSduDwskD5Fc/edit?usp=sharing

Please see homework for Lesson 3 attached. Thanks!