Lord of the Flies Chapter One (Sound of the Shell) to Chapter Six (Beast from Air)

1. Before reading spend five minutes writing about the first 24 hours of the O'Maley Experiment* . Share this writing with me in a document called "LotF O'Maley Experiment."

2. Read and take notes on the first six chapter of Lord of the Flies (pages 7-108).

Take notes on the following characters and visual motifs (symbols) in relation to the essential questions below them:

Significant recurring characters (as determined by last year's students) Piggy Simon Jack Ralph Roger Sam and Eric Robert, Maurice, Bill Littluns: boy with mulberry birthmark, Johnny, Percival, Henry Take notes on how the characters are first introduced, how they are described, what they say,  what they think, what they do, what others say about them. What conflicts--internal and external--are the characters involved in? How do the characters change, evolve, develop? How might the descriptions, actions, thoughts, changes be allegorical (symbolic)? What does all of this have to do with the big questions about human existence that the novel explores?

Significant visual motifs (as determined by last year's students) * 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, the "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) Take notes on how the visual motifs are first introduced, how they are described, how they are used, what characters say about them, what characters think about them. (Notice the motifs in the chapter titles!) What conflicts--internal and external--are the motifs involved in?  How do the visual motifs change, evolve, develop? How might the descriptions, uses, and thoughts about the motifs be allegorical (symbolic)? What does all of this have to do with the big questions about human existence that the novel explores?

Essential questions William Golding said, "I believe man suffers from an appalling ignorance of his own nature." What is human nature (in your view, in Golding's view)? If we are ignorant of our own nature as Golding claims, what effect does that ignorance have on lives (your life, the lives in the novel)? Can we replace ignorance with understanding? How? (What does your experience suggest? What does the novel suggest?) William Golding wrote that the theme of Lord of the Flies "is an attempt to trace back the defects of society to the defects of human nature...the shape of society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system." What does Golding mean by "defects in society" and "defects in human nature"? How do defects in our nature create defects in our civilization? (Consider the world outside the novel and inside the novel.) What can be done about these defects? (What do you think? What does the novel suggest?) Key words/concepts to use to create your own essential question: fear / control / reason / charisma / intuition / impulse / cruelty / kindness / needs / desires / hope / pessimism / extroversion / introversion / power / responsibility / violence / isolation / connection / ignorance / understanding / order / chaos [I took these words from the discussion we had about the O'Maley experiment added a few of my own]

3. Be prepared for a simple quiz about setting, plot, characters, and visual motifs (symbols) in relation to themes on January 2 and/or 3. (Chapter titles can be very helpful to organize your thoughts about the book.)

4. Prepare for a Socratic Seminar on January 2 and 3. Do the following and share it with me in a document entitled "LotF Socratic Seminar chapters 1-6". Plagiarism (copying or paraphrasing other people's ideas) will result in a zero on this assignment. 

• Choose an essential question from above that Lord of the Flies addresses or use the words above to create an essential question of your own. 

• Choose a character that Golding uses to explore the question. [It is often very rewarding to write about the less obvious characters.]
• Find four or more passages in the novel in which Golding uses the development of the character to explore the question. Include page numbers.
• Further prepare for the discussion by explaining how Golding uses the character to explore the question in each passage.

• Choose a visual motif that Golding uses to explore the question. [It is often very rewarding to write about the less obvious visual motifs.]
• Find four or more passages in the novel in which Golding uses the development of the visual motif to explore the question. Include page numbers.
• Further prepare for the discussion by explaining how Golding uses the visual motif to explore the question in each passage.