English II Archives Week of 10/11/04

I. Journal #8 - "Forward into the Past"

Read The October 11, 2004 article in TIME Magazine
Write One paragraph response

II. Hand in Study Questions Chapter 5,
LOTF & Vocab Definitions - Due Today

III. LOTF Vocabulary Quiz #3

IV. Review 5-Paragraph Controversial Essay Due Monday 10/18

Discuss Concluding Paragraphs and peer review body paragraphs

(Outline, Rough Draft & Final Draft - Due Monday 10/18)

V. Computers / Internet:

Use the classroom computers to work on your Controversial
Essay and Chapter 5 Study Questions (Questions due today)

READ the classroom web site for LOTF
Chapter 5 Summary and Notes (See Thursday 10/14)

VI. Project: "Post Cards from the Edge" - DUE 10/25

In novels, the characters often discuss their relationships and
ambitions. In reality they would have had the opportunity to
share their dreams, concerns and feelings with others.
Postcards are one means whereby individuals can express
a few sentiments supported by a carefully chosen image to
convey aspects of the situation that they are in. People select
postcards when the picture on the card expresses or captures
an insight that they have had or an experience they have had.


Create two postcards using images and quotations from the
novel to illustrate your understanding of one of the novel themes.
Use multi-media software such as Powerpoint or use poster board
to present your postcards to the class.

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Thursday, October 14, 2004

I. Journal # 7 Loss of Innocence

Characters often undergo change through the course
of a literary work. The boys in Lord of the Flies are
affected by events on the island and their relationship
with each other. As the characters in the novel degrade
into uncivilized individuals the price that they pay is their
childlike innocence. Describe a situation in which either you
or someone else experienced the loss of innocence.
What negative events occured that forced things to change?

II. Review LOTF Chapter 5 - Take Notes

LOTF CHAPTER FIVE

Ralph calls a meeting to talk about what's important for the boys'
survival. Jack breaks up the assembly with a frenzied dance.

NOTE: THE USE OF IRONY
Golding's use of irony becomes more obvious as the story continues.
You can recognize irony when something is said to be true and you know
that the exact opposite is in fact true. For example, Jack says that the boys
are not "savages," but that's exactly what they turn out to be. And not only
can we spot the irony in the events and conversations of the story, but Ralph,
the character in the story, is also aware of irony. This shared perception allows
us to be close to Ralph and to experience the situation along with him, yet the
irony forces us to step back and think about what the author is saying.
Bringing us close to the action while keeping us distant from it is a deliberate
device that Golding uses repeatedly. It will force us to think about our own
attitudes, and it will give us a picture of the world beyond ourselves.
The irony of Ralph's situation begins to present itself to him. As he walks
along the beach, trying to think, he can't help "remembering that first
enthusiastic exploration as though it were part of a brighter childhood."
Once he had daydreamed and pretended, like the characters he'd read
about in books; now he considers how wearisome life really is. He has
to figure out everything for himself: "every path was an improvisation.
" Suddenly he realizes that a big part of life is just keeping alive and out
of danger: "a considerable part of one's waking life was spent watching
one's feet." Ralph smiles "jeeringly." He sees the gap between what he
hoped life on the island would be and what that life is turning out to be.
He also recognizes that the Ralph he used to be and the Ralph he's
becoming are opposites. And he doesn't like "perpetually flicking the
tangled hair out of his eyes." Ralph wants civilization back; he doesn't
want to be dirty and wild. He is slowly moving toward an adult awareness
of his needs. Ralph tries to think about leadership of the boys. Being chief
is beginning to mean he has to act like a chief! ("You had to think, you
had to be wise.") Again there is irony. Recall how playfully Ralph took
on the role; it was all a game then, but now he thinks that "the meeting
must not be fun, but business." Ralph is growing up, and he has to "adjust
his values." What he thought once is no longer true; he is being forced to
change. Ralph's growing up creates in him a dawning awareness of others.
He appreciates Piggy's friendship more and respects his ability to think.
Ralph talks to the assemblies in such a way that everyone, even the littlest
boys, will understand what he has to say. He wants to establish in everyone's
mind-but also in his own-what is important. He calls it "what's what," meaning
what's really important. For the first time Ralph recognizes the seriousness of
the situation and acts responsibly. And Ralph wants the others to understand
and adjust their values also. He takes an adult stand. "We've got to make smoke
up there-or die." Ralph tells the group what he expects of them so that they may
remain civilized and be rescued or survive. Ironically, the smoke that the others try
to kill him with at the end of the book is what saves them all. "Things are breaking
up. I don't understand why." For all his growing authority, Ralph cannot understand
what's happening to them.

Recall the idea of confusion when a person reaches midlife; Ralph falls into
confusion as he tries to understand adult problems. Even when he links
"the beastie, the snake, the fire, the talk of fear," he doesn't recognize
that all these fears are one fear, the fear of the unknown, symbolized by the jungle
beast. If Ralph had been a truly wise leader, he might have ended the meeting at this
point, but he chooses to go on. With darkness beginning to surround them, they attempt
a rational discussion about the fear. Can anyone talk about ghosts in the middle of a dark
forest, or even in a dark house, without scaring himself? It's impossible; yet Ralph tries!
Jack is the only one who can talk about the fear, and what he says is true: "Fear can't hurt
you any more than a dream. There aren't any beasts to be afraid of on this island." But, as
Jack always does, he denies the beast and then turns around and implies his ability
to kill it if it does exist. "Am I a hunter or am I not?" This is Jack's "what's what,
" hunting and killing. Piggy also gets to say his "what's what." As reasonable proof
that a beast can't exist on the island, he asks, "What would a beast eat?" The littluns
make a game of it: "Pig," they say. "We eat pig," Piggy says, and the littluns shout,
"Piggy!" There is irony in the use of the name Piggy and the fact that the boys kill and
eat pig: It hints that Piggy will be killed by a beast, but not the one they fear. In a subtle
way that nobody understands, not even Piggy, he is saying that they are the beast
because they kill and eat pig. Piggy tries to consider the problem as a grownup would.
Life is scientific, he says, believing that everything can be explained. Then notice how
his poor use of English undermines what he says and tells the real truth: "there isn't
no beast" and "there isn't no fear, either." He means that the beast does not exist, but
because two negatives make a positive, he is actually saying that it does exist. He
also tries to explain away fear by bringing forward the littluns who are scared. Of
course this backfires when little Phil says he's seen something walking around at
night. Then Percival comes forward, reciting his name and address the way many
young children are taught to do in case they get lost. When he can't recall his
telephone number, Percival is desolated and can only cry. The other littluns cry
too as they all "share in a sorrow that was universal." All the littluns are lost, and
the biguns are losing their childhoods. The boys and their loss reflect a world that
has lost its way. Percival also introduces a new understanding of the beast. The
beast comes out of the sea, he says. The boys panic! The beast could be anywhere!
It is not just a snake or some pig-eating creature from the unfriendly side of the mountain;
the beast could be anything! This opens the way for many things to be called the beast.
Hysteria reigns. Simon tries to explain what he knows. "Maybe there is a beast.... Maybe
it's only us." But Jack's cruel mockery of that idea and the boys' terror defeat Simon. He
becomes "inarticulate in his effort to express mankind's essential illness." He already
surmises the truth, that evil resides within man's nature. Simon is the only one who
could save them, but Jack destroys that chance.

NOTE: GOLDING'S VIEWS ON CIVILIZATION
Here again is another strong hint of what the author is telling us
about mankind in his metaphor of boys stranded on an island. Mankind,
Golding says, would like to believe that civilization is evil and that nature
is pure. That's why we have Tarzan of the Apes and Swiss Family Robinson.
But Golding believes something different, that we need civilization and its
schools, policemen, and laws in order to keep us from throwing stones at
each other. Without such things we would all be savages. Stripped of
civilization, the beast surfaces. According to Golding, the beast resides
within us, and that is what Simon understands and tries to explain.
However, his attempt only serves to heighten everyone's terror because
they can't understand what he is really saying. They can't hear the
meaning behind the words. Even Piggy does not understand. The
meeting continues to break down and to slip away from Ralph's control.
His original good intentions have had disastrous results. In effect the
author is saying that evil often comes out of good. Too late Ralph
realizes that "we ought to have left all this for daylight." He and they
are defenseless against the mirages of the night. On the mountain he
was sure that he had to call a meeting, but he's been undermined
by his own decisions.

A vote is taken on the question of whether or not ghosts exist,
and we are reminded of the first time the boys voted. This poll is filled
with terror and darkness. Again the irony makes a point about how things
ought to be and how they really are. After the vote Piggy asks, "What are we?
Humans? Or animals? Or savages?" These are the questions the book attempts
to answer. Jack wants to know why they should listen to Ralph, whom they chose
as chief. "Why should choosing make any difference?" The question is an important
one. Jack, who believes in the use of force and fear, sees no point in choice. But
choice is what distinguishes human beings from animals who operate on instinct
and savages who do no thinking. Choice is the answer to Piggy's question; we are
human only if we have choice. Ralph shouts at Jack, "You're breaking the rules!"
Jack responds, "Who cares?" And Ralph answers, "Because the rules are the only
thing we've got." The rules that we as human beings choose to make are the only
thing that keeps us from being animals. But Jack cannot be made to understand.
"We're strong-we hunt!" Again he uses primitive language. "If there's a beast, we'll
hunt it down! We'll close in and beat and beat and beat- !" Jack will kill the beast in
the jungle by freeing the beast within himself. He leads the others into a mock hunt.
"Blow the conch," Piggy whispers, but Ralph has lost the assurance of his leadership.
Now he is uncertain of his power over Jack and the others. His first good decision to be
responsible has met failure, and he's not ready to face a second mistake.
"If you don't blow," Piggy says, "we'll soon be animals." Piggy too recognizes the
degeneration that is taking place. Still Ralph hesitates. "Are there ghosts? Or beasts?"
Ralph can't figure out what he still doesn't understand. The beliefs he held in the past
are crumbling, and he doesn't know what to trust. "Course there aren't," Piggy says,
holding to his rational vision of the world. "'Cos things wouldn't make sense. Houses
an' streets, an'- TV." Piggy still wants to believe that everything can be explained, that
life is scientific. "But s'pose they don't make sense?" Ralph asks, forced to consider
ideas that civilization has always protected him from or that he has been too young
to think about. What if things don't make sense? Then what? What is there?
What matters in life? These are hard questions to answer. Ralph shudders, for if
life doesn't make sense or has no organized meaning, then no one may ever come
for them. And if that's true, maybe there is a beast who is "watching and waiting"
for them. Piggy can't take this kind of talk because it means his adult world is
not as safe as he wants to believe. It means his fat asthmatic body doesn't
stand a chance. "Three blind mice," Ralph says of himself, Piggy, and Simon.
They are no match for Jack. Ralph wants to give up, but Simon and Piggy want
him to go on being chief, for they recognize that Ralph is their only chance. But
everything seems pointless to Ralph, even keeping the fire going. He has begun
to surrender his faith and hope. Piggy says that grownups "ain't afraid of the dark.
They'd meet and have tea and discuss." The irony here may be the cruelest in the
story: The boys are on the island only because adults can't sit and discuss. Adults
are as much afraid of the dark as the boys. "If only they could get a message to us
," Ralph says, "a sign or something." But Ralph's prayer has a desperate and
disillusioned tone. As the chapter closes, Ralph is filled with fears of failure and
doom and does not blow the conch. Piggy has said that if he doesn't blow it, they
will soon be animals, and Piggy's vision of the future is accurate. As if to comment
on the mood of hopelessness and despair, Percival cries out from a bad dream.
He is "living through circumstances in which the incantation of his address was
powerless to help him." Percy's memorization of his address is of no avail in the
jungle; the nightmare that terrifies him terrifies all of them, awake or asleep. We
can think about Ralph at this point as if he were two different people: The Ralph
at the beginning of the book is very different from the Ralph at the end of this
chapter. And Golding's use of irony suggests that we need to be part of
civilization and away from nature in order to exist.

HOMEWORK

I. Continue working on Controversial Essay (Three Body Paragraphs)

II. Study for Vocabulary Quiz Friday 10/15

III. Study Questions Chapter 5, LOTF - Due Friday 10/15

1. What time of day does Ralph unwisely choose for this assembly?
2. Which matters does Ralph intend to address and solve?
3. Who first speaks of the beast in the jungle?
4. Who first introduces the notion that the beast comes from the sea?
5. Which of the boys is the first to denounce the power of the conch?
6. Who does Ralph chastise for wandering in the jungle at night?
7. Which of the boys suggests that the beast could be from the sea
because all the creatures in the sea haven’t been found yet?
8. Who recognizes the true nature of the beast on
the island, but is unable to express it to others?
9.Why was it a mistake to call a meeting at this time?
10.Describe the change in the conch.
11. What does Simon say the beast might be?
12. When the meeting breaks up in chaos, why
doesn't Ralph call the boys back by blowing the conch?
13. Why does the little boy recite his name and address at the meeting?

REMINDER

Final Draft of Controversial Essay Due Monday 10/18

Book Report & Reading Logs Due Monday, 11/8

Are you filling in a reading log every
30 minutes that you read outside of class?

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Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Substitute Teacher: Miss Sylvia Rodriguez

I. Movie: Peter Brook's "Lord of the Flies (1963)"

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Tuesday, October 12, 2004

I. UCR SURVEY
(Follow up assessment for 10th grade psych development)

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Monday, October 11, 2004


I. Review LOTF Chapter 4 - Take Notes

Summary

Life on the island soon develops a daily rhythm. Morning
is pleasant, with cool air and sweet smells, and the boys
are able to play happily. By afternoon, though, the sun
becomes oppressively hot, and some of the boys nap,
although they are often troubled by bizarre images that
seem to flicker over the water. Piggy dismisses these
images as mirages caused by sunlight striking the water.
Evening brings cooler temperatures again, but darkness
falls quickly, and nighttime is frightening and difficult.

The littluns, who spend most of their days eating fruit
and playing with one another, are particularly troubled
by visions and bad dreams. They continue to talk about
the “beastie” and fear that a monster hunts in the darkness.
The large amount of fruit that they eat causes them to suffer
from diarrhea and stomach ailments. Although the littluns’
lives are largely separate from those of the older boys, there
are a few instances when the older boys torment the littluns.
One vicious boy named Roger joins another boy, Maurice, in
cruelly stomping on a sand castle the littluns have built. Roger
even throws stones at one of the boys, although he does remain
careful enough to avoid actually hitting the boy with his stones.
Jack, obsessed with the idea of killing a pig, camouflages his
face with clay and charcoal and enters the jungle to hunt,
accompanied by several other boys. On the beach, Ralph
and Piggy see a ship on the horizon—but they also see
that the signal fire has gone out. They hurry to the top of the hill,
but it is too late to rekindle the flame, and the ship does not
come for them. Ralph is furious with Jack, because it was the
hunters’ responsibility to see that the fire was maintained.
Jack and the hunters return from the jungle, covered with
blood and chanting a bizarre song. They carry a dead pig on
a stake between them. Furious at the hunters’ irresponsibility,
Ralph accosts Jack about the signal fire. The hunters, having
actually managed to catch and kill a pig, are so excited and
crazed with bloodlust that they barely hear Ralph’s complaints.
When Piggy shrilly complains about the hunters’ immaturity,
Jack slaps him hard, breaking one of the lenses of his glasses.
Jack taunts Piggy by mimicking his whining voice. Ralph and
Jack have a heated conversation. At last, Jack admits his
responsibility in the failure of the signal fire but never apologizes
to Piggy. Ralph goes to Piggy to use his glasses to light a fire,
and at that moment, Jack’s friendly feelings toward Ralph change
to resentment. The boys roast the pig, and the hunters dance wildly
around the fire, singing and reenacting the savagery of the hunt.
Ralph declares that he is calling a meeting and stalks down the
hill toward the beach alone.

Analysis
At this point in the novel, the group of boys has lived on the island
for some time, and their society increasingly resembles a political
state. Although the issue of power and control is central to the boys’
lives from the moment they elect a leader in the first chapter, the
dynamics of the society they form take time to develop. By this
chapter, the boys’ community mirrors a political society, with the
faceless and frightened littluns resembling the masses of common
people and the various older boys filling positions of power and
importance with regard to these underlings. Some of the older boys,
including Ralph and especially Simon, are kind to the littluns; others,
including Roger and Jack, are cruel to them. In short, two conceptions
of power emerge on the island, corresponding to the novel’s
philosophical poles—civilization and savagery. Simon, Ralph,
and Piggy represent the idea that power should be used for the
good of the group and the protection of the littluns—a stance
representing the instinct toward civilization, order, and morality
. Roger and Jack represent the idea that power should enable
those who hold it to gratify their own desires and act on their
impulses, treating the littluns as servants or objects for their
own amusement—a stance representing the instinct toward
savagery.As the tension between Ralph and Jack increases,
we see more obvious signs of a potential struggle for power.
Although Jack has been deeply envious of Ralph’s power from
the moment Ralph was elected, the two do not come into open
conflict until this chapter, when Jack’s irresponsibility leads to
the failure of the signal fire. When the fire—a symbol of the boys’
connection to civilization—goes out, the boys’ first chance of being
rescued is thwarted. Ralph flies into a rage, indicating that he is

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