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Symbolism NotesA symbol is a thing that represents something else. The Statue of Liberty is an example. It represents our freedom. If the statue were bombed or fell over from a storm, we would still be free. The statue may be gone, but we would still be free because it is just a representation of our freedom. Another example is my wedding ring. It represents that I am married. There are several reasons why we choose that as a symbol. It is round, showing that my love for my wife is never ending, just like a circle has no ending. It is gold, because my love for my wife is precious, and it is on the fourth finger of my left hand, because people used to believe that there was a blood vein in that finger that ran straight to the heart. Now, if I take that ring off, I'm still married (Mrs. Alford may be mad at me for that, but I would still be married). It is a symbol of my love and commitment to my wife. Now the cool and irritating thing about symbols is that what a symbol means in one story may not be what it means in another. Take the ring. In a love story, it may symbolize love and commitment. However, in The Lord of the Rings it means power and corruption. So symbols can change. Symbols for this bookPay attention to these colors and what they are symbolic of:
In addition to the colors, there are other symbols in this book (the answers are on this web page):
PredictionsIn a book, it is usually important when a character says something is going to happen. It either is foreshadowing what is to come or it reveals something about the character. Here are some of the predictions in Lord of the Flies. Ralph - We'll
have fun on this island.
ThemeRemember, a theme is a main idea. You can have many themes in a book, and there are many for this book, but we will concentrate on this on: Civilization/Primitive Nature
Loss of Identity
The True Lord of the Flies What you see here is a drawing of Beelzebub. Who is he? Well he is Satan's right-hand man. The Devil's BFF. This demon's name literally means, "The Lord of the Flies." You can bet that where he is, trouble will follow. The BeastSome people get confused as to what/who the real beast is in this book. Is it the beastie? the man with the parachute? the pig's head? The answer is none of the above. While all these things contribute to the downfall of the island society, it is really the kids themselves. In fact, not so much the kids as human nature that is the real beast. AllusionsAt one point in the book, they make three allusions - references to another story. The boys in this case call out names of books that they would have been very familiar with to describe what they think life on a deserted island is going to be like. Here are the ones they choose: Coral Island
You can read it online here. Treasure Island You can read it online here. Swallows and Amazons
William GoldingThe author of Lord of the Flies, William Golding, was born September 19, 1911 and died June 19, 1993. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He fought in World War II in the Royal Navy (British) and was part of the sinking of the Germany battleship, the Bismarck (this is a very famous ship). He also privided naval support to those storming the beach in Normandy on D-Day. He spent most of his life teaching and writing. It seems all authors have some scandal or oddity and Golding is no different. According to his own memoirs, when he was 18 he attempted to rape a 14 year old girl, but was unsuccessful. "Das Bus"The Simpsons made a parody of Lord of the Flies in episode "Das Bus." Like Lord of the Flies?You might wish to try:
Jerry is a new student at an all boy's private school. He goes out for the football team, but since he is the new kid, he quickly makes enemies with a kid named Archie. Archie, a very popular and strong student, makes it his mission to terrorize Jerry. Jerry has to confront his fears and decide if he wants to challenge Archie. The results are violent and not pretty. Archie makes Jack look nice.
At a summer camp for boys in America, several of the boys decide that they really hate it there and really hate the adults in charge. When forced to go on a butterfly hunt, they rebel and take over - violently. They then go on a trip to the camp next door (the girls camp) and take over there as well, throwing all adults into camp jail. They are armed with hunting knives. When some of the campers question this revolution, they are handled in a violent way (you can see on the cover that one boy has been whipped until he is bleeding. Book CoversThere is an old saying - "You can't judge a book by its cover." Well, that is true; however, book covers are chosen for a reason. Why might these covers have been picked or what can we figure out is going to happen or be important by what we see here?
Want a background for your lap top that screams, "I love my English class?" Of course you do. You can get a good one here: Just click the picture and save it or, if you are using IE, click it and choose SET AS BACKGROUND.
O. K., obviously not our Lord of the Flies, but interesting anyway...
The True Lord of the Flies?Absolutely amazing, right? Well, if you know me enough by now you know what the unwritten Rule #6 is. I made this clipping at this web site.
Return to LordAlford.com
Teachers - If you like this page, you may wish to check out Extreme English Teacher blog. |
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Teachers, feel free to use this First Sentence exercise before introducing the book and the Judge a Book by Its Cover presentation. The BookLeave your book at home, but really want to do your reading? You can
get the whole book online at any of these links: Audio book available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ik7h4wYBFs The Question -
Are people naturally good, but occasionally
do bad things or are people naturally bad and do good things because of
laws and other threat of punishment? That's what this book sets out to figure out. Are we evil or good inside? Setting - a deserted island in the Indian Ocean sometime during a fictious WWIII. Who - An homogenous group of British prep school boys The Important Characters -
Remember that just because someone symbolizes something doesn't mean that they are that all the time. Piggy sometimes says stupid stuff. Not everything that Roger does is evil. Jack does not always use violence and Ralph does not always show common sense. The Other Characters -
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New map coming soon
Lego versions of Piggy, Ralph, and Jack. I can hear it now, "Gee, Mom, I want the Lord of the Flies castle rock lego set with rock rolling action!" |
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The Chapters
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Click the shell to hear the sound of it being used as a trumpet |
Chapter 1 - The Sound of the Shell
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Can you make fire from glasses? Yes. Anything that magnifies the sun will do it. Anything! In fact, in Mythbusters they used iced to make fire! However, Piggy's glasses are for near-sighted people and you cannot se those to start a fire since it dispereses the light rather than focuses it. |
Chapter 2 - Fire on the Mountain
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You can see the whole book in this format by clicking here.
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Chapter 3 - Huts on the Beach
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Chapter 4 - Painted Faces and Long Hair
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In this chapter, the idea of a giant sea creature from the water could come up and be the snake-beastie. Are there really giant sea creatures? You bet! Try out the Giant Squid for size! Mmmm... Calamari... |
Chapter 5 - Beast from Water
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Chapter 6 - Beast from Air
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I know, Piggy's not even in this chapter, but I like this picture and didn't have a good one for this chapter anyway! |
Chapter 7 - Shadows and Tall Trees
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Look! Lord of the Flies cookies! |
Chapter 8 - Gift for the Darkness
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Chapter 9 - A View to a Death
What is there to say? You HAVE to read this chapter. If you haven't gotten into the book until now, it will change here!
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Chapter 10 - The Shell and the Glasses
This video clip goes into the next chapter. You can stop when Jack is walking on the beach back to his camp (about at the 6:17 mark). Team points if you know what Piggy is doing at the beginning of this clip. Shoot me an e-mail. |
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Chapter 11 - Castle Rock
Extra Credit: "Dimly he (Ralph) remembered something Simon said to him once, by the rocks." What was it?
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Chapter 12 - Cry of the Hunters
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The TestA good way to study for this test is to play this game at http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/literature/golding/lof.html. Another good way to study for the test. This one isn't completely mine, but I altered it to fit what we are studying in class. Click the picture: From the same site as above, here is an interactive crossword puzzle. Here is what to expect on the test: You will need to know what everything is symbolic of
(the symbols are listed at the top of this page) The Extra Credit question - is the same as the final Jeopardy question on the PowerPoint above.
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The MoviesThis is an older version. It is very good to watch to see what happens in the book (they leave a lot out, but don't change very much). The bad thing is that there is little to no music, the special effects (except the rock and Piggy) are poor, and it is black and white (not a problem for me, but some of you less cultured types may have a problem with it. You can watch a really bad movie trailer for the old movie here. It will make you appreciate how far movie trailers have progressed! |
This is a newer version (in the 1990s). It is in color and has a modern setting. The problem is that they change a lot to the point where it is not very useful for understanding the book. There is a man on the island with them, they are not prep school boys but military school boys (changing the idea that people are evil to the military is evil). There are other changes as well and a whole lot more cussing. |
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