___ Click here for THE GAME. ___

 

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Symbolism Notes

A 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 book

Pay attention to these colors and what they are symbolic of:

red - violence
green - life
white (light colors) - goodness
black (dark colors) - evil

In addition to the colors, there are other symbols in this book (the answers are on this web page):

The conch - law and order
The glasses - survival
Ralph - common sense
Piggy - knowledge
Simon - spirituality
Jack - violence
Roger - evil
Samneric - loss of identity


Predictions

In 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.
Ralph - We'll get rescued.
Roger - Perhaps we'll never get rescued.
Simon - You'll (Ralph) make it home.

 


Theme

Remember, 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

This is a big deal in the book. The characters are constantly losing their civilization and reverting to a savage, more primitive self. This is Golding's way of answering the big question- are we really evil beings who do good because we have to or are we good and sometimes do bad things?

We can see this theme progress as the boys lose their clothing, and lose their memory (especially shown in Percival Wemys Madison). We also see this as the boys begin to forget the importance of the fire.

We also see a loss of innocence that is tied into this theme, but could be considered a separate theme altogether. Each one of the kids on this island begin to lose what makes them children and take on more adult ideas. The painting of their faces is a big deal - they are removing themselves from what makes them kids and allowing themselves to feel free to do whatever they want - even kill.

Loss of Identity

We see this several ways. The boys slowly begin to forget who they are. We never get Piggy's real name. Percevial forgets basic things like a phone number. Jack wears a mask to leave his identity behind. Choir boys become hunters. There's more. Look for it as you read.


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 Beast

Some 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.


Allusions

At 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

This is the real allusion that Golding is wanting. The book has three characters: Ralph, Jack, and Peterkin. The use of Ralph and Jack in Lord of the Flies is done on purpose. In this book, the three protagonists are civilized British boys that get shipwrecked and land on an island. Despite the fact that they are surrounded by savages, they stay civilized. Golding wants to show the opposite in his book. This book is alluded to twice. The next one comes at the end of the book. It will be a test question!

You can read it online here.

Treasure Island

Probably the best known of the three books alluded to, this book deals with pirates. You may have heard of Captain Long John Silver. He came from this book. This book is also not a bad read and several movie versions have been made of it. You may be familiar with Treasure Planet which is a cartoon of this book set in the future. My favorite, though is the Muppet version.

You can read it online here.

Swallows and Amazons

While not as popular in the United States, this is pretty popular in England. It is even on the list of 100 greatest books from Big Read. It is about kids who get to spend the summer break living on an island on a lake. Like in our book, these kids live with no adults. However, like in the previous two allusions, the kids are all happy and don't let bad things make them evil.

 


William Golding

The 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:

The Chocolate War

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.

The Butterfly Revolution

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 Covers

There 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

Site Disclaimer

 

Teachers - If you like this page, you may wish to check out Extreme English Teacher blog.

Teachers, feel free to use this First Sentence exercise before introducing the book and the Judge a Book by Its Cover presentation.

The Book

Leave your book at home, but really want to do your reading? You can get the whole book online at any of these links:
http://colleronline.weebly.com/uploads/2/8/2/0/2820270/lotf_text.pdf
http://www.yoanaj.co.il/uploadImages/UserFiles/352.pdf

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?

The Experiment - If several prep school boys were placed on an island with no supervision, then they would get along if people are naturally good. Things would go badly if people are naturally evil.

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 -

  • Ralph - he had light colored hair, is tan, athletic, and has natural ability to pull people towards him, but no real leadership. He symbolizes common sense and youthful idealism.
  • Piggy - he's fat, lazy, and as asthma (ass-mar). Nobody really likes him because he is different. However, he is smart and has really good ideas. The problem is that nobody wants to listen to him. He symbolizes knowledge.
  • Jack - red hair and tough. He leads the choir and has true leadership qualities, except that he lacks humility. He symbolizes violence.
  • Simon - the strange one. He is scared of Jack and is very shy. Often he will go out to the woods by himself to think. He symbolizes spirituality or religion.
  • Roger - the dark one. Roger doesn't speak often, but when he does, it is important. Roger symbolizes evil.

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 -

  • Sam and Eric - These twins lose their individual identity to show how all the boys are losing themselves. By the end of the book they are only referred to as Samneric.
  • Johnny - The first little kid we find. He is 6 years old.
  • Percival - Another 6 year old. He cries a lot. He also forgets who he is. At one point in the book he rattles off his whole name and address, but forgets his telephone number. By the end, he can't even remember his first name.
  • Bill - one of the choir/hunters.
  • Robert - one of the choir/hunters.
  • Maurice - one of the choir/hunters.
  • Harold - one of the choir/hunters.
  • Henry - one of the choir/hunters - possibly a littlun - there is a littlun named Henry mentioned later in the book. It is unclear if they are the same, although it seems unlikely that there would have been a littlun in the choir.
  • Percival - a littlun that cries a lot. He forgets his telephone number and later his name. He is important, not for the plot, but for showing the lose of identity.
  • The Mulberry Boy - we don't get his name. He has that dark purple birthmark on his face and mentions the beast for the first time. Shortly after he disappears.
  • Phil - a littlun
  • Wilfred - gets whipped by Jack

 

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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!"

The Chapters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click the shell to hear the sound of it being used as a trumpet

Chapter 1 - The Sound of the Shell

We start meeting the characters. We have the fair headed boy (Ralph - fair headed means he has blond hair) and the fat boy with ass-mar - excuse me, asthma (Piggy). Basically this chapter is our exposition and narrative hook. All we really get are the boys on the island. Piggy and Ralph find the shell, blow it like a trumpet and all the boys come. As each boy is introduced, we learn a little something about them that is important.

Keep in mind that all colors mentioned here are symbolic and important.

Loss of identity starts in chapter 1. Not all names are gotten. No tally the amount of kids stranded here. The fat kid never gets his real name asked or given.

Pay attention to Roger. Every time he speaks, something happens. He is the one who calls for a vote for chief. It is an innocent enough idea, but when he does, only one boy wants to be chief - Jack, and he is the only one to have shown any real leadership abilities so far. By Roger putting this up to a vote, things start to go in motion that cannot be undone.

While it is difficult to see this early on, there is a lot of foreshadowing going. Take note of who is going up the mountain.

Here are the questions we answered in class (they start on page 15):

  1. What object do Piggy and Ralph find?
  2. What do they do with the object?
  3. What is the name of the first little boy that comes to Ralph and Piggy?
  4. What is different/notable about Sam and Eric?
  5. What color are the choir’s cloaks?
  6. Who is the leader of the choir?
  7. When it comes to choosing a chief, who suggests a vote?
  8. Who is voted in as chief?
  9. Who is put in charge of hunting?
  10. Which three boys goes up the mountain?
  11. Why does Ralph say he told Jack to call the fat kid Piggy?
  12. What type of animal probably left the tracks they find?
  13. The three boys knocking the big rock down the hill is an example of foreshadowing. Foreshadowing means that we are being given a hint of what is to come later in the story. Give me your best guess
    of what you think them rolling a rock down a hill might be a hint of what will happen later.
  14. Why doesn’t Jack kill the pig? (Think about it before just looking for an answer)

 

 

 

 

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

 

It starts off a little the same way as the first chapter. The boys meet back together and talk about what will happen. However, things take a turn for the worst (it really started going bad when Roger suggested a vote). Speaking of Roger - he speaks again in this chapter.

Here are the two big things to remember in this chapter:

The mulberry boy - He has a dark purplish-red birthmark over half his face. From that alone we can see that nothing he says will come to any good. He is symbolic of the fear of the boys. His specific fear is of the beastie. Note the differences in leadership styles between Ralph and Jack in handling his fear.

The fire - This also emphasizes the differences in the big three (Ralph, Jack, Piggy). Ralph suggests the fire and begins to talk about it. Jack is a man of action and immediately sends everyone out to work - Ralph follows along. Piggy is the only one who stops to think about how it should be done, but since he is unpopular and not working (on account of his asthma, of course) nobody wants to listen to him. Important to note is that Jack and Ralph can do anything when they work together (that is the reason for the big log scene). Simon also makes his stand here. He came in with Jack, but when Jack and Ralph begin to fight over Piggy, Simon stands with Ralph. He will never stand with Jack again. Ironically, it is Piggy that makes the fire possible with his glasses.

The big question at the end of this chapter - will we ever see the mulberry boy again?

Here are the quiz questions that will be asked for the end of Chapter 2:

  1. How do they start the fire?
  2. Who stands up for Piggy?
  3. Who is in charge of the fire?
  4. Whose job was it to get the littluns' names?
  5. What do the littluns see when they yell out, "Snakes! Snakes! Look at the snakes!
  6. Who is missing?

The extra credit question will be, "Who says, 'I've been watching the sea. There hasn't been the trace of a ship. Perhaps we'll never be rescued.'"

 

 

You can see the whole book in this format by clicking here.

 

 

Chapter 3 - Huts on the Beach

This chapter is a little boring, so we might summarize it in class. Or better yet, just look at the cartoon by Gingerfishsticks to the left. It pretty much sums up the whole chapter.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 4 - Painted Faces and Long Hair

 

We start with a cool little twist. These little beach creatures are being stalked by a little larger beach creatures. They are being stalked by Henry. Henry is being stalked by Roger (who at this point throws rocks but misses on purpose). Roger is being stalked by Jack. Is Jack being stalked?

The big deal, though is that Jack takes the fire tenders away to go hunting. A ship comes by and no fire. The tension between Jack and Ralph escalates.

Questions from the first few pages (60 - 64):

  1. Who are Henry and Percival?
  2. What does Maurice do that makes him feel he did something wrong?
  3. Who is stalking Henry?
  4. Who is stalking Roger?
  5. Why is Jack painting himself?
  6. Who is going with Jack that doesn’t want to go with Jack?

One of the major sources of conflict comes here. This is the point of no return for Ralph and Jack. Ralph uses Sam and Eric for hunting. They were on fire duty. The fire goes out. Of course this is the time that a boat goes by. When Jack comes back Ralph is furious with him and Jack can't really come to terms with the fact that he screwed up royally. Throw Piggy into the mix and things go bad. Jack punches Piggy and breaks his glasses. This is dangerous since they need the glasses to make fire. Plus Jack has now killed a pig, he has taken that step into savagery. His physical attack on Piggy shows this. Could it be foreshadowing? At the feast, everyone is happy to have meat. In a way to establish his authority, Ralph ends the festivities by calling a meeting. Bad move...

Questions for the whole chapter (start on page 60):

  1. What are the names of the three littluns that Roger is stalking?
  2. Who is stalking Roger?
  3. Throughout the book, we have the theme of losing identity. Sam and Eric (the twins) are referred to as only one person (Samneric). Jack does something in this chapter to remove his own identity (physically and symbolically). What does Jack do that makes him no longer Jack?
  4. What does Ralph see?
  5. What disturbing thing does Piggy notice?
  6. While running up the mountain, Ralph pauses to decide to go up to the top or back down to get _______.
  7. Does he go up or back down?
  8. Where are the fire tenders?
  9. Why was pushing Piggy a really dumb thing for Jack to do?
  10. How does Jack make up for his actions?
  11. What does Ralph do at the end?

Extra Credit: What is the dramatic irony in this chapter?

 

 

 

 

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

Did I mention earlier that this was a bad move? Make that a major bad move. The kids come to the assembly, but it is evening and everything is getting really dark. We all know what that means symbolically, so before you go any further in this chapter you know nothing good will happen.

Things get out of hand because Ralph can't keep focused (the same thing he gets upset at everyone else for. As a result, he loses control of the meeting and everyone starts to talk about fear and beasts instead of the fire issue. As a result, Jack goes crazy and everyone runs off. We are left at the end with Ralph thinking of giving up being chief. The only two people still at his side (not including Percival who is asleep) are Piggy and Simon.

The ending is important. Ralph wishes for a sign from the adult world.

Here are the quiz questions for the end of chapter five:

1. What does Simon think the beast may be?
2. Does the group vote YES or NO on the question, “Do ghosts exist?”
3. Who says, “Who cares?” when he is told that he is not following the rules?
4. What is Ralph afraid of happening if he blows the conch?
5. Piggy tells Ralph that Jack hates Piggy and __________.
6. Besides wishing his dad was there, what else does Ralph wish for? (The answer to this one is the second to last paragraph)

Extra Credit – what can’t Percival Weyms Madison remember?

 


 

Chapter 6 - Beast from Air

We get Ralph's sign. It's not good. The dead parachutist is important, not only because it drives the boys into fear more, but because it represents that the adult world cannot help them. The boys need help because they are forgetting the rules of civilization and the adults, already deep into WWII, have also forgotten it.

It is important to note the verbal play between Ralph and Jack as each one tries to show that they are better chief.

Here is the quiz for the end of the chapter:

1. Who says, “Conch, conch! We don’t need the conch anymore!”
2. Where do they think the beast may live?
3. Who doesn’t believe in the beast?
4. Who goes over the bridge first?
5. What color is the rock here?
6. Where does Ralph want to go next?

Extra Credit will be: What is the foreshadowing in this chapter?

 

 

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

The first two pages of this chapter are just them hiking up to the mountain. There is a prediction on the third page that Simon makes just out of the blue. He tells Ralph that he thinks Ralph will make it home O.K. He says it twice. Ralph just looks at him like he is crazy and calls him "batty." At this point he says it a third time. So the author here is hitting us over the head with this prediction. It must be of some importance.

On the hunt for the beast, they are sidetracked by hunting a real boar. Everyone has a great time - even Ralph. Even though they fail to catch the, they wish to reinact the hunt. In the process they go in a frenzy and Robert, who was pretending to be the pig gets hurt before everyone realizes that they are going too far. They start working out how to make this into a ritual. They think that the pig substitute should be killed in the ritual so Jack suggests using a littlun as a pig. At this, EVERYONE laughs. That includes Simon and Ralph.

As it gets darker, Ralph realizes that someone needs to go back and help Piggy. Everyone is afraid to go through the jungle by themselves except one person - the only one who doesn't believe in the beast - Simon. He runs off. Tension between Jack and Ralph grow. It comes to a point when Ralph finally asks, "Why do you hate me?" Jack just stays silent.

When they get to the mountain, only three go. This is to be compared with the first mountain trip. The first time it is Jack, Ralph, and Simon. They have a blast. This time Simon is replaced with Roger. Note the difference in symbolism here. Simon is spirituality. Roger is evil.

There is a neat pun that we'll miss. As they approach the top of the mountain, Jack taunts Ralph by asking him if he is windy. In British slang, windy is scared. The pun comes in when you realize that in British slang, Wendy means a person who has been rejected by his friends.

Jack goes alone (Ralph called his bluff so he had to). He gets scared and Ralph and Roger go a little further. They freak when the dead guy sits up and all three run.

We didn't read the chapter. We read this page instead.

Allusion Alert: "That's a wound," said Simon, "and you ought to suck it. Like Berengaria."

 

 

 

Look! Lord of the Flies cookies!

Chapter 8 - Gift for the Darkness

Here are the questions we did in class:

*SKIP* page 124
All that happens on page 124 is that Jack calls an assembly and aRalph tells the group that they saw the beast. Everyone is scared (except Simon). The assembly continues on page 125 where you pick up reading:
1. What does Ralph call Jack’s hunters?

2. How many vote that Ralph ought not be chief anymore? (Think about this answer – it does not come out and say the answer, but you should be able to figure it out).

3. What does Jack do after the vote?

*SKIP*pages 128, 129, and 130
All that happens on these pages is Simon thinks they ought to climb the mountain again, but everyone thinks he’s crazy. Ralph decides that they need to build a rescue fire on the beach. It won’t be seen very well, but he can’t figure out another solution. Piggy isn’t much help, he’s just happy about Jack (the answer to number 3). They build a fire and Ralph realizes that it is hard work, much harder than it should be. Start reading again at page 131 – you can stop at the half way point (the line that starts with “Ralph sat down…”).

4. Where are Bill, Roger, Maurice, and most of the biguns?

*SKIP the bottom of 131 and most of page 132 – pick up at the last paragraph that starts with “Simon…”
All that happens here is that Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric sit down and relax, then wonder where did Simon go?
5. Where does Simon go?

*SKIP* The LAST paragraph on page 133 and all of 134.
All that happens is that Jack and his group go hunting. When you pick up on page 135, you may notice that the words get sort of dirty sounding. Golding meant for it to sound dirty. Sorry about that.

6. What problem does Roger bring up?

7. Why do they sharpen a stick at both ends?

We stopped in class at page 137

At this point, Simon goes from weird to just freaky strange. He starts staring at the pig's head. The pig's head starts to talk to him. Obviously this is just in Simon's mind. He also has something wrong with him (maybe the reason he faints at the beginning of the book?

Meanwhile, Jack raids the camp for fire and invites everyone to his side of the island for a feast.

The Chief has spoken!

 

Taking notes for an open notes quiz? I would concentrate on the scene where the boys take the fire. Know what Piggy was worried they would take. Pay attention to what Ralph is starting to forget. Who the heck is Simon talking to? What is the Lord of the Flies in this book? What happens to Simon at the very end of the book?

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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 10 - The Shell and the Glasses

For this chapter we watched the movie instead of reading. However, you do need to read page 159.

 

 

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.

 

 

Chapter 11 - Castle Rock

Ralph, Piggy, and Samneric confront Jack about Piggy's glasses. Things do not go well. Here is the quiz for reading up to page 176 (ends with "Say that again!" if you are reading from a different book).

    1. What does Ralph say is Jack's fault too? It can be found on page 170 and it doesn't tell you exactly, but you can figure it out if you think about what could be so bad that Ralph doesn't say it out loud.
    2. What does Piggy say is the one thing Jack doesn't have? I'm not looking for asthma, I'm looking for a thing.
    3. What is it that Jack does that scares Samneric? It's mentioned twice. each time at the bottom of a page.
    4. What is Ralph forgetting? He gets mad at Piggy when Piggy reminds him.
    5. Who stops Ralph on the bridge?
    6. Who comes up behind Ralph?

    Extra Credit: "Dimly he (Ralph) remembered something Simon said to him once, by the rocks." What was it?

 

Here is the crossword that we did in class at this point
Printable Crossword
Playable Online Crossword

 

 

 

Chapter 12 - Cry of the Hunters

Some important things to get from the first part of the chapter (up to page 190):

  • The pig's head is symbolic of the evil inside all of us.
  • Samneric still like Ralph, but are too scared of Roger to help him
  • Samneric tell Ralph that Roger sharpened a stick at both ends. Ralph has no clue what that means as Ralph has never seen Jack put a pig's head on a stick

 

Note that later in the chapter, as the woods burn, the island changes from green to black.

The ending of this book will be read on the test. I suggest you read it beforehand. The ending is an example of deus ex machina. We'll discuss that after the test is over.

 

Chapter 12 in one page

 

The Test

A 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)
There will be a matching section on the characters. I will NOT ask you to be able to tell the difference between the choir/hunters.
There will be mulitple choice on the events in the book. I suggest that you read through the chapter notes on this web page.
The last part of the test will be a reading comprehension section. I will give you the last two and a half pages of the book to read. You will then answer questions based off of the reading. You may read the last two and a half pages ahead of time.

The Extra Credit question - is the same as the final Jeopardy question on the PowerPoint above.

 

The Movies

This 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.