Name: _________________________
Period: _____________
Lord of the Flies
by William Golding
In this packet:
p. 2-3 Essential Questions
p. 4-5 LOTF Key Facts (Notes)
p. 6-8 Narrative Essay
p. 9-20 Chapter Notes
p. 21-23 Character Evolution
p.24-26 Symbolism/Allegory
p. 27-31 Reading Analysis/ Short
Constructed Response
p. 32-33 Historical and Biographical
Context
p. 34 Critical Lens Essay
p. 35-36 Miscellaneous Notes
1|Page
Lord of the Flies Essential Questions
Choose two of the following questions and answer them in the space provided below. Be sure
to answer all parts of each question. Each response should be around half a page.
1. Is mankind mostly good or mostly evil? What motivates us to perform acts of kindness?
What motivates us to commit evil acts? Justify your opinion with events from history,
literature, and your own experience.
2. What makes a person a leader? What qualities should a leader possess? What
shouldn’t a leader do? What are the responsibilities of a follower?
3. What is a community? What are an individual’s responsibilities to the community? What are a
community’s responsibilities to the individual?
4. What do we need to survive—both physically and mentally?
Question ____________Response:
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3|Page
Lord of the Flies: Key Facts
Written by: __________________________________________
Year published: ______________________________________
Setting:
(Time) _____________________
(Place)____________________
(Circumstances)__________________________________________________________________
Point of View: ___________________________________________________________________
Brief Characterization of Significant Characters:
Ralph:
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Jack:
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Piggy:
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Simon:
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4|Page
Other Characters:
Samneric: __________________________________________________________________
Roger: ____________________________________________________________________
The littluns: _________________________________________________________________
The hunters: _________________________________________________________________
Themes:
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Tone (Author’s Attitude toward a subject):
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Symbolism:
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Microcosm:
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Allegory:
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Utopia:
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Dystopia:
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5|Page
Chapter One
Think about each of the essential questions we discussed at the beginning of this unit.
When/where/how do each of these topic appear in this chapter?
Good/Evil
Leaders/Followers
Survival
Community
SYMBOL: The Conch symbolizes
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6|Page
Chapter Two
Think about each of the essential questions we discussed at the beginning of this unit.
When/where/how do each of these topic appear in this chapter?
Good/Evil
Leaders/Followers
Survival
Community
BEASTIE:
SIGNAL FIRE:
PIGGY’S GLASSES:
7|Page
Chapter Three
1. How can you tell that time has passed between chapters 2 and 3? How much time do you think
has passed?
Think about each of the essential questions we discussed at the beginning of this unit.
When/where/how do each of these topic appear in this chapter?
Good/Evil
Leaders/Followers
Survival
Community
8|Page
Chapter Four
Think about each of the essential questions we discussed at the beginning of this unit.
When/where/how do each of these topic appear in this chapter?
Good/Evil
Leaders/Followers
Survival
Community
1. Is killing the pig essential to the survival of the group? What was neglected while Jack and his
hunters were out killing the pig?
2. Why do the boys enjoy retelling the story of killing the pig? Do you think their feelings are
shared by most people who enjoy hunting and fishing today?
3. How are Piggy’s glasses broken? Does Jack feel guilty at all?
9|Page
Chapter Five
Think about each of the essential questions we discussed at the beginning of this unit.
When/where/how do each of these topic appear in this chapter?
Good/Evil
Leaders/Followers
Survival
Community
1. What do you think Simon is saying when says the following in regards to the beastie: “What I mean
is…maybe it’s only us”?
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Chapter Six
Think about each of the essential questions we discussed at the beginning of this unit.
When/where/how do each of these topic appear in this chapter?
Good/Evil
Leaders/Followers
Survival
Community
What is the sign which comes down from the world of grownups? Who saw it land?
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Chapter Seven
Think about each of the essential questions we discussed at the beginning of this unit.
When/where/how do each of these topic appear in this chapter?
Good/Evil
Leaders/Followers
Survival
Community
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Chapter 8
Think about each of the essential questions we discussed at the beginning of this unit.
When/where/how do each of these topic appear in this chapter?
Good/Evil
Leaders/Followers
Survival
Community
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Chapter 9
Think about each of the essential questions we discussed at the beginning of this unit.
When/where/how do each of these topic appear in this chapter?
Good/Evil
Leaders/Followers
Survival
Community
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Chapter 10
Think about each of the essential questions we discussed at the beginning of this unit.
When/where/how do each of these topic appear in this chapter?
Good/Evil
Leaders/Followers
Survival
Community
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Chapter 11
Think about each of the essential questions we discussed at the beginning of this unit.
When/where/how do each of these topic appear in this chapter?
Good/Evil
Leaders/Followers
Survival
Community
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Chapter 12
Think about each of the essential questions we discussed at the beginning of this unit.
When/where/how do each of these topic appear in this chapter?
Good/Evil
Leaders/Followers
Survival
Community
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Character Evolution in Lord of the Flies
MY CHARACTER: _________________________________________
Use this organizer to accomplish the following tasks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Choose five defining moments for your character. In other words, choose five moments
from the novel that changed your character in a significant way.
Find a quote to support each defining moment. Don’t forget to include the page number(s).
Briefly describe the way in which each moment changed your character.
Note whether your moment was “low,” “medium,” or “high.” Low moments changed your
character in a negative way, high moments improved your character, and medium moments
were neutral.
Remember to keep your moments in chronological order (don’t skip back and forth in time).
Defining Moment #1:
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Quote:
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This changed my character in the following way(s):
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Circle one:
Low
Medium
High
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Defining Moment #2:
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Quote:
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This changed my character in the following way(s):
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Circle one:
Low
Medium
High
Defining Moment #3:
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Quote:
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This changed my character in the following way(s):
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Circle one:
Low
Medium
High
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Defining Moment #4:
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Quote:
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This changed my character in the following way(s):
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Circle one:
Low
Medium
High
Defining Moment #5:
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Quote:
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This changed my character in the following way(s):
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Circle one:
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Medium
High
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Symbolic Characters
Lord of the Flies is an allegory. Each main character represents a whole group of citizens in
civilized society. After each description below, write the name of the character you believe fits
the description. Then give at least two examples from the novel to justify your choice.
1.
This character represents the law-abiding, hard-working citizen who works for the good of
the group and has faith that everything will turn out all right in the end if the proper rules
are obeyed by everyone. Character _________________________
a.
Example 1
b. Example 2
2. This character represents the destructive forces in society: Ruthless and evil, he plays on
the fears of the group to gain power over them. Rather than help society, he wants to
dominate it. Character: __________________________
a.
Example 1
b. Example 2
3. This character stands for the intellectual who tries to solve problems with logic and reason.
Because he is considered “different” by the others, they pay little attention to him and he
is ineffective for all his intelligence. Character: _______________________
a.
Example 1
b. Example 2
4. This character represents the mystic, spiritual leader or philosopher who functions on a
higher plane than the rest of society. He simply knows things, but he is unable to
communicate his knowledge to the others. Character: _______________________
a.
Example 1
b. Example 2
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Other Symbols
Next to each object or event,, write what you believe it represents. Write a brief explanation for
each of your answers.
1.
The Conch:
2. The signal fire:
3. The hunts for pigs
4. The “beastie”
5. The “lord of the flies”
6. Piggy’s glasses
7. The boys as a group
8. The island
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ALLEGORY
What is an allegory?
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How does the novel function as an allegory? Give specific examples from the novel to
support your answer.
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Reading Analysis and Short Constructed Response (REGENTS TASK)
Directions: On the following pages read Passage I (an excerpt from Lord of the Flies) and
Passage II (a poem) about the good and evil in humankind. You may use the margins to take
notes as you read. Answer the multiple-choice questions on the answer sheet provided for you.
Then write your response for the short-constructed response.
Passage I:
Copy passage from LOTF
24 | P a g e
Passage 2
“On A Moonstruck Gravel Road” by Rodney Torreson
The sheep-killing dogs saunter home,
wool scraps in their teeth.
From the den of the moon
ancestral wolves
howl their approval.
The farm boys, asleep in their beds,
live the same wildness under their lids;
every morning they come back
through the whites of their eyes
to do their chores, their hands pausing
to pet the dog, to press
its ears back, over the skull,
to quiet that other world.
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Controlling Idea Short Constructed Response
Write a well-developed paragraph in which you use ideas from both Passage I
(the novel excerpt) and Passage II (the poem) to establish a controlling idea
about the good and evil in humankind. Develop your controlling idea using specific
examples from both the novel and the poem. You may use details from the novel that
are not in this excerpt if you wish.
Please write your response on the page provided in this test booklet.
How to plan this response:
Step 1: Develop a thematic statement (see next page for detailed instructions)
Step 2: Think about examples from Passage 1 that support your thematic statement. List them
below and explain how they relate to your statement.
Example
How it relates to thematic statement
Step 3: Think about examples from passage 2 that support your thematic statement. List them
below and explain how they relate to your statement.
Example
How it relates to thematic statement
Step 4: Now organize your ideas into ONE paragraph that includes smooth transitions.
26 | P a g e
How to Write Thematic Statements: A Four Step Process
A common mistake many readers make is to confuse topic and theme. Topic is what the piece fo
writing is all about. Theme is what the author has to say about the topic. A topic may be expressed
in one word. A theme, however, cannot.
Here’s an easy way to create an effective thematic statement:
STEP 1: What is the novel/film/piece about? ____________________________________
(one word answers like: justice, courage, friendship, love, etc.)
STEP 2: What does the writer believe about ___________________________________?
(The one word answer from STEP 1)
STEP 3: Begin writing your thematic statement: The author believes that
__________________________________________________________________________.
STEP 4: Cross off “The author believes that.” What follows should be your thematic statement.
EXAMPLE: From Romeo and Juliet
Step 1: What is the story about? LOVE
Step 2: What does the author believe about LOVE?
Step 3: The author believes that love is a beautiful but potentially tragic thing when entered to
impulsively.
Step 4: Love is a beautiful but potentially tragic thing when entered into impulsively.
Thematic Topic Examples
DO NOT WRITE THESE!
Poorly Written Thematic
Statements
Jealousy
BE MORE SPECIFIC THAN
THIS!
Jealousy causes problems.
Deception
Deception is a bad thing.
Well-Written Thematic
Statements
WRITE LIKE THIS!
In most cases, jealousy can
cloud the conscience and make
people commit acts against
their better judgment.
Deception is usually the
product of a cunning nature,
but typically backfires and
causes pain to the deceiver.
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Write your response here.
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Background Information: Lord of the Flies
WILLIAM GOLDING WAS BORN on September 19, 1911, in Cornwall, England. Although he tried to
write a novel as early as age twelve, his parents urged him to study the natural sciences. Golding followed his
parents' wishes until his second year at Oxford, when he changed his focus to English literature. After
graduating from Oxford, he worked briefly as a theater actor and director, wrote poetry, and then became a
schoolteacher. In 1940, a year after England entered World War II, Golding joined the Royal Navy, where he
served in command of a rocket-launcher and participated in the invasion of Normandy.
Golding's experience in World War II had a profound effect on his view of humanity and the evils
of which it was capable. After the war, Golding resumed teaching and started to write novels. His first and
greatest success came with Lord of the Flies (1954), which ultimately became a bestseller in both Britain and
the United States after more than twenty publishers rejected it. The novel's sales enabled Golding to retire
from teaching and devote himself fully to writing. Golding wrote several more novels, notably Pincher Martin
(1956), and a play, The Brass Butterfly (1958). Although he never matched the popular and critical success he
enjoyed with Lord of the Flies, he remained a respected and distinguished author for the rest of his life and
was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983. Golding died in 1993, one of the most acclaimed writers of
the second half of the twentieth century.
Lord of the Flies tells the story of a group of English schoolboys marooned on a tropical island
after their plane is shot down during a war. Though the novel is fictional, its exploration of the idea of human
evil is at least partly based on Golding's experience with the real-life violence and brutality of World War II.
Free from the rules and structures of civilization and society, the boys on the island in Lord of the Flies
descend into savagery. As the boys splinter into factions, some behave peacefully and work together to
maintain order and achieve common goals, while others rebel and seek only anarchy and violence. In his
portrayal of the small world of the island, Golding paints a broader portrait of the fundamental human
struggle between the civilizing instinct—the impulse to obey rules, behave morally, and act lawfully—and the
savage instinct—the impulse to seek brute power over others, act selfishly, scorn moral rules, and indulge in
violence.
Golding employs a relatively straightforward writing style in Lord of the Flies, one that avoids highly
poetic language, lengthy description, and philosophical interludes. Much of the novel is allegorical, meaning
that the characters and objects in the novel are infused with symbolic significance that conveys the novel's
central themes and ideas. In portraying the various ways in which the boys on the island adapt to their new
surroundings and react to their new freedom, Golding explores the broad spectrum of ways in which humans
respond to stress, change, and tension.
Readers and critics have interpreted Lord of the Flies in widely varying ways over the years since its
publication. During the 1950s and 1960s, many readings of the novel claimed that Lord of the Flies
dramatizes the history of civilization. Some believed that the novel explores fundamental religious issues, such
as original sin and the nature of good and evil. Others approached Lord of the Flies through the theories of the
psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who taught that the human mind was the site of a constant battle among
different impulses—the id (instinctual needs and desires), the ego (the conscious, rational mind), and the
superego (the sense of conscience and morality). Still others maintained that Golding wrote the novel as a
criticism of the political and social institutions of the West. Ultimately, there is some validity to each of these
different readings and interpretations of Lord of the Flies. Although Golding's story is confined to the
microcosm of a group of boys, it resounds with implications far beyond the bounds of the small island and
explores problems and questions universal to the human experience.
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Lord of the Flies.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 14 Jun. 2012.
29 | P a g e
Background Information: Lord of the Flies (Please answer in complete sentences.)
1. Where and when was William Golding born? When did he die?
2. Golding decided to pursue an education in __________________________, though his parents
wanted him to study____________________________________.
3. How did Golding’s military experience impact his views of the world?
4. For what accomplishments is Golding most acclaimed?
5. Summarize the basic story line of Lord of the Flies as conveyed in this passage.
6. What are some of the philosophical ideas that Lord of the Flies tries to examine?
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Critical Lens Essay
Your Task: Write a critical essay in which you discuss Lord of the Flies from the perspective of the critical
lens below. In your essay provide a valid interpretation of the statement, agree or disagree with the
statement as you have interpreted it, and support your opinion using specific reference to appropriate
literary elements from the novel. Use the outline you developed to write your final essay.
Critical Lens:
“In this world goodness is destined to be defeated.”
-Walker Percy, The Moviegoer, 1962
Guidelines:

Provide a valid interpretation of the critical lens that clearly establishes the criteria for analysis.
(In other words, your controlling idea must be linked to the meaning of the quote.)

Indicate whether you agree or disagree with the statement (critical lens) as you have
interpreted it.

Use the criteria from the critical lens to analyze After the First Death.

Do not summarize the plot! Use specific references to appropriate literary elements (for
example, theme, characterization, structure, language, point of view, irony) to develop your
analysis. (Since we focused on characterization and theme in many of our discussions, they
would be a logical choice.)

Organize your ideas in a unified and coherent manner.

Specify the title and author in your introduction. Be sure to underline the title!

Follow the conventions of standard written English.
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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Freud: The Id, The Ego, and the Superego
Idegosuperego.gif
kelseybrongo.comllord_of_the_flies
Draw a cartoon that represents Freud’s theory using three of the characters
from Lord of the Flies.
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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
John-Jacque Rousseau (1712–1778) “Men are born free, yet everywhere are in chains.”
Rousseau believed that ______________________________________________________
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Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) “I put for the general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual
and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death.”
Hobbes believed that ______________________________________________________________
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The Milgram Experiment proved ________________________________________________
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The Stanford Prison Experiment proved _________________________________________
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Ten Years Later……..
(Narrative Writing Piece)
Prompt:
Imagine you are one of the characters that survived the events that took place on
the island. It is ten years after the end of the novel. What is your life like now?
How have the events that took place on the island impacted your life? Did you
return home to parents? Foster care? Other relatives? How old are you now?
Are you an adult? Do you have a job? A family of your own? Have you
maintained a relationship with anyone from the island?
This is a creative writing piece. You are to write from the perspective of one of
the characters (using first person point of view). Do not simply answer the
questions above. They are merely guiding questions to get your started. Provide
vivid details and consider the provided narrative writing rubric.
Requirements:
 The finished product must be a minimum of 2 pages, typed, size 12 font
Times New Roman, double spaced.
 Write a rough draft in the space provided below.
 Have one friend read your story, share their opinions on the story, and edit
it for grammar and spelling.
 Type a copy of the paper and turn it in by __________________. Late
papers will lose 30%.
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