Name: ____________________________________________
Block: ______ Date: ___________
Lord of the Flies: Colormarking 2
Directions: Read the following passage from the book and annotate it using three colors: Color 1—
diction (a.k.a. word choice) that indicates tone, Color 2—repetition of words and phrases, Color 3—
figurative language especially personification, metaphor, and simile.
The hunters were looking uneasily at the sky,
flinching from the stroke of the drops. A wave of
restlessness set the boys swaying and moving
aimlessly. The flickering light became brighter and
the blows of the thunder were only just bearable.
The littluns began to run about, screaming.
Jack leapt on to the sand.
“Do our dance! Come on! Dance!”
He ran stumbling through the thick sand to the
open space of rock beyond the fire. Between the
flashes of lightening the air was dark and terrible;
and the boys followed him clamorously. Roger
became the pig, grunting and charging at Jack,
who side-stepped. The hunters took their spears,
the cooks took their spits, and the rest clubs of
firewood. A circling movement developed and a
chant. While Roger mimed the terror of the pig,
the littluns ran and jumped outside of the circle.
Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky,
found themselves eager to take a place in this
demented but partly secure society. They were
glad to touch the brown backs of the fence that
hemmed in the terror and made it governable.
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”
The movement became regular while the chant
lost its first superficial excitement and began to
beat like a steady pulse. Roger ceased to be a pig
and became a hunter, so that the center of the
ring yawned emptily. Some of the littluns started a
ring on their own; and the complementary circles
went round and round as though repetition would
achieve safety of itself. There was the throb and
stamp of a single organism.
The dark sky was shattered by a blue-white
scar. An instant later the noise was on them like
the blow of a gigantic whip. The chant rose a tone
of agony.
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”
Now out of the terror rose another desire, thick,
urgent, blind.
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”
Again the blue-white scar jagged above them
and the sulphurous explosion beat down. The
littluns screamed and blundered about, fleeing
from the edge of the forest, and one of them broke
the ring of biguns in his terror.
“Him! Him!”
The circle became a horseshoe. A thing was
crawling out of the forest. It came darkly,
uncertainly. The shrill screaming that rose before
the beast was like a pain. The beast stumbled into
the horseshoe.
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”
The blue-white scar was constant, the noise
unendurable. Simon was crying out something
about a dead man on a hill.
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”
The sticks fell and the mouth of the new circle
crunched and screamed. The beast was on its
knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It
was crying out against the abominable noise
something about a body on the hill. The beast
struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the
steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At
once the crowd surged after it, poured down the
rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit,
tore. There were no words, and no movements but
the tearing of teeth and claws.
Then the clouds opened and let down the rain
like a waterfall. The water bounded from the
mountain-top, tore leaves and branches from the
trees, poured like a cold shower over the
struggling heap on the sand. Presently the heap
broke up and figures staggered away. Only the
beast lay still, a few yards from the sea. Even in
the rain they could see how small a beast it was;
and already its blood was staining the sand.
1. Summarize the previous passage in two to three sentences.
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2. How would you best describe the speaker’s tone towards the beast in the last paragraph of the
passage?
a. Critical
b. Apprehensive
c. Pitying
d. Taunting
3. What does the term clamorously refer to as used in paragraph 4?
a. Threateningly
b. Without pity
c. Reacting immediately
d. With a loud outcry or noise
4. What influence does the setting (time and place) play on the events that occur in this passage?
Be sure to use details from the text to support your answer (IRE).
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Name: ____________________________________________
Block: ______ Date: ___________
Lord of the Flies: Colormarking 2
Directions: Read the following passage from the book and annotate it using three colors: Color 1—
diction (a.k.a. word choice) that indicates tone, Color 2—repetition of words and phrases, Color 3—
figurative language especially personification, metaphor, and simile.
The hunters were looking uneasily at the sky,
flinching from the stroke of the drops. A wave of
restlessness set the boys swaying and moving
aimlessly. The flickering light became brighter and
the blows of the thunder were only just bearable.
The littluns began to run about, screaming.
Jack leapt on to the sand.
“Do our dance! Come on! Dance!”
He ran stumbling through the thick sand to the
open space of rock beyond the fire. Between the
flashes of lightening the air was dark and terrible;
and the boys followed him clamorously. Roger
became the pig, grunting and charging at Jack,
who side-stepped. The hunters took their spears,
the cooks took their spits, and the rest clubs of
firewood. A circling movement developed and a
chant. While Roger mimed the terror of the pig,
the littluns ran and jumped outside of the circle.
Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky,
found themselves eager to take a place in this
demented but partly secure society. They were
glad to touch the brown backs of the fence that
hemmed in the terror and made it governable.
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”
The movement became regular while the chant
lost its first superficial excitement and began to
beat like a steady pulse. Roger ceased to be a pig
and became a hunter, so that the center of the
ring yawned emptily. Some of the littluns started a
ring on their own; and the complementary circles
went round and round as though repetition would
achieve safety of itself. There was the throb and
stamp of a single organism.
The dark sky was shattered by a blue-white
scar. An instant later the noise was on them like
the blow of a gigantic whip. The chant rose a tone
of agony.
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”
Now out of the terror rose another desire, thick,
urgent, blind.
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”
Again the blue-white scar jagged above them
and the sulphurous explosion beat down. The
littluns screamed and blundered about, fleeing
from the edge of the forest, and one of them broke
the ring of biguns in his terror.
“Him! Him!”
The circle became a horseshoe. A thing was
crawling out of the forest. It came darkly,
uncertainly. The shrill screaming that rose before
the beast was like a pain. The beast stumbled into
the horseshoe.
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”
The blue-white scar was constant, the noise
unendurable. Simon was crying out something
about a dead man on a hill.
“Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!”
The sticks fell and the mouth of the new circle
crunched and screamed. The beast was on its
knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It
was crying out against the abominable noise
something about a body on the hill. The beast
struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the
steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At
once the crowd surged after it, poured down the
rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit,
tore. There were no words, and no movements but
the tearing of teeth and claws.
Then the clouds opened and let down the rain
like a waterfall. The water bounded from the
mountain-top, tore leaves and branches from the
trees, poured like a cold shower over the
struggling heap on the sand. Presently the heap
broke up and figures staggered away. Only the
beast lay still, a few yards from the sea. Even in
the rain they could see how small a beast it was;
and already its blood was staining the sand.
1. Summarize the previous passage in two to three sentences.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
2. How would you best describe the speaker’s tone towards the beast in the last paragraph of the
passage?
a. Critical
b. Apprehensive
c. Pitying
d. Taunting
3. What does the term complementary refer to as used in paragraph 6?
a. Favorable
b. Forming or serving as a complement or separate entity that emphasizes the qualities of
another
c. Functioning in a manner free or independent from outside interference or control
d. Abusive or unflattering
4. What influence does the setting (time and place) play on the events that occur in this passage?
Be sure to use details from the text to support your answer (at least 2 IREs).
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Name: ____________________________________________
Block: ______ Date: ___________
Lord of the Flies: Colormarking 1
Directions: Read the following passage from the book and annotate it using three colors: Color 1—
diction (a.k.a. word choice) that indicates tone, Color 2—repetition of words, phrases, and ideas, Color
3—figurative language, especially metaphor and simile.
Ralph turned to the chief’s seat. They had never
had an assembly as late before. That was why the
place looked so different. Normally the underside
of the green roof was lit by a tangle of golden
reflections, and their faces were lit upside down—
like, thought Ralph, when you hold an electric
torch in your hands. But now the sun was slanting
in at one side, so that the shadows were where
they ought to be.
Again he fell into that strange mood of
speculation that was so foreign to him. If faces
were different when lit from above or below—what
was a face? What was anything?
Ralph moved impatiently. The trouble was, if you
were a chief you had to think, you had to be wise.
And then the occasion slipped by so that you had
to grab at a decision. This made you think;
because thought was a valuable thing, that got
results . . .
Only, decided Ralph as he faced the chief’s seat,
I can’t think. Not like Piggy.
Once more that evening Ralph had to adjust his
values. Piggy could think. He could go step by
step inside that head of his, only Piggy was no
chief. But Piggy, for all of his ludicrous body, had
brains. Ralph was a specialist in thought now and
could recognize thought in another.
The sun in his eyes reminded how time was
passing, so he took the conch down from the tree
and examined the surface. Exposure to the air had
bleached the yellow and pink to near-white, and
transparency. Ralph felt a kind of affectionate
reverence for the conch, even though he had
fished the thing out of the lagoon himself. He
faced the place of assembly and put the conch to
his lips.
The others were waiting for this and came
straight away. Those who were aware that a ship
had passed the island while the fire was out were
subdued by the thought of Ralph’s anger; while
those, including the littluns who did not, were
impressed by the general air of solemnity. The
place of assembly filled quickly; Jack, Simon,
Maurice, most of the hunters, on Ralph’s right; the
rest on the left, under the sun. Piggy came and
stood outside the triangle. This indicated that he
wished to listen, but would not speak; and Piggy
intended it as a gesture of disapproval.
“The thing is: we need and assembly.”
No one said anything but the faces turned to
Ralph were intent. He flourished the conch. He
had learnt as a practical business that
fundamental statements like this had to be said at
least twice before everyone understood them. One
had to sit, attracting all eyes to the conch, and
drop words like heavy round stones among the
little groups that crouched or squatted. He was
searching his mind for simple words to that even
the littluns would understand what the assembly
was about. Later perhaps, practiced debaters—
Jack, Maurice, Piggy—would use their whole art to
twist the meeting, but now at the beginning the
subject of the debate must be laid out clearly.
“We need an assembly. Not for fun. Not for
laughing and falling off the log”—the group of
littluns on the twister giggled and looked at each
other—“not for making jokes or for”—he lifted the
conch in an effort to find the compelling word---“for
cleverness. Not for these things. But to put things
straight.”
He paused for a moment.
“I’ve been alone. By myself I went, thinking what’s
what. I know what we need: an assembly to put
things straight. And first of all, I’m speaking.”
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 1954.
77-79. Print.
1. Summarize the previous passage in two to three sentences.
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2. How would you best describe Ralph’s tone detailing his assembly plans in the last paragraphs
of the passage?
a. Questioning
b. Satiric
c. Angry
d. Sincere
3. What does the term solemnity refer to as used in the text? Choose the best answer from
those listed below.
a. A formal dignified rite or ceremony
b. Earnestness or gravity
c. Special formality
d. A formality that renders an act valid
4. Since the story is told in third-person form, why do you think that narrative is focused on Ralph
and his thoughts and ideas at this point in the story? What effect does that give to the reader?
Why is this effective? As you answer, consider which ideas Ralph keeps returning to. Be sure
to use details from the text to support your answer (at least 2 IREs).
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