English 10R
Final Exam Review
Day 1: Wednesday, June 3: Essay
(Bring loose leaf paper)
Day 2: Thursday, June 4: Multiple
choice on FFN and Othello and two
short answer paragraphs
(Bring sharpened pencils)
We read four full-length works this
year. You should be prepared to write
about all four for the short answer
paragraphs and the essay.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Othello by William Shakespeare
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
I. Introduction
(Possible essay format)
Grabber (1-2 general, interesting sentences about the topic)
Sentence introducing the first title, author and character that connect to the
topic (“Ralph from Lord of the Flies by William Golding shows …”)
Sentence introducing the second title, author and character that connect to
the topic (“In Shakespeare’s Othello, the character of Iago …”)
Statement comparing/contrasting the two works (“Both stories show…”)
II. Body paragraphs
Here’s where you use SPECIFIC examples from the texts and details from your
brain to explain the assertions you made in your introduction.
Make sure your fulfill all the promises you laid out in the introduction.
Check off the bullet points at the end to make sure you haven’t missed
anything.
III. Conclusion
Reword your thesis (the point you were making)
Sentence summarizing what the first work of literature taught about the topic
Sentence summarizing what the second work of literature taught about the
topic
GO BEYOND/LESSON (think “reverse grabber”/what can ALL readers learn
about this topic from reading these two works of literature?)
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Genre: Novel
Point of View: Third Person but Ralph is the story’s
protagonist
Setting: Deserted, tropical island, post WWII
Plot overview: While the world is engaged in a
nuclear war, the plane carrying British schoolboys
to safety crashes on a deserted, tropical island.
The boys who survive the crash devolve from
civilized human beings into savages, creating a
dystopian society.
Main Characters:
Ralph: protagonist, athletic, personable but flawed, elected leader by
the boys, recognizes that they must establish shelters and rules,
maintain a signal fire for rescue.
Jack: antagonist, strong-willed, violent, leader of the hunters, sadistic,
successfully challenges Ralph for control.
Piggy: awkward, fat, weak, intelligent, supports and encourages Ralph to
remain the leader of the boys. Bullied by many of the kids. His glasses
represent intelligence and allow the kids to make fire.
Simon: gentle, kind, loved by the younger children on the island,
possesses innate goodness.
Roger: mean, executioner, gets pleasure from the suffering of others. At
first avoided hitting the young boys with the rock because his arm “had
been conditioned by society” to not do that. Once he realizes that there
are no consequences for bad actions on the island, he lets his primitive,
evil instincts take over. This is seen when he relishes driving his spike up
into the mother sow and late when he murders Piggy, seeing the young
boy as more of an object than a person before he commits the act.
Conflicts:
Man vs Man
Ralph vs Jack
Man vs Society
Ralph vs hunters
Man vs Nature
The boys vs the island, which they end up destroying
Man vs Himself
Ralph wrestles with the desire to become a hunter and succumb to savagery, and his
conscience, which ultimately enables him to maintain a moral standing.
Good vs Evil
Simon battles with the Lord of the Flies, who tempts and threatens him
Symbols:
Conch: symbol of order, law, governance, civilization
Piggy’s glasses:
power of science, power of intelligence
Signal Fire: boys connection to civilization
The Beast: as the boys devolve into savagery, their belief in the beast becomes
stronger.
The Lord of the Flies: power of evil in the boys, a Satanic figure
Simon: Christ-like figure. As the severed sow’s head (LOF) evokes the devil, Simon
emotes Jesus’ spirituality, bringing the Good News to society. Simon’s good news is
that the beast doesn’t exist—it is a dead parachutist
Other literary devices:
Biblical Allusions-Simon’s conversation with the sow’s head is an allusion to Jesus’
conversation with the devil during his forty days of fasting in the
wilderness.
The island is a Garden of Eden for the boys, which is destroyed by the
boys’ evil.
Simon’s murder may be an allusion to the crucifixion of Christ.
Themes:
It is the responsibility of citizens to participate in their democratic
government, or the citizens risk losing their democracy
Every person has the potential to be evil if left without appropriate rules
and laws.
We must be vigilant against the forces of evil that exist in us...in the
world.
Othello
Author: William Shakespeare
Genre: Play
Setting: Venice, Italy and Cyprus
Main characters:
Iago- The antagonist of the play. He is Othello’s trusted servant and advisor,
who feels frustrated because his seniority is overlooked and the position of
lieutenant is given to Cassio. Iago takes revenge on Cassio and Othello by
tarnishing Cassio’s reputation and by creating a doubt in Othello’s mind that
Desdemona and Cassio are lovers.
Othello- The protagonist of the play. He is a black army general in the service
of the Duke of Venice. He falls in love with Desdemona, daughter of Brabantio,
a Venetian Senator, and marries her in the midst of heavy opposition from her
father. He is easily susceptible to sexual jealousy, which is ignited by Iago, the
villain of the play. He kills his beloved; after her death, he realizes his mistake
and kills himself for the great crime committed by him.
Desdemona- The pretty daughter of Brabantio, the Venetian Senator. She goes
against the wishes of her father and becomes the wife of Othello. She
becomes an innocent victim of Iago’s villainy and Othello’s jealousy.
Emilia- Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s maid. She unwittingly becomes an agent in
causing Desdemona’s death. When Iago stabs her, the dying Emilia convinces
Othello that Desdemona was a faithful wife.
Michael Cassio- A young and handsome Florentine who becomes Othello’s
lieutenant. When he wounds Montano in a brawl, Othello dismisses him from his
post. He manages to escape from being killed in a plot engineered by Iago and
becomes the Governor of Cyprus after Othello’s death.
Roderigo- a scorned suitor of Desdemona. He is taken in by Iago’s promises of
friendship. He follows the regiment to Cyprus, where he, at the urging of Iago,
picks a fight with Cassio, leading the lieutenant’s disgraceful firing. He hands over
money and jewels to Iago, mistakenly believing the latter is passing the prizes on
to Desdemona in an attempt to woo the lady. In the final act, he challenges Cassio
to a duel, again at Iago’s urging, and is mortally wounded. He is the first character
to uncover Iago’s lies when the latter character tries to kill him during the battle.
Brabantio- Desdemona’s disapproving father. He invited the Moor into his home,
but was unwilling to accept the man as a son-in-law. He dies of a broken heart
back in Venice after the action of the play moves to Cyprus. His last words to
Othello were a warning that Desdemona had deceived his father and she would
deceive her new husband too. These lines became important once Iago planted
the seed of jealous doubt in Othello’s head.
THEMES:
* The destructive power of jealousy. Because Othello is a totally jealous man, he easily
falls prey to Iago’s plotting and scheming. His mind is poisoned by the jealousy, and it
leads, both directly and indirectly, to the deaths of Desdemona, Roderigo, Emilia, and
Othello. Jealousy is truly the fatal flaw of the protagonist, and the entire play revolves
around it.
* Deception as a powerful, but ultimately personally destructive tool. This is
developed mostly through Iago, who is an arch-deceiver throughout the play. Because
he is angry that Othello has passed over him for a promotion, he vows revenge. Playing
upon Othello’s jealousy, he deceives him into believing that Desdemona is having an
affair with Cassio. He also deceives Roderigo, making him believe that Desdemona will
tire of Othello and eventually be won by Roderigo. It is Iago’s repeated deceptions that
move the plot of the play forward to the ultimate climax and tragedy.
* The powerful force that love holds over people, and the madness that can be
wrought by it. The play is romantic because it celebrates "the marriage of two minds"
as embodied in Othello and Desdemona. They marry in spite of the protests of
Desdemona’s father, and she faithfully follows her husband wherever he is sent. Their
romantic marriage, however, is ruined by the villainous machinations of Iago. Othello
is eventually led to murder his beloved, turning the romantic play into a tragedy.
Possible structure for short answer paragraphs:
T Topic sentence (use the question to form a
sentence to overview the main idea of the paragraph)
D Details (generally answer the question posed )
E Examples Be sure to show off your knowledge of
the assigned text. Refer to specific characters and
incidents to back up each detail.
(Repeat this process several times, offering detailed
opinions and specific supporting examples)
C Concluding statement (Wrap it up with a
point/message about the topic)