Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Reading Assignments:
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Required:
o Dialectical journal
 post to Turnitin.com (before class) & print (due in
class)
 no hand-written journals will be accepted
 1 journal consists of 5 quotations and reactions
(that’s a minimum of 15 quotations/events/
character changes/thematic revelations for each
checkpoint)
 For each checkpoint you must draft 3 journals
with commentary on:
 1: Characterization
 2: Civilization and/or nature (wild)
 3: A topic of your choosing (see
themes/other points for ideas)
o Quiz
 Assessed on the day reading is due!
 As you read, I encourage you to take notes for yourself in whatever fashion
works best. Post-its and/or writing down key characters and events after
finishing a chapter—something that allows you to process and to connect
with the novel so you can recall details after reading.
Optional:
o Study guide. This will help prepare you for the quiz – beware of spoilers in guide!
Due Dates
Checkpoint #1:
Chapters 1-4: pg. 5 -75
Due: Friday, February 22
Checkpoint #2:
Chapters 5-8: pg. 76-147
Due: Monday, March 4
Checkpoint #3:
Chapters 9-12: pg. 148-208
Due: Monday, March 11
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Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Overarching Theme: The Duality of Man
1.
Is human nature inherently good or evil?
1a. What is good? What is evil?
1b. Who defines good and evil? Is everyone in agreement?
1c. How do different points of view affect the presentation of good and evil?
1d. How have the forces of good and evil changed over time?
1e. What is the function of human will in relationship between good and evil?
1f. Do we need to accept the reality of evil in the human heart and world to survive?
1g. What is the author/director’s attitude towards human nature?
2.
How do different cultures shape the definitions of good and evil?
2a. How are ethics of the period reflected in the characters?
2b. How are certain cultures, societies, time periods viewed as more good or evil than
others?
2c. What elements of society keep the savage side of man controlled?
2d. How does society ignore or destroy the “truthsayers?”
2e. What elements of civilization lead to a devolution of human character?
2f. What happens when man is free from all social restraints?
3.
What is a hero?
3a. What are the characteristics of a hero?
3b. Do the attributes of a hero remain the same over time?
3c. What is the role of hero in a culture?
3d. How does a journey define and characterize a hero?
3e. How do a hero’s motivations and actions embody the values of a culture?
3f. How are heroes rewarded?
3g. How does film/ literature help us gain greater insight into the complexity of a hero?
4.
What is a villain?
4a. What are the characteristics of a villain?
4b. Do the attributes of a villain remain the same over time?
4c. What is the role of villain in a culture?
4d. How does a journey define and characterize a villain?
4e. How do a villain’s motivations and actions condemn the values of a culture?
4f. How are villains punished?
4g. How does film/literature help us gain greater insight into the complexity of a villain?
5.
What happens when morals collide?
5a. What does it mean to be ambiguous or caught between two extremes?
5b. Can we disconnect ourselves from the constraining forces of our mind? How?
5c. How do we make moral choices?
5d. How do power and ambition influence the choices people make?
5e. To what extent does power or the lack of power affect individuals?
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Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Dialectical Journal
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As you read, you will use/keep Dialectical Journals relating to the themes (listed above) in the
novel.
Dialectic means “the art or practice of arriving at the truth by using conversation involving
question and answer.” The “dialectic” was the method Socrates used to teach his students how
to be actively engaged in the struggle to obtain meaning from an unfamiliar and challenging
work. A dialectical journal is a written conversation with yourself about a piece of literature
that encourages the habit of reflective questioning. You will use a double-entry format to
examine details of a passage and synthesize your understanding of the text.
In the left column, write down quotes that seem to relate to these themes and then, in the
analysis section, briefly discuss how they are significant to the development of that
theme. (Note the example.)
At times you will discuss characters and imagery, but you should always be going back to
the themes.
A final note, your responses will be evaluated on your attempt at analysis and developed insight
as well as an indication that you have examined all sections of the text. If you have 4 chapters
assigned, your responses must cover the breadth of the text.
Lord of the Flies
Dialectical Journal (sample)
Quotes (with page numbers)
The Problem of Evil in Man
“He tried to convey the compulsion to track
down and kill that was swallowing him up.”
EXAMPLE Entry #1
Analysis
This suggests that Jack is feeling the pull of
savage instincts. The “swallowing him up”
indicates that he can’t help himself and
there is no rational explanation.
page(s) 55
Entry #2
Entry #3
Entry #4
Entry #5
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Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Background on the novel
William Golding, who began his career as a teacher in a boys’ school, wrote this novel after his
experience as a naval officer in World War II. During the war, he witnessed the horrors of modern
warfare, including the D-Day Invasion of Europe, and later visited a Nazi death camp.
What, he asked, makes men do such horrible things to each other? To try to answer this
question, he wrote Lord of the Flies, a novel that is also a sort of laboratory experiment, the purpose
of which could be stated as follows:
What happens if a group of innocent schoolboys, uncorrupted by society, are dumped
on an Eden-like deserted island with no adult influence? Will they live in harmony? [Is it
the evil in society that corrupts people who are born innocent?] or will they become
savages [is the evil within us, waiting to come out and only kept under control by society’s
laws and rules?] Is the answer a combination of these or something else entirely?
Keep these questions in mind as you read the novel. How does the experiment turn out? What is
Golding’s answer, if he has an answer, to this age-old question?
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Lord of the Flies by William Golding
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Study Guide Questions
These are NOT required, but may enhance your understanding of the novel.
Beware of spoilers—never read ahead in a study guide!
Chapter 1
1. How did the boys arrive on the island?
2. How did Ralph call the first meeting?
3. What are the names of the twins?
4. What does Ralph's dad do?
5. What nationality are the boys?
6. What is the "scar?"
7. For whom did Piggy vote as chief?
8. Who went to make sure the island was really an island?
9. Who is your favorite character so far?
Chapter 2
1. Who is the only one who may interrupt the speaker holding the conch?
2. Who saw the beast/beastie/snake-like thing?
3. Who says, again and again that there isn't a beast?
4. Ralph makes a two-fold "mission statement." What are the two parts?
a.
b.
5. Why do they need a fire?
6. What did the boys use to start the fire?
7. Who is the first boy to die?
8. Who said it? (Indicate page numbers and why it is significant)
a. "How do you expect to be rescued if you don't put first things first and act proper?"
b. "I told you to. I told you to get a list of names!"
c. "We'll have rules! Lots of rules! Then when anyone breaks 'em-"
9. How are the boys' age and experience evident in the way they handle being on an island?
10. Why are the boys brutally mean to Piggy?
11. How does the island look later in the afternoon?
12. What does the disappearance of the small boy do for the plot?
Chapter 3
1. What is Jack doing as the chapter opens (be specific)?
2. Ralph and _________ are building huts.
3. Why can't Jack get the pig to stay on his spear?
4. All the hunters but Jack have gone where?
5. Who helps the littluns get fruit?
6. At the end of the chapter, where does Simon go?
Who said it? (Indicate page numbers and why it is significant)
a. "We want meat!"
b. "I was talking about smoke! Don't you want to be rescued? All you talk about it pig, pig
pig!"
c. "I thought I might kill"
7. By reading the first few chapters, how do Jack's actions display what type of person he is?
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Lord of the Flies by William Golding
8. What parallels are there between the way the boys act towards each other and the way the boys
act towards their chores?
9. How does chapter three change the perception of the island?
10. Why weren't they allowed to talk about snakes?
Chapter 4
1. Who "still felt the unease of wrongdoing?"
2. Who was affected by the "taboo of the old life?"
3. How was Jack "liberated from the shame of self-consciousness?"
4. Why did the "littluns" always obey the summons of the conch?
5. Why did Jack want Samneric to get him a coconut?
6. Why weren't the boys rescued?
7. Why were the littluns used to "Stomach aches and a sort or chronic diarrhea?"
8. Who said it? (Indicate page numbers and why it is significant)
a. "You don't half look a mess"
b. "They don't smell me. They see me, I think. Something pink, under the trees."
9. What are the differences between how the littluns and the biguns act when they're on the island?
10. What does the "unfriendly side of the mountain" mean?
11. Why are they more concerned about the killing of the pig than missing than ship?
Chapter 5
1. What does Ralph think they ought to do before they let the fire go out?
2. A littlun named Phil tells about his encounter with the beast. From this story, how can you tell
what the beast is?
3. How does the setting of the meeting about the beast affect the results of the meeting?
4. When does Ralph acknowledge that their group is falling apart and why?
5. What does Ralph's speech reveal about his character?
6. Why does Ralph say that he wants to give up his chief status?
7. Who are the two littluns who hold the conch and speak about the beast at the assembly?
8.Who said it? (Indicate page numbers and why it is significant)
a. "The thing is, we need an assembly."
b. "Serve you right if something did get you, you useless lot of cry-babies!"
c. "Life....is scientific, that's what it is."
d. "What I mean is... maybe it's only us."
e. "What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages?"
9. How did Piggy's specs get broken?
10. Ralph and Piggy discuss how adults would function in this situation. What does this
conversation reveal about society and human nature?
11. What is happening in the last paragraph of Chapter 5?
Chapter 6
1. What prompted Ralph to take the lead in exploration rather than allowing Jack to do it?
2. Why was Jack so determined to have a fort on the rock island?
3. How does the "sighting" of the beast by both Sam and Eric affect the plot?
4. How does the personification of the darkness symbolize what is happening to the boys?
Chapter 7
1. How do the first four paragraphs of chapter seven go along with the general theme of Lord of the
Flies?
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Lord of the Flies by William Golding
2. What was the "sign that came down from the world of the grown-ups?"
3. Who saw the "beast" on top of the mountain?
4. What did the boys want to do instead of going to the other side of the island to check the fire?
5. What in chapter seven shows the utter evil that is beginning to envelope the boys?
6. What does Ralph begin to realize in his confrontation with Jack?
7. Does Ralph become nauseated because of the beast or the absence of the fire?
8. What does Ralph's daydream tell us about his feelings and character?
9. Does Robert's near-death experience foreshadow anything?
Chapter 8
1. Who called the first assembly?
2. During the assembly, how many voted that Ralph shouldn't be chief?
3. The hunters get a new name. What is it?
4. The group of boys looked at it with affectionate respect. What was it?
5. Who said it? (Indicate page numbers and why it is significant)
a. "I'm not going to play any longer. Not with you."
b. "I think we ought to climb the mountain."
c. "We'll hunt and I'm going to be chief"
d. "The head is for the beast, it's a gift."
e. "I'd like to put on war-paint and be a savage. But we must keep the fire burning."
f. "Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill."
g. "You knew didn't you? I'm part of you?"
.6. What was the effect on the boys of the hunt for the sow?
7. Why do the boys "act out" the pig killings?
8. What is the Lord of the Flies?
Chapter 9
1. What was the "cannon" that "continued to play" throughout chapter 9?
2. Who sat, like an idol, painted and garlanded, in the center of the lawn?
3. During the party, evening had come, not with calm beauty, but with the
4. At the party, who acted like the pig?
5. What happened to the parachutist?
6. Why do Ralph and Piggy go to Jack's feast?
7. Who was killed because the boys thought he was the beast?
8. What happened to the body on the beach?
9. Who said it? (Indicate page numbers and why it is significant)
a. "Do our dance! Come on! Dance!"
b. "Let them go. I don't care."
c. "P'raps we ought to go too...I mean to make sure nothing happens"
Chapter 10
1. What were Samneric doing in the beginning of the chapter?
2. What is Ralph frightened of?
3. Who went with Jack to take fire from the others?
4. Before they were attacked, what did Ralph "desperately pray?"
5. Who was Ralph fighting in the dark?
6. What did Jack take from the others?
7. Who said it? (Indicate page numbers and why it is significant)
a. "That was murder"
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Lord of the Flies by William Golding
b. "We don't want another night w/out fire"
c. "I thought they wanted the conch"
8. What's the difference between Ralph and Jack's interpretation of Simon's death?
9. What does the lack of fire do to Jack's group?
10. Why was Piggy so insistent on retrieving his glasses?
Chapter 11
1. Who "protested out of the heart of civilization?"
2. Who killed Piggy?
3. How did Piggy die?
4. Who said it? (Indicate page numbers and why it is significant)
a. "After all we aren't savages really, and being rescued isn't a game."
b. "Well, we won't be painted, because we aren't savages."
c. “You're a beast and a swine and a bloody, bloody thief!"
d. "See? See? That's what you'll get! I meant that! There isn't a tribe anymore! The conch is
gone-"
e. "Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up?"
5. Why does Ralph think that "dressing like they were" would assist them in dealing with Jack?
6. How does Golding subtly begin to portray Jack's group as heathen?
7. Why were the boys so afraid of the war paint?
Chapter 12
1. Who was the "savage whose image refused to blend with that ancient picture of a boy in shorts
and shirt?"
2. Why would "bathing [Ralph's] injuries have to wait?"
3. What did Ralph do to the "Lord of the flies?"
4. Who had the "memory of a new and shameful loyalty”?
5. Who sharpened a stick on both ends intending to use it on Ralph?
6. What was the significance of a stick sharpened on both ends?
7. How did they try to get Ralph out of the thicket?
8. Ralph had 3 different strategies for 'escaping' the hunters. What were they?
9. Who said it? (Indicate page numbers and why it is significant)
a. "Nobody killed, I hope? Any dead bodies?"
b. "They are going to hunt you tomorrow."
10. Why did Ralph feel that Jack would never leave him alone?
11. Why don't the adults seem more shocked at the death of two of the children?
12. Why did Jack let Ralph assume the role as leader when asked who was in charge?
13. If the adults had not arrived would the tribe have killed Ralph? Explain.
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