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Sep 27­10:30 AM

Tuesday, September 27LOTF Anticipation Guide­­DiscussionNotes on Allegory & Historical LensHomework: read and take notes on Chpt. 6 for tomorrow

BELLWORK: What is the significance of the chapter title "Painted Faces and Long Hair"? What about "Beast from the Water"?

Sep 27­10:31 AM

Lord of the Flies Anticipation Guide

Read the following statements carefully.  For each statement, write if you agree or disagree, a lot or a little.  Be sure to include your reasoning. 

1. Adult supervision of children is always necessary. 2. All children have some type of “boogie man” they are afraid of.3. At the very core, all humans are good.4. Laws and rules are necessary to keep order in a society.5. Children are innocent and therefore cannot purposefully harm something or someone.6. The most important aspect of a leader is that s/he has moral integrity.  7. A good leader is physically strong and able to work hard.

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Sep 27­12:01 PM

Lord of the FliesLooking at LOTF as an allegory and a historical lens

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What is an allegory?

• A figure of rhetoric• The use of symbols to portray a moral or message• Fables or parables are short allegories with one definite message• Example: “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”In this fable, the boy is an allegory for children who do not tell the truth and are not believed in the end

Sep 27­12:01 PM

Allegory vs. symbol

• They are similar, but an allegory is sustained longer, and is more fully detailed. • Allegories use symbols in order to portray a more well­rounded message or moral• Example: In LOTF, Piggy’s glasses symbolize intellect and knowledge.• Example: In LOTF, the allegory of Piggy’s glasses express the eventual and unavoidable decline of mankind when faced with terms of survival.

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The Role of an Allegory

• Allegories were the method of choice for education many years ago. Why? • Entertainment• Easy to remember = Easy to pass on• Underlying principles were used for teaching lessons

Sep 27­12:01 PM

Allegories in LOTF…

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Sep 27­12:01 PM

Allegories exposed in LOTF:

• Political Allegory (think: WWII, Cold War, atomic destruction)• Psychological Allegory (think: human psyche)• Religious Allegory (think: Garden of Eden, Christ­like characters, God VS. Satan)

Sep 27­12:01 PM

Political Allegory

• The world was divided into two “camps”: Free World VS. Soviet Union. Which characters represent these two camps? • The Cold War brought about fears of atomic destruction – those of which were materialized in LOTF.

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Sep 27­12:01 PM

Psychological Allegory

• Freudian Understanding of the Human Psyche:• The Id: The part of the unconscious mind that works to gratify its own impulses. Character?• The Superego: Part of the mind that seeks to control impulsive behavior (of the Id). Character?• The Ego: Part of the mind that mediates between the Id’s demand for pleasure and the controlled thoughts of the Superego. Character?

EGO

ID Superego

Sep 27­12:01 PM

Religious Allegory

• The Garden of Eden = the island• Describes the perfect living condition with food/water, good weather, etc. Favorable details show it’s (close­to) “perfect” state: UTOPIA. • Golding portrays this “Eden” with a sense of evil at the same time to create a foreboding of something terrible. The island ends up in a state of misery: DYSTOPIA. • Who or what in the Bible represent good and evil? In LOTF?

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Sep 27­12:01 PM

What are Literary Lenses?

• Lenses through which we can “see” (read) a text• Enhances the meaning of a text for a reader• Think about 3D movies… you can watch it without the special glasses, but when you wear it you discover special effects

Sep 27­12:01 PM

Historical Lens

• Using this theory requires that you apply to a text specific historical information about the time during which an author wrote• History= social, political, economic, cultural, and/or intellectual climate of the time

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Sep 27­12:01 PM

Applying Historical Lens to LOTF

• Questions to consider:• When was LOTF written?• What major world event had just occurred? What was Golding’s involvement in this event?• What was the political climate at the time it was written?• How might different characters/symbols be an allegory for this event?

Sep 27­12:01 PM

Your Task

• As part of your final assessment, you will discuss the following questions• On the island, what literally happens to the boys, and what is the author saying metaphorically about the structure of civilization?• Looking at LOTF as an allegory to WWII, what do the different characters/symbols represent?• Be prepared to have specific textual evidence to support your answer.

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Sep 27­12:16 PM

William Golding was born on September 19, 1911 in Cornwall, England.

Golding's father Alec did this drawing of his infant (second) son William Gerald, b. 1911, who was always known as 'Bill' or 'Billy‘.

http://www.william­golding.org/golding/media.asp?me_id=9&me_rand=952819748

Sep 27­12:16 PM

Golding with the Headmaster of Bishop Wordsworth’s School, Dr Frederick Happold, in the 1950s. Golding taught English and (with other staff) ran the school's Combined Cadet Force (CCF). ­­http://www.william­golding.org/golding/Default.asp?ap_id=&ca_id=&in_id=&page=3

Golding attended a public school (what Americans call private school), then went to Oxford University. He graduated in 1935 and 

went to work as a schoolmaster

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During World War II, Golding served in the British Royal 

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Golding’s personal philosophy about the nature of humans and evil changed during the war­came to believe that “man was sick—not exceptional man, but average man”

Sep 27­12:16 PM

Lord of the Flies was partly written as a response to a 

popular boys’ novel by R.M. Ballantyne, The Coral Island, in which three shipwrecked boys live 

together happily on an island until they are rescued.