Letter to Golding

Mr. William Golding, The novel you wrote called Lord of the Flies, deals with how nature is fundamentally bad to the schoolboys who are stranded on an island that is inhabited by what the boys call as the beast and a boar roaming on the island. As the book progresses to this point, I can see that the children are beginning to gain animal-like characteristics. Since the boys are all alone without any adults giving them a direction to how to live, they have trouble cooperating to work together and bring something useful to everyone. Jack starts a fire using Piggy’s specs and the schoolboys do not keep an eye on the fire. Without using proper judgment, the fire burns down a tree. When Piggy tries to get the group together, nobody listens to him but Ralph, Sam, Eric, and the littluns. No one listens to him because he is plump. When Jack states that Ralph should not be a leader anymore, Jack asks the others to vote him out. No one listens to Jack, so Jack and the other kids leave Ralph’s group and form their own organization. The schoolboys do not cooperate, so survival for everyone is complicated. When the boys are fighting with each other, they begin to act like animals. Animals do not have class, but humans don’t if their behavior is juvenile. Humans have class if they know the right from the wrong. If the schoolboys want to gain survival, they need to work together in order to support each other. Sincerely, Mr. Matthew Yang

INDEPENDENT READING BLOG

In the novel, Lord of the Flies, the setting is taken place on an island filled with British schoolboys. It matters because the story starts off during the war, and a plane is shot down carrying these boys and it lands into the ocean. The setting affects the characters because they need to gain survival on their own. The characters of the story are Piggy, Ralph, Jack, Simon, Sam and Eric, Littluns, Roger, and the pilot of the plane. The pilot went to a nearby rock and jumped into the water, committing suicide. I like Piggy, Ralph, Sam and Eric and the littlluns. I do not like Jack, Roger, or Simon. Currently, Ralph was declared leader of the children and Piggy as his assistant who carries the conch. Jack, however does not like the way Ralph rules, so he, Roger, and the other older kids form their own group and begin to look like kids without any manners. On the other hand, Simon, I feel is this really weird kid of the group. I anticipate that Jack is going to be brutal to the kids who follow him, just like the way he talks to Ralph and Piggy. They will be significant to the story because currently they need each other in order to survive.

So, the schoolboys land on this deserted island after their plane gets shot down during the war. The boys find different alternatives to survive. Ralph is made leader by the group and is accompanied by Piggy, who holds the conch. The conch is used for anyone who wishes to speak. They make homes using palm trees and a fire with Piggy’s specs. The fire is made, but it goes out of control when none of the boys keep an eye on it. In Chapter 4, Jack and Ralph have a fight. Jack leaves Ralph’s group and begins to form his own with the older kids. Ralph continues to rule with Piggy, Sam, Eric, and the littluns. I see that a brutal war will begin between the two groups. Technically, there are actually multiple people narrating the story. In some portions of the story, the author is talking, and then in other parts, Piggy or Ralph is speaking. I feel that the point of view is omniscient. The narrator does not have a distinct personality.

The narrator's voice is different from the voices of the characters. The narrators, William Golding, Piggy, and Ralph. Golding uses a strong language throughout the book when mentioning a specific situation. Ralph also uses a strong tone towards the characters since he is the leader of his group. Golding and Ralph both use strong language in the book. The other characters have a decreased tone when talking to each other. The littluns are extremely shy towards the situation because of their age group and also the advanced content that Jack and the other characters share. The littluns like to make sandcastles on the beach or play. The style and language affect the way I perceive the characters, narrator, and the events of the story because each person who speaks has a different understanding towards each other.

The fire made by the children, the conch, and the painted faces are things that I have seen so far as symbolic. The fire is symbolic because it provides the only light during the night to get around the island and to lessen the fears that the children have. The conch signifies leadership because in order for a person to speak, they must hold the conch in their hand. The painted faces show uncivilized behavior. The images so far that gives me a specific picture are the painted faces. I sense that some of the people are becoming savages, and those people are part of the group led by Jack. I see that the story is showing a greater theme also known as not being civilized in any way. Since the story is about children stranded on a deserted island, children feel that it okay to get all crazy and wild. There would not be anyone telling them what to do or wear.

Blog 19

I feel that the session I did fulfilled my expectations, but the session that my group was assigned to do, did not. The other sessions completed by my fellow students met the requirements that I thought were necessarily important. The activities that they chose focused mostly on the feelings of my class and me. I feel that my participation in my classmate’s session is at the top. I was able to fully understand the stories that they were given to do and the activities they used to apply what they learned from to us. The reason is because I read the stories before the presentation, so that I can get a better idea of what their presentation will be discussed about. I feel that I can re-use what I learned in order to explain the themes, point of view, tone and style in order to relate to this work of fiction. The things that my classmates included touched up on the necessary elements of literature that were required by our instructor. The way my friends demonstrated their understanding of the stories, allowed me to focus on the point of view and tone of how the stories are written. Each story had a different point of view as well as tone. When my friend presented the stories: “Stockings”, “Style”, and “Nightlife” or “The Man I Killed”, “Ambush”, and “Good Form”, they asked us to tell a story about what would it be like if we were in these character’s shoes as well as the meaning of survival. Another point is that the other students questioned our mind, about any memories that we thought were heroic or horrific just like the Vietnam War. That is how I am able to apply these comments to a more in-depth discussion of the stories in “The Things They Carried. “

Pre-Essay Prompt

I am going to write about the stories “Speaking of Courage” and “Notes”. The theme I will discuss is Courage vs. Cowardice. The elements I would use are character, setting, plot, symbol, and theme. The setting I would use is the sewage field in the war and the lake that he drives around several times. The character I would use is Norman Bowker because he shows both courage and cowardice. The field swallows Kiowa literally. The plot I would choose is the flashback at the Sewage field and the lake. The symbol is the lake (war) and sewage field (death of men).