Lord of the Flies Mind Map

http://www.mindmeister.com/150328036/symbols-of-lord-of-the-flies

Analysis Remix of Lord of the Flies

Lit Analysis #6: Lord of the Flies

Plot summary and analysis (my notes):

A group of boys were in a plane escaping Great Britain during wartime and their plane was shot down over a deserted island. Ralph and Piggy (two of the main characters) for a conch shell on the beach, which they would use to call meetings and get the attention of the other boys. The boys decided they needed a leader, so they chose Ralph. They also chose Jack at the lead hunter. (This foreshadows what would happen to each of these boys during their time on the island.) When Ralph, Jack, and Simon explore the island, they decide to set a signal fire on the top of a mountain in order to attract passing ships. This fire is neglected and ends up setting the forest on fire. Ralph takes his leadership role very seriously and seems to be the only boy who understands what needs to be done in order to keep some form of civility on the island. While he is trying to organize the building of huts and the maintenance of a signal fire, all of the other boys blow him off and are playing. When Jack fails to catch a wild pig, he becomes completely fixated on hunting. (This shows the beginning of his de-humanization.) Soon, a ship passes by the island but doesn’t see the boys because their signal fire is out. After the first successful hunt, the boys do a wild, animal-like, celebratory dance. (Yet another sign of the fading civility of the boys.) Ralph tries to restore order with the conch shell and finds that the boys are actually becoming scared of the situation. The “littluns” believe there is a beast or a monster in the forest on the island that comes out at night but hides during the day.  The possibility of it hiding in the ocean completely terrifies the boys. An air battle occurs over the island and a dead parachutist falls onto the mountain where the signal fire is. The twins think it is the beast and run back to camp to tell the others that the beast has attacked them. Jack and Ralph see the silhouette of the parachutist and think it’s a large ape. Jack decides that Ralph should no longer be the leader. Him and the rest of the hunters take off away from the beach. Ralph tries to rally the other boys together to build a new signal fire on the beach but most of them leave quietly during the work. Jack’s new tribe organizes a violent slaughter of a wild sow. They put her head on a stick that becomes covered in flies. (This represents the Lord of the Flies and the side of humans that really isn’t human at all.) Simon has a vision in which the pig head speaks to him, telling him that no one can ever escape the “Lord of the Flies” for it exists within every man. When Simon goes back to the beach to tell the others that he has seen a dead man, they attack and kill him with their bare hands and teeth. (An extremely animalistic act.) Jack’s hunters attack Ralph and Piggy when they try to reason with Jack. They kill Piggy and Ralph narrowly escapes. They shatter the conch. (This is a symbol of the complete shut down of all humanity.) Jack and his hunters set the forest of fire, trying to smoke Ralph out onto the beach. When he finally has to go to the beach, Ralph is met by a British naval officer who had seen the island on fire. The sight of the animalistic boys amazes the officer. When the officer asks the boys what happened, they all broke down crying. (This is the return of their humanity.)

Homework: 3/20/2012

Video-

·      Every effort to change the world starts with people asking questions.

·      It’s time to raise the questions about what is important.

·      We need to find a solution for the problems our world is facing, and to do that we need questions, open minds, and clear communications.

·      Solutions will come from a combination of multiple viewpoints.

·      How do we get the world to listen?

The Serious Need for Play

Childhood play is crucial for social, emotional and cognitive ­development.
Imaginative and rambunctious “free play,” as opposed to games or structured activities, is the most essential type.
Kids and animals that do not play when they are young may grow into anxious, socially maladjusted adults.
. According to a paper published in 2005 in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, children’s free-play time dropped by a quarter between 1981 and 1997. Concerned about getting their kids into the right colleges, parents are sacrificing playtime for more structured activities
A handful of studies support Brown’s conviction that a play-deprived childhood disrupts normal social, emotional and cognitive development in humans and animals·  This creative aspect is key because it challenges the developing brain more than following predetermined rules does. In free play, kids use their imagination and try out new activities and roles.  play fosters creative thinking.
Play fighting also improves problem solving
But why might play help kids excel? Animal researchers believe that play serves as a kind of training for the unexpected

·       Parents should let children be children—not just because it should be fun to be a child but because denying youth’s unfettered joys keeps kids from developing into inquisitive, creative creatures, Elkind warns. “Play has to be reframed and seen not as an oppo­site to work but rather as a complement,” he says. “Curiosity, imagination and creativity are like muscles: if you don’t use them, you lose them.”

What a reader can “play” with

·      In Donne’s sonnet, Shakespeare’s writing, and this EE. Cummings poem, the reader can “play” with the ideas the author is trying to put forth. They can interpret them as their mind wants and see things from different points of view. Readers can “play” with their creativity using what the author provides.

"The world is vast and wide. Why do you put on your robes at the sound of a bell?"

·      Playing with a question such as this can create a learning experience because the answer requires consideration for all different variables, each worth analyzing, such as the persons lifestyle, where they live, and what makes them unique. By analyzing these variables, you can learn something about how people work, about a new culture, or just even about a new person.

Literature Book (Poetry) Remix

Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare
1. Dramatic Situation- speaker is in the first person
2. Structure- sonnet, iambic pentameter, ABAB rhyme scheme in first three quatrains
3. Theme- the flaws of a woman are what make her beautiful
4. Grammar- Old English, grammar manipulated to fit iambic pentameter
5. Important Images/Figures of Speech- "My mistress's eyes are nothing like the sun;"
6. Important Words- "And yet, by heaven, I  think my love as rare as any she belied with false compare."
7. Tone- honest, blunt, yet loving.
8. Literary Devices- imagery, similes, personification, metaphors
9. Prosody- seems offensive to the subject at the beginning but concludes with a feeling of love

Still to Be Neat by Ben Jonson 
1. Dramatic Situation- third person about a woman who is apparently always dressed for a special occasion.
2. Structure- simple stream of consciousness
3. Theme- natural beauty is the best beauty
4. Grammar- lot of punctuation, very direct
5. Important Images- feast with dressed up lady. "hair is free"
6. Important Words- "still", "lady", "simplicity", "heart"
7. Tone- kind, complimenting
8. Literary Devices- simile, stream of consciousness
9. Prosody- flows as if all one thought. what women do vs. what men want women to do. Smooth.

Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen
1. Dramatic Situation- third person point of view; an observer of the war
2. Structure- two stanzas; ABAB then ABBA
3. Theme- The theme is the tragedy of war; the poem was written to show how the war affected the soldiers.
4. Grammar- pretty standard, proper grammar
5. Important Figures of Speech/Images- "Die as cattle."
6. Important Words- "cattle", "holy glimmers of goodbyes"
7. Tone- melancholy and sad. Grim because of war
8. Literary Devices- imagery, similes, metaphors, figurative language
9. Prosody- slow flow of the poem emphasizes the sadness of the subject

1984 by George Orwell

1.     Winston Smith lives in London, Oceania (England), a country ruled by a totalitarian government (The Party), which is lead by “Big Brother”. Although Winston is a member of The Party, he is still watched all the time, everywhere he goes through devices such as the telescreen. Winston’s job is to rewrite the history of The Party, changing the records of past events so that it appears as though Big Brother and The Party have been involved everything good, and frees them from blame of all the negative events. The Party is now trying to bring about a new language that would make political rebellion nearly impossible. It’s called Newspeak and it erases any words that can be affiliated with rebellion. Winston is becoming fed up with the oppression of the party. His “thought crimes” against The Party include thinking about rebellion, sex, and being individual, and writing these thoughts in a diary. He wanders through the poor neighborhoods of London in order to escape the constant monitoring of The Party. Winston starts an affair with a dark-haired girl whom he works with at The Ministry of Truth named Julia. He is afraid that they will be caught, tortured, and killed by The Party for the affair, while she is driven by the danger of the affair. He begins to hate The Party even more and finally hears from O’Brien, a member of the party whom he suspects to be working against The Party, for the Brotherhood. O’Brien is a member of the Inner Party, which allows him many luxuries, yet works against The Party. Julia and Winston become members of The Brotherhood. As Winston reads Emmanuel Goldstein’s (the leader of the Brotherhood) book to Julia in their rented room, the police barge in and arrest them. When he is taken to the Ministry of Love, Winston finds that O’Brien was actually a spy who set a trap for Winston. O’Brien spends months trying to brainwash Winston and when it doesn’t work, the send him to the infamous Room 101. Here, Winston is forced to face a cage full of flesh eating rats on his head. He begs them to do it to Julia, not him. It was at that moment that Winston had snapped, accepting Big Brother and The Party completely. He is released back into the world to live as a submissive citizen.