Tues: Read "Schools ask themselves if ethics can be taught". Read "Old School Ethics". Where did Bruno get ethics? Was he born with them? How would Bruno respond to the question in the title of the first article? Writing assignment: are human ideas of good and evil learned or are we born with them? Feel free to review yesterday's work.
Read the first chapter of Lord of the Flies. The Sound of the Shellpg 7; 25 pgs
Fri: Read Ch 2 Fire on the Mountain pg 32; 16 pgs
This novel has some characteristics of realistic fiction and some of science fiction: discuss. Quiz today
Focus for 3rd Quarter: Big Ideas: XX human nature XX chaos XX civilization vs. savagery XX understanding the power of fear XX dealing with change XX civilization as structure Themes Understanding human nature facilitates coping with XX crisis, chaos, and change. Crisis creates vulnerability. To solve problems, order must be dynamic and XX self- organizing. Knowing the power of fear can empower you to XX make better decisions. Whenever groups of people coexist, there will be XX a struggle for power. It is better to examine the consequences of a decision XX before it is made, than to discover them afterwards.
Mon: Read Ch 3 Huts on the Beach pg 48; 10 pgs Read Ch 4 Painted Faces and Long Hair pg 58; 18 pgs Much of The Lord of the Flies deals with civilization vs. savagery. Read A hierarchy of Ethics and discuss. Start reading it at the bottom and work upwards. There will be a quiz today.
Tues: Read Ch 5 Beast from Waterpg 76; 19 pgs
Wed: Read Ch 6 Beast from Air pg 95; 14 pgs Quiz today Review the novel so far with this game.
Thurs: Read Ch 7 Shadows and Tall Trees pg 109; 15 pgs The premise of The Lord of the Flies could be seen as, "What would happen if adolescence reigned? What if there were no adults?" Author Diane West believes that American culture is now facing a similar problem. Read this review of her book, Death of the Grown Up, a book in which she argues that today's American adults are refusing to grow up. Could there be a link between this behavior and the increase in violence in our society? Watch first six minutes of this video of an interview with the author (9:58 + 10:04).
Fri: Read Ch 8Gift for the Darkness pg 124; 21 pgs
Tabula Rasa
Focus Questions How does peer pressure effect change? When is rebellion justified? Why do we need rules? Why does fear make one act in irrational ways? How does personality dictate reactions? How did I benefit (or not benefit) from major or minor changes in my life? What role does society play in structuring our ideals, values, and sense of right and wrong? How do emotions skew decision making? Essential Questions When does society provide a structure for dealing with change/crisis? What happens when we lose that structure? How can forward thinking help me make better decisions? How will I know when to risk failure for possible success?
Week 8: Lord of the Flies by William Golden
Mon: Read Ch 9 A View to a Death pg 145; 10 pgs "I like all the mixed emotion and anger It brings out the animal the power you can feel And feeling so high on this much adrenalin Excited but scary to believe what we've become."
Tues: Read Ch 10 The Shell and the Glasses pg 155; 14 pgs View this news clip of an interview about teen violence with Keith Ablow, author of the book Living with the Truth (4:16).
Wed 11: Read Ch 11 Castle Rock pg 169; 14 pgs
Dr. George Gerbner The Killing Screens: Media and the Culture of Violence (5:59)
Quotations "The boys were below the age of overt sex, for I did not want to complicate the issue with that relative triviality. They did not have to fight for survival, for I did not want a Marxist exegesis. If disaster came, it was not to come through the exploitation of one class by another. It was to rise, simply and solely out of the nature of the brute." Golding, William. "Lord of the Flies as Fable." Readings on Lord of the Flies. Ed. Bruno. Pg42.
"The chief obstacle to the progress of the human race is the human race." Don Marquis.
"The real world demands that we learn to cope with chaos, that we understand what motivates humans, that we adopt strategies and behaviors that lead to order, not more chaos… When chaos erupts, it not only destroys the current structure, it also creates the conditions for new order to emerge." Margaret Wheatley
Of the four emotions "Fear is the most potent. In a skilled surgeon's hands, Fear cuts through the layers of fat around a reader's brain, jabbing and needling until, trembling with the unquenchable desire built on frustration, the recipient of your Fear message grabs his pen or his phone to soothe his fever." Herschell Gordon Lewis
William Faulkner's advice to writers: "He must teach himself that the basest of all things is to be afraid; and, teaching himself that, forget it forever, leaving no room in his workshop for anything but the old verities and truths of the heart, the old universal truths lacking which any story is ephemeral and doomed - love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice… The poet's, the writer's, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past." William Faulkner Nobel Banquet Speech, 1949
Thurs: Read Ch 12 Cry of the Hunters pg 183; 19 pgs The 1st chapter is "The Sound of the Shell". The last chapter is "The Cry of the Hunters": Discuss. Review the novel with this Jeopardy Game
The Blitz (British term) The Underground (British term) pinched (British slang) the common (British term) class (socio-economic) lorry (British term)
Is evil inherent or produced by environment? Why will a crowd of people sometimes do things that none of them would do individually? Why is it hard sometimes for teenagers to value the things that are beautiful in their own society? Why do some people laugh at mean jokes? Do you think that growing up in a ruined landscape - in a ghetto or a city after a war - would make a person less respectful of beautiful things or more desirous of beautiful things?
Week 7:
Paper:
Why does a peaceful, orderly society break down into violence and chaos?
Be sure to:
Underline your thesis
Heavily reference Lordof the Flies
Use outside sources
When something goes wrong with society, can blame be assigned to any of the following? XX Education XX Parenting XX Media XX Cultural trends XX Gun ownership XX Law enforcement and courts
Are we reverting back to our natural, primitive state? Are we suppressing the goodness of our natural state?
You may use any of the links from the above weeks. You may wish to look over some of these resources:
Narrative Text Genre Study Characteristics of realistic fiction Characteristics of science fiction Literary Movements - Realism - Naturalism - Stream of Consciousness - Emerging Modernism Author-study of poets from time period
Historical/Cultural What do our actions say about our nature? What is the role of society in Lord of the Flies and today?
Critical Perspectives moral dilemma social hierarchies
Narrative Text (Continued)
Literary Elements character study function of major/minor characters symbolism (universal vs. contextual) slideshare situational irony conflicts (internal and external) parody (The Choral Island) allegory (moral, social, religious) link
Literary Devices flashbacks figurative language, imagery metaphor, simile, and allusion foreshadowing point of view diction
Informational Text Genre Study Characteristics of news articles Characteristics of interviews Characteristics of reviews Elements of a News Article short separated, telegraphic sentences immediately establishes subject and purpose uses language appropriate to audience and subject uses quotations where appropriate minimal use of jargon clear purpose to the information includes only essential information effective page layout for clarity Elements of a Review focuses on performance, person, product compares key aspects of the subject with others establishes reviewer's authority maintains objective tone throughout identifies and applies criteria clarifies purpose of the review (perform, persuade) limited in scope; includes only essential aspects includes telling examples that support opinion offers balanced treatment anticipates questions and needs of audience Text Criteria ACT Characteristics of Complex Text
