Journal Entry 2 - Kirsch

Painted Faces and Long Hair/ Beast from the Water/ Beast from the Air

As I read through the seconded part of the book it has become clear to me that they are not going to stop bullying Piggy. Piggy makes so much suggestions to the group and boys such as Jack just tell him to shut up. They are all real jerks. The boys on the island are becoming more and more crazy. I mean that they are becoming so violent. Every thing that the boys think about is either killing something or fighting somebody. I think that Jack will try and gain power in the third half of the book. He is challenging Ralph and questioning Ralph's actions. I believe that in the future Jack will lead a rebellion to over-through Ralph. The one thing that I do not understand is where is the dead pilot on the island. The part of the chapter were it explains what happened to the dead body is so confusing. The saying the hunters chant “ kill the pig, cut her throat, spill her blood,” just shows you how crazy and barbaric the hunters are coming. It was really mean that Jack would not share the meat with the boys that did not hunt with him. I think that Jack is the biggest bully on the island. I think that if Ralph does not do something to keep all the boys in line, all hope is lots for them being rescued. The beast is not real and the beast is just all in the boy's heads. Nobody seen the beast clearly. What some of the boys are seeing as the beast are probably the mirages. Also the littluns are just dreaming and thinking they are in reality. To concluded the second part of the book was not that interesting to me, it is no longer an adventure but it is survival situation. The author is not making the survival situation interesting. I hope that the third part of the book it more interesting.

Kirsch

Journal entry #2

After reading half the book I can say I'm not enjoying it as much because at first it seemed like an adventure/survival story but now it's just survival. It looks like it's starting to turn into survival of the fittest. it seems as if what I said before about Jack might be coming true. He is growing very angry with Ralph and doesn't obey his orders. It looks like he has picked out a good spot to move to because he was saying how nice it would be to make a fort with all the rocks. A lot of people seem to be ignoring the main job which is the fire to get rescued. All they seem to care about is killing the pig except a few of them. The group seems to be falling apart. You can tell some people are starting to slip out of reality because a lot of people started believing in this beast which I don't think existed until chapter six. The beast is a dead person with a parachute so it's not even alive. I find the only two reasons of the group falling apart are because of this fictional beast and Jack. I feel bad for Piggy. I think when he said that if Jack were chief he wouldn't do anything to bad to Ralph but he would to Piggy is true. Piggy seems to have the best ideas but no one listens to him except Ralph sometimes. After the assembly broke up and no one was obeying Ralph anymore I think what he said was right. If he blew the conch again and no one came back it's all over because there is no order anymore and everyone will just do what they want. I want them to get rescued soon but there is still half the book to go.

 Liam

Questions - Lord of the Flies – 2/4  Kirsch

1)      Do you think name littluns is a suitable tittle for the younger boys?  

Yes I do because they are smaller than the rest of the boys in the group.

2)      Do you believe that the hunters are becoming obsessed with killing pigs? Will this lead to dangerous events in the future?

The hunters are becoming obsessed with hunting and killing the pigs. The frays “kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood,” is great example of how obsessed the hunters are becoming.  I think this obsession will lead to dangerous events in the future.     

3)      Is Jack’s knife a symbol? If so, what does it represent?   

It is a symbol. It represents death.

4)      Explain what the dancer around the fire means in chapter 4?

It represents the boy’s new way of life, that they are becoming more barbaric.  They are moving away from the organization of Ralph.

5)      Is the beast real?

No it is not, the beast is all in the boy’s heads. The boys are imagining things because they are scared.

6)      Would you be stressed out if you were in Ralph’s position, from the lack of organization?

Yes I would be because I get stressed out very easily. Also the boys are trying to survive and some boys are not ding there job properly and disobeying me.    

7)      Do you think jack would be a suitable replacement for ralph as chief?

No I do not because Jack lacks the skills needed to be a leader and to survive.

8)      Why do all the older boys decide to go on the trip to the caves in chapter six?

The older boys are scared of the beast and don’t want to be left behind with the littluns. They would be venerable for the beast to take them.

9)      Do you think, when Jack joins Ralph in the cave to look for the beast they again feel the comradeship they once had between each other?

Yes they do fell the comradeship again. The situation reminds them of their first trip together to the top of the mountain the chapter 2.

10)   Does the castle rock represent an ideal home for barbarians?

Yes it does because the castle rock is close to a forest and it has boulders to push down on the enemy.  

Sophie, I do not agree with you about the characters being stupid. They are just trying to have fun without any parents around. They are just kids, maybe they enjoy having there cloths off.  I do zone off in the long chapters sometimes too, but I reread just like you do. I do not understand fully why you don’t enjoy the book it is so good.

Kirsch 

Liam, I agree that piggy should have been the leader. But nobody elected him as the leader because he is different and fat. Even though I did not put it in my journal I am glade that somebody agrees with me about Piggy being the leader. As well I don’t think there will be a beast later on in the book. I believe it is all in the boy’s heads.

Kirsch 

Matt I agree with you about how everyone is treating piggy, the pore kid he is just trying to help. Also I do not think they are getting off to the wrong start because what they are doing in a survival situation is exactly what I would be doing.  We are both in cadets and we all know that the procedure is to build shelter find water and food. I hope you went through that training in your cadet career.  Lastly, I like how you pointed out that the author is explaining the secondary characters in groups. I never saw that thanks.

Kirsch

PS I always do my homework before cadets.  

Journal #1 ~Sophie

Up to this point I am not enjoying The Lord of the Flies. The reasons I do not like the book so far are because the characters are unintelligent, and not very interesting, for example, most of the children take off their clothes as soon as they get on the island like it’s a beach party, aside from Ralph and Jack none of them are really thinking ahead. None of the children are reacting like they should, most people after being through a plane crash and being abandoned on an island would be freaking out, especially if they were the age of the children on the island. The only person that has really reacted to what has happened is Simon.  I find it very hard to relate to any of the characters and develop feelings for them. The pace of the story is very slow, nothing really interesting has happened so far. Most of the first three chapters involve just introducing the setting. A few symbols have been introduced such as the conch and “the creepers”. I am looking forward to figure out what they symbolize. I find that the chapters are very long, and it is hard to stay interested, I usually zone out, and have to reread the chapter again to fully understand it. I still have nine chapters to go so I am hoping that the pace of the story picks up and the characters show more depth. Most people who see that I am reading The Lord of the Flies tell me that it takes a bit for the plot to become interesting. I am expecting to see more action in the next few chapters, perhaps something about “beasty” the large snake that several children have mentioned.  I am also expecting a fight to break out in between Ralph and Jack.

~Sophie

Lord Of The Flies Setting Questions and First 3 Chapters Questions+Answers

1. Why do you think everyone is ignoring Piggy?

2. Why was Jack so hesitant on killing the pig?

3. Why does the book keep mentioning the creepers?

4. Why is the heat mentioned a lot?

5. Why was one of  the first thing Ralph wanted to do was climb the mountain and explore?

6. Why did the author decide to make Ralph climb the mountain?

7. Why do you think the book didn't started with the plane crash?

8. Why did most characters elect Ralph as the leader?

9. Do you agree with the characters that Ralph should be leader?

10. Why do you think they mentioned the flowers and butterflies a lot?

Answers

1. Because he has less physical ability and he didn't help get wood together.

2. Because it's hard for someone to kill a fairly big living thing as it kind of messes with your mind like you murdered someone.

3. Because it shows that no one has been there before and makes the jungle seem a bit frightening. Could be a symbol of the snakes or the beastie.

4. Because it shows that they are on a tropical island and it adds to the atmosphere.

5. To see if they were on an island and to get a look at it.

6. To establish the setting.

7.  To make it a bit of a mystery at first and it wasn't needed.

8. Because he had the conch that brought everyone together and he was already acting like a leader when everyone came.

9. I do agree a bit but I think the best leader would have been the Piggy because he seemed like the most intelligent and had the best ideas even though he has less physical ability.

10. Because even though they were stranded it was still an island full of life.

Liam

Journal entry #1

So far I find the book a quite a bit exiting. Although everyone elected Ralph the leader I think Piggy would have been the best leader because he seems the most intelligent and wiser than everyone. He also seems to care more about everyone. Though if I was in the crowd with all the kids I probably would have voted for Ralph because he was already acting like a good leader after calling everyone with the conch. I think that Ralph is a good leader now because he takes in everyone's ideas but I think Piggy would be better even if he has less physical abilities. I expected Jack to be more angry to Ralph about being leader but he seems to be agreeing and going along with him. I thought there might be some jealousy and he might split off with the quire as his own group. If that did happen there might be some kind of a war going on between them. I find it a bit ironic how Piggy is calling everyone kids because no one was listening to him but him complaining makes him seem childish and really they're all kids. Since they are all kids it's really unpredictable what they are going to do with no adults around to tell them what to do and what not to do. None of the older kids paid attention to the little kids already. They also started a forest fire which they think there might be some little kids in. One of the kids mentioned a beastie or a snake which no one believed to exist but if rumors started spreading people might believe and panic. I don't see them getting rescued any time soon because there are still 9 chapters in the book and I don't see how the story could continue for so long if they did.

Liam 

Journal entry 1!

Journal entry 1!!!!!

Chapter’s 1-3

First impression’s on this book? I think it’s great! The way the author leave’s out certain parts as to what happened and why it happened makes me want to keep reading! It’s inevitable that it will be explained in the future and for that reason, I want to keep reading to find out. The author describes only the main characters, which I find odd because he (the author) only briefly describes the other children on the island. I’m thinking its showing the importance of the kids as individuals; they will probably be addressed as a group of children instead of individual children. Don’t you guys feel bad for “piggy”! He’s being bullied by kids that are younger then him! Even Ralph has succumbed to the peer pressure. When the conk is blown and all the kids on the island emerge from all around, they quickly decide a leader. Its obvious that even after coming to a vote making Ralph the leader, there will be complications with other’s (singling out Jack) wanting the power Ralph has just received. I can see that the children on the island are very optimistic about being rescued, not realizing where they are, help, like Ralph explains, might take a long time. One more observation I have is that there mostly focusing on killing pigs and signaling boats passing bye. They haven’t killed a pig yet and they’re signaling for boats on an island with civilization nowhere in sight. I’m thinking they’re starting off on the wrong foot, does anyone agree? The book so far has been interesting, making me want to read more to un-ravel un-answered questions. 

P.S I just came back from cadet's half an hour ago. So please excuse my tardiness.

Mathieu Berlinquette        

Journal Entry 1 -  Sound of the Shell/ Fire on the Mountain/ Huts on the Beach.     Kirsch

I really enjoyed the first quarter of the book. I was a bit confused when the author, William Golding, used the word conch because I didn't know what a conch was. But as I read through the chapters I found out that conch is another name for a shell.  Also in the first chapter, I did not understand why a choir would be marching as if they were in an army. I think the system where the boys can only speak when they are holding the shell is a great way to get everybody to listen.  Ralph is a great leader for the group of school boys. He is supportive and is open to suggestions.  Chapter one really got me hooked on the book and I could not stop reading after that.  

The one thing that really bugged me in chapter two was how badly the boys treat Piggy. They rejected him because he is fat and has asthma. They constantly call him fatty and tell him to shut up. It just makes me feel bad because he is just trying to help and they bully him.

I like how the boys made a fire, to alert a ship of their presence on the island. It is a common survival technique.

Lastly, I enjoyed how the boy’s goal on the island is not only to get rescued but to have fun, with no grownups around. I would have a blast on the island too.  It is a great idea to have people doing jobs such as hunting and looking after the fire. But Ralph and Jack lack the discipline needed to keep the boys from slacking off. Overall the first quarter of the book really got me hooked and I can’t wait to read more.         

http://swlrandomthoughts.blogspot.ca/

The book is going to be a blast. So exited :)

Kirsch