Week 4

The novel Lord of the Flies.  A district benchmark test.  A school wide writing assessment.  Book clubs.  Clips from movies.  This motley of events ties together to form the last two weeks in my English class.

Throughout the previous two weeks, we continued to read and analyze William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies.  As we progress in the text, it is apparent that the boys are becoming savage, wild creatures; they are beginning to become less civilized and less focused on their original main goal to be rescued.  This is shown in the novel when Ralph says (while trying to explain to the boys why they can't hunt and run free), “The fire's the most important thing on the island, because, because—”.  This action of Ralph forgetting the purpose of the fire for even a moment shows how even Ralph—the wise leader—is beginning to transform into a more primal state.  Another example that shows this change within the boys is Simon's death.  The boys murder Simon—one of their fellow friends—just because they think he is "the beast".  They kill him as if he were a pig, which in itself is significant for the reason that a pig is a wild animal.  Wild animals are essentially what they have become and what they kill.  This foreshadows that in the end, they will have murdered their own kind figuratively or perhaps literally (like they did to Simon).  Furthermore, Simon's death has another critical meaning that does not relate to gauche behavior.  Simon was the only one on the island who knew that "the beast" was just a dead body, but now that he is dead and "the beast's" body is gone, none of the boys will ever know that "the beast" wasn't real.  This will most likely be a very important factor throughout the remainder of the novel.

This transformation among the boys from innocent and well behaved to savage and uncivilized when stranded on an uninhabited island shows how people will change when put in a certain situation.  An experiment conducted by a team of researchers led by Professor Phillip Zimbardo at Stanford University in August 1971 connects to these changes among the boys.  The purpose of the Stanford Prison Experiment was to study the psychological effects of being either a prisoner or a prison guard.  Twenty four students were selected to participate in this experiment; twelve as prisoners and twelve as prison guards.  The ultimate result of this experiment was a forced shut down since it got out of control; this is argued to show that humans, when placed in a certain situation, will have a certain reaction and will change to fit into their role in the situation.  Below is a documentary about the Stanford Prison Experiment.

During the past two weeks, we took an English district benchmark: a test that is assigned to all high school students in the NVUSD (Napa Valley Unified School District) and that evaluates students on their level of understanding in the subject, English.  It was about 20 multiple choice questions in length and took about half of the class period.  For the most part, it was a very easy test for me.

Also, my English class took a school wide writing assessment: a test assigned to all students at my high school.  In this assessment, we were required to analyze a poem and write about a half page response on the literary elements that the author used to enhance his/her writing.  Literary elements include syntax, detail, diction, figurative language, and imagery.

Furthermore, my teacher allotted about a thirty minute time period one day for us to meet in our book clubs.  There are four book clubs in my period, each consisting of around six people.  Each book club is required to read four books during the school year, one at each quarter, from a specific list of texts.  For this quarter, my book club elected to read, analyze, and write about the book Black Boy by Richard Wright.  Then, we must write an in-class essay on our book from one of the following essay prompts:

1. Identify a major theme from the novel and describe how the author develops this theme throughout the text.

2. Describe how the author characterizes either a single character or several characters and show the development of this/these character(s) throughout the text.

3. Identify major symbols and figurative language the author employs throughout the text.  In your analysis, explain how these symbols and figurative language add meaning to the text.

At our "meeting", my book club decided to write about essay prompt #1.  We feel it would be the best one to write about since we can find more evidence for this prompt than the other ones.  The themes in Black Boy that we have noticed so far are similar to the ones in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird; they are poverty, childhood innocence, and racism.

This is the book cover for Black Boy.

Lastly, my English class watched the black and white opening of the Lord of the Flies movie made in 1963.  The opening is a slideshow of copious images that connect to what the reader of the novel can infer to be what occurs before the point when the novel actually starts.  After watching this title sequence, we discussed what images and sounds the director puts into the opening and why he inserts them.

Below is the opening clip of the Lord of the Flies movie in which my class watched.

Week 3

This week in English class, we continued to read and analyze the novel Lord of the Flies.  Similar to previous weeks, our main focus was on the process of developing characters, or characterization.  We looked at how the two characters—Ralph and Jack— have evolved since the beginning of the novel and the conflicts between them.

This is a book cover of Lord of the Flies.

In the chapter one, Ralph is portrayed to be well-built, handsome, tan, confident, gregarious, and leader-like—ultimately his description resembles the perfect person—however we began to see his imperfections as the novel advances.  Although his appearance remains the same, his mannerisms change slightly.  Ralph is introduced to the story as a relaxed, nonchalant character, but now it is evident that Ralph is more concerned and serious.  He is very persistent about order, which contradicts his desire to have fun at the beginning of the novel.  Ralph always seems to know what is best for everyone, but not everyone listens to him.

At the beginning of the novel, Jack appeared to have greed; he desired power.  Jack was introduced to the story in a way in which he conducted himself as a leader-like figure or at least someone who desires to lead, however his character traits have altered drastically; the reader holds a jaundiced view towards Jack, because now he is almost wicked and selfish.  All he ever talks or thinks about is hunting and killing pigs.  His demeanor has transformed from the desire to have order and be rescued to the desire to kill.  He seems to have a very peculiar urge to kill, which is most likely due to his desire to feel powerful.  This unusual urge for power keeps getting stronger and stronger as the novel advances.  Jack's more tenacious sense of greed is most likely due to his jealousy towards Ralph—the true leader.  Jack sees Ralph as a powerful, intelligent leader—his desired characteristics—therefore he feels the need to compete with Ralph to prove himself as a strong, leader-like figure.  This, along with the extraneous face paint, ultimately shows that he is not "comfortable in his own skin"; he wants to be a different person.  Often, in real life, people are uncomfortable with who they are.  These people—one of which is Jack—are usually very confused, and it takes much reflection for them to find their place, or role, in society.

Furthermore, Ralph and Jack are opposites in a copious amount of ways; motivation, appearance, and mannerisms.  Although there is a saying that states that opposites attract, in this case, opposites do not.  Instead Ralph and Jack constantly fight and are in conflict between each other. For example, when all the boys are discussing “the beast” at a meeting, Ralph and Jack both agree that there is no beast, but their explanations of it are completely different.  Ralph tries to make his point that there is no beast on the island by connecting to the other boys, especially the “littluns”.  He divulged that he is frightened sometimes also and it’s not a big deal, but there is no reason to be scared.  Ralph’s main focus is to get past the beast issue and worry about the participation in doing the necessary things to survive and get rescued from the island.  However, Jack steps in and coerces the little ones that they need to deal with their fear.  He yells at the little ones and says, “You’re a lot of cry-babies and sissies”.  These two explanations show an example of confliction between Ralph and Jack and it also foreshadows that there are more conflicts between them to come.

This is a picture of Jack (left) and Ralph (right) most likely during a confrontation.

Week 2

The previous two weeks in my English class, we worked on our To Kill a Mockingbird essays. As I mentioned in my last post, Week 1, I choose to write my essay on the theme of racism.  My docile English class was taught how to write every part of an essay until we knew how to create a whole.  Then, our next assignment was to put all of our notes and knowledge together to form an in-class essay on To Kill a Mockingbird.  Similar to most of my classmates, I didn't completely finish my in-class essay; I only completed about half of it.

Furthermore, during the previous two weeks, we were also assigned to an outside reading group.  Each group has to pick their own book from a specific list of novels to read and write an in-class essay about.  Each outside reading group is required to read and analyze four novels throughout the year, one at each quarter.  For this quarter, my group chose to read the novel Black Boy.  Black Boy is an autobiography of Richard Wright, in which he explores his childhood and young adulthood.  Within the novel, he also explores the racial relations in the south at the time when he was growing up.

The below video gives many people's perspectives on the author, Richard Wright.

 

This week in English class, we started reading and analyzing the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

My English class mainly focused on analyzing Golding's process of characterization.  The initial descriptions of several of the main characters show his first step to creating and developing a character.  So far, to the point where we have read up to, Golding has introduced many extraneous characters along with three significant characters: Piggy, Ralph, and Jack.

Golding describes Piggy to be very fat and shorter than Ralph.  Piggy is portrayed to be gregarious and very caring, especially of what others think of him.  His asthma and glasses are very symbolic to his character and play a major role in his life.  The description of Piggy's background allows the reader to infer that he originates from the middle class.  Based on Piggy's character, he is an easy target to boss around and bully.  For instance, all Piggy asked of Ralph is to not tell the others about his nickname, Piggy, however Ralph goes against Piggy's desires and tells them.  In the real world, there are many people similar to Piggy; where they don't have a mean bone in their body, yet people treat them badly.  Also, similar to Piggy, many people are bullied not by physical abuse but by verbal abuse.  While bullies may think verbal abuse is simply banter, it is not funny at all for the person being hurt. The following ad campaign shows how words, or verbal abuse, can hurt.



This is a picture of Piggy from The Lord of the Flies movie.

Ralph is described to be a well-built, handsome, tan, fair haired, and young.  From his actions, the reader can imply that he is non-chalant, confident, and leader-like.  The actions of Ralph blowing the conshell and everyone coming to him may prove to be very symbolic.  Ralph talks like a boy, yet he is fairly mature.  Judging on the fact that his dad is in the navy, the reader can infer that he is probably upper middle class.

This a picture of Ralph from The Lord of the Flies movie.

Golding's initial description of Jack is very negative; Jack is described as tall, thin, and bony with a crumpled face.  His unattractive looks seem to be a symbolic aspect of his character.  Jack acts as if he is automatically the leader and most powerful person among this group.  The uniform implies that is very wealthy.

This a picture of Jack from The Lord of the Flies movie.

Besides reading and analyzing The Lord of the Flies, my English class has to write an essay on the novel that corresponds to the essay prompt.  The essay prompt instructs us to analyze one of Golding's characters in the novel and describe his process of characterization.  This essay will be written outside of class, which personally I feel increases the quality and quantity of the essay.

Week 1

This week in my English class, we worked on our essay for the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. 

The essay prompt instructs us to write about how the author develops one of the following themes: racial relations, childhood innocence, and rural poverty.  I chose to write my essay about racism, or race relations.  A theme that is significant and controversial even in today’s society.  The following extraneous video clip is an example of racism used in an everyday situation:

Another requirement is the essay must contain six pieces of evidence from the novel.  Evidence is a specific quote or scene that connects to the topic in which you are writing about.  The six pieces of evidence in which I intend to use in my essay include quotes from the scenes: the colored church, the jail, the trial, the conviction, the reactions to the conviction, and Tom’s death.

Furthermore, my teacher taught my class how to write a well-written; not insipid introduction to an essay.  He separated it into three different sections: hook sentences, story background, and thesis sentence.  The hook sentences should be about one to three sentences in length.  They are supposed to grab the reader’s attention and engage the reader in what topic you are writing about.  The story background should take up the majority of the introduction paragraph.  Its purpose is to briefly review the text’s plot and the evidence that you will include in the body paragraphs of your essay.  Also, a well-written story background gives the title of the text and its author and provides context for the thesis statement.  The thesis statement is supposed to be roughly one to two sentences.  It should state what you will argue and how you will argue along with a chronological listing of the evidence that you will include in the body paragraphs.  Theoretically, if your first paragraph contains all the requirements to these three sections, it will be a well-written introduction to the rest of your essay.

After learning how to construct an introduction paragraph of an essay, it was time to start writing our own introduction for the essay on To Kill a Mockingbird.  First, our teacher gave my class a certain amount of time to write our hook sentences.  Then, he told us to switch papers’ with your three other group members.  We had to read their hook sentences and give them a score and critic based on a certain rubric.  The class did this until everyone in their group had their paper graded by every group member.  Then, we did the same exact writing and grading process with our story background and thesis statement until we had a complete rough draft introduction of our essay.

Lastly, to end the recap of this school week in my English class, we went to the computer lab to create our own blog.  In this blog, I will summarize the main ideas of what my English class has completed for every week of this school year.



This picture represents the book cover for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.