Applying Feedback Using your partner’s feedback, rewrite your short answer. You can write it on the back of your paper or on a separate sheet of notebook paper. (Even if your partner scored your response as a 3, you still have improvements that you can make.)
Warm-Up Choose an item that represents or symbolizes you in some way. Try not to be literal: Not: “I chose a soccer ball because I play soccer”
Lord of the Flies Symbolism
The Conch Shell Symbolizes law and order of the adult world Piggy tries to protect it Represents the authority the boys are so used to obeying Without it, the island society will collapse into chaos!
Piggy’s Specs They symbolize the voice of reason and logic among the boys. Notice how Piggy defends his glasses even more than the conch. Piggy uses his glasses to find solutions to the boys’ problems. What’s the most important solution the glasses find?.....
The most important solution… This is the boys’ best chance of getting rescued. **notice how Piggy is constantly cleaning his glasses; this shows his need for clear-sightedness.
The Signal Fire The smoke of the signal fire symbolizes the best hope of the boys being rescued. To Piggy and Ralph, the fire represents the moral influence of their old life in England.
Why an Island?
The Island An island isolated from the rest of society. It was purposefully picked to be the landing place of the crashed plane. The boys have no contact with the outside world. They must look to one another to solve the problems of their own micro-society. The island symbolizes isolation and serves as the perfect backdrop for the frailties of human nature which eventually surface.
The Scar The scar is where the plane crashed; it symbolizes destruction. Time spent on the island also leaves a scar. The boys destroy themselves and others leaving internal scars.
Face Paint The face paint is the excuse many of the boys use for living as hunting savages instead of civilized English citizens. It serves as a mask that allows the boys to become someone they are not. The paint symbolizes the smoke screen the beast uses to infiltrate the boys’ souls. **What masks do we wear?
The Beast The beast is seen as a real object on the island which frightens the boys. In reality the beast is only their own internal fear. It is located in the soul and mind of the boys, leading them to the natural chaos of a society with no adults. *Who is the only boy to understand what the real beast is?
Using the chart on the back of your notes, search for quotes that demonstrate each symbol in use. Be sure that the quote displays the symbolism of the object. Use the final column to explain the connection between the quote and the symbolic meaning it portrays.