Lord of the Flies Capstone Project

Lord of the Flies Capstone Project

Your task:

Demonstrate and extend your understanding of the big ideas and themes in Lord of the Flies.

The goal:

Make your own meaning of the plot, conflict, and themes, and get a richer, deeper understanding of the book independently.

Teacher’s two cents:
·  I’m most concerned with the QUALITY of your work.
·  Your work should show evidence of:
o  TIME AND EFFORT.
o  DEPTH AND CARE.
o  THOUGHTFULNESS AND CREATIVITY.
·  In other words, your project should be something you’ve spent time thinking about, figuring out, and putting together.

CHOOSE AND COMPLETE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING PROJECTS:

For Artists and Graphic Designers

Book cover contest

For Songwriters and Poets

A Lord of the Flies song, rap, or poem, recorded or performed

For Critics and Philosophers

A critical analysis outline

For Psychoanalysts

A TED talk on the psychology of evil -- Connections project

For the Free Spirits

A project you invent (must be teacher approved)

DUE WHEN YOU RETURN ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12!

Book Cover Contest

The Guardian, a British daily newspaper, ran a contest for students to illustrate a new cover for Lord of the Flies. The competition was over last January, but the rules, results, and gallery are still posted. There is AMAZING stuff there.

http://lordofthefliescover.com/

For this option, you’ll follow The Guardian’s guidelines to produce your own book cover.

Here is an explanation about the illustration (straight from The Guardian):

1.  Read the book for ideas and themes, and look at the competition website for help with ideas. You can interpret the story visually in many different ways – we will be looking for the most creative and visually appealing solution. You may wish to concentrate on the location, or some of the characters, or a single character, or a single item or motif, or something more abstract and symbolic – the choice is up to you.

2.  Create an illustration for the cover. Your image can be full colour, or a single colour, or two colours . . . it’s up to you.

3.  You can use any media: paint / pencils / collage / printmaking / photographic illustration / vector based artwork / a 3D model (photographed and designed to fit the dimensions) . . . the possibilities are endless.

Here are the guidelines:

-  It must be your original artwork or design.

-  You must include the title and author on your cover.

-  You must write a ½ page explication of your cover.

Winning cover à

Lord of the Flies Song or Poem

This option may be tougher than it seems, but it should be lots of fun.

You must:

-  Write an original song or poem retelling the story of the boys on the island

-  Include some important events from the book

-  Allude to the major themes in the book

-  Type your lyrics or poem

-  Record yourself singing or reading your song or poem, or perform it for the class

-  Write a ½ page explication about your song or poem

Iron Maiden’s Lord of the Flies

I don't care for this world anymore

I just want to live my own fantasy

Fate has brought us to these shores

What was meant to be is now happening

I've found that I like this living in danger

Living on edge it makes feel as one

Who cares now what's right or wrong,

it's reality

Killing so we survive

Wherever we may roam

Wherever we may hide

We've got to get away

I don't want existence to end

We must prepare ourselves for the elements

I just want to feel like we're strong

We don't need a code of morality

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

Saints and sinners

Something within us

We are lord of flies

Saints and sinners

Something willing us

To be lord of the flies

Critical Analysis Outline

Lots of literary folk say Lord of the Flies as an allegory and/or a philosophical argument? Now that you’ve read it, what do you think? Do you think it’s just a real humdinger of a story or do you think there’s more to it?

Your task: Defend or challenge a given thesis, find evidence and make an outline.

Directions:

1.  Make a thoughtful and detailed outline defending or challenging the following thesis:

“Lord of the Flies is a persuasive argument that man is inherently evil.”

If you challenge it (disagree with it), you’ll need a new thesis statement. Put it at the tip-top of your outline.

2.  Comb each chapter for evidence.

3.  Present your evidence in outline form.

Model:

I.  Jack is an insufferable character but a necessary antagonist.

A.  “I ought to be chief,” said Jack with simple arrogance, “because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.” p. 22

B.  “I’m not going to be a part of Ralph’s lot – “ p. 127

Some prescriptive rules for outlines:

1.  Subdivide topics by a system of numbers and letters, followed by a period.

Example:

I.

A.

B.

1.

2.

a.

b.

II.

A.

B.

2.  Each heading and subheading must have at least two parts.

3.  Headings for parts of a paper, such as introduction and conclusion, should not be used.

4.  Be consistent. Use either whole sentences of brief phrases, but not both.

TED TALK Connections

We’ve spent a good bit of time thinking about and talking about how human beings revert to savagery. We’ve discussed whether or not it’s nature or environment that makes people evil. This TED talk, “They Psychology of Evil” is provocative and intense. There are violent images and disturbing ideas.

Your job is to watch it and make connections to Lord of the Flies, and to apply what you learn to Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and the boys.

You must:

-  Watch the TED talk and take notes on the speaker’s claims.

http://www.ted.com/talks/philip_zimbardo_on_the_psychology_of_evil.html

(What does he believe? What’s his reasoning? How does he support his claims? What studies and observations does he make about the nature and psychology of evil?)

-  Create a visual diagram connecting the claims in the TED talk to LOTF.

You can make it look however you want or whatever makes sense to you. I imagine a sort of lattice with lines that connect and interconnect several ideas.

-  Account for the following from the text:

o  Jack’s urge to kill

o  Jack’s fascination with hunting

o  Roger and the stones

o  The murdering of the sow

o  Jack’s decent into savagery

o  The boys killing Simon

o  The tribe mentality of the boys

o  Roger killing Piggy

o  Ralph as “goodness”

-  Explain the connection for each aspect of the text mentioned above.

Food For Thought

Some highlights of Rousseau’s noble savage:

1.  In a state of nature, men do not know good and evil, but independence and “the peacefulness of their passions, and their ignorance of vice” keep them from doing ill/wrong/evil. (A Discourse..., 71-73).

2.  Natural equality disappeared “from the moment one man began to stand in need of another” (A Discourse..., 92).

3.  The first rules of justice develop with the existence of private property, “for, to secure each man his own, it had to be possible for each to have something” (A Discourse..., 94).

4.  Inequality is the result of enlarged desires, but enlarged desires are essentially good in that only through them could any improvement in the human condition have come about -- more comfortable living conditions, better health, etc., which led to the notions of law, justice, civil liberties and popular sovereignty.

1. Once the dynamics of accumulation have taken root in one society, others must follow suit or suffer conquest. So, once civilization is established anywhere, it is a more advanced stage of existence.