Reading Comprehension Template

1. General Info

1.1. 1954

1.2. Novel

1.3. English

1.4. Possibly WWII on a stranded Island away from civilization with no adult supervision.

2. Plot

2.1. A plane crashes on an abandoned island with no grown ups to watch over the kids who survived the crash.

2.2. The main conflict is between Ralph and Jack. Ralph is the chief and his main focus is to get rescued but Jack's is to hunt and kill pigs on the island.

2.3. A complication would be how Jack and Ralph disagree so much.

2.4. I believe the climax is when Simon discovers the truth about the beast on the island and rushes back to tell the others and is brutally killed.

2.5. The falling action is piggy being killed, Ralph being hunted by Jack and his hunters and running on to the beach to escape him and then seeing a British naval officer and they all break down crying.

2.6. In conclusion The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel in which the theme of savagery versus civilization is shown. Ralph represents civilization as he wants to enforce rules and let everyone have an equal say. On the other hand Jack represents savagery and just wants to hunt wild pigs.

3. Themes, Allusions & Symbols

3.1. Children are thought to be innocent but when left alone for a long period of time without any adult supervision, they can quickly get wild and dangerous.

3.2. Ralph symbolizes peace, leadership, and civilization.

3.3. And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea (Revelations 13:1) coincides with the title of chapter 5, Beast from Water This is an example of allusion to the bible.

4. Characters

4.1. Ralph is the leader of the group and is focused of getting rescued.

4.2. Piggy is a short fat boy who wears specs and has asthma.

4.3. Jack is a chorister and becomes a savage killer and represents evil.

5. Author

5.1. William Golding

5.2. Sep. 19, 1911-Jun. 19, 1911

5.3. British

5.4. William Golding is the author of over a dozen novels, and numerous other works including an early volume of poems, a stage play, collected essays and travel writing. He is best known for his Nobel-cited Lord of the Flies, but his other works have won prizes and critical acclaim, and have been translated into numerous languages.

6. Vocabulary

6.1. Section 1

6.1.1. Chorister "because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp." I believe that chorister means he is the leader of his choir.

6.1.2. Tumult " He paused in the tumult, standing, looking beyond them and down the unfriendly side of the mountain yo the great patch where they had found the dead wood." I believe that tumult means a rowdy or crazy crowd.

6.2. Section 2

6.2.1. Sinewy " Beside the pool his sinewy body held up a mask that drew they're eyes and appalled them." I believe sinewy means skinny or muscular.

6.2.2. Jeer "A sound, half laugh, half jeer, rose among the seated boys." I believe that jeer means to make fun of someone vocally.

6.3. Section 3

6.3.1. Corpulent "Then as the blue material of the parachute collapsed the corpulent figure would bow forward, sighing, and the flies settled once more." I believe that corpulent means fat.

6.3.2. Sauntered "Jack rose from the log that was his throne and sauntered to the edge of the grass." I believe that sauntered means to take your time."

6.4. Section 4

6.4.1. Compelled "Honesty compelled him." I believe that compelled means to have a mental drive to do something.

6.4.2. Sniveling " Piggy broke off, sniveling" I think that sniveling means to whine or cry.

7. Summary

7.1. When the boys arrive on the island they automatically look for some kind of law and order. Since there are no grown-ups among them, they want to belong to a group, with someone in charge to lead them, and make them feel safe. Ralph becomes this person, after being chosen in a democratic election. They build a signal fire and Jack begins to hunt pigs.

7.2. Jack figures out how to hunt but they miss a chance of being rescued because the fire goes out. Then Jack makes the argument that Ralph is not a good chief because he can't hunt or sing and breaks one of piggy's lenses. He eventually apologizes and agrees to restart the fire and keep it going. Then they have a meeting about the beast and decide to go hunting for it but find nothing.

7.3. In this section, they continue to look for the beast but cannot find it and then begin to hunt for pigs. In this section Jack begins to break off from the rest of the group to form his own. Meanwhile, Simon is hallucinating while watching the pigs head/ Lord of the Flies and it tells him that it is the beast, and that nobody can hunt for it and kill it. He runs down to the beach to tell everyone but they mistake him for the beast and kill him, then a huge storm washes away his body.

7.4. In this section Piggy, Sam, Eric, and Ralph are attacked by Jack and some hunters and they take Piggy's specs. Ralph and Piggy go to get the specs back and when they do, Piggy is killed by a boulder that is pushed off of a cliff by roger. Jack wounds Ralph who then runs into the jungle to hide. Sam and Eric are forced to tell where he is hiding out and the hunters go after him. The hunters basically set the entire island on fire chasing him. They get right on his tail and Ralph runs out on the beach to escape them and runs right into a British naval officer.