Lord of the Flies: Relationships

     I am tracking Relationships throughout Lord of the Flies. Lets start with the obvious; Ralph and Piggy’s friendship. These boys go from trusting each other with embarrassing names to one betraying the other. To me it seems that both of them still value their friendship. Piggy talks about being with Ralph when he found the conch and Ralph tries to stand up for Piggy when everyone is calling him fatty. However, they both have very different personalities so it seems like their friendship may not last.

    Next are some minor but important relationships. Simon seems to be on good terms with everyone. He helps Ralph with the shelters, helps the little kids to find food, and is nice to Piggy when no one else is. Another relationship is Jack with his choir, he has a “dictatorship” relationship with his choir. He tells them what to do and when to do it without much care for their wellbeing. Jack also has a not so friendly relationship with Piggy. He targets Piggy and hurts him both emotionally and physically. These are the relationships I have noticed so far in the book.

This Semester

     This semester has been a roller coaster for me. Some days I could walk into class, write a whole paper, and be ready for more. Others, I was counting down the seconds to when I could sleep. This is reflected in my unit notes.

     One of my strongest unit notes was the literary elements because that was a very easy note taking unit. Most of the other units fall into the “Just give me time to review it” category. For example, the short stories and summer reading I just need to review on my own. Then there is my worst chapter: traits of writing and the writing process. This is a little misleading because my notes on this aren’t awful, but I do think I was having one of those "just survive the class" days.

    My notes are not only a reflection of my attitude that day, but also my understanding. So, when I say “ This unit has good notes” it also means I understand it.

Lord of the Flies- Chapter 1

The first chapter of Lord of the Flies by William Golding was not what I expected. I knew a couple of things going into this chapter: there was a plane crash and a bunch of little boys were left stranded on an island. What I was surprised to find out was how the author portrayed this sequence of events.  Golding didn't give us an action packed scene or even flashbacks, just the basic facts about the boys and their situation. I think he did this to show readers that this is not your typical action packed book, it has a deeper meaning.
     Also, in chapter one we meet all the boys: Ralph, Piggy, Johnny, Sam, Eric, Jack, Bill, Robert, Rodger, Harold, Henry, Simon, and others who were not named. We really got insight into Ralph and Piggy's lives before this and their personalities. The other boys have just been named and not much else. Their small civilization is split into two parts: the choir (Leader is Jack) and everyone else (leader is Ralph). To me it seems like the two parts represent good and bad; Jack is bad and Ralph is good. However, I am not sure this is completely true because at the end of the chapter Jack and Ralph begin to bond, maybe they both have different leadership skills. Lastly, there is a conch shell that Ralph uses to unite the boys and it symbolizes something very important that cannot be embodied, an idea of leadership and strength.

Class Discussion

       This week in class we have been talking about human nature. Honestly, when all of us were assigned the task of working together to survive, I expected a disaster. But we did good! We quickly set up some leaders and split into groups to do individual tasks.
     If we were to land on an island with just us ( and the all important 1st graders), I think one of two things would happen: We would survive or we would be thrown into complete craziness. According to our classroom trial we would survive because of our abilities to work together. The only problem is that a classroom is nothing like an island in the middle of an ocean. It is impossible to tell if we could pull though or if we would all rebel against each other. Something inside of us might snap, that snapping is human nature.
    As we discussed in class no one really knows exactly what human nature is, because it is the absence of culture and society. Some people think that deep down inside humans are good natured. Others think humans are all born sinners with wrong intentions. So, although we all had the right intention in class, what would the absence of society do to us? I think this is especially true in Lord of the Flies because all of the characters are 6-12 boys so there is less of their culture present in them.

Reading Response- Match

     I just finished reading Matched by Allie Condie.  I was really excited to reading this book because I have heard that it is like a more mature version of The Giver. I read The Giver in sixth grade in class and I loved it. To me different ways of running the government and how the citizens are effected is fascinating. The Hunger Games and Harrison Bergeron are two other examples of books under this subject. Matched was no exception, it was an amazing book.
            Cassia, Ky and Xander live under a government that regulates meals, life spans, and how their citizens feel. However most importantly to this book they pair you up with your husband/wife. As you may imagine Cassia ends up liking another boy, Ky, and not even the government can stop her from being with him. I think that every book that includes the government trying to take over the citizens live have one broad moral: the government has limits to its power. However, what makes Matched special is the part of the government that it "attacks": the personal lives of people. It makes me ask: What will her government stop at?
          If you step back and look at our government today, there is many different ways that it is involved in the personal lives of its citizens. We debate laws against abortions, same-sex marriage, and rights to have a gun. Also, people from the government patrol the internet. Personal?  I think so... I also  wonder: What will our government stop at? I am not saying that anytime soon our government is going to be handing out marriage assignments, but the government is getting up close and personal.
       To me Matched was a thinking and romance book. Sometimes Condie would make you think about how their society may reflect from ours. Others, the reader was able to simply indulge in the forbidden love of Ky and Cassia. That is why I liked this book; it had the best of both worlds.

Reading Times:
  Matched: 145 min
  The Return: 15 min

Free Post - Art

        This semester I am taking painting, by accident. I have not ever had a deep passion to create art like some people do. However, given the choice between my previous class and painting; my lack of creative talents seemed like a minor detail. I have endured many hours of artists researches, art critiques, and outside drawing activities, to encounter disappointment. My lines were never straight enough, my circles were never round enough; nothing was ever good enough. The only thing that I enjoyed doing was playing with some painting gloss that looked like marshmallow fluff.
      This process of disappointment, boredom, and aggravation went on for weeks and weeks and weeks; a never ending cycle. One day in class I painted a portrait and it ended up looking much like the main character from Waltz of the Fat Man. My teacher exclaimed "Wow! I can really see your personality through this painting!"That made me feel fantastic. On another fateful portrait painting day I decided to spin my painting gloss with a paint brush. That was the day that my teacher told me I could paint 3D art with the gloss. When I started to mold the goo with my fingers I realized what art was about: art is whatever makes you happy. I know that sounds cliche but I am serious! To me there is the art of sports, the art of music, the art of anything. So this semester in art class I have learned that I am not good at painting but I did learn this lesson so maybe art class wasn't completely bad.