Novel Introduction

Introducing the Lord of the Flies

This unit on Lord of the Flies is broken up into 7 readings. Each of these readings has a reading quiz and a reading discussion that both cover the reading material. Once I've determined the theme and essay topic for the novel, the discussions especially focus on thematic elements. In addition to this, I usually incorporate several thematic "Activities" to accompany the reading quiz and lecture. I'm used to teaching on the block schedule, so a reading quiz, the discussion, and the reading activity will usually take an entire period. Everyone has their own schedule, so organize this however makes sense. Click here to get a reading list. 

The First Reading Activity/Introducing the Novel

To me, Lord of the Flies is a novel that essentially reflects the classical Christian view of man's fallen nature (Not to mention, as the novel's title suggests, man had a little help in his fall.) Knowing that everything I'll emphasize will analyze human nature, the reading activities will center around the nature of man, and since it's important in this novel, the nature of The Beast. Everything that goes wrong for the kids in the novel happens because of their nature, so that's a great place to start. Reading Activity 0 is a series of Nike commercials and a discussion of what these commercials tell us about human nature. 

If you have the students fill out the Reading Activity 0 worksheets as they watch the commercials and then wrap it up with a discussion, the entire process should take about 30-45 minutes and since it's the beginning of the book, I usually devote the rest of the class time to beginning the novel in class. 

Click here to Access the Curriculum and Worksheet:

LOF Reading 1 Activity  This is the teacher description of the activity with links to videos

World According to Nike Student Worksheet This is the student worksheet that can be filled out and turned in for points

The World According to Nike

Lord of the Flies is a novel published in 1953 about a group of school boys who are stranded on a deserted island. The best way to describe this novel is to say that it’s a book about human nature. The best way to begin the novel is with a conversation about our own ideas concerning human nature. We will do this by watching enough Nike Commercials to come up with a good idea of how Nike sees the world and then we’ll discuss what this can tell us about human nature.

We will watch and discuss each commercial and you will be asked to identify two things:

• • What story was told in this commercial? What happened?

  • What was the basic message of the commercial? What is the point?

After all videos have been watched and discussed the class needs to answer these questions in both class discussion and writing:

• • The common theme of all these commercials is an appeal to a human desire for greatness, for impact. Is this desire for greatness a basic human desire? In your opinion, how strong is the desire for greatness in the human heart and how does it motivate people in life?

  • A common theme seen in these commercials is that we will run into obstacles in our path to greatness. Based on what you have seen here, what are we supposed to do when we encounter these obstacles and what motivates us to do it?

Once students have finished watching and discussing the World According to Nike activity, they are now ready for Reading 1: Chapter 1 of the Novel, pages 5-31.