Stacy+K.

3rd block

**Rationale:**
In the book //Lord of the Flies// written by William Golding the group of children gets to the uninhabited island. Trying to survive and waiting to be rescued boys appeal the rules of English society on their situation to hold it in the control. At first, for them it is a game, game where they need to act like adults. The cite that I added on the poster shows the main challenge the boys face: what should they do - have laws and agree or hunt and kill revealing the evil side of themselves? In the center of the poster there is a pig's head that is the symbol of the Devil, symbol that boys idolize. The main font is the Fire and it has two meanings: first - anger and cruelty that children find in themselves turning to natural instincts, second - symbol of hope and life of their good side. The contrast of the picture is extended to increase the emotional influence and attraction.

Annotated Bibliography:
Anastasia Khramova Dr. Mrs. Angela Gunter AP English Language 26 March 2013

“Lord of the Flies”. Annotated bibliography. “Banned and/or Challenged Books from the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th century.” //American Library Association,// n.d. Web. 25 Mar 2013

The American Library Association web site provides information about the places “Lord of the Flies” was banned in twentieth century. The web site claims that this book was removed from the high school libraries in Dallas, TX (1974) and was found as an inappropriate reading assignment in Marana, AZ (1983). It was also challenged in many places around the country: Sully Buttes, SD (1981), Olney, TX (1984), Waterloo, IA (1992), for excessive violence, bad language, profanity, lurid passages about sex, and statements defamatory to minorities, God, women, and disabled. It was also banned at Owen, NC High School (1981) because this book was found “demoralizing in as much as it implies that man is little more than an animal”. Furthermore, ALA states that a committee of the Toronto, Canada Board of Education ruled that the novel is ”racist and recommended that it be removed from all schools.”

Boyd, William. “Man as an Island.” //The New York Times,// 16 Jul 2010. Web. 25 Mar 2013

William Golding – a Nobel laureate and a holder of the title Companion of Literature given by the queen, a proud member of two London’s stuffiest gentlemen’s clubs and a brave soldier of the Second World War. However, William Boyd describes him as “a man of almost absurdly dramatic contrasts”. He claims that the author of “lord of the Flies” “fought with commendable bravery at D-Day, yet in life was the most timid arachnophobe. He was married for more than 50 years, yet was probably a repressed homosexual. He was an accomplished classical musician and excellent chess player and an embarrassing, infantile drunk.” The author of the article builds parallel between Golding, J. D. Salinger, Ralph Ellison, and Joseph Heller stating that they are all one-book writers. He also ironically mentions that “Golding’s life as a writer was forever financially secured hanks to the rock-solid, never-ending sales of “Lord of the Flies”.” As a conclusion, Boyd adds that Golding saw himself “spiraling towards being a… universally admired, but unread,” novelist: with an exemption of “Lord of the Flies”, his “strange, haunting, difficult novels” have few readers these days and the reputation of this author is being in decline.

Brauner, Asher. “’Lord of the Flies’ review.” //About.com: Classic Literature,// n. d. Web. 26 Mar 2013

From the very beginning of the article its author claims that the novel “fairly directly states that human nature is violent, and that there isn’t any hope for redemption from our tendency to destroy all that is good in ourselves”. He assumes that that is the reason why “Lord of the Flies” is so popular among teenagers. Moreover, Brauner also states that this book is allegorical with a fairly obvious set of symbols to decode. After providing the examples of symbolism, such as “The Beast”, Ralph, Piggy, and hunters, he returns to their meaning with an ironical parallel to the modern society. “What happens when “Jack” is a country that just won’t stop hunting the mild-mannered “Ralph” countries of the world—despite the advice of the “Piggy” intellectual countries of the world? Who will interfere? Who will parachute in? “ Brauner continues assuming that maybe this is the idea most of the parents are worried about. However, the following sardonic phrase (“And maybe the’re right. Maybe our children should live in blissful ignorance for a few minutes longer (if they can).”) shows that the author of the article position is for this book to be read and understood by teenagers.

Smith, S. E. “Challenged book: Lord of the Flies.” This ain’t livin’, //meloukhia.net//, 4 May 2011. Web. 26 Mar 2013

In her thesis, S. E. Smith, a writer from Northern California, mentions that while holding eighth position on the list of banned and challenged classics, “Lord of the Flies” also shows up on the best lists. Thus, there should be a reason why people keep coming back to this book: it remains to be accurate and is not just a window into the 1950’s, but also a reflective mirror to examine ourselves now. The author of the article opposes the idea that this book should be banned because of the racism and excessive violence – she sees this challenges as a great reason for “ lively classroom discussion”. She also claims that there is another reason not mentioned earlier that might confront readers: the book is ableist and misogynistic. However, Smith’s position is that the only factor why somebody still finds the book uncomfortable is that “Lord of the Flies” was not carefully handled in the class and readers did not get the full purpose of the book.

Spitz, David. “Power and Authority: An Interpretation of Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’.” //The Antioch Review, Vol. XXX,// // № //// 1, // Spring 1970, pp. 21-33. Web. 26 Mar 2013

According to this article, William Golding described the theme of “Lord of the Flies” as an attempt to trace the defects of the society back to the defects of human nature. He claims that the moral is that “the shape of the society must depend on the ethnical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable”. David Spitz, a historian, chooses an opposite side and argues Golding’s attempt. He chooses Piggy to be Socrates, the voice of reason, Simon – a Christ-figure, the voice of revelation, Ralph – democratic man, the voice of consent, and Jack – authoritarian man. Spitz compares Jack with Mussolini and Hitler describing him as a “Satanic figure with his red hair and black cape”. So, going over the characters and their meanings, the historian claims that if Golding is right in his attempt and if the ethnical nature is innately evil, then “every society must be rooted in naked or arbitrary force; every society must be evil; every society must be, in this sense, the same”. Providing historical examples that support the individuality of every society Spitz comes to the conclusion that some societies are in fact less vile than others. “The evil that is common to them all cannot casually account for that which distinguishes hem from each other.”