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Quinn ELA 10
Lord of the Files Annotation Activity
In order to do a close reading of anything (poem, passage, etc.), you need to work on "developing a deep understanding and a precise interpretation of a literary passage that is based first and foremost on the words themselves. But a close reading does not stop there; rather, it embraces larger themes and ideas evoked and/or implied by the passage itself." For starters, answer these questions about this passage:
Directions: Read the passage and annotate. Consider the following questions.
- Look at word choice: connotation, puns, allusions, innuendos, ambiguities.
- Look at the structure of the passage: how is it organized? How do the ideas follow on one another?
- Is there irony? How is it used?
- What is the tone? What does the tone reveal about the author/narrator's attitude?
- What imagery is used? What effect does this imagery have on the reader?
- What figurative language or symbols are used? What effect do they have on the reader?
- What allusions does the passage make: historical, classical, biblical, cultural, sociological, and psychological?
- Look for repetitions, contradiction, similarities. Why and how are those patterns used?
- How can you relate these details to the theme this scene shows?
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"Close read and Annotate Chapter 8 of Lord of the Flies"
After you have fully annotated the passage, write a TEXAS style paragraph. How does the author use language to communicate meaning?
from Lord of the Flies ch. 8, "Gift for the Darkness"
The pigs lay, bloated bags of fat, sensuously enjoying the shadows under the trees. There was no wind and they were unsuspicious; and practice had made Jack silent as the shadows. He stole away again and instructed his hidden hunters. Presently they all began to inch forward sweating in the silence and heat. Under the trees an ear flapped idly. A little apart from the rest, sunk in deep maternal bliss, lay the largest sow of the lot. She was black and pink; and the great bladder of her belly was fringed with a row of piglets that slept or burrowed and squeaked.
Fifteen yards from the drove Jack stopped, and his arm, straightening, pointed at the sow. He looked round in inquiry to make sure that everyone understood and the other boys nodded at him. The row of right arms slid back.
"Now!"
The drove of pigs started up; and at a range of only ten yards the wooden spears with fire-hardened points flew toward the chosen pig. One piglet, with a demented shriek, rushed into the sea trailing Roger's spear behind it. The sow gave a gasping squeal and staggered up, with two spears sticking in her fat flank. The boys shouted and rushed forward, the piglets scattered and the sow burst the advancing line and went crashing away through the forest.
"After her!"
They raced along the pig-track, but the forest was too dark and tangled so that Jack, cursing, stopped them and cast among the trees. Then he said nothing for a time but breathed fiercely so that they were awed by him and looked at each other in uneasy admiration. Presently he stabbed down at the ground with his finger.
"There--"
Before the others could examine the drop of blood, Jack had swerved off, judging a trace, touching a bough that gave. So he followed, mysteriously right and assured, and the hunters trod behind him.
He stopped before a covert.
"In there."
They surrounded the covert but the sow got away with the sting of another spear in her flank. The trailing butts hindered her and the sharp, cross-cut points were a torment. She blundered into a tree, forcing a spear still deeper; and after that any of the hunters could follow her easily by the drops of vivid blood. The afternoon wore on, hazy and dreadful with damp heat; the sow staggered her way ahead of them, bleeding and mad, and the hunters followed, wedded to her in lust, excited by the long chase and the dropped blood. They could see her now, nearly got up with her, but she spurted with her last strength and held ahead of them again. They were just behind her when she staggered into an open space where bright flowers grew and butterflies danced round each other and the air was hot and still.
Here, struck down by the heat, the sow fell and the hunters hurled themselves at her. This dreadful eruption from an unknown world made her frantic; she squealed and bucked and the air was full of sweat and noise and blood and terror. Roger ran round the heap, prodding with his spear whenever pigflesh appeared. Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife. Roger found a lodgment for his point and began to push till he was leaning with his whole weight. The spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a highpitched scream. Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands. The sow collapsed under them and they were heavy and fulfilled upon her. The butterflies still danced, preoccupied in the center of the clearing.
At last the immediacy of the kill subsided. The boys drew back, and Jack stood up, holding out his hands.
"Look."
He giggled and flicked them while the boys laughed at his reeking palms. Then Jack grabbed Maurice and rubbed the stuff over his cheeks. Roger began to withdraw his spear and boys noticed it for the first time. Robert stabilized the thing in a phrase which was received uproariously.
In the novel Lord of the Flies, william golding used different writing methods in order to express his ideas and emotion towards his own piece of literature. His use of certain lingual skills helped to create and develop the world in which he had imagined before and during writing. One example of one of his use of language was when in the very first paragraph of the excerpt, he describes Jack, "and practice had made...his hidden hunters. Through the use of a simile, comparing jacks hunting skills to that of an intangible he gets across the point that not only is Jack an experienced hunter, but also this quote shows the leadership qualities of Jack. Even though as shown earlier in the book Ralph is more intelligent than Jack when it comes to organization and maybe even more charismatic, Jack has a certain quality that is hard to pin down that makes him an acceptable leader. Another example of a specific use of lingual skills by golding is his use of alliteration. William Golding uses alliteration during times of importance to describe an important part of the scene and make it stand out. For example, he describes the pigs as bloated bags of fat, making sure the reader understands the focus. Throughout the excerpt as well as the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding's lingual usages create an image and clearly supply information on the works in his mind. His writing demonstrates his thoughts which make the novel more enjoyable and easier to understand.
ReplyDeleteFigurative language appears rapidly in the novel, Lord of the flies which helps deepening the interpretation to the literature and makes the reader be more into the story. William Golding uses Metaphor the most to emphasize the tempo and mood of the scene. This is shown in Ch.8 such as, “silent as shadows” and “hidden hunters” representing the tense and exciting tone during the boys hunting for the pig. This makes the reader be attracted to what is going to happen next and leading the reader also tense and excited while reading the book. Without the Figurative language the literature will be difficult to understand and increases the chance of missing the important fact of what the author is trying to describe. William Golding uses Figurative language to reinforce his literature to make the reader easier to have the deeper understanding to the book.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Golding uses language in order to convey a deeper meaning of his text to readers. The use of repeated words and ideas can help to make the readers understand the tone and mood of the work. Golding uses words like “hiding,” “shadows,” and “inch forward” to convey to the readers the suspense of the scene. He used the irony of the animals being more humane than the children who are steadily becoming more animalistic to make the readers look further into the reasons why the boys are acting that way. This is expressed when it states, “…sunk in deep maternal bliss, lay the largest sow of the lot.” The boys are noticing the pig’s maternal nature, while they are alone without mothers. Usually, humans have mothers while animals find themselves alone and forced to fend for themselves. Golding’s use of similes and metaphors illustrate to the readers exactly how the author pictured the scene by allowing them to compare it to an image they are already aware of. Authors use literary elements and language in order to focus the readers on specific attributes of the text as well as further their understanding by allowing them to compare it to something they know and are comfortable with.
ReplyDeleteAuthors uses different techniques and styles to communicate or give its meaning to the reader.The reader can easily what the author is conveying, the reader can also make an image or imagine what is going on throughout the story. Golding uses figurative language in Lord of the Flies "...lay the largest sow of the low..." this quote shows imagery, it shows how the pig is laying down under the shadow of the tree, another example of figurative is using alliteration, "...bloated bags...".Another example of imagery is "...Jack found the throat and the hot blood sputed...", this quote illustrates how jack was able to kill the pig while the blood were all over him.Using figurative language in a novel is a really good technique to use because it can illustrate image to the reader.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the author uses figurative language and other elements to let the reader understand the reading more. Also, to communicate the meaning of the reading to the reader. Some the elements and the word choices the author uses are imagery, alliteration, tone, repetition, and theme. The tone of the chapter is suspenseful and the theme is the loss of innocence. For example, the author uses imagery; it says, “Great bladder of her belly was fringed with a row of piglets.” This quote shows imagery because you can imaging the piglets laying on the belly of the pig in your or the readers head. Another example is how the author uses alliteration and a metaphor, “bloated bags of fat.” This is a metaphor because it is a sentence that compares something to something else without using like or as in the sentence. He uses alliteration because it repeats the same initial letter, sound or group. Again the author uses these literary elements and figurative language to help the reader understand the passage better. That is how the author uses figurative language to help communicate the meaning of the passage to the reader.
ReplyDelete