Unit+Plan+-+Lord+of+the+Flies

Against the Grain: Courage and Resistance

Canonical Text: Golding, W. (1997). Lord of the flies. New York: Riverhead.

Bridge texts:

Zusak, M. (2007). The book thief. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. In a small town, under Hitler’s Third Reich, we meet Liesel, a foster-girl taken in by German parents who have not joined the Nazi Party and who are considered suspect by their neighbors and the local government. We follow Liesel as she learns to read and becomes a book thief, a rebellion that mirrors her parents’ decision to harbor a runaway Jew. In a dangerous time, Zusak teaches readers about friendship, resistance and the power of words.

Sharenow, R. (2007) My mother, the cheerleader. New York: HarperTeen. In 1960, thirteen-year-old Louise is pulled out of school by her alcoholic mother to protest the federal government’s mandated racial integration. Louise spends her days running her mother’s boarding-house business while her mother participates in violent demonstrations at Louise’s school, where Ruby Bridges, a tiny black first grader, now studies alone. Louise never questioned her mother’s political beliefs, until an intruiging New York editor rents a room at their house and reveals his personal outrage.

Unifying Concept: We will use William Golding’s Lord of the Flies as a springboard to explore the challenges of separating oneself from the crowd and resisting negative forces. Through the eyes of Ralph, who is focused on finding rescue, we observe the rest of the stranded boys as they degenerate into wild hunters whose recklessness becomes fatal. We will compare Ralph's struggles and isolation to those of Liesel and her family, in their choice to hide and protect the Jewish man, Max, and to the narrative of Louise, as she gains perspective on race relations and abuse. All three of these stories follow the lives of young people as they make difficult choices to step away from a larger group. We will discuss the courage of these characters, especially as they deal with issues of racism, hatred and survival, and how we can apply this theme of positive resistance to our own society.

Activities

1. Reading Journal: Students will complete a double-sided reading journal as they read The Lord of the Flies. On one side they will record passages that spoke to them or confused them, and on the other side they will ask questions or share opinions.

2. Character Relationships Sketch: Students will create a visual representation of all the major characters from one of the three texts. They will show how the characters are related to each other - physically, emotionally and psychologically. Examples include depicting all the boys on the island in groups of Hunters or Fire-protectors, and showing when they make the transition (or die), or making a map of Liesel's town and showing who lives where and how they know each other.

3. Comparative Essay: Students will select two characters, (they must be from different books, but they can be major ones like Ralph or Louise, or lesser ones like Hans Hubermann or Ruby Bridges) and write a three page paper comparing their struggles, choices, and beliefs.

4. Social Resistance Project: In groups of 3-4, students will select an issue of personal concern (such as global warming, healthcare, genocide in Rwanda, etc) and create a ten minute presentation using PowerPoint to share with the class. Students are responsible for researching and providing background information on the topic, as well as creating a Social Action Plan for how they will offer their own resistance, something simple that they will be able to implement, such as a canned food drive or a picketing event.

Jenny Fey