Lord of the FliesLESSON 5: SUMMARY

MONDAY, JULY 27

Summary: Chapter 11Ralph calls a meeting to order

• Can’t start a fire from the ashes

• Piggy speaks first

• Says Ralph needs to come up with a plan

• Blames Simon’s death on Jack

• Blames Jack for letting the fire go out

• Piggy plans to confront Jack with the conch and ask for glasses back (right thing to do)

• Reader knows that Jack won’t do the right thing, and that he will be too afraid to ask.

• Ralph is having a tough time – unable to get the boys to clean themselves up. Forgetting his train of thought

Summary: Chapter 11

Ralph leads the boys to Castle Rock• Ralph having tough time because of physical problems

• Piggy questions the safety of the plan

• Ralph attempts to enter Jack’s camp

• Blocked by Roger.

• The conch blowing is ignored.

Summary: Chapter 11

Jack comes back from the hunt• Piggy gets scared and the boys laugh at him

• Ralph requests the return of the glasses.

• Jack tries to stab Ralph – Ralph blocks it. The boys fight.

• Ralph continues to try to negotiate and fails.

• Jack orders his boys to tie up the twins

• Ralph calls Jack “a beast and a swine and a bloody, bloody thief!”

• The boys continue to fight – Jack’s group jeers

Summary: Chapter 11Piggy interrupts the fight•Holds up conch, which silences the crowd• Yells at the boys to stop “acting like a crowd of kids,”• Silences boos with shell•He offers them alternatives—between being a “pack of Indians”

or being sensible like Ralph, and then between having rules and agreeing or hunting and killing.•Meanwhile, Ralph notices Roger throwing stones and sees that

he has a lever under the giant rock.

Summary: Chapter 11Roger releases the giant rock• Piggy hit – knocked off cliff•His skull opens and releases “something,” signifying the loss of his

intelligence and guidance that had served the castaways well.• Jack screams and celebrates. • Says that Ralph is no longer chief and no longer has the conch.• Throws a spear at Ralph – tries to kill him. • Ralph escapes, injured. • Sam and Eric forced to join Jack’s tribe.

Summary: Chapter 12

Ralph has escaped and is hiding• It’s getting dark – smells pig roast and sneaks off to get fruit

• Realizes that Jack’s team won’t stop until he is dead

• Finds pig’s head. Knocks it down, breaks it in half, and takes the spear

• Shown as naïve – he doesn’t realize that he can’t destroy the evil represented by the head.

Summary: Chapter 12

Ralph sneaks back toward Castle Rock• Runs into Sam and Eric

• Boys tell him that they were wounded and forced to join Jack’s side.

• Let him know that Jack and Roger intend to kill him.

•Give Ralph some meat – hear Roger coming

• Ralph hides – he hears the boys screaming in pain because Roger is hurting them.

Summary: Chapter 12Ralph wakes up hidden in the thicket

• Hears the sounds of boys hunting for him• Boys drop a huge rock into the area where he is hiding.• Second rock knocks Ralph out of his hiding place. • Ralph sees smoke and decides to escape like he has seen pigs do.• Runs right into the pig’s head – is unnerved• Sees that the boys have set a huge fire which is destroying the fruits and animals

that the boys rely on to live.

• Ralph is attacked and escapes.• He trips and falls, and rolls all the way to the shoreline.

Summary: Chapter 12Ralph looks up to find himself face to face with a naval officer• Officer tells him that smoke from the fire alerted the ship to their location

• Irony• Officer treats him like a child “playing war”

• Surprised to learn that children are dead because of the war. • Officer asks for the leader – Ralph claims he is.• Jack described as “little boy” with red hair

• The officer says that since the boys are all British, he would have expected that they “would have been able to put up a better show.”• This statement makes Ralph burst into tears, as he reflects on everything

that has happened.

Discussion Questions1. Ralph argues that when they confront Jack and the hunters, they should go “washed

and brushed” (p. 170). Explain the significance of appearance at this point in the novel.

2. Prior to his death, Piggy once again argues on the side of logic. What does his death signify?

Explain the significance of these quotations:

1. “You let me carry the conch, Ralph. I’ll show him the one thing he hasn’t got.” (Piggy, p. 189)

2. “A semicircle of little boys, their bodies streaked with colored clay, sharp sticks in their hands, were standing on the beach making no noise at all. ‘Fun and games,’ said the officer” (p. 221).

Skill – Writing Summaries

What is a Summary?

A summary is a shortened version of an original text. It includes the thesis and major supporting points, and should reveal the relationship between the major points and the thesis.

How Long is a Summary?

It may be any length, from 25% of the original to one sentence.

What you Need

1. A big text to dissect and shrink.

2. Paper to write down the main point, purpose of the text, major points and documentation information.

3. A ruthless, but respectful attitude to conquer the mess.

Step 1: Topic

Locate the topic.

The topic is a word or phrase that says what the text is about.

Try to be as specific as possible about the topic.

Step 2: Purpose

What is the purpose of the text.

Does it tell a story (narrate)? Inform? Persuade or raise readers' awareness of an issue?

Step 3: What is the Thesis?

Look for the thesis (what the author is saying about the topic).

Look first in the introduction, then in the conclusion; writers often write explicit thesis statements.

Write the thesis in your own words (and make sure it matches your sense of the author's purpose).

Step 4: Divisions in the Text

Look for the major divisions of the text. In your own words, summarize each division in one sentence.

(That may mean summarizing each paragraph, but often several paragraphs go together).

Make a list of all major points.

Step 5: Organizing Sentences

Work with the sentences you have created to produce a summary.

Be ruthless: a good summary is SUCCINCT (you may leave some information out -- as long as it is ‘extraneous’)

Make sure you reveal the relationships between the ideas. Are therecontrasts or comparisonsbetween some of the ideas?

REMEMBER

Summaries are short restatements of a work's main points.

When writing a summary, be sure to record the work's major ideas.

Summaries condense a text's main ideas into a few concise sentences.

A summarized work is always much shorter than the original.

A summary of a work's thesis and supporting points should be written in your own words.

Tips

When summarizing, avoid examples, asides, analogies, and rhetorical strategies.

Only quote and paraphrase words and phrases that you feel you absolutely must to reproduce exactly the author's or authors' full meaning.

Keep in mind that your summary must fairly represent the author's or authors' original ideas.

Checklist

1. Reread your source until you fully understand it.

2. Write a one sentence restatement of the source's main idea without looking at the source.

3. Use the text’s main idea as your summary's topic sentence.

4. Pull out the text’s main ideas.

5. Write the summary in your own words. Avoid looking at your source while writing your summary.

6. If you must include some of the source's original words and phrases, quote and paraphrase accurately.

7. Document the source's author, title, date of publication and any other important citation information.

The Difference Between Paraphrasing and Summarizing

To paraphrase means to express someone else's ideas in your own language. To summarize means to distill only the most essential points of someone else's work.

Think about how much of the detail from your source is relevant. If all your reader needs to know is the ‘bare bones’, then summarize.

Skill Test: Two Sentence Summaries Write a two sentence summary of Lord of the Flies

Rule: Your summary must summarize the entire novel in only two sentences.

Skill Test: Two Sentence Summaries Trade your summary with a person at your table. Have them give you feedback on the summary.

Hand in your summary with your partner’s written feedback when you are finished.