Cranston High School West Library: Feole - Lord of the Flies

You are to use research to better understand Lord of the Flies. Each of you will have your own topic to research in full. Keep track of all of your research, so you can provide a bibliography at the time of your presentation. You will also be required to write a complete script of your presentation to be handed in on the day of the presentation.

CHOOSE A TOPIC. No more than 2 people can choose the same topic. You will NOT be working together.

Your options:

1.    The development of the teenage brain - research how the teenage brain develops according to developmental psychologists and researchers. Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• If the characters were older, how might they solve some of their problems better?
• How do they reveal “typical” characteristics of eleven year old males?
• Are the “younguns” behaving typically?

2.    Bullying – research what makes a bully and what makes a victim, according to psychological and developmental research. Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• How could Piggy have avoided being a victim?
• How could others have helped the hunters to not bully?
• Why does Jack “not want to play anymore”?
• Is Jack being sadistic? Is this to his advantage in terms of survival?
• What are the characteristics of the island that encourage bullying?

3.   Mob Mentality – research the psychological theory of mob mentality. Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• What even or events in the novel display mob mentality?
• Who is affected by the mob mentality in the book?
• What conditions exist in the book that make mob mentality possible?
• What does mob mentality allow the children to do that they would never do on their own?

 4.   Fascism – research what Fascism is, and the differences between Fascism and Democracy. Also research different fascist governments in history and what happened to them? Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• What elements of fascism do you see in the novel?
• What elements of democracy do you see in the novel?
• Which characters represent fascism and which ones democracy?

 5.    Survival skills – research survival skills necessary to survive on an uninhabited island like the one the boys landed on? Also research how long humans can survive without food, without water, how to get those things?  Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• What kind of food would they have found on an island like the one they landed on?
• What methods of survival did they employ?
• What was unrealistic in the novel about their survival?
• What was realistic in the novel about their survival?

 6.   Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, also known as the Andes flight disaster and  the Miracle of the Andes (El Milagro de los Andes) – Research this real-life survival story, including as many facts and details and testimony as you can find. Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• What similarities are there between this story and the novel’s story?
• What moral decisions did each group have to make?
• How would being in a cold environment have changed the novel’s story?

 7.   Military government – choose and research a country that has a military government. Research how they came to power, how they maintain power and whether any attempts to restore democracy or resist the ruling government have been attempted. Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• What parts of a military government are evident in the novel?
• Which characters represent military government officials in the country you chose to research?
• What parts of the military government that you researched were not evident in the book?

 8.   Adolf Hitler and his regime – research the life and psychological characteristics of Adolf Hitler.  Research what measures and techniques he used to form his regime. Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• What character in the novel has characteristics of Hitler?
• What actions in the novel mimic Hitler’s actions?

 9.   World War II – timeline – research the timeline and main events of World War II, and detail what happened at the end of the war. Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• What parallels do you see between events during WWII and the novel?
• Why did Golding choose the characters and setting that he did?
• What about the final scene mimics something that happened at the end of the war?

 10.  WWII Propaganda – Research the propaganda used in World War II, and what effects it had.  Research Hitler’s propaganda, and the US’s use of propaganda. Evaluate how the media played a part in the war. Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• What propaganda do we see in the novel?
• What are some the similarities between WWII propaganda and the propaganda in the novel?

 11. Present-day propaganda and subliminal messages – Research what today’s advertising uses to convince us to consume and conform, and what government uses to control us. Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• What subliminal messages were present in the novel?
• How were characters manipulated by propaganda and messages?

 12. Child killers – research real-life child murderers, their stories, crimes and punishments. Research the psychology of a child/teen killer and describe some similar characteristics of child/teen killers. Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• What characteristics are evident in the novel, and in which characters?
• Which characters should be punished and how?
• What should happen to the others?

 13. Charging a child as an adult – research the laws in our country on charging a child as an adult. When was the last child executed for a capital offense? Research the reasoning of people who believe that child murderers should be charged as adults, and the reasons others oppose it. Which side has more valid evidence? Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• Which characters should be punished and how?
• What should happen to the others?
• Were their extenuating circumstances that might be considered in the case of some of the characters?

 14. Child soldiers – research present-day child soldiers and why military regimes choose child soldiers. Where are child soldiers still fighting wars in this world? Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• Which characters would have made good child soldiers and why?
• What about the setting of the story influences their actions?
• What techniques does the leader of the book’s child soldiers use to get them to do what he wants?

 15. Survival of the fittest – Research Charles Darwin, what the term “survival of the fittest” means and how it applies to a real-life survival situation, or our society today. Which groups of people are the “fittest” to survive in our world today, and why? ? Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• Which characters were the “fittest”?
• What characteristics made them so?
• The characters who were not the “fittest” had characteristics that worked against them What were these characteristics?

 16. Physical appearance and leadership – research how much physical appearance is related to the leaders we choose. Research which leaders were/are chosen based on appearance, and which are left behind because of appearance. What physical characteristics are most common in leaders who are chosen by their constituency? ? Find interesting LOGOS – facts, study results, and statistics, as well as PATHOS – anecdotes and real-life examples.

Also be prepared to answer questions related to the book such as:

• How does appearance play into the leadership choices made on the island in the novel?
• What overrides appearance at some point in the novel?
• What do you think Golding was criticizing about us as humans by writing the novel this way?

Click the link below to view the list of books available for the Lord of the Flies assignment.

No login needed from school.

Off campus? Click here and scroll down for EBSCO.

No login needed from school.

Off campus? Email sevje@cpsed.net for password.