Favorite Books to Teach: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

BLURB:

At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate. This far from civilization they can do anything they want. Anything. But as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far removed from reality as the hope of being rescued.
 

My students love discussing this book. Not reading it. Discussing it. lol!

This is a great little book for introducing deep diving into a text. I used it with my advanced ninth graders, and it provoked some of the greatest class discussions we had all year. Why? Several reasons. Here are my top 5.

1. The Theme: Is man at heart a beast? Do we need rules to make us civilized? Wow! Talk about being able to relate literature to reality. You can pull in headlines, youtube videos, songs. So much. And there are legitimate arguments on both sides, so there is rarely a consensus. 

2. The Symbolism: The conch, the island, the glasses, the fire, and of course, The Lord of the Flies...I could go on. Golding's text is full of rich symbolism that the students can really see and understand. I get some great papers on this one.

3. The Setting: A deserted island. Who hasn't thought about what it would be like to be stranded on one? I have a great activity for creating a map of the island that encourages some close reading. The kids love it and always produce some amazing maps.

4. The Characters: Ralph, Jack, Simon, Piggy--So diverse and interesting. And each representing a different aspect of society.

5. The Ending: Talk about a deus ex machina ending. You have it here. But it leaves such large questions to discuss. What happens next? Are the boys really rescued? How can they go back to their lives after what has happened? 

I can't say enough about this book as an addition to your classroom. As an extra note: It is included on the AP list of recommended texts. 

Check out my Lord of the Flies bundle here.