Good-bye, Class of 2013

I had hoped to be back at school before you leave, but since most of you will be exempt from exams, I want to say good-bye here.  It is hard to believe that our two years together are coming to an end.  I hope that along the way that you have learned some things about writing and literature and analysis that you will be able to use in college, but more importantly, I hope that you have learned a little about life and that anything worth having is worth working to obtain.  I had planned to give each of you a copy of this before you left my class, but I will have to settle for our blog.  As you read "Desiderata", allow yourself to truly understand its meaning.  It is my last lesson to you.   Congratulations as you graduate.  Now go and make this world a better place.  I am counting on you!

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.

(Found in Old Saint Paul’s Church, Baltimore; Dated 1692)

 

I WILL SURVIVE!

Congratulations to the island survivors.  They don't have to take the final test on Lord of the Flies.  Way to go, Grant, Blake, Shannon, Anna, Brayley, Alyson, Breeley, Hannah, Corey, Jonathon, Marissa, Samantha, Aaron, Cassidy, Kasey and Katelyn. 

In the end...

Now that you have finished Lord of the Flies, give your honest opinion of the novel. Explain why you feel the way you do. Also, whether you found the novel amazing, ordinary, or boring, give a quote/passage that you found thought-provoking and tell why. (The deadline to post a response is midnight, May 1, 2013.)

Fall Through the Air

Chapter 11, entitled "Castle Rock, " brings us to a very tragic moment in the novel: Piggy's death. Why do you think Golding has Piggy murdered at Castle Rock? What is he saying about the archetype that Piggy represents in the novel? What is he saying about Roger? (The deadline to post a response to this blog is midnight, Tuesday, April 30, 2013. No credit will be given to plagiarized responses.)

The Shell and the Glasses

At the end of Chapter 10, Jack and his savages raid the other boys.  What does Piggy believe Jack wants?  What does this symbolize or reflect about Piggy's views?  What, however, does Jack want?  How does this reflect his views?  What is Golding saying through this raid about the microcosm of the island?  (The deadline to post a response to this blog is midnight, Saturday, April 27, 2013.  No credit will be given to plagiarized responses.)

Trivia

You have probably seen this at the beginning of many movies.  Be the first to answer this question and get an extra 100.  What is the connection between this company and Lord of the Flies?

The beauty of Golding's writing...

Today, you read Chapter 9, in which Simon is murdered.  At the end of the chapter, Golding writes four beautifully descriptive paragraphs.  I have included them below.  Comment on the Golding's use of diction(word choice) to create mood in these paragraphs. What mood does he create and how does he do it?  (The deadline to post a response to this blog is midnight, April 25, 2013.  No credit will be given to plagiarized comments.)

"Towards midnight the rain ceased and the clouds drifted away, so that the sky was scattered once more with the incredible lamps of stars. Then the breeze died too and there was no noise save the drip and tickle of water that ran out of clefts and spilled down, leaf by leaf, to the brown earth of the island. The air was cool, moist, and clear; and presently even the sound of the water was still. The beast lay huddled on the pale beach and the stains spread, inch by inch.

The edge of the lagoon became a streak of phosphorescence which advanced minutely, as the great wave of the tide flowed. The clear water mirrored the clear sky and the angular bright constellations. The line of phosphorescence bulged about the sand grains and little pebbles; it held them each in a dimple of tension, then suddenly accepted them with an inaudible syllable and moved on.

Along the shoreward edge of the shallows the advancing clearness was full of strange, moonbeam-bodied creatures with fiery eyes. Here and there a larger pebble clung to its own air and was covered with a coat of pearls. The tide swelled in over the rain-pitted sand and smoothed everything with a layer of silver. Now it touched the first of the stains that seeped from the broken body and the creatures made a moving patch of light as they gathered at the edge. The water rose further and dressed Simon's coarse hair with brightness. The line of his cheek silvered and the turn of his shoulder became sculptured marble. The strange, attendant creatures, with their fiery eyes and trailing vapours busied themselves round his head. The body lifted a fraction of an inch from the sand and a bubble of air escaped from the mouth with a wet plop. Then it turned gently in the water.

Somewhere over the darkened curve of the world the sun and moon were pulling; and the film of water on the earth planet was held, bulging slightly on one side while the solid core turned. The great wave of the tide moved further along the island and the water lifted. Softly, surrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures, itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations, Simon's dead body moved out towards the open sea.”