Criticism

Spoiler Alert : If you haven't read Lord of the Flies and don't want to know anything about it, stop reading.

My 8th graders have been reading Lord of the Flies in small groups. For most of the time, I haven't been sure how much they are actually taking in, and how many connections they are making between what we read one day and the next. At the end of last week, we got to the scene where Simon talks to the Lord of the Flies and then the scene where Simon dies. For those of you who need a refresher course (or have never read the novel), the boys trapped on the island fear a shapeless "beast" who haunts the island. A dead parachuter ends up dropping onto the island, getting the parachute tangled in a manner that, when the boys see him in the dark, he looks like a monster.

Simon, the only boy who is not turning savage, discovers that the parachuter is not a beast and loosens his tangle. Unfortunately, when he comes out to tell the other boys, they are locked in a wild "dance" which ends in Simon's death. As Simon is beaten to death, the parachuter is swept off the island and into the ocean.

When we read this scene in class (with an italicized announcement from me, THIS IS AN IMPORTANT SCENE!), one of my kids got it! He understood and explained the significance of the two events happening together. Then, this week, when we read about the way the boys split into tribes afterwards, another student traced the tribal lines to events at the beginning of the book -- something I hadn't even noticed.

I am so proud of my students for this. At the beginning of the year, I despaired of them ever learning critical thought. Now, at least some of them have demonstrated it!