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Ideas for Reports and Papers
(Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults)
1. In Lord of the Flies, a war breaks out between Ralph and Jack. Explain how their different ideas on the proper conduct of life on the island cause them to battle for power. Discuss whether or not this battle could have been avoided.
2. Choose another book about the life of castaways upon an island, such as Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, and compare its themes with Golding's in Lord of the Flies.
3. William Golding wrote a novel, The Inheritors, about a group of peaceful prehistoric men and women whose community is invaded by outsiders. Compare this book with Lord of the Flies.
4. Many episodes in Lord of the Flies are frightening. Discuss how the author uses words to create feelings of uneasiness, fear, and terror.
5. The English schoolboys are products of a very strict way of life, perpetuated in Great Britain for generations. Research the nature of life in English private boarding schools during World War II, and describe how the boys' life on the island at first resembles and then comes to differ from the daily routine of life at school.
6. In Lord of the Flies Jack becomes a tyrant who encourages his followers to express their most evil desires. Compare this fictional event with an actual historical episode. Discuss who is most responsible for the evil in situations such as this—the dictator or the people who follow the dictator.