Text: The Lord of the Flies
Assignment: Dialectical Journal
Due Date: September 5, 2017
Directions: While you are reading Lord of the Flies, keep a dialectical journal to develop and record your thoughts about the novel. The structure consists of two columns. In the left-hand column, write quotations (“Passages”), and for each quotation there are three parts in the right-hand column (“Commentary”): Context, Explanation, and Personal Response. Choose three short passages (a few sentences to one paragraph each) per chapter that you think might be important.
□ Context: What’s going on in the chapter around this passage?
□ Explanation: What does this passage mean? Why does it matter?
□ Personal Response: What is your reaction to this? Does this passage trigger an emotional response from you (e.g., surprise, suspense, anger) or a prediction of events to come? Do you feel a connection with one or more of the characters?
Guidelines for Choosing Passages:
□ Read the whole chapter first. As you are reading, note passages that you think might be important and flag them with sticky notes or place stars in the margins next to them.
□ Here are a few types of passages that you may consider.
o Setting: passages that tell important information about place and/or time
o Character: passages that help you understand more about a character or characters
o Plot: passages that narrate events that are or might be important
o Dialogue: lines spoken by different characters (connects to character and plot)
Sample Journal Entry
Chapter 1: “The Sound of the Shell”
Passages / Commentary“This toy of voting was almost as pleasing as the conch. Jack started to protest but the clamor changed from the general wish for a chief to an election by acclaim of Ralph himself. None of the boys could have found good reason for this; what intelligence had been shown was traceable to Piggy, while the most obvious leader was Jack. But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch” (22).
Please Note: It is expected and required that all ideas and responses be original. Plagiarism will not be tolerated on this assignment or any that follow. / Context: Ralph has blown the conch and gathered the boys together. Now they are trying to choose a “chief” to be in charge.
Explanation: Each of the boys—Ralph, Jack, and Piggy—shows different qualities that might make him a good leader. Ralph is large, attractive, and charismatic. Also, he already has the conch shell, which is what got all the boys to come in the first place. Piggy seems to be the smartest. Jack seems to be the most aggressive, and he is already the choir leader, which might be why the author says he is the most obvious leader for the boys.
Personal Response: I don’t like Jack. There is something about him I don’t trust. He seems mean and too aggressive. Even though Ralph is elected, I
expect that Jack is going to fight him for power.