6.6 Lesson Five – Lord of the Flies
Time required: 120 minutes
Materials required: chart paper and marker pens, film rendition of William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies.
Teacher instructions:
In this lesson, the students view and discuss selected scenes from the film, Lord of the Flies. The teacher should preview the film because this movie contains a good deal of coarse language.
This film rendition of William Golding’s classic novel tells the story of 25 school boys stranded on an island where they are left to make their own rules. The film will provoke lots of discussion among the students on many issues including the issue of “rules”. This lesson is also an excellent follow-up to the previous lesson (Lesson 4.)
Some questions to trigger discussion:
- How did you feel as you watched this film? Explain.
- Did you notice any system of rules on the island? What were some of the specific rules you noticed?
- At what point in the movie is the whole idea of rules introduced by some of the boys? Explain.
- How were rules created and what was their purpose?
- Did the system of rules break down? If so, why?
- How does the way in which the boys made rules in the film compare to how your group made rules in the previous lesson (Lesson 4)?
- Do we need rules in society? Explain.
- What is a rule?
In the film, the boys are eventually rescued. The teacher may want to help the students reflect on a scenario in which the young people are not rescued. Accordingly, the young people would be required to establish community rules and guidelines for long-term survival.
The teacher may wish to record discussion themes on chart paper.
Journal activity: Let’s write about it!
For journal questions to stimulate the students’ written reflections after or during class, see Appendix 2.