Prompt: 2008, Form B. In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works, they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror. Focusing on a single novel or play, explain how its representation of childhood or adolescence shapes the meaning of the work as a whole.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies portrays the childhood years very differently from the way that they are commonly perceived. Golding clearly held a view that the childhood years are marked by tribulation and terror. In his novel, Golding shows that children are not inherently good and innocent, but instead quite the contrary. William appears to believe that the human race is inherently evil, and without the constraints of society's expectations, this inner-evil bubbles to the surface and shows its face.
In the Lord of the Flies a group of British school students are involved in a plane crash, leaving the kids stranded on an island to fend for themselves. The children’s actions and decisions mirror the adult world despite the difference in maturity and age. The kid's immediately try to set up rules and regulations to mirror the rule's that the government and their parents's place on them. They show the desire for order through this however as they are stranded and isolated from society for longer and longer, the children decide to show their true colors and rebel. The main character, Ralph attempts to maintain order but human nature interfere. The kids separate themselves into two tribes: one led by Ralph, and the other by Jack. Eventually animalistic tribal warfare erupts and many characters are killed. There is a great forrest fire on the island which represents the eruption of complete chaos erupts. This mirror's the adult society as this story takes place in the midst of World War II. The children were fleeing the war, however their human nature drove them back to war.
The parallels between the children stranded on the island and the adults in the rest of the world give a frightening insight on the nature of humans. Golding was clearly trying to show that humans are inherently evil. The terror that resulted on the island shows that children, if not properly socialized by society will revert to their roots. The difference between the children and the adults is that the adults have been socialized by society to behave a certain way. The children are representative of the result of those left in isolation of society and not properly socialized to behave the way that society expects. The children begin the way that society expects of them: with rules and order. However the children soon turn against the societal norm and chaos erupts. The only children that were truly innocent in the novel were killed (the young boy and Piggy). This represents the animalistic and savage ways of society, and shows that adolescence is a time when children are stripped of their innocence.
The Lord of the Flies is a great example of a story in which the representation of childhoood and adolescence shape the meaning of the work as a whole. Golding clearly did not intend to make the story about children alone. The children are representative of the adult world as well. Golding attempted to show the evil ways of human nature, and savagery of society without the constraints of laws and order through the way the children acted when they were in isolation from society.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies portrays the childhood years very differently from the way that they are commonly perceived. Golding clearly held a view that the childhood years are marked by tribulation and terror. In his novel, Golding shows that children are not inherently good and innocent, but instead quite the contrary. William appears to believe that the human race is inherently evil, and without the constraints of society's expectations, this inner-evil bubbles to the surface and shows its face.
In the Lord of the Flies a group of British school students are involved in a plane crash, leaving the kids stranded on an island to fend for themselves. The children’s actions and decisions mirror the adult world despite the difference in maturity and age. The kid's immediately try to set up rules and regulations to mirror the rule's that the government and their parents's place on them. They show the desire for order through this however as they are stranded and isolated from society for longer and longer, the children decide to show their true colors and rebel. The main character, Ralph attempts to maintain order but human nature interfere. The kids separate themselves into two tribes: one led by Ralph, and the other by Jack. Eventually animalistic tribal warfare erupts and many characters are killed. There is a great forrest fire on the island which represents the eruption of complete chaos erupts. This mirror's the adult society as this story takes place in the midst of World War II. The children were fleeing the war, however their human nature drove them back to war.
The parallels between the children stranded on the island and the adults in the rest of the world give a frightening insight on the nature of humans. Golding was clearly trying to show that humans are inherently evil. The terror that resulted on the island shows that children, if not properly socialized by society will revert to their roots. The difference between the children and the adults is that the adults have been socialized by society to behave a certain way. The children are representative of the result of those left in isolation of society and not properly socialized to behave the way that society expects. The children begin the way that society expects of them: with rules and order. However the children soon turn against the societal norm and chaos erupts. The only children that were truly innocent in the novel were killed (the young boy and Piggy). This represents the animalistic and savage ways of society, and shows that adolescence is a time when children are stripped of their innocence.
The Lord of the Flies is a great example of a story in which the representation of childhoood and adolescence shape the meaning of the work as a whole. Golding clearly did not intend to make the story about children alone. The children are representative of the adult world as well. Golding attempted to show the evil ways of human nature, and savagery of society without the constraints of laws and order through the way the children acted when they were in isolation from society.
I think that Lord of the Flies is a really good book to write about for this prompt. I like your introduction and that you have a thesis statement at the end, but I would suggest maybe changing the wording a little bit from "William appears to believe..." to something like "William shows that he believes.." and then go on to say in your body paragraphs how he shows this. That might make it a little bit stronger.
ReplyDeleteI do like that you gave some background info in the second paragraph, but I think that you summarized a little bit too much. You might want to shorten your summary a little bit and try connecting the symbols/representations that you are talking about and the prompt all together.
I liked how in the last paragraph you talked about how the author did not intent to make the story about children only, because they reflect on the adult world. That right there really ties the whole thing together very nicely!
I agree with Mehar about the background info. For me, it was nice because I haven't read Lord of the Flies so it gave me a better idea of what the whole book was about and the context of everything. However, I am sure that the AP Graders will have read the books that we write about, so you don't have to summarize so much, especially if it's not really necessary to the prompt.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I think that your response was complete and nicely structured. You had an intro, some body paragraphs and then a conclusion. I liked this because it made the essay seem like you had spent a lot of time on it. I feel like on the AP essays, it's hard enough to get all your thoughts down in the time limit, much less organize it well.
I liked the choice of the book for the prompt, but I think your sentence in the introduction paragraph saying how Golding perceived them very differently maybe could be changed a bit; in the prompt, she addresses that viewpoint, so it's apparently not all that uncommon. You have a couple mechanics errors again, but they're not all that bad. If I were you, though, I'd get rid of the first paragraph altogether; it's just a summary of the book, but we're supposed to assume that the reader already knows what we're talking about, so summary is supposedly unnecessary. In your second paragraph, you do a better job of answering the prompt, though almost all your sentences begin with "The". . . .This leads to monotony and repetitive syntax. That probably doesn't matter here, but on an AP essay, that's something I'd keep in mind. You also could have done a better job of describing how it relates to the work as a whole. . . So, basically, Danny, you suck (just kidding). :) No really you owe me Oreos.
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