Sydney wears glasses. Glasses = Smart. Therefore, Sydney is smart. During their presentation of Chapter 6 Sydney posed some very insightful and perceptive questions connecting Lord of the Flies to the Survivor Game itself. She didn't get a sticker for nothing (and I'm not on the front page of the latest issue of The Chronicle for nothing either!).Just as the island in the novel acts as a microcosm for the world at the time it was written, so has our class become a microcosm for the novel during the time we are reading about the boys who are stranded. There is a correlation between the activities you perform during period two and the events taking shape in Golding's fictional tale. From the selection of your groups to your tasks, your leadership roles and responsibilities and the performance of your group members, you might start seeing clearly, as does Sydney, the parallel relationship between what is taking place with the British boys and what is occurring on our own island in 3201.
Think about the formulation of your groups, your choice of leader, your individual contributions to your team and the behaviors of others. Think about your group's performance on tasks through challenges and everyday responsibilities during this unit. What connections can you make between yourself, your classmates and your group's function during this survival game? Try to connect to the plot of the novel, the characters, the themes and symbols. Who is your Piggy, Ralph, Simon, Jack, Roger, or Percival? Why? How do you see this challenge match the challenges the boys face throughout the text?
...Where do I fit in?
28 comments:
The formation of the "Poison Darts" was a bit random. The original people I wanted to be in a group in were absent the day we picked, but I am not complaining and I am very satisfied with the people I ended up with. Granted that I didn't talk to any of them much before the start of this survival game, I knew before hand that all four of us are rather intelligent. Regardless of the few poor grades some of us are scoring on the tests or that assumption that I am a "cheater," as far as I know my group is still in the lead.
I don't think the individuals in my group correspond to one character in the novel because we all have traits that connect us to more than one character. As a whole we are intelligent, which means we all have a piece of Piggy in our minds. Olivia and Kristie are the leaders but we each individually take charge of the situtations we are put in during the challenges. We're all like Jack because we all agreed on the first day that if anyone tried to come in our way during this game, we'd theoretically hit them with a poison dart to slow them down (hence the name, "Poison Darts").
The scavenger hunt we were sent on in the library relates to when the boys were searching the island. While they were scrambling about, climbing the mountain and running through the forrest to get to know their new environment, we were sent to a familiar place that we should've known, but discovered items and information that was right infront of us for almost two years.
Obviously, Ms. Depalo is like Golding. She made up this game and we were forced to play it. All the while she's watching our future unfold in the form of how we are performing in this game of survival and the grades we earn. While she is the hypothetical "author," she is also the leader, making her like Ralph.
That means the rest of us are the littluns, but she doesn't need to blow the conch for us to know that she has the authority.
The survivalists were formed like Ashley's group out of randomness partially and partially from spontaneous socialness. I was the first one to sit at an empty table and then I saw Raechel walking by. Since she is a friend I invited her to join me which she did. Then Bianca came by and sat at the table because there was an open space for her friend Nancy to sit at. Unfortunately, Nancy was not present that day so the seat was filled by Christian who drifted into class at the last second. Bianca claimed Nancy for our group because of their friendship when Ms. Depalo asked what group would take which absent person. A majority of the group assigned me to be the group leader and Bianca asserted herself to my well respected co-leader slightly hesitantly. I think this is because she was seeing if anyone else would take the job, but I am uncertain of what was happening there so I can not put down as fact.
The responsibilities of the group leader should be to remind its member to do their work and be prepared. I try to do this to the best of my abilities, but I find it difficult. I have to do everything perfectly right and then I can set the expectations for the rest of the group to do well. If I do not then I will get mouth and retorts about how I can not even do that which I have already been threatened by a particular member with. Fortunately, I've been on the ball so this is not too much of an issue. This constant care for my actions makes me feel like Ralph because he too has to stay on his toes to avoid harassment from the group.
I think Bianca would be Jack out of the group. I do not have a problem with Bianca and she does not have one with me so far as I know. However, Bianca does have quality leadership. During these past few projects I have seen Bianca take an aggressive stance towards killing these beastly projects. This effective accelerated the restoration of peace of mind to our island. Jack too is aggressive and feels that when he is presented with a problem like a beast, the best thing to do is to kill the problem.
Nancy is without a doubt Simon. Nancy is a person who sees a problem for what it is. She does not take sides because she cares for the group's best interests. Simon is a detached person from the group who looks only for improvement of the quality of life. He may have been with Jack's singing choir originally, but he carries no special favor for Jack. Similarly Nancy is Bianca's friend, but if Bianca was wrong about some topic I would bet a million bucks that Nancy would say something about it.
I personally associate Christian and Raechel with littl'uns. They struggle with simple tasks. They work some of the time, but I feel like for the most part they are spending too much time playing in the sand. You could associate Christian with the littl'un Henry. Henry is a kid with some idea of wanting to be a leader and has leadership potential. However, Henry is undeveloped or disciplined enough to be a good leader. Likewise Christian did show some initiative to get the group together for the meeting, but it was not the best one could do for the situation.
Email: nicocoup@msn.com
Oh P.S.-
Ms. Depalo is the creepers because the creepers make up the terrain the boys live in. The Creepers can strike fear into the kids hearts with it's many obstacles like the mysterious and lonely forest. The Creepers also provide sport to keep the boys entertained through exploration off the island. Similarly Ms. Depalo can scary my group silly with massive projects that she has set up for our group to overcome. She also gives our group fun survivor challenges for our group to compete against other groups in. The Creepers do not know the future for the boys. They can fail or succeed on their own. It was never determined by the creepers if they would die or live. Ms. Depalo gave us the challenges, but she never sentenced my group to death. We fail or hopefully succeed based on the hard work of the Survivalists. Ms. Depalo only records the grades, but we make the grades. This is where I think differently from Ashley who thinks that her grade has already been decided by Ms. Depalo which is totally absurd. MS. DEPALO!!! YOU ARE A CREEPER!!!!!!!!!!!
Email: nicocoup@msn.com
If I had appoint roles for then member of my group it would be quiet difficult. It would be hard because we all have parts and pieces of all the characters in all of us. Charlotte would be the Ralph of the group because she is the leader and because she is always very optimistic and cheerful, though doubtful at times. Emma would be the jack of the group. She is very assertive over who does what in our group and always takes charge in our challenges when we actually are participating in them, more so than Charlotte. Julian would be the Simon of out group, I think. He always seem to keep everyone friendly with one another and encourages different ideas to go through our heads espcially during the more work oriented challenges, like the one with the survival item list. I would maybe fit into the Piggy of the group. I give Charlotte and the other group members ideas and suggestions often, but I don't often take straight charge of everything. I usually end up helping whoever took charge during the challenge to accomplish our task.
Even though our group is in last place it doesn't seem to place a strain on our group, unlike the boys on the island. We never yell, scream or become angry towards one another if we mess up because we all make mistakes. The boys on the island can't afford to make any mistakes or it could be fatal. Even though they are in a more dire situation, it is still important to us to do well.
Ms. Depalo you would probably be the beast of our group. The actions that the beast takes in the story make the boys be more careful and astute, such as when they call meetings and go out on expeditions to hunt for it. You make our group have to work harder so that we don't get the imposing wrath of the teacher of the universe on our heads. You also keep us on our toes with your strange, yet sometimes entertaining challenges much like the beast keeps the boys on their toes in the story.
The Survivalists table was full, so I just moved into an empty table. Julian sat there and then Ms. Depalo told me to pick two of the three names on the board and I picked Cesar and Emma because I knew them better. The Ninja Bonzai Trees was actually a Name I had for a video game I may create in the future. I was also considering The Branches or the Irish Monkeys but I changed my mind.
Heavens, I know I’m supposed to be the leader of my group but I would more say I’m like Simon, I’m always helpful but I can be zoning out half the time my group is doing something important. This trait also leads me to be disoriented and leads my group to trouble. Sometimes I believe I don’t deserve the leader role. I feel as though Emma has more Ralph traits in her. She’s easygoing and never yells at anyone even when I screw up and I’m the leader! But she also knows when to be stern and gives orders. She also organizes better than me. Cesar is like Piggy, he gives out awesome ideas and stuff. And he is really patient, If I we Piggy on that island I would have already lost my temper. He also helps out a lot when were doing tasks too. The boys act like children even though they are, but they do not put their priorities first. I may joke around but when you’re stuck on an island you have to learn to stay alive, even if it means no fun and games. Julian I feel is more like Maurice or Sameeric, He is quite friendly and accepts orders and does them with no questions asked, he also points out important finding in an activity.
So what if our group is in last place, last I checked were not too far from everyone! And like Cesar said it’s not really bothering us. Now if we panic, hack away at each other’s skin, yell, scream and such. We would lose our unity like the boys on the island, thus fall apart as a group. Panic is the enemy; it does not let us think straight, why do you think dumb people die in horror movies. They panic, they don’t think straight, they scream and do something stupid and the killer/monster comes and kills them.
Ms. Depalo you are the creeper, the beast and the soul of the island. You are not a physical being, but rather a figure of delusion that seeks to throw challenges toward the groups. You are like the serpent toward Eve and tempts her to do the most fatal and stupid thing in the world. Like The Lord of the Flies toward Simon, to convince him to follow the boys on their road of destruction. You indirectly try to destroy the unity of the groups through nerve-racking challenges. We cannot attack you nor destroy you because you exist within all group members (and because you can call security)
My group, called the Ninja Banzai Trees, is one that I had little say in from the very beginning. Being absent the day that the project was assigned in class, and the groups chosen, I was unable to choose my group or have a say in its leader or even its name.
It would be difficult to correlate my team mates with the characters of William Golding's novel, The Lord of the Flies, because none of my team members (myself included) shows any competitive spirit in any of the challenges or tests we are presented with. This is a setback, because it causes us to be incapable of drawing connections because we aren't allowing ourselves to shine through. Thinking about my team, I'm only able to compare us to the littl'uns in the story.
Charlotte is our leader; she is very smart and very creative. However, she rarely takes on a leader-like attitude and takes control of the rest of us. Cesar, works well and cares for our survival. I feel I work best with him out of anyone in the group, but it has not proven advantageous because we are only two people. Julian rarely even comes to class (at least recently) and none of the rest of us has bothered to contact him. I feel that I could be doing more for my group, but I find I am only focusing on myself and my own quiz grades. The fact that my group is in last place probably doesn't make us want to put in any more effort either. We can only be compared to the littl'uns because none of us particularly stands out; we are all only worrying about ourselves and we are not thinking long term.
I believe that, unless we decide to step it up and let our true characters shine through this project (in other words, we've got to start CARING), our team is sure to fail to survive on the island, just as a group of littl'uns would.
My group was random, as was our group name; The Survivalists. Are main goal on this island is to survive, and I think this title fits perfectly.
Since we were not all friends before this assignment, we are not only trying to survive on this island, but trying to survive with each other. This task is sometimes harder than it seems. Like any group being together stuck on an island, or in our case a classroom, have challenges. Between our group activities and quiz grades, we are not doing that great. While I myself know I should be doing better on the quizzes, I know that we all are at least trying. Nick says that he puts me and Christian as the littl’uns, and honestly that offended me. Personally, I don’t think im a Ralph, or a Piggy, but a littl’un? That isn’t me either. I don’t think that I necessarily fit into any one character in the book, Lord of the Flies.
The two leaders in our group are Nick and Bianca. Before this, I knew some of the group members better than others, but that was another reason to do this, to get to know our classmates better. I think all of the members in my group are intelligent, and if needed can be a leader, so were are all Piggy and Ralph. I don’t think that we really have a Jack in our group in my opinion, but Bianca comes the closest to Jack though. Bianca makes a great leader, although I don’t think she is trying to replace Nick, as Jack tries to replace Ralph. I think that Nick would be Piggy, a natural leader, and someone with great intelligence. Although, unlike Piggy, our group does listen to Nick, and we respect him.
I think that Ms. Depalo can easily fit the role of the author of this book, William Golding. He placed the boys on the island, and ultimately put the rest of it up to us, as you did. You set up the desks, and told us to sit anywhere we want. You left the rest of it up to us.
raech629@verizon.net
The formulation of Rasta Fury was quite interesting. I joined Danny at the table, followed by Rachel’s “asking permission” to come on board. Tiffany walked into the room and found her way over, as did Jasmine. Obviously, all groups have their differences, but we have gotten along fairly well. Our selection of leader and second in command was more of a silent understanding rather than a true election. We all seem to have our own opinion of what would really happen if we were stranded on an island; at this point, I don’t believe we would become savages and turn on each other. While we have not yet won a major survival challenge, we have finished in second and third place. I don’t regret the composition of the people in my group; we all work hard, are responsible, and can rely on each other to complete tasks. For the group project, we equally divided the three parts (letter, mask, and symbol), and we all remembered to bring in our respective contribution on the due date.
For most of the quizzes, our averages are A’s or B’s. Most of the members rotate our scores on the quizzes; one chapter might receive a poor grade, but then we get back on track with a better score the next time. Thanks to Rachel, we even received extra points because of her perfect score(s). As for the most recent scavenger hunt in the library, we all cooperated very well. We each picked specific questions to investigate, and found the answers. We split up and went to different locations to save time and to cover a greater number of questions. We were not like the hunters finding meat, or like Ralph, Simon, and Jack exploring the island; rather, all of us found answers and did our part. We certainly were not scared of finding an answer either, as Jack is afraid of killing the pig initially.
To correlate an exact character from the book with a member of our group is difficult. As Ashley has mentioned, we each have traits that are consistent with multiple characters, we cannot be matched with just a single individual. The main connection I have with Ralph is that we are both leaders of our own groups; Ralph is still chief for the time being. I do not need to blow a conch to gain the attention of my peers; when any of us speaks, we all listen, no matter how trivial the idea may seem. Tiffany shows signs of being a hard worker like Simon. Every night she does her homework, and tries her best on the quizzes, even if she worries beforehand that she may not do well. Simon is the only one to help Ralph with the shelters, and he pleases Ralph. Tiffany does her work to keep me happy. No one has a physical similarity to Piggy, as none of us wear glasses. Piggy is a very ingenuitive being; in our group, Rachel comes up with very good ideas that we are usually set into motion. I have to compare Jasmine to Percival; Percival slowly forgets his address, just as Jasmine forgot her book one day, but the next time, she had her mother bring the book into school. Roger is a bit of a clown, always picking on the littluns; Danny makes jokes and snickers at Jasmine and Tiffany at times. We all have a little bit of Jack in us; we want our opinion to be heard, and sometimes don’t care what other people have to say at that moment; and [jokingly] we may be a bit rude to some of our survivors. Jasmine and Tiffany are close, just as Samneric are twins; while the girls are not twins and probably may not always like each other, they get along for the most part. They are commissioned to watch the fire jointly. For the project, the two of them created the Rasta symbol together as well. In another way, we show signs of the littluns: we go unbothered; we do our work when necessary, and, of course, we stick together.
While we do not have to worry about being rescued per se, we have to be cautious of our point tally. Our goal is to finish with points anywhere in the A range. While we are just below an A now, our internal fire still burns in hopes of achieving our desired grade.
Finally, I would compare Ms. DePalo to….the beastie. We know she exists, but we never know what challenges she will present to us nor when. The boys haven’t ascertained the beast’s identity, but they know it “haunts” the vicinity as a presence not to be ignored. We may not live in fear of Ms. DePalo, but we do have to worry about aspects of our lives of which she is in control, such as our points. While we may not hunt the beastie with spears, we maintain a healthy respect and keep a proper distance concerning its intimidating presence.
e.e.butler@comcast.net
Like both Raechel and Nick said, The Survivalists, was picked randomly. I was not at school this day, so I was not aware of what group I would be in until I went back to school the next day. Of what I heard, my name was put on the board along with other names and Bianca choose me to be in her group as well. Previously I have not worked on any other group ativites with Nick, Christian, or Raechel. But I have worked with Bianca so I was not so worried.
Once the project actually began, I saw Nick as Piggy. Piggy was the smartest one, but no one payed any mind to him. He was always being put aside, but what the boys did not know was that Piggy was truly the leader of the group. Nick is indeed really smart and he thinks of the most important things to help us survive. Whenever Nick says something his ideas are normally being ignored. If our group put more importance into paying attention to what he says, our group would be a huge success.
Bianca on the other hand, I see as being Ralph. She has alot of leadership characteristics that Nick lacks. Me knowing Bianca since elementary school, she always finished what she started. It bothers her when something is not fully completed. Especially when it comes to school she is always on top of her work. The thoughts and opinions she has, she makes sure people hear her out. In the beginning of Lord of the Flies, Piggy is made fun of because he is different than the other boys. So Ralph takes advantage and takes Piggy's ideas and makes people think that they are his own. In our group, The Survivalists, Nick was named the leader. In my opinion I think it was simply because he was the smartest. But then soon I started realizing that Bianca began taking control of the group. Nick began falling back and just let Bianca do the leadership role. In a way, this is exactly what Piggy did.
I agree with Nick when he says that Raechel and Christian are alot like the littl'uns. I do not mean to offend either of my group members, but they have not really contributed as much as everyone else in the group did. We previously lost a good amount of points due to Christian's tardiness and lack of homework. But then recently he started stepping up his game. Raechel on the other hand, has been getting average grades on the little quizes. Averaging all of our grades on the quizes, the main reduction comes from Christian's and Raechel's quizes. Like Nick said, the littl'uns are so busy just fooling around and playing in the sand.
As for myself, I agree with Nick when he states that he thinks I am alot like Simon. Simon tries to help out the littl'uns alot and basically tries to keep the peace. In our group, I ask both Christian and Raechel if they need help with anything. Although I am Bianca's friend, I do not take sides. I listen to all opinions and as well make my own. There may be times when I agree with Bianca and there may be times when I also may agree with Nick. When Nick is not being heard, I tend to bring up his idea and support it. This is like when Simon gives Piggy his piece of meat. I just follow what I think is right.
Ms. Depalo can safely be compared to the author, William Golding. Like Raechel said, Golding put the boys on the island and left the rest up to them. In a sense this is exactly what Ms. Depalo did. The desks were set up in groups, the choosing of where the students sat was up to them. This is why most students sat with friends they would get along with because they did not know what the purpose was.
ecanancy@hotmail.com
With Lizzy's mention of me asking to join our group, I remember how I chose my group on the day we chose groups. I am shy, extremely shy and so I tried to be careful with what group I chose, especially since I had no idea what we were doing. I wanted to be with people who I knew were hard working and so when I saw Lizzy and Danny I walked over to them. I asked permission to sit with them because I wanted to make sure they were okay with me being there. I guess one of my biggest worries is being in a group of people who I think want be to be there but in reality, they want me gone.
When choosing a leader, it was fairly obvious who it would be. We all know that Lizzy is very smart and she is outgoing and bold enough to get the respect and cooperation of the group without being controlling. Lizzy is definitely Ralph. One thing that I admire about Lizzy as a leader is that she doesn't think she is perfect. She realizes when she makes mistakes just like everyone else does and doesn't blame others for them.
Like Lizzy said, Tiffany and Jasmine are like Samneric. Like the twins, Tiffany and Jasmine work together with ease and although they sometimes joke around with each other, they are extremely comfortable with each other and cooperate well.
Danny is most like Roger. He does his work but I think that he can be ruthless at times. Danny insults me, Tiffany and Jasmine quite often. Roger bullies the littluns and harasses them for unbeknownst reasons. I know Danny is normally joking but it can get a bit too much at times.
I am Piggy. I am quiet and awkward and I don't really know how to fit in so much. I am smart like Piggy, who is essentially the backbone of the group. Like Lizzy said, my grades on the quizzes are normally very high and so I keep our scores up. At some points, like Piggy, I want to be leader but I know that it is better for me to be quiet and support Lizzy like Piggy supports Ralph.
Lastly is you, Ms. Depalo, the beastie. You are the 'thing' that is constantly looming over us, watching us. Although the kids don't ever really see the beast, the fear of it affects what they do and think. Our "fear" of you makes us do our work, stay quiet, etc. In chapter 6, the "beast" was actually a parachutist, a symbol of the adult world. Our teachers are the adults and ones in power when we are in school. They are the ones that maintain order and civilization.
rugbynbailey@aol.com
As nearly everyone else has stated correlating a group member to an exact character is quite difficult. Like cesar stated each of our group members have characteristics of each character in the novel Lord of the Flies written by William Golding. My group "The Ninja Bonzai Trees", were randomly chosen. I came in late the day groups were chosen and took the very first seat that I saw.
Though it is difficult my group members and myself there are characters in the novel in which we all could be best classified with. Charlotte "our leader" to me would be classified as Ralph. Ralph and Charlotte are both the known leaders, and Charlotte is very positive and in good spirits. Cesar would be considered the Piggy of our group. He comes up with more ideas than anyone else does but never seems to confidently take initiative. Emma would be considered the Jack of our group. She gives instruction and consistently tells each group member what they have to do and how they are expected to do it. I feel as if I would be the Simon of my group. I do not act as much a leader, but I constantly try to start up conversation between our group and make sure everyone deals with one another well.
Ms.DePalo, along with Charlotte you are the mental aspect of the group. Also considered the creepers, beast, etc. You always challenge us in such a way where you give us the choice to succeed or fail together, by working as a unit. You give us fear, hope, and either unity and workmanship, or hate and distance towards one another. All in all you are non-existent in the way our groups succeed or fail, but you indirectly make us strive to help our groups do well
Before actually finding out what our groups were actually for, the formation of "The D. Lovers" was just a group of friends in our class that sat together. If I knew before hand what we were going to have to do as a group, I think I would have made a wiser decision because our grade depends on everyone in our group and our group is just a lot to handle all at once.
In "Lord of the Flies," there is a time when Ralph begins to realize all the issues going on around the island. He decides to call a meeting in the middle of the night to discuss all the wrong actions amongst everyone. After the first week of working with our groups, the D. Lovers already lost numerous points due to me forgetting my book the first day and Angelo cursing. We also lost points because of our quiz scores. We had the lowest grade in the class as time progressed. Because I forgot my book, my whole group texted me the next morning saying, "Bring your book or we'll snusnu you!"
From the members of our group, I can relate Ralph as Sydney because as time went on living on the island, Ralph got extremely frustrated with everyone not doing what they had to do. Syd always has been frustrated with our group because of our grade constantly dropping due to the amount of times Angelo, Joe, or Sai curse. Piggy is like Sai because he has the most brains in our group. Most of the time, he's always the one who receives 10 out of 10's on the quizzes. He usually is the one who finds the answers to our daily survival question challenge. Although we would rather not want to be referred to the littl'uns, I honestly think that myself, Angelo, and Joe can be compared to them. I think I'm like a littl'un because I'm usually the one in the group that doesn't do that great on the quizzes. I even forgot my book the first day. Also, I'm usually too lazy to actually read and pay attention to "Lord of the Flies." Angelo and Joe are just like littl'uns because in the beginning, they would always fool around and act childish. Along with what all the other classmates said, Ms. Depalo can be referred to the beastie. Every day she is there creeping up on us to see if anyone curses, forgets their book, doesn't do their homework, etc. I also agree with Nancy on how Ms. Depalo can also be William Golding. He is the author of "Lord of the Flies" and Ms. Depalo is the creator of this survival game.
My group, THE SURVIVALISTS, is indeed an interesting collection of such intelligent kids. Everyone in our group have interesting qualities that can be compared to the characters in William Golding's THE LORD OF THE FLIES. My group has tremendous potential to rise up and be the survivalists but first we must be able to be responsible and become compatible with each other. I remember the day we were supposed to be put in groups, I saw an empty seat where Nick and Raechel were at and just simply drifted off towards them. Even from the start I knew that either Nick or Bianca would become leader and which I wasn't surprised by the outcome. Nick does have traits that Ralph has about asserting our jobs to the group and makes sure we all are comfortable and is very helpful in reminding about assignments and projects. Bianca, I would say has the same tactics as Jack but unlike Jack she means no harm to Nick and is very assertive with the groups chance of surviving this tremendously competitive challenge throughout the unit. Nancy to me is like Simon because she is not dependent on the group and just tries to get along with the group without sending off signals of comfortability and laziness. She sets boundaries about making the group work and do what its supposed to do by being stern yet not in a nasty way but just affirmative. I do not take any offense about Nick's view of myself as a little'un specifically like Henry. I do want to become a leader and be as affirmitive and stern as any leader would be but I lack confidence within myself and often just drift off to the sidelines. I often have trouble speaking out to my group because the group easily agree with the leader and co-leader that I find myself not saying anything at all because it won't make much of a difference. Raechel also as myself would be an example of a little'un because we get distracted a bit more easily than the others and often just wind off "playing in the sand". We have potential in making the group rise up as long as we put a little more effort and work diligently. Ms. DePalo you would be our pig NOT IN A BAD WAY IN ANYWAY POSSIBLE!!!!! When I say pig I mean that as long as the group follows your directions and we score good scores in challenges that you may throw at us it will become easier for us to "obtain" you as in academically and get good grades as long as the group does its part and we survive the challenge. Also that the pig in the book is a key importance in surviving the island by providing food and I imagine it is difficult to catch since it would most likely run away from the hunter just like it is difficult but not impossible to achieve good grades in your class.
The formations of "islands" amongst the classroom, to me, seems as if they were just thrown together as a one time class assignment. At first we had no idea that we were going to be stuck with the people we chose to sit with for the entire unit and project. When filling out the sheet that was handed to us at the beginning of the class period it was all fun and games. The name my group chose "The D-Lovers" was supposed to be funny and draw Ms. Depalo's attention. The ideas we came up with for punishments were hardly serious and when choosing a leader, none of us thought it through for the long run. When choosing our leader we did not take into consideration who works hard, who could control the group, and who cares enough to come out on top. If we could choose it all over again, I would nominate Sai as the leader of The D-Lovers because he is a hard worker, knows what needs to be done, and will be the last one to slack off and not read or be prepared.
Our group correlates to the background of the story mostly because of how we learn from the mistakes we have made. I'm pretty sure that we get caught cursing the most and each of us have noticed that when you opt to not read and complete your homework with the use of Sparknotes, there is no possible way to pass the chapter quizzes. As Sabrina said, the first day she forgot her book and all of us made sure the next day to be prepared. Every once in a while, a text will be sent out to make sure everything is going smoothly between homework and projects for the survival challenge. These texts could be a much simpler version of the meetings that Ralph calls to discuss the disorder of the island.
Comparing the members of the group and the boys on the island, I think it is pretty clear who plays which role. I seem to play the role of Ralph as leader. Not only do I constantly remind the group of what needs to come first, but I also become very aggravated with them when they are not listening to the somewhat insightful words I utter. In the beginning I saw myself as Jack as well because when things did not go right I would attempt to scare the group into listening to me. That did not go to well because they would just laugh at how angry I got and would end up doing their own thing anyway. Sai is Piggy. He usually acts as second in command because when the ideas that I throw out to help the group are not good enough, Sai always has a way to make them better. Sai has the most developed thoughts out of the whole group. As for Joe, Sabrina, and Angelo, they could be best labeled as the littl'uns. I am not saying this to throw them under the bus or make myself seem superior, but they are the three that need the most watching over. In the beginning the three of them were not excited when they heard that we had to read the book, so I would take the effort to come up to them and make sure that the work was being done and the book was being read efficiently. Lastly, Ms. Depalo could be William Golding and the beastie because she is the maker of the game and Golding is the author of "Lord of the Flies". She could also be the beastie because as Nick Couper stated, she makes up where each group "lives" and she has the ability to scare each person as an individual. No one knows exactly when or where she may appear so each pair of eyes must be peeled.
P.S. Thank you very much for the acknowledgement at the beginning of the blog.
syd1194@aol.com
I am happy with my group. However, if I had known in the beginning that they would be my group, I may have chosen slightly differently. My group so far has been average in our performance through challenges and everyday responsibilities. All of us have lost points for the group. We have all had good and bad quiz grades. There are some similarities between the characters in the novel and our group members. All though we don't treat each other exactly the same as the characters, we share similarities. In my opinion, Vivek is Piggy,I am Jack, Dapo is Simon, and Austyn is Ralph. Vivek is Piggy because he is different from the rest of the group. He is the only Indian out of the four. He also has a wack sense of humor. I feel that I am Jack because I think I make good decisions. I feel like Austyn(Ralph) is not making the decisions that are right for the group. I am taking control as the island challenges go on. Dapo is Simon because he usually does not take the role of leader. He does not make a lot of suggestions for the group but has good ideas that he does not voice to the whole group. Austyn is Ralph because he was originally voted leader. The groups interests are shifting and I think he needs to be more aware of what is going on at times. I can see how this relates to the story. The boys are becoming more comfortable with each other. Jack is becoming more hostile towards Ralph and Piggy. He is becoming a savage. When the boys play the "game" with Robert, he acts like he will kill him. Jack most likely can kill with no remorse at this point in the story.
The formation of Rasta Rury was completely random. I remember walking into the classroom, and Jasmine going Tiff Tiff as I walked in, and saw my good friend Lizzy also sitting in her group so I thought it'd be a nice place to just plop down for the day's lesson or so I thought. Not saying that if I knew that the place I sat at would determine a nice part of my marking period 4 grade would change my decision. The choice of leader in my group was pretty simple. Lizzy is a natural leader type person in the classroom, and outside she knows how to keep the group focused while having a good time. Without discussion we already saw her as the leader of our group. The choice of second in command also came pretty naturally. After Lizzy was selected for leader all that was left was me, Jasmine, Danny, and Rachel. With the rest of us pretty much not caring enough, Rachel was automatically deamed second in command.
Our groups performance through the task, challenges, and daily activities has been fairly good.We all do our homework, try our best on quizes, and work hard together on survival challenges. When one of us may do bad on a quiz for instance we are all understanding, and supportive of everyone else. Our team is very homely, and open and I feel that is one of the reasons for our success.
I agree with Rachel and Lizzy's comments on me and Jasmine being compareable to SamnEric. We are friends outside of the classroom, and it definetly translates to our group behavior together. After laughs we are able to work together as one. I definetly find Lizzy to be Ralph. She knows how to have a good tiime with us, but at the same time knows when it's time to work, and when it's time to play. Even if her leading is challenged sometimes she is able to stick strong, and at the end of the day we know she is in charge. I feel Rachel is most like a mixture between Simon and Jack. Rachel is like Simon in the way that most of the time as she says she is quiet, conservative,and shy. But then there are moments when her Lizzy may disagree for a second, almost challenging Lizzy authority like Jack. It rarely ever happens, but it could foreshadow a future brawl. I compare Danny to Roger he is a jokster 24-7. Whether he is making a joke on one of us, or insulting our swimming skills Danny keeps the grup funny. These challenges immulate the challenges the boys face in a way that we all have to work together to get to the common goal of a good grade on the project, as there common goal is getting off the island.
What connections can you make between yourself, your classmates and your group's function during this survival game? Try to connect to the plot of the novel, the characters, the themes and symbols. Who is your Piggy, Ralph, Simon, Jack, Roger, or Percival? Why? How do you see this challenge match the challenges the boys face throughout the text?
...Where do I fit in?
The group D-Lovers, was formed because of friendships. Sabrina and Syd were together, and then I saw Sai there so I joined in. Then of course Angelo comes out of nowhere and tries to join a group where the maximum amount of people was four. Somehow he gets in. Our group was the furthest thing from serious, we thought of a funny name, D-Lovers, and thought it was all a joke. We made up punishments that were a joke, snu-snu, what the hell is that? We elected Syd leader for no good reason. Even after we found out that the groups were permanent, we could not fathom the seriousness of the game, especially with Angelo around.
Our group got off to a bad start, thought it was all a joke, just like how those kids in the Lord of the Flies were all joking around and thought it was a big joke. The kids in the book were swimming around, having fun, and enjoying the time without parents. Time without parents for them relates to time with our friends for the group. The whole year we were next to people we did not choose to be next to, but now we were able to sit in our group of friends. The carelessness that the kids had with the fire relates to our carelessness towards the reading the book, and our poor quiz grades.
Over time Syd tried to keep us on track, but it really did not work, our group was sloppy. Angelo curses, Sabrina leaves her book at home, Sai curses, after getting hit in the head with a piece of wood, and comes late to class. Everybody, except for Sai gets lower than a ten on the quizzes knocking the average grade down. It took our group to realize that we were not serious enough. The main thing that told us to get our act together was the fact that we were in last place by five points, at one point. Our group was the only group to be in the B range after one week. With a rate like that we would of have had a zero. This could be compared to the time the kids on the island saw the ship that came by, it gave us incentive.
Not to set labels to anybody, because everybody has their flaws, including me. Syd is our Ralph. She is like our spokesperson. Like how Sabrina said, Syd does get frustrated when things do not go her way, she tried to be a good leader but fails. Sai as we all know, should have had been the leader as Syd said, for he is our Piggy, he is intelligent. Piggy has glasses which the group of kids are living off of to build fire, Sai's, ten out of tens, are our glasses, because if he did not get that extra point each time on the quizzes we would have had been losing tons of points. Sabrina is the little ones or the “kid with the birthmark on his face,” who dies in the fire, because she is very careless. She gets a one out of ten on a quiz, forgets the most important thing at home, her book and never does well on the quizzes. Angelo is our Jack. Jack tries to become leader and take over the group of kids, while Angelo is making the group unfocused by making jokes. I consider myself to be Simon, for I am Jesus. I try to resolve problems by getting Sai to get the letter done and helping him like how Simon helps Ralph build shelters. Also, I really try to cooperate with everybody and try helping everybody if they need help.
joepedo@ymail.com
When I first walked into class that day I had no idea why Ms.Depalo set it up into groups. I randomly picked an open seat where Nick and Raechel were sitting and eventually Christian sat with us. Nancy was absent that day and I chose her to be apart of my group because not only is she my friend but I know she is hardworking. For the leadership role within our group we chose Nick, who is Ralph in the novel. As we started to participate in group challenges I began to see each person as Ralph, because each person had characteristics of a leader. Those characteristics include being concerned about the group’s interest, not taking sides, being smart, and strong.
Nick is very smart and has great concerns about the group’s interest; which is our grade. He always contacts the group to remind us to do our homework but helps us when we are confused and guides us to the right direction. He wants to make sure that we understand and do our homework so we can all contribute into getting a good grade; just like Ralph. Who constantly reminds the boys the smoke is very important in order to get rescued. Nancy is similar to Ralph as well because she is concerned about the group’s grade (fire) and tries to remind everyone to do well on his or hers quizzes. She does not take sides when discussing ideas for projects and lets everyone contribute, just like Ralph when he allows Piggy to speak throughout several meetings. She is also very smart and strong which are important traits to have.
Raechel and Christian are also great potential leaders because they are very smart. They may have had their down falls but I still feel they are very similar to Ralph because as a leader he has imperfections as well. Reachel is similar became she does not take sides as. While Christian is concerned about the group’s grades and making sure we all work together. Like Ralph he wants everyone to participate in the shelter and taking their share of jobs. Over Spring Break Christian contacted me and wanted to get to together as a group before he goes to Maryland so everyone can contribute into our group’s project and PowerPoint. At first I saw Reachel and Christian as the littl’uns because they did not take the concept of this activity seriously, until I saw the little contributions and traits each of them had when participating in challenges and group activities.
As for myself I feel I can be a leader as well because just like Nancy said, it bothers me when something is not fully done right. I am very concerned about the grade our group may receive; therefore I try to contribute a lot. As for Ms.Depalo she is the beastie because while the boys are on the island that becomes their biggest fear and challenge. For our group I feel that Ms. Depalo is our biggest fear and challenge as well because we do not know what she may throw at us. The boys try to gather and prepare themselves for the beastie and our group tries to do the same by being prepared for the unexpected challenges and questions she may ask on a quiz.
biancasanabria13@hotmail.com
No one knew that the groups we chose were going to be the groups that we were going to keep for the entire Lord of the Flies unit, so in a way, we too were thrust into an unknown situation with random people against our will, just like the boys on the island. Our group basically came together because we were all friends and like in the book, it was all fun and games at first, like Sydney said. We didn't take the challenges or points seriously at first, and we joked around and cursed often. As we lost more and more points, we got more and more serious. We texted each other to make sure we read or did the homework, and we remembered the rules and points system before we made a dumb mistake. I think Sydney is Ralph, I'm Piggy, and Sabrina, Joe, and Angelo are littluns, as the rest of my group has said. If i had to start over, I don't think I would change anything actually. Despite Sydney's flattering remarks, I agree with our group's decision to make her chief. She is one of the smartest ones in our group, makes good decisions, and is serious about our grade. I respect and support her as chief. As for myself, I think I bring good ideas and seriousness to the group, but I don't think I'm serious enough to be leader. Sabrina, Joe, and Angelo, with all due respect, don't bring much to our group. They try, perhaps, but don't really deliver. They mostly just goof around and are just kind of there. Again, I say that with the utmost respect. Unlike other groups however, I think our group has actually improved from the beginning rather than getting worse.
Ms. Depalo, I think you are the beast. You are always a lurking presence, but are never completely there during challenges and projects. You are always in our minds, as you are the ones who can deal out the points and grades. We respect you for you are beyond our control in a sense, but we would rather keep our distance as Lizzie said. You present us with challenges just as the real Beast presents the boys with challenges. You tear us apart sometimes as we argue about the challenges, and bring us together as we work together to complete the challenges, just as the Beast makes the boys argue and cooperate.
I think that our group Rasta Fury is experiencing the same difficulties that occur in the book. It is very hard to watch out for every member of our team. The group discussion we had in class did bring up some good points but points that had already been thinking about. Sydney brought up a very good point about choosing your friends or strangers. My group I selected because in my eyes they are typically smarter than me in the field of English and seemed easy to get along with. I would rather work with people I know. When we began the activities we immediately knew who the “weakest links” were and it turned out I was correct with my assumptions. However, there were some shocking discoveries towards our grades as the days went on. I think the most obvious connection to the story is Jack and Ralph and Rachel and Lizzy. Both are our “leaders” and tend to have disagreed on a few activities and it seems that these two are the only ones who fight. They fight in a good way and are able to come to conclusions rather quickly unlike the boys in the story. I think I would be closest to Simon than anyone else. I am kind of the member of the group who stands aside and doesn’t have much to say which is typically the type of kid I am and have always been. I do contribute to the group since it’s a group activity but I think that I am probably the Simon of our group. There is definitely a lot of competition in our class as expected being a bright group of students you would expect nothing less. The competition aspect can also be related towards the power struggle that goes on in the story. Every group tends to have its day in class based on the effort each group member puts in. Disregarding the scores I think it is very hard to tell who is the strongest group in class. It will be very interesting to see how this journey finally concludes.
The day when we started this survival challenge, I had no idea what was going on and neither did many other people. So, our group was put together in no specific way. We are all cool with each other but we weren't that close. We just sat wherever and thats when we found out these would be the people that we'd be working with for the whole unit. I'm perfectly fine with the way our group turned out, like Ashley said. We all put in work and do the best we can to efficiently achieve our goals we need to "survive."
Like Ashley stated before, we came up the our group name because we knew we were tough and so we would use poison darts to do what we needed to do. I can't characterize any of our members as a littl'un because we all do our part and we help each other out. We all pitch our ideas and choose the idea or strategy that will be more efficient.
Ashley is completely right because our groupd doesn't correspond to the characters of the book. We don't just leave a member of the group hanging without helping that person out even a little on an assignment. Olivia and I are the leaders, and in a way Olivia leads the group. If I had to identify our group members with a character I would say for the most part we are all like Raplh with some aspects of Piggy's personality. We all have the best interest of our group in mind when completely a survivor challenge, and we can have fun at the same time. That's what Ralph's character is about in that at first he was all fun and games and not too worried about their predicament and then he is serious about getting rescued. Efe also has a bit of Jack in her personality because she is probably the most competitive out of all of us.
Ms.DePalo is like everyone else has already stated like the creepers or the beastie thats lurking in the shadows. As the teacher you are in charge of this whole scenario but leave the decision making and strategies up to us and just observe our methods, like the beastie.
kristie.varghese@gmail.com
Our group, P.U.S.S.Y., like many groups were not necessarily chosen randomly but people who we were most comfortable with. Some group members do not really relate to the characters in the book. But, honestly, I believe that Abijah is a combination of Ralph and Jack. I think he is like Ralph because he says what needs to be done, and then he actually goes out and does it. But at the same time he is like Jack because in the book, the role of leader or chief is slowly shifting from Ralph to Jack. As a group, we are now looking back rethinking our decision on who the leader should be. I like Abijah think that Vivek is Piggy because he has good ideas for the most part, but no one really pays him any mind. And we also refer to him as the "weak link". I think that I am Simon but not from the sense of being shy, but because of his level-headedness. I don't let other people or other things influence me, and I am the type of person who keeps to myself.
At times Austyn acts one way, and at other times he acts another. So I think he would represent Samneric even though they act the same. When they are working together they are fine, but when they need to aid in something that the group as a whole is doing, they never seem to pull through, and someone else winds up fixing their mistake.
Even though it may seem weird, my group, The Poison Darts, have some kind of secret agreement with each other. Unlike many groups we have the ability to knock some sense into each other without damaging relationships or disrespecting egos. In my opinion, the reason our group has been able to be as successful as it has been is because of each person’s level of responsibility and ability to take criticism. For example, our group rarely forgets to bring our books, or get to class late, or cheat, or curse (at least everyone but me). We take criticism by letting someone point out our flaws without really causing a scene or having a huge arguments.
The leaders of our group are Olivia and Christie. They were chosen because Ashley and I felt that it would be better that they lead the group because of the knowledge they have about nature and other parts needed in this unit. Although Olivia and Christie are our group leaders, Ashley and I show leadership skills whenever there is a situation where our expertise is needed.
Although it is hard to find similarities between the characters and the students in our group, I would say that Ashley has some kind of resemblance to Piggy. First of all, Ashley wears glasses – and as mentioned before – Glasses =Smart. Ashley is a very intelligent student not just because she wears glasses, but because she is Asian. Kristie kind of reminds me of Simon because she is really quiet and interprets life, and details about it, differently than everybody else. Olivia reminds me of Ralph because of her ability to lead. She is like Ralph because she is a child at heart. She always looks for something to make everybody laugh or just enjoy the moment. I might be the Jack of the group – not the Jack that is self-centered, or aggravating, or power-hungry, or ugly – but the Jack that does NOT let anything or anyone scare him. I am like the bodyguard of our group. My motto is: Mess with one of us you mess with all of us. I watch over our group for haters just Jack watches over the island for pigs.
Everyone in our group has a something special that she brings to the table. Other groups have people that are power-crazy or have this “anyone that makes a mistake will be shunned” motto. The more you work with people the more you understand their strengths and weaknesses. The key is to use them to the group’s advantage.
eo95@ymail.com
In some ways, I believe that the of the people in my group for this survival project are similar to characters in the novel. Piggy reminds me of Rachel. Like Piggy, Rachel is very smart and that has been shown when she gets an 100 on a quiz. The downside is the fact that Rachel has many great ideas that are sometimes not taken seriously by the members of the group and sometimes not even considered. Lizzy reminds me of Ralph for obvious reasons. Lizzy is the primary leader like Ralph and she is very easy going but when something needs to get done she has no problem saying so. Unlike Ralph, Lizzy is able to actually come up with her own sensible ideas. In the challenges, she is a great asset because she works hard and fast. Danny reminds me of Roger because he constantly insults all of us on a daily basis. With this said, Danny gives the group a good laugh when we are in need. There really is never a dull moment when he is around. Although many may not see it, Tiffany reminds me I Jack. She tends to challenge what Lizzy says at times but in a good way. If she did not challenge Lizzy, our projects would only reflect what Lizzy wants and not the group as a whole. Lastly, I believe that i am much like Percival. At times I can be really shy and take abuse from Danny like everyone else but in the end I am able to pull my own weight when it cones to these quizzes and challenges.
Lizzy and Rachel mentioned thy they view the relationship that Tiffany and I have similar to Samneric's at first I didn't see it but now I completely agree. We work really well together although we may goof off at times, we know when it's time to get something done.also, there has been friendly competition that has been going on which benefits the team in the end.
Jazzyjass@verizon.net
On the day that we chose our groups for LOTF, we walked in and saw a bunch of desks put together. When we as students see this, we figure that there will be some type of group activity. So as a typical sophomore, we all want to be grouped with our friends. When I walked in I saw Sydney, Sai, Joe, and Sabrina in a group and I didn't want to be left out so of course I did whatever I could to join their group. I added a desk and after being yelled at by Ms.DePalo, she realized that I am the boss and she let me sit there :). After that, it was perfect because I was in a group with my friends and not with people that I was not comfortable with. Since we were all friends in the group and we are comfortable with each other, we goofed off a bit which is why we/I gave ourselves the name "D-Lovers".
Like Joe said, when it came time for selection of leaders, we chose Sydney and Sabrina for no good reason at all. To be honest, I just went along with it and said that Sydney should be leader because I wasn't in the mood to hear any complaining so I just let her have her way.
Sydney is the most serious in our group and she gets irritated the easiest. With Sydney there is no room for error and everything has to be perfect. However, she doesn't realize that perfect is impossible for the people in our group.
Sabrina is the most careless in our group. She forgets to bring her book(which is why I cursed and if she didn't forget it, I would have never cursed so its all her fault that I cursed), and she gets 1 out of 10 on the tests. Even though she doesn't perform to her best ability she seems to be unaffected and always calm.
Sai in the least words is our savior. He is the smartest, and very calm. He always gets his job done and his 10 out of 10's really help our group out.
Joe and I are the clowns in the group, although Joe might not be as obvious of a clown as me, he is just as bad. We both mess around and laugh at Sydney when she gets frustrated. However, we both perform fairly well on the tests and the tasks that need to be done.
Our group has been pretty successful besides the fact that we are in last place. Sydney and I have found many spelling errors for extra points, our group won the library scavenger hunt, and we won the in class question for the first time. Overall I believe our group is the most outgoing. We have a mixture of all different kinds of people and we are never boring. We love to have fun but always get our work done.
Sydney is our Ralph because she is the leader of the group just like Ralph is the leader of the island. She always tries to get us to listen but trying to get our group to listen is like trying to swim with no arms or legs which is almost impossible. Even though Sydney likes to think that she is the brains behind our group, in reality she always asks Sai for a sense of direction and help.
Sai is our Piggy because he is very smart and he wears glasses. Just like Piggy, he is not the leader of the group but he is the smartest in the group. As Joe said, we use Sai for his intelligence to keep our grade up when he gets good grades on the tests just like they use Piggy's glasses for the fire.
Joe is like Simon because he is the most peaceful and he is always trying to choose the right path instead of being a little risky.
Sabrina is like the littl'uns because she has no care for anything, she fools around when it comes to her grades, and she never wants to listen/read the book.
I am like Jack because even though I only do it as a joke, I make fun of Sydney when she tries to enforce rules, I try to do the opposite of what Syd wants to do, and because all I ever want to do is Hunt for pigs in the hallways of West Orange High School. I am also like Jack because I am the most fit and able to handle such hard tasks.
Grlzluvemplaya1@aim.com
Truthfully I feel that there isn't really a full correlation between our groups on our island and the kids in the story. First of all we aren't children so therefore we act differently when certain situations occur. If I had to compare I would say that abijah is most like piggy only because he is the brains behind the our group. I won't lie abijah holds us together. I would have to say Dapo is most like jack, because he is a leader inside and you can tell he has great ideas but is sometimes caught up letting other people voice their own opinions . I would say vivek is like Ralph and so am i. We are both like Ralph because we have good ideas its just sometimes they aren't what's best for the group.
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