Lord of the Flies Introduction

Lord of the Flies Introduction

Lord of the FliesIntroductionEnglish II Pre-AP

Focus QuestionsAre people innately good or innately evil?What does it mean to be civilized?Can a good person do bad things? What might cause this?What rules would you NOT follow if no punishment existed?Without enforcement, how long would it take for the trappings of society to fall away?I. William GoldingBorn: September 19, 1911 in Cornwall, EnglandEducation: Oxford (Brasenose College), beginning in 1930 Originally studied natural sciences but changed his field to English LiteratureTeaching Career: Taught English and philosophy at grammar schoolWas able to see how young children interacted with one another

I. William GoldingWorld War IIJoined the Royal NavyPresent at D-Day Invasion and sinking of the BismarckResults of WarWar gave him a view to what happened when men operated outside the normal limits of societyCeased to believe in the inherent goodness of man

I. William GoldingLiterary CareerLord of the FliesPublished in 1954Originally Titled Strangers from WithinTurned down by over 20 publishersInspired by The Coral Island Nobel Prize for Literature awarded 1983for his novels which, with the perspicuity of realistic narrative and the diversity and universality of myth, illuminate the human condition in the world of today.

II. What Are We Doing with This Book?Literary AnalysisAP Lit. CorrelationLit. Element RefresherDont forget allegory: a narrative that serves as an extended metaphorWell be analyzing Lord of the Flies as an allegory!Analyzing Literature from Multiple PerspectivesPsychological PerspectiveSociological PerspectiveMythological/Religious PerspectiveIII. Maslows Hierarchy of NeedsAbraham Maslow: American psychologist who studied human behavior and placed a good deal of emphasis on both the highs and lows of humanityBelieved that people are basically trustworthy, self-protecting, and self-governingKEY IDEA: Human beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs

III. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

III. Maslows Hierarchy of NeedsBasic NeedsPhysiological Needs: Food, Water, Warmth, RestAll Biological NeedsStrongest NeedsSafety Needs: Security, SafetySecurity, SafetyMostly Psychological

III. Maslows Hierarchy of NeedsPsychological NeedsNeeds for Love, Affection, and BelongingnessIntimate Relationships, FriendsSeeking to Overcome Loneliness and IsolationNeeds for EsteemPrestige, Feeling of Accomplishment, Self-Esteem, Esteem from Others

III. Maslows Hierarchy of NeedsSelf-fulfillment NeedsNeeds for Self-Actualization

IV. Moral Development PiagetJean Piaget a theorist of developmental psychologyTwo Stages of Moral JudgmentChildren Younger than 10 or 11Regard rules as fixed and absoluteOlder ChildrenRules are not sacred or absolute; they are devices which humans use to get alongIssue with Theory: Intellectual Development after the age of 12

IV. Moral Development - KohlbergLawrence Kohlberg agreed with Piagets ideas in principle, but developed them furtherbest known for his Six Stages of Moral DevelopmentThe Heinz Dilemma

The Heinz DilemmaIn Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about $ 1,000 which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it." So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to steal the drug-for his wife. Should the husband have done that? (Kohlberg, 1963, p. 19)

IV. Moral Development Kohlbergs Six StagesLevel 1: Preconventional MoralityStage 1: Obedience and Punishment OrientationAssumes that rules are fixed by powerful authorities and must be unquestioningly obeyedConcern is with what authorities permit and punishPunishment is tied up in the childs mind with wrongnessStage 2: Individualism and ExchangeRecognize there is not just one right view handed down by authoritiesEach person is free to pursue his/her individual interests, so everything is relativeRight = what meets ones own self-interestsPunishment is a risk that one wants to avoid

IV. Moral Development Kohlbergs Six StagesLevel 2: Conventional MoralityStage 3: Good Interpersonal RelationshipsPeople should live up to the expectations of family/communityPeople should behave in good waysGood ways = good motives, intentions, and feelingsStage 4: Maintaining the Social OrderMore concerned with society as a wholeEmphasis on obeying laws, respecting authority, and performing ones duties so that the social order is maintained; desire is to keep society functioningThinking is from a full-fledged, member-of-society perspectiveIV. Moral Development Kohlbergs Six StagesLevel 3: Postconventional MoralityStage 5: Social Contract and Individual RightsIndependently considers what morals and values a society OUGHT to upholdBelieve that a good society is based on a social contract where people freely work for the benefit of allBelieve that despite different values, all rational people agree on protection of basic rights and democratic procedures for changing unfair laws and improving societyStage 6: Universal PrinciplesDefines the principles by which we achieve justiceLooks through the eyes of others to determine justiceV. Freud and Id, Ego, and SuperegoSigmund Freud: the father of psychoanalysisArgued that the human mind contains three psychic zones, which dictate mental function and motivationId = source of drive for pleasureEgo = source of realitySuperego = source of ethics

V. Freud and Id, Ego, and SuperegoId:Fulfills the pleasure principleTotally subconsciousAmoral and lawless no ethics or values, no knowledge of good or evilDemands pleasurable gratification at any costNo impulse for self-preservation

V. Freud and Id, Ego, and SuperegoEgo:The reality principleGoverns the id and channels the ids desires into socially acceptable outletsSuperego:The morality principleHome of conscience and prideRepresses things from the id that the ego cannot divert