Name: Lord of the Flies Webquest
Directions Complete the following tasks. Although we will spend two class days working on this you may need to complete this before the due date outside of class. As always, I urge you to remain on task in class. You should, with proper focus and effort, complete this major assignment during the two class days.
Task #1: BUILD A CONTEXT: WAR ON THE BRITISH HOMEFRONT
In William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies a group of British boys were evacuated from their homes during World War II and it was in the process of this evacuation that their plane was shot down, leaving them stranded on the island. The following site will help you to build an understanding of life in Britain during World War II. This is a British-authored educational site. We normally learn history from the American perspective so it should be interesting to read from an authentic British source.
Evacuation 1. Why were children evacuated from Britain in the 1940’s?
2. Which countries offered to accept evacuees?
3. Why did the British public support overseas evacuation?
4. What caused the government to change its mind and discontinue the overseas evacuation policy?
5. How many children were evacuated or sent overseas from Britain or its colonies during World War II?
Gas 6. By September of 1939, who had gas masks in Britain? Why?
Internees 7. Who was interned in Britain during World War II?
8. What is meant by the term “internee”? Home Guard 9. Which was the last country in Europe to stand fighting against Germany (Hitler)?
10. What was “Dad’s Army?”
Spies 11. What was meant by the slogan, “Keep mum. She’s not so dumb”? Why was it used?
12. Who was Karel Richter?
Task# 2: Literary Context & Allusions 1. Define allegory and provide an example (other than Lord of the Flies )
2. Define symbolism and explain at least one symbol you have encountered in past reading.
3. What is Beelzebub translated to in the Old Testament?
4. Who (what) was Beelzebub according to the New Testament?
Task# 3: War Crimes (Golding’s primary influence!) 1. What was Auschwitz? (give a complete definition, when, where, why)
2. How many Poles were sent to Auschwitz? How many were killed?
3. How many Jews were deported to Auschwitz? How many were killed?
4. Describe how Jews were treated compared to other prisoners.
5. How many Roma were sent to Auschwitz? How many died?
6. What happened in early September 1941 in the basement of Block 11? 7. What is the estimated number of prisoners of war deported to Auschwitz? How many died?
8. How many prisoners of other nationalities were sent to Auschwitz? How many died?
9. Women accounted for what percentage of registered camp inmates?
10. How many children were sent to Auschwitz?
11. What happened to pregnant women in the beginning?
12. What happened to children born to Jewish women?
13. Read and explore the section “Living Conditions.” What did you find most shocking? (provide at least three complete sentences)
14. Read and explore the section “Mass Extermination.” What did you find most shocking? (provide at least three complete sentences)
Task# 4: POWs Visit the following website. http://www.merkki.com/stories.htm Choose any two POW stories to read. Summarize your understanding of each story in the spaces provided. SUMMARIES: provide at least three complete sentences each Story #1:
Story #2: Task# 5: Personal Connection Visit the specific sites and record your results in the provided space
Quiz #1______Quiz#2______Quiz #3______Quiz#4______
Do you agree with the results? Do you think you have strong survival skills?
Task #6: MEET THE AUTHOR 1. Golding is a native of what country?
2. What was his first profession?
3. What was his occupation during the 1940s?
4. Summarize his philosophy of human nature.
5. What event helped to shape this philosophy?
6. From what you know about Golding’s philosophy of human nature, what do you predict might happen to a group of boys marooned on a deserted island with no adult supervision? Keep these predictions handy. As you read the novel, see if they materialize.