The Giver: Chapters 1 and 2

My Journal Entry For Chapter 1:
Three details of the story

• The main focus of the book is on one "family unit." A Father, a Mother, Lily (a seven), and Jonas (an eleven) make up this family.
• Jonas is feeling "apprehensive" about The Ceremony of Twelve that is coming up in December.
• Everything in this "community has order. There are rules that must be followed. Each "family unit" is only allowed one daughter and one son. Children are assigned to a family unit. Aside from these, there are many other rules. If any of these rules are broken, that person will be "released" from the "community."

Two events that I found interesting

• The words that the author uses to portray this community, add a sense of mystery. This is definitely not an ordinary town.
• The family unit discussed their feelings at their dinner table. It is alnnmost as if they are only allowed to feel certain feelings. They have to be honest about the feelings that they felt throughout the day, and as a family unit they work to fix them

One question that I have for one of the characters

• Father is a Nurturer and Mother is a worker at the Department of Justice. I am wondering what other jobs are in the "community."

Lord of the Flies: Chapter 11 and 12

My Journal Entry for Chapter 11:
Three details of the story

• Piggy needs his glasses to see. So he, Ralph, Eric, and Sam go to confront Jack. The hunters are not very welcoming and very violent fight break out.
• The hunters roll a rock down the hill and it strikes the blind, defenseless Piggy. Piggy falls off the cliff and dies. This is the second murder on the island.
• When Ralph goes to confront Jack, there are four boys and a conch, but only Ralph returns. The conch breaks. Piggy is murdered. And Sam and Eric join Jack's tribe.

Two events that I found interesting

• Piggy was so scared without his glasses. He was blind, yet he was the only one who could truly see. He saw more then the others. He knew that they were doing this the wrong way and that something bad was going to happen. The only voice of reason is now dead.
• Ralph was not being very smart by constantly challenging Jack's authority. I would say that all of this could have been avoided, but Jack was so wild, that I do not know.

One question that I have for one of the characters

• Jack has gone completely wild. He wants complete control. I want to ask him why he did not just steal the fire, instead of stealing Piggy's glasses.

My Journal Entry for Chapter 12:

Three details of the story

• Sam and Eric (now a part of Jack's tribe) warned Ralph that he was going to be hunted by the hunters.
• Ralph runs and runs away from the hunters. He almost dies many times. He has to think fast or he will die. The hunters have spears, fire, and smoke. All he has is a small stick.
• Ralph and some other finally get rescued when an officer sees the hunters smoke. The ship comes to save them.

Two events that I found interesting

• Ralph splits the Lord of the Flies into two, even though he is captivated by its similarity to the conch.
• Ralph was right all along. It was the smoke that saved them, and that is really the only reason that Ralph is still alive.

One question that I have for one of the characters

• The officer who found the boys was deeply disturbed. These British boys lost all of their civility when left alone on an island. I want to ask the officer what was going on in his head when he first saw Ralph.

We have all wondered what would happen if you left a bunch of boys stranded on an island without rules and without adults. William Golding gave us his thoughts on just that. We see the boys slowly turn from proper British boys to wild animals. I learned about the importance of rules and authority.

Lord of the Flies: Chapter 9 and 10

My Journal Entry for Chapter 9:
Three details of the story

• All of the boys but Piggy, Ralph, and Simon join Jack's feast. Jack has a fire going and plenty of meat. Piggy and Ralph go to find the boys and see what is going on. They see Jack with a mask, sitting there like an idol.
• After everyone has eaten their fair share, Jack makes them decide. Do they want to be with Jack or with Ralph? They are interrupted by a thunderstorm where they start to chant their familiar chant. Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!
• A beast comes into their chanting circle. Without a second thought, they attack it like animals, and kill it. That beast was Simon.

Two events that I found interesting

• Simon was trying to tell the boys about this man that was hurt. The boys were so caught up in the moment that they did not even listen or recognize that it was Simon.
• Before all of this happened, Piggy knew that it would not end well. he warned Ralph, but Ralph  did not listen.

One question that I have for one of the characters

• Ralph even seems like he is starting to slip to the wild side. I would like to ask Piggy what is wrong with Ralph. Do you think that you can turn the wild boys back into civilized people?

My Journal Entry for Chapter 10:
Three details of the story 

• Ralph is realizing what has just happened. Simon is dead... because of them. They murdered him. Piggy is trying to convince Ralph that they had no part in it.
• Ralph starts to forget their main purpose: being rescued. He is forgetting the civil things in life. He forgets the purpose of the fire.
• Jack and some of his hunters attack Ralph, Piggy, Eric, and Sam. They get into a fight in the night and suffer from many wounds. Jack also mangoes to steal Piggy's glasses. Now Ralph has no way to start a fire.

Two events that I found interesting

• Ralph dreams about going home and how things used to be, but those dreams turn into nightmares. He has forgotten what home is really like.
• Jack's hunters now protect their fort, and they do not let anyone in. They are almost completely shunning out all civilized people. They are even starting to torture people.

One question that I have for one of the characters

• By the end of this chapter, Ralph has few members, and no fire. I want to ask him how he expects to survive.

Lord of the Flies: Chapter 7 and 8

My Journal Entry for Chapter 7:
Three details of the story

• Ralph is bothered by the lack of personal hygiene around him. His hair is too long and needs to be cut . His shirt is stiff and needs to be washed. He and the other boys need a bath. His teeth are filthy and need to be brushed and everyone has dirty hair.
• You can tell that Ralph misses his home. He keeps remembering how things used to be and he wants it that way. He found a friend in Simon, because Simon gave him hope. Simon said that Ralph would go home eventually.
• Ralph stuck a spear in the pig's snout. He felt like he accomplished something, but the hunter treated it as nothing, which discouraged Ralph.

Two events that I found interesting

• In this whole chapter, they are still searching for the beast from the air. In the end, they think that they have found it. They see a shadow where there should be no trees. They think it is the beast. This is the first time that I see Ralph and Jack kind of work together.
• The boys are turning savage. One of the hunters games almost killed Robert. They treated him like a pig and that is scary.

One question that I would ask one of the characters

• I would ask Ralph if he is concerned about the future. Things are getting wild. Are the boys turning into animals?

My Journal Entry for Chapter 8:

Three details of the story

• Jack and his hunters start their own tribe. Jack is now Chief like he wanted to be (but only of his hunters). He is separated from Ralph, but the problem is that they need fire and to have fire they need Piggy's glasses. Ralph also wants meat, but to get meat he needs Jack and his hunters.
• Jack and his hunters kill a mommy pig and take out the guts. They then take all of the meat, and leave the pig's head o a stick for the beast. We discover that the dead pig's head is the Lord of the Flies.
• Jack is trying to get more people to join him. They are tempted to go because of the meat.

Two events that I found interesting

• Jack is trying to present Ralph as a coward. He really wants to be chief of everyone, and he is starting to play dirty.
• The boys are using their old way of life. They are no longer prim and proper. They forgot their manners and they swear. They are wild and they run around naked.

One question that I would ask one of the characters

• I really want to ask Simon what is going on, but I do not think that he even knows. What are the voices, beasts, and all of these mysterious things? What is really going on?

It is Time For some Encouragement: GLCA NEWS February 17th

It is Valentines' day, which means one thing at Glca: Encouragement week. Everyone at Glca has been working on encouraging one another this week. They try to keep their secret friend a secret until Friday, where everyone is surprised with the big reveal. And what at sweet surprise that is. This video is a few highlights of this special week.