Lord of the Flies: Savagery vs. Civilization

This interesting and engaging lesson enables students to understand the main themes prevalent throughout William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, with particular reference to the dramatization of the conflict between the instincts of savagery and civilization within human beings. In particular, students learn how the behaviour of the boys on the island demonstrates their inner battle between civil duty and primal instinct.

The lesson follows a clear, logical, bite-size learning journey, which guides students towards differentiated learning objectives. Over the course of this journey, they become able to:
- Define and explain the key terms ‘savagery’ and ‘civilization’;
- Apply real-life scenarios to an understanding of Freud’s conception of the human psyche;
- Read and understand Chapter One of the play, with a particular focus upon the early struggle between civility and savagery;
- Analyse the key points at which civility and savagery are evident in the boys’ behaviour;
- Utilise a writing template to compose an essay focusing on the conflict between savagery and civilization in the early sections of the novel;
-Peer assess each other’s learning attempts.

This resource pack includes:
- A visually engaging whole-lesson PowerPoint presentation;
- Detailed worksheets, with answer sheets where necessary;
- Links to the extracts of the text needed for the lesson (Chapter One in this case);
- P.E.E template for students to complete their analysis;
- A detailed lesson plan, complete with what the teacher and students should aim to achieve at each stage of the lesson.

All images are licensed for commercial use, and are cited on the final slide of the PowerPoint.