Mrs. Thomasen's Online Classroom

Essential Question:

1. Niccolo Machiavelli was a 16th century Italian philosopher. He wrote a political document called The Prince. In it he claims that “humans are wretched creatures” and the it is better for a leader to be feared than loved. Do you agree or disagree? Should a leader by feared or loved? Which is the more effective way to lead?

2. Jean Jacques Rousseau, the 18th Century philosopher, states that “Man is by nature, good. It is society that corrupts the ‘noble savage'”. Golding thinks that it is only laws and rules that stop humans from being “evil”. What do you think?

3. According to Sigmund Freud’s model of the psyche, the id is the primitive and instinctual part of the mind that contains sexual and aggressive drives and hidden memories, the super-ego operates as a moral conscience; and the ego is the realistic part that mediates between the desires of the id and the super-ego.

Although each part of the personality comprises unique features, they interact to form a whole, and each part makes a relative contribution to an individual’s behavior.

How is Freud’s psycho- analysis reflected in the novel?

Journal Entry- Kid Nation- What do you think life would be like if you were set on a deserted island and forced to live without adults? How would you set up a “Kid Nation” with other teenagers? How would you govern, educate, care for and feed yourself? In a short journal entry OR diagram OR point form notes, describe your Kid Nation in relation to the above issues. Remember, you are with other teenagers but no adults and there is no civilization on the island.

Biography of William Golding– a must read to understand the big ideas of this book! Author Biography and Context