First, read the whole book, William Gibson’s Lord of the Flies, by Tuesday, December 21. This gives you almost two weeks to complete your reading.
Reading the Book
Plan to sit and read for periods of time that grow longer and longer, rather than a number of short sittings or simply chapter by chapter. Also, pay particular attention to how you read, by tracking the time that you spend reading on a sheet of paper (List the Date – Start time – Finish time for each session you read).
As you read please keep a pen or pencil on hand and note passages or moments in the story based on the following:
- Anywhere you get bogged down, lost, or have questions
- Anything you believe to be significant or important for any reason
- Anything else you believe worthy of discussing in class (something you really liked or disliked, thought interesting or strange, even perhaps found beautiful)
The idea is that when we discuss the book that you can go back to the text and point specifically to relevant evidence that connects to your questions, thinking, or commentary. Plus, if you do not have the passages noted and no system for tracking them, you would have no way of getting back into the book after reading it. You would have a book with lots of pages but no record of what was worth reexamining.
After Reading the Book
When you are finished, write a record of your response to the book. As soon as you can after reading the book, sit down for one hour and write a personal, journal response as fast as possible without stopping, including as much as possible, all of the things that come to mind when you think about what you have read. This should not be a summary. Instead include:
- Comments about what stood out for you
- What relates to your own life or experience (including feelings or memories)
- What connections you can make to other books, films, songs, or any other media, even what people may have said to you
In your notes, you may have collected a lot of moments that stood out for you while you read. If this is the case, use the journal response to record why you think these passages are important.
It is critical that you write for one complete hour, uninterrupted without stopping. Do not worry about how your words fall out of your head and onto the page or screen. Just try to get as many words out as fast as you can. Errors, structure, organization, and all of those concerns are not important for this particular task. It is a freewrite Just write your thoughts as they come to you without any distractions, even if the words seem funny or disconnected or not how you would want them to be presented. Write it, type it, whatever. As long as your response is legible, you have met the requirement.
Read the book. Write for an hour. Bring your response to class with you Tuesday, December 21.
