What does power have to do with fairness and justice?

This week in our lit circles we were told to focus on imagery and connections. When we discussed imagery, we were told to fill out a worksheet with quotes that have good imagery. We were then told to talk about them in our lit circles and hand in one sheet in. One quote that I found that had good imagery was “Piggy glanced nervously into hell and cradled the conch.”(P.45). Piggy sees that the island is like hell because of all of the kids are acting disorderly and not listening, however the conch seems to give Piggy hope that the society will stay together and survive. For the other lit circle we were told to make as many connections as possible, and then share them with our group. After that we were told to hand in the best one. Our group came up with many connections. For example, for me in kindergarten we had an object that if you held, you had permission to speak in front of the class. This is kind of like the conch in Lord of the Flies, because for someone to speak in the society, one must be holding the conch. This is important because having rules of who can speak makes the society much more organized with only one person talking at a time. Another connection we made was that the splitting of the tribe is kind of similar to the situation in Libya. How Ghadafi has spilt his country into two sides. When the society tried to rebel against him, he began to kill them. This is similar to the Lord of the Flies because Jack and his hunters refused to keep the fire going and only focused on hunting. This made Ralph and Piggy mad because they know that the fire is their only ticket to get off the island. So Ralph and Piggy rebelled against Jack and his hunters in order to have a better society. This did not work to well and Jack has all of the Biguns and is thus more powerful than Ralph and his group. We connected this connection to the essential question: What does power have to do with fairness and justice? We said that as someone gains more power, they will become less fair. This can be seen in both the Lord of the Flies and the situation In Libya as both Jack and Ghadafi gain more power and make their societies less fair and just. The gaining of power caused the war currently in Libya, and the separation of the society in Lord of the Flies. Also when the power was split between Jack and Ralph, the society was more cooperative and just, this is because there was not one person making decisions for his or her own benefit. Overall, there are many similarities between the situation in Libya and the separation in the Lord of the Flies.

Our lit circles have been going very well. Most people are contributing regularly with meaningful and thoughtful ideas; however some people do not contribute, or take the group off topic. I have contributed a lot in these discussions and I feel that I have improved my ability to be able to speak in front of my group and contribute ideas. Overall, our lit circle has been going very well.

To improve this journal, I explained my essential question in more detail, I added an update to how our group is doing in the lit circles, and I edited my journal.

What does power have to do with fairness and justice?

This week in our lit circles we were told to focus on imagery and connections. When we discussed imagery, we were told to fill out a worksheet with quotes that have good imagery. We were then told to talk about them in our lit circles and hand in one sheet in. One quote that I found that had good imagery was “Piggy glanced nervously into hell and cradled the conch.”(P.45). Piggy sees that the island is like hell because of all of the kids are acting disorderly and not listening, however the conch seems to give Piggy hope that the society will stay together and survive. For the other lit circle we were told to make as many connections as possible, and then share them with our group. After that we were told to hand in the best one. Our group came up with many connections. For example, for me in kindergarten we had an object that if you held, you had permission to speak in front of the class. This is kind of like the conch in Lord of the Flies, because for someone to speak in the society, one must be holding the conch. This is important because having rules of who can speak makes the society much more organized with only one person talking at a time. Another connection we made was that the splitting of the tribe is kind of similar to the situation in Libya. How Ghadafi has spilt his country into two sides. When the society tried to rebel against him, he began to kill them. This is similar to the Lord of the Flies because Jack and his hunters refused to keep the fire going and only focused on hunting. This made Ralph and Piggy mad because they know that the fire is their only ticket to get off the island. So Ralph and Piggy rebelled against Jack and his hunters in order to have a better society. This did not work to well and Jack has all of the Bigguns and is thus more powerful than Ralph and his group. We connected this connection to the essential question: What does power have to do with fairness and justice? We said that as someone gains more power, they will become less fair. This can be seen in both the Lord of the Flies and the situation In Libya. 

How Can Violence Be Used to Gain Power?

This week in our lit circles our group talked about how power has a role in violence, as well as how darkness can be positive. We said that to have power sometimes you have to show violence. For example, Jack slit the pigs throat or how he is also kept putting down Piggy to gain power. He tells Piggy that he is "Always scared. Yah-Fatty." (p. 45) This made Piggy feel bad. He is always telling Piggy to shut up even though Piggy has the conch.”You shut up!” (p.46) Jack yells at Piggy as Piggy tries to speak. He also disobeys all of Ralph's rules. In doing this, he sets a bad example for all of the other group members who choose to do the same. By doing this, Ralph loses his control of the group and Jack gains power. One connection I can make to this is a text to world connection. I see that most bullies try to put people down in order to feel power that they do not receive anywhere else. I see this in Jack as he always puts Piggy down to show his dominance.

We also talked about how darkness could be a positive. We said that when Piggy called out the group and told them that they should have built shelters instead of focusing on the fire because it was night time. This was very dark and it made everyone realize that Piggy was right and that they should have listened to him.

I think that our group is doing well in the discussions however I would like to try and get everyone to talk more so that we get a wider range of ideas. Some people in our group do not contribute or take the group off topic. Most of the time everyone contributes however some the contributions are not on topic or are very under developed. However, some group members are doing a good job on building upon other ideas as well as contributing their own solid ideas. Overall, I think our group is on the right path.

            In this revision, I edited my journal. I fixed some spelling and punctual mistakes. I added some quotes to support my ideas. I added a connection about bullying. I added a couple of more examples. Finally, I updated on the status of our group discussions.

Response

YOu are on the right path A good observation about the violence to gain power. YOu have some good points in your writing and youo have mentioned some good examples . Toi furhter develop you might want to bring in quoptes to help develop your point. Also could you try and work in a connection in your wriitng. I like your honesty in your analysis of how the group is wroking you have some goals. Keep up the good work.

Journal Entry #2

This week in our lit circles out group talked about how power has a role in violence as well as how darkness can be positive. We said that to have power sometimes you have to show violence. For example Jack slit the pigs throat or how he is also kept putting down Piggy to gain power.He is always telling Piggy to shut up even though Piggy has the conch allowing, him to speak We also talked about how darkness could be a positive.We said that when Piggy called out the group and told the that they should have built shelters instead of focusing on the fire because it was night time. This was very dark and it made everyone realize that Piggy was right and that they should have listened to him.
I think that our group is doing good in the discussions however i would like to try and get everyone to talk more so that we get a wider range of ideas. Most of they time everyone contributes however some the the contributions are not on topic or are very under developed.

Summative Movie Analysis

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7YllAOqpF4

Plot Summary: http://www.ruinedendings.com/film2746plot

1) The setting conveys darkness as it is set in Mordor, a dark and barren land. Mordor is covered in smoke which gives and eerie effect and is where the Evil Lord Sauron lives. The setting is an obvious layer.

2)  The film maker conveys darkness and evil through the setting, characters, and plot.  The setting in Mordor conveys darkness and evil.  There is a volcano that makes the land covered in black smoke that gives it a dark effect.  Characters such as Golem and Sauron convey evil and darkness.  Golem kills his cousin to get the ring.  Sauron is the evil ruler of Mordor and has killed many people.  The plot conveys darkness as Frodo must travel to Mordor to destroy the ring, but as he holds the ring he becomes dark.  The ring corrupted Golem, and makes him do whatever it takes to get the ring. He also tricks Frodo into thinking that he is good, so that he can get close to him and try to steal the ring.  The expression of darkness that impacted me most was when Golem killed his cousin to get the ring.  This showed that Golem was evil and would do whatever it took to obtain and keep the ring.

3) A character can represent evil by his actions, whether it is acts of revenge, selfishness, or greed. Golem represents evil because he shows all of these actions. He bites off Frodo's finger in an act of revenge to get the ring back; he also kills his cousin in an act of greed and selfishness to obtain the ring.

4) The connection I thought of was text to text. I connected Lord of the Rings with Harry Potter. In both stories, there is an evil dark lord trying to gain power by doing evil deeds. There are also main characters that try to stop the evil lords but sometimes show their own evil. For example, when Frodo wears the ring he becomes dark and gloomy. He even has second thoughts about destroying the ring. Harry on the other hand sometimes uses his magic to get back on his cousin and when he uses magic to get revenge on Voldemort for killing his parents. In response to Josh and Rigel's post, the expression of darkness that impacted me most was when the Joker blew up the hospital. This showed that he was willing to kill many people just to get to Batman. Just like in Lord of the Rings where Golem kills his cousin just to keep the ring.

Does evil or fear lead to one infliction of violence or the observation of violence?

Yes, in the lord of the Rings, fear of the ring's power causes people to fight with one another to have the ring destroyed. Basically the good side want to destroy the ring because they fear how much power it has and how much damage it can do, whereas the evil side want to keep the ring so they can use its power to take over the world. Also Frodo observes violence as he tries to take the ring to Mordor. He watches as his team fights Sauron and his men. 

To improve my piece I added the connection and the character questions because I had not included them before. I also added another example in the second question.

Macbeth