Analysis of Mask Response to Literature

1. Analysisof Mask Response to Literature

2. Introduction • Funnel from general to specific. • Use the title of book and author. • Write a three part thesis with parallel structure. • Quote from the novel (somewhere in the paper).

3. Introduction to Example Essay • In Chapter Four of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Roger will not throw rocks at Henry because he knows that it is wrong. Although there are no parents around, Roger feels that he will get in trouble. He is still under the influence of society and still self-conscious. However, Jack has found a way to lose the self-consciousness of his former life.

4. Introduction to Example Essay Cont. • Later in this chapter, Jack paints his face. He believes that the paint will act as a kind of camouflage, but the mask actually becomes “a thing on its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness.” The mask gives us insight into Jack’s personality.

5. Introduction Continued • What if all of the boys painted their faces? For example, what might Piggy’s mask tell us? Would it free him? I think that Piggy’s mask would show us his intelligence, his loyalty to Ralph, and his fear of Jack.

6. 1st Body Paragraph • Create a topic sentence. • Compare and contrast the character you choose with at least one other character. • Use transitions to show comparison and contrast (although, while, however, similarly, like).

7. 1st Body Paragraph of Example Essay Piggy contributes the most ideas to the society on the island, but he gets the least respect. The main reason that he gets so little respect is his physical appearance. To Jack, Piggy is the object of ridicule.

8. 1st Body Paragraph of Example Essay cont. • Although Piggy is never really accepted by the group, Ralph becomes leader of the island as a result of Piggy’s advice to blow the conch. Furthermore, even though the boys look to Ralph as a leader, Piggy knows more than Ralph.

9. 1st Body Paragraph of Example Essay cont. • For example, he knows that an atom bomb has killed everyone. Not only does Piggy receive no respect, but he is also physically abused by Jack. At the end of Chapter Four, Jack has punched him and broken his glasses. Of all the boys still on the island, Piggy has had the most negative experiences.

10. 2nd Body Paragraph • Describe the mask. • Use spatial organization with appropriate transitions.

11. 2nd Body Paragraph of Example Essay On my mask, I used symbols to represent the hardships that Piggy faces. The narrator tells us that Piggy’s hair does not grow, so instead of drawing hair on the mask, I used the words, “What would adults think?” Piggy says this when he feels the boys’ behavior is unacceptable.

12. 2nd Body Paragraph of Example Essay cont. • Next, I placed an image of an atomic bomb explosion on the mask behind Piggy’s eyes. The explosion of the atomic bomb symbolizes Piggy’s knowledge. Piggy seems to be the only boy intelligent enough to understand what is going on in the adult world. At the top of the mushroom cloud, I wrote, “We may stay here till we die,” because Piggy realizes that the adults are all dead from the bomb.

13. 2nd Body Paragraph of Example Essay cont. • Then, in one lens of his glasses, I drew buildings to represent London burning from the bomb. In the other lens, which is broken, I drew the plane that was supposed to take them to safety. I put the plane in the broken side because they crash and society is broken like the glasses. The world is at war. As the narrator says, “civilization . . . was in ruins.”

14. Below the explosion, I drew a drop of blood. The blood droplet illustrates Jack’s aggression toward Piggy. Jack is thirsty for pig blood, and he is thirsty for Piggy’s suffering. I drew a pig inside the blood to represent the obvious association with Piggy to pigs. • Below the explosion, I drew a drop of

15. 2nd Body Paragraph of Example Essay cont. • Finally, for Piggy’s mouth, I drew a conch. The conch is almost a sacred symbol to Piggy because it allows him to speak, and it represents his closeness to Ralph. He and Ralph were together when they found the conch, so Piggy feels a special connection to both Ralph and the conch. The main color of my mask is red, symbolizing blood and signifying Piggy’s fear of Jack. However, the conch is pastel pink setting its sacred, fragile nature apart from the bomb and blood.

16. Conclusion Paragraph • Insert a quote about mask. • Refer back to your mask and character. • Refer back to the intro.

17. Conclusion Paragraph of Example Essay Masks can sometimes unmask the truth about the people who wear them. In the novel, Jack’s mask frees him, but my mask for Piggy does not free Piggy. As Melville said, “All visible objects, man, are but pasteboard masks. Strike, strike through the mask.” Piggy’s mask is a pasteboard mask of horrible pain and terrible knowledge.