8th Grade English: "Lord of the Flies" Character Development Activities

From Jillian Bourdon and Brian Dugan, English 8 Teachers:

As part of the English 8 unit reading "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding, students have been asked to pay close attention to character development throughout the novel. Students have been detectives for several chapters, writing down quotes and observations about assigned characters. In one of their activities, students worked in groups where they collaborated and pooled their observations to create a total of six character sketches. These sketches, which were done on large pieces of paper, consisted of a physical drawing of the character, gleaned from descriptions in the novel, and also included references to the character's background, personality characteristics, and relationship to other characters in the novel. Since Lord of the Flies relies on the unique personality of its characters in order to move the plot forward, through this assignment students are demonstrating their understanding of their characters' internal desires and motivations and how these impact the unfolding of the story.