Lesson Construction Template: Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

ELA8 SB U4 L3 LC
Lesson Construction Template

Introduction and Objective
Here and there, little breezes crept over the polished waters beneath the haze of heat. When these breezes reached the platform the palm fronds would whisper, so that spots of blurred sunlight slid over their bodies or moved like bright, winged things in the shade.

Do you notice anything odd about this excerpt from Lord of the Flies by William Golding? For example, have you ever heard a palm frond or leaf whisper? Why do you think an author would give inanimate objects human qualities? How does it help you envision what the author is trying to convey?

Today, we’re going to take a look at personification.

Today 's lesson objective is:
Students will write poetry that includes personification.

Learning Skills
Take a moment and think about this lesson’s learning objective. What skills will you need to be successful?

Now that you understand personification and anthropomorphism, let’s focus on how you can include personification in your own writing. Personification is intended to create an image in the reader’s mind. It is meant to connect the reader with an object that is not human.

As with all figures of speech, you first need to determine your tone. Consider for a moment the excerpt from the introduction:

Here and there, little breezes crept over the polished waters beneath the haze of heat. When these breezes reached the platform the palm fronds would whisper, so that spots of blurred sunlight slid over their bodies or moved like bright, winged things in the shade.

How would you describe the tone? Calm? Peaceful? If, for example, you are trying to express a sense of danger, personification that involves little breezes creeping and palm fronds whispering is not going to work. Instead, you might write: The wind whipped the water into a terrible frenzy, and the palm trees groaned in