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Lord of the Flies - Extract 2
How much do you know about Lord of the Flies?

Lord of the Flies - Extract 2

This GCSE English Literature quiz will ask questions about Lord of the Flies by William Golding. This is the second of two extract questions for Lord of the Flies. It takes place in Chapter Ten, when Ralph and Piggy discuss the horrific events of the previous night and debate calling a meeting. Ralph is rocking back and forth, “cradling the conch”. Piggy’s attempts to explain away the horror of the events are in no way comforting to the other boy.

How to answer an extract question in an exam:

As you begin to prepare an answer to an extract question, the very first thing you should do is to read the passage through more than once. It is a good idea to develop this habit because re-reading allows you to spot details and aspects of the passage you might have missed the first time.

“Don’t you understand, Piggy? The things we did—”

“He may still be—”

“No.”

“P’raps he was only pretending—”

Piggy’s voice tailed off at the sight of Ralph’s face.

“You were outside. Outside the circle. You never really came in. Didn’t you see what we — what they did?”

There was loathing, and at the same time a kind of feverish excitement in his voice.

“Didn’t you see, Piggy?”

“Not all that well. I only got one eye now. You ought to know that, Ralph.”

Ralph continued to rock to and fro.

“It was an accident,” said Piggy suddenly, “that’s what it was. An accident.” His voice shrilled again. “Coming in the dark — he had no business crawling like that out of the dark. He was batty. He asked for it.” He gesticulated widely again.

“It was an accident.”

“You didn’t see what they did—”

“Look, Ralph. We got to forget this. We can’t do no good thinking about it, see?”

“I’m frightened. Of us. I want to go home. O God I want to go home.”

“It was an accident,” said Piggy stubbornly, “and that’s that.”

He touched Ralph’s bare shoulder and Ralph shuddered at the human contact.

“And look, Ralph,” Piggy glanced round quickly, then leaned close — “don’t let on we was in that dance. Not to Samneric.”

“But we were! All of us!”

Piggy shook his head.

“Not us till last. They never noticed in the dark. Anyway you said I was only on the outside—”

“So was I,” muttered Ralph, “I was on the outside too.”

Piggy nodded eagerly.

“That’s right. We was on the outside. We never done nothing, we never seen nothing.”

Piggy paused, then went on.

“We’ll live on our own, the four of us—”

“Four of us. We aren’t enough to keep the fire burning.”

“We’ll try. See? I lit it.”

Samneric came dragging a great log out of the forest. They dumped it by the fire and turned to the pool. Ralph jumped to his feet.

“Hi! You two!”

The twins checked for a moment, then walked on.

“They’re going to bathe, Ralph.”

“Better get it over.”

The twins were very surprised to see Ralph. They flushed and looked past him into the air.

“Hullo. Fancy meeting you, Ralph.”

“We just been in the forest—”

“— to get wood for the fire—”

“— we got lost last night.”

Ralph examined his toes.

“You got lost after the…”

Piggy cleaned his lens.

“After the feast,” said Sam in a stifled voice. Eric nodded. “Yes, after the feast.”

Willaim Golding, Lord of the Flies (Faber and Faber, 2011)

1 .
What is the immediate context for this passage?
This scene follows Jack's capture of Samneric
This scene follows the murder of Simon
This scene occurs shortly after the hunters allow the fire to go out
This is the opening scene in the novel
This scene takes place the following day
2 .
What immediately follows this passage?
The boys at Castle Rock also grapple with the events of the previous night
The boys at Castle Rock go out on another hunt
The boys at Castle Rock begin another dance to scare away the beast
The rescue arrives
Ralph, Piggy and Samneric eventually face their memories of the previous night. Meanwhile on Castle Rock, Jack and the others successfully convince themselves that they killed the mysterious beast. Although they believe they have killed the beast, they still fear its return
3 .
Which of the following is correct?
In this passage the boys are calm
The boys are in a state of shock in this passage
In this passage the boys are filled with anticipation
The boys experience a range of emotions in this passage, from surprise to pleasure
This passage conveys a mood of shock and horror
4 .
What effect is created here by the use of dashes as punctuation?
This shows how reluctant the boys are to speak about what happened
This shows how the island is slowly depriving the boys of the ability to speak
This shows how Ralph intimidates the others so that they become unable to speak
The use of punctuation has no effect on this passage
The dashes create pauses where the boys are reluctant to finish their sentences. They cannot acknowledge the murder because that will mean that they must also accept their own part in the death of Simon
5 .
What role does Piggy play in his conversation with Ralph?
Piggy tries to persuade Ralph to accept that Jack will become leader
Piggy tries to persuade Ralph that they should accept their guilt for Simon's death
Piggy tries to persuade Ralph that survival depends on continuing as if nothing had changed
All of the above
Piggy is pragmatic about survival, while Ralph understands the need to face the truth
6 .
Of what is Ralph most afraid?
The beast on the mountain
Jack's hunters
The island itself
The boys' capacity for violence
He says that he is "frightened. Of us". He has seen that each person on the island is capable of murderous violence
7 .
Which of the following statements represents an attempt at civilised normality?
"We never done nothing, we never seen nothing”
"Hullo. Fancy meeting you, Ralph"
"I want to go home. O God I want to go home"
"Four of us. We aren’t enough to keep the fire burning"
The twins try to appear nonchalant, but Ralph insists on each of them facing the issue
8 .
"'It was an accident,' said Piggy suddenly, 'that’s what it was. An accident.' His voice shrilled again. 'Coming in the dark — he had no business crawling like that out of the dark. He was batty. He asked for it.' He gesticulated widely again." Which of the following is correct?
Piggy tries to persuade Ralph that Simon is partially responsible for his own victimhood
Piggy tries to persuade Ralph that Simon wished to die
Piggy tries to persuade Ralph that the murder could not have been prevented
Piggy tries to persuade Ralph that similar events are highly unlikely to be repeated
The novel shows how violence falls on anyone who shows weakness. Simon is "batty"; Piggy wears glasses, has asthma and is overweight. Piggy becomes further weakened when his broken glasses are stolen and it is in this state of weakness that he too is murdered
9 .
Which of Ralph's most fundamental characteristics is displayed by this passage?
Courage in the face of violence
Trust in humanity
Honesty
Weakness of will
Ralph refuses to turn away from truth, however horrific, even if it makes him temporarily despair
10 .
Which of the following lines shows that Ralph is continuing to lose authority?
"He touched Ralph’s bare shoulder and Ralph shuddered at the human contact"
"They dumped it by the fire and turned to the pool"
"The twins checked for a moment, then walked on"
"Piggy cleaned his lens"
The twins walk past Ralph even as he tries to get their attention. This episode prefigures their later betrayal of him
You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Lord of the Flies

Author:  Sheri Smith

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