We will be reading Golding's Lord of the Flies as our first major work. If you want to get started on it early, you may do so. Remember, though, that reading it too early may make it harder for you to pass quizzes, unless you take good notes and perhaps reread the chapters for greater understanding before arriving to class.
I would encourage you to find and to listen to the audio book version of the novel. Audio books are excellent for auditory learners as well as for all other students. It is surprising how quickly time passes if you listen to a book. It can sometimes make it easier to understand if you listen to it.
As for the movie.... You will likely want to watch it. However....
Reading is a skill. It takes practice. Among our goals is to teach you to read critically and with full comprehension. The greatest test of your strengths in this area can be discovered by you trying to read the book first. That is the way material is presented on tests and on the state exams. (There is no movie to watch in advance.) So, keeping that in mind, try to read the material first. Then, reread and take notes. After that, you may want to listen to it.
If you want to buy the book and take notes in it, that is encouraged. It is possible that it will be helpful for you to take notes in the book and to underline or to highlight passages. Annotating books is one of the best ways to help you remember what happened in each section or on each page.
I would encourage you to find and to listen to the audio book version of the novel. Audio books are excellent for auditory learners as well as for all other students. It is surprising how quickly time passes if you listen to a book. It can sometimes make it easier to understand if you listen to it.
As for the movie.... You will likely want to watch it. However....
Reading is a skill. It takes practice. Among our goals is to teach you to read critically and with full comprehension. The greatest test of your strengths in this area can be discovered by you trying to read the book first. That is the way material is presented on tests and on the state exams. (There is no movie to watch in advance.) So, keeping that in mind, try to read the material first. Then, reread and take notes. After that, you may want to listen to it.
If you want to buy the book and take notes in it, that is encouraged. It is possible that it will be helpful for you to take notes in the book and to underline or to highlight passages. Annotating books is one of the best ways to help you remember what happened in each section or on each page.
Additional Readings:
"Geography and evil: A Sketch" by Yi-Fu Tuan
All That Is Solid Melts Into Air: The Experience of Modernity by Marshall Berman (excerpt)
The Golden Bough, "The Propitiation of Wild Animals By Hunters" by Sir James George Frazer
Totem and Taboo by Sigmund Freud (excerpt)"Ideology and Terror," (1953) by Hannah Arendt
"The Sciences and Man's Community" (1954) by J. Robert Oppenheimer
Reviews and Literary Criticism on Golding's Lord of the Flies
"Lord of the Flies" by C.B. Cox
"Coral Islands" by Frank Kermode
"A Men of Smaller Growth: A Psychological Analysis of William Golding's Lord of the Flies" by Claire Rosenfield
"Lord of the Campus" Time
"Golding's View of Man" by John M. Egan
"The Appeal of Golding" by Luke M Grande
"Geography and evil: A Sketch" by Yi-Fu Tuan
All That Is Solid Melts Into Air: The Experience of Modernity by Marshall Berman (excerpt)
The Golden Bough, "The Propitiation of Wild Animals By Hunters" by Sir James George Frazer
Totem and Taboo by Sigmund Freud (excerpt)"Ideology and Terror," (1953) by Hannah Arendt
"The Sciences and Man's Community" (1954) by J. Robert Oppenheimer
Reviews and Literary Criticism on Golding's Lord of the Flies
"Lord of the Flies" by C.B. Cox
"Coral Islands" by Frank Kermode
"A Men of Smaller Growth: A Psychological Analysis of William Golding's Lord of the Flies" by Claire Rosenfield
"Lord of the Campus" Time
"Golding's View of Man" by John M. Egan
"The Appeal of Golding" by Luke M Grande
See below a table borrowed from the study of organizational analysis and reflect on how the novel, characters, environment, and plot could be examined by applying these ideas.
McFarland, Daniel A. and Charles J. Gomez. Organizational Analysis. Page 14. 2013. PDF file.