Name ___________________________________________________________________________
Period ____________________
English I Honors
Cornell Notes/Essay Pre-Writing
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Great men are almost always bad men." -- Lord Acton
You are reading at the same time two classic novels: Animal Farm by George Orwell and Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
Both novels deal with the corrupting nature of power.
Ultimately, you will synthesize an essay in which you defend, challenge, or qualify the quote by Lord Acton (above) using
evidence from both novels, Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies. By the nature of this assignment, analyzing two whole novels in
their treatment of one theme, your essay will likely not follow the traditional five paragraph structure. As it is difficult to review an
entire novel for specific evidence when one is under a time crunch to write an essay, you will begin gathering evidence as you read the
novel Lord of the Flies, using the Cornell notes template below.
But first, you will be reading Lord of the Flies independently. Establish a schedule to complete your reading in the 6 week time
frame. With six weeks to read the 12-chapter novel, a good guide is to read at least two chapters a week.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Oct. 24
Oct. 25
Oct. 26
Oct. 27
Early Release Day
Oct. 28
No School
Oct. 31
Nov. 1
Nov. 2
Nov. 3
Nov. 4
Nov. 7
Nov. 8
No School
Nov. 8
Nov. 9
Nov. 11
No School
Nov. 14
Nov. 15
Nov. 16
Nov. 17
Nov. 18
Nov. 21
Nov. 22
Nov. 23
No School
Nov. 24
No School
Nov. 25
No School
Nov. 28
Nov. 29
Nov. 30
Dec. 1
Dec. 2
Dec. 5
Dec. 6
Dec. 7
Dec. 8
COMPLETED
CORNELL NOTES
DUE—NO LATE
WORK ACCEPTED
The full text of Lord of the Flies can be found at
https://d2ct263enury6r.cloudfront.net/X2bpH13Xnjn4ZJspWQzb5LMu7BGp5CUGaPGFQqVXvLT2M1AW.pdf.
Cornell Notes Directions
Cornell Notes Guiding Question: What does William Golding say about the corrupting nature of power in his
novel Lord of the Flies?
Gather from every chapter evidence you can use to defend or challenge Lord Acton’s notion that power corrupts. Look
for evidence dealing with choice of leader, leaders’ decisions, how leaders seek out/receive advice, how leaders handle
criticism/challenges to leadership, leaders’ internal struggles with right and wrong, breakdowns of leadership, etc.
Left Column:
 Every piece of evidence that you include in these Cornell notes should relate to the essay topic. You will use this evidence to
write your essay at the completion of both novels.
 You must include at least two pieces of evidence from each chapter. The more evidence that you include, the easier it will
be to write a good essay. You are encouraged to include all evidence that you find supporting your topic.
 Evidence may include a quote, an event summary, or a detail from the novel related to the essay topic.
 Copy quotations exactly. Put quotation marks around them so you know that they are quotes.
 Cite all evidence with the page number on which you found it. This is required and will make it easier to find the evidence
again and cite your sources while writing the essay.
Right Column:
 Your elaboration should be several sentences of your own ideas of how each piece of evidence in the left column relates
specifically to your essay topic. This is going to be your elaboration in the essay.
 Your elaboration should be specific to the text. Use words from the evidence to focus your elaboration.
 As you write each elaboration, focus on the guiding question: What does this particular piece of evidence say about the
corrupting nature of power? What words, symbols, character traits, conflicts, etc. does it use to make a point about the
corrupting nature of power?
To Kill a
Mockingbird
Chapter 1
“The Sound of the
Shell”
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
“Fire on the
Mountain”
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
“Huts on the
Beach”
What I've Read:
 Include evidence that is related to your
essay topic.
 Evidence may include
o quotation
o event summary
o detail
Elaboration:
 What specifically does each piece of
evidence say about the corrupting nature
of power?
o
Write several sentences of
elaboration for each piece of
evidence.
o Make sure all elaboration is
specific to the piece of evidence.
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
“Painted Faces and
Long Hair”
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
“Beast from the
Water”
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
“Beast from the
Air”
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
“Shadows and Tall
Trees”
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
“Gift for the
Darkness”
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
“A View to a
Death”
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
“The Shell and the
Glasses”
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
“Castle Rock”
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
“Cry of the
Hunters”
Chapter 12