MS Submissions to the New York Times Essay Contest
Mrs. Wengler's eighth grade English students submitted work to the New York Times Making Connections essay contest. They were asked to show the relationship between something they learned in school with an article from the New York Times. Many students made connections with the 7th and 8th-grade novel studies and the themes presented in those works.
We are excited to feature several strong pieces in View from the Middle in the next few weeks.
The first is from Jack Powers.
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We are excited to feature several strong pieces in View from the Middle in the next few weeks.
The first is from Jack Powers.
Jack Powers
Mrs. Wengler
English 8-4
8 January 2020
Novel: “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding
New York Times Essay Contest:
As the young boys in “Lord of the Flies” gradually hurtled into a state of anarchy and disarray fueled by their inability to coexist amicably among one another, they observed the island they formerly took refuge in metamorphosis into a dystopian revitalization of modern-day society. An insurgency of order and stability ultimately resulted in a tumultuous uprising marked by savagery where practicality was nonexistent. Without regulations or adults present, the boys turned to bloodshed to cope with their inadequacies. Although the island’s hostility was distinguishable from the beginning, the boys only made it increasingly worse by engaging in warfare.
Shortly after finishing the novel, I came across an article regarding Australia’s engulfing wildfires titled “As Australia Burns, Its Political Leaders Trade Insults” about how many political leaders are refraining from interference, causing revolts in civilization. This behavior has shown how an absence in governmental action and leadership can lead to even more adversities, as appearing in “Lord of the Flies” when the boys are left stranded without adults or anyone to responsibly govern over them, creating a state of pandemonium. We as a society are lacking imperative action that is needed to be taken by our political leaders, correspondingly to how the young boys in the novel lacked accountable and authoritative figures to help them survive through their time on the island before collapsing into chaos. Before we know it, we too might face similar repercussions that the boys on the island faced if we refuse to take appropriate measures needed to avoid watching a dystopian world unfold right before our very eyes.
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