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There are many things that we can learn and apply from William Golding's book, __Lord of the Flies__. One of these is there is an evil inside us all that can easily be brought out by our surroundings or other things. An example of this from the book is Roger. In the beginning, Roger is as innocent and good as any of the other boys but by the end Roger becomes even more cruel than Jack and all the boys fear him. He does things that show this such as, sticking the pig, throwing rocks at the little kids, and eventually killing Piggy with the rock. The evil inside us all can be brought out by our surroundings, this is also shown by Roger. Throughout the book being on the island and fighting to survive brings this evil out. He starts with throwing rocks near the little kids because it bothers them and later progresses to actually hitting them with these rocks. He becomes more vulgar as he sticks the spear into the pig even though it's dead. In the end, he no longer holds back and kills Piggy on purpose. It is clear to see that from William Golding's book __Lord of the Flies__, the evil inside us all can be released no matter how well contained it may have been at one point.

In my opinion, the only truth to mythology is the culture's explainations of human nature. Mythology is centered around the gods. Since these gods don't exist and since they were the source of everything, this leaves only their personality types to be true. Their personality types relate to today's people as well as stories throughout time. The only truth to mythology has played a large part in literature and explainations for peoples behavior throughout time.

**Prompt #3 (January 6): Truth in __To Kill a Mockingbird__**
Reflect on our reading from __To Kill a Mockingbird__. We looked at issues of education, growing up, justice, fairness, and others. In our writing, we looked for connections between our personal experiences and those of the characters in the novels. What "truths" can be found in this book that relate to our world today?

A truth existent in Harper Lee's __To Kill a Mockingbird__ that is still existent today is that very few people can completely escape the "disease" of society. All around the world it is evident that everyone is who they are based on their surroundings. If a person was raised and lived in an enviroment in which cannibalism is a way of life, they are almost guarenteed to not question the morals of this. Thus, the people of __To Kill a Mockingbird__ who were raised and live in their town of racism, double standards, and prejudice, do not frequently question if their actions are just. Although everyone in Maycomb knew Bob Ewell beat Mayella, the town and jury condemned Tom Robinson for this simply because he is black. This double standard would be appalling and unheard-of in our society today, but since this was the norm in Maycomb nobody thought twice about it. One of the truths that has stood the test of time and still plagues us today is that society affects us all.

**Prompt #5 (April 3): Truth in __Of Mice and Men__**
Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men explores themes of dreams, loneliness, equality and relationships that parallel many of the other texts we have read this year. Which theme do you think is most important? What is the "truth" about that theme revealed in the novel?

In Steinbeck's __Of Mice and Men__ the theme of relationships is most important. In our lives relationships seem to be the biggest thing. From our family to our friends, the people in our lives seem to control us. They are how we spend our time, they affect our personalities, and they are our examples of what we should behave like. With relationships being such a large part of our lives, naturally, they affect a large part of the book's plot. Lennie gets into trouble because he is unable to relate to Curley's wife's pain and fear as he killed her. When Lennie runs because of his actions, George finds him in the place he was instructed to meet him at. This is where the truth about the theme is revealed. George must shoot Lennie to keep him from suffering due to Curley's temper and cruel ways. This shows that in a true relationship one must do what's best for the other even if it hurts. Steinbeck put a lot of emphasis on relationships in his book and showed that they're not always easy.

**Prompt #4 (March 30): Truth in __Great Expectations__**
Think about the different ways Dickens uses the idea of "expectations" in his novel. What is the truth about our expectations, either those we have for ourselves, those others have for us, or those we have for other people?

Charles Dickens appropriatly named his book, __Great Expectations,__ because everyone in our world expects things of eachother. Things such as respect, love, hard work, and many others. The simple truth about expectations is that they are quite frequently not met. In Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Pip has many expectations for himself. He wants to be rich, yet kind. He wants to marry Estella, and he wants to stay close with his family. Throughout the book he realizes that very few of his expectations can be fulfilled at one time. When he's rich, he's mean. When he has Estella, he loses Joe and Biddy. In the end Pip chooses the things that are most important and, instead of trying to have it all, he focuses on what's most important to him. This is where he finds true happiness. Like Pip, we need to pick our priorities and focus on them instead of getting everything we want. The truth is, that's what life is all about; letting go of expectations and allowing ourselves to be happy. This is the truth that Charles Dickens shows in his book.