Contents Introduction...

2

Contents

Introduction …………………………………………………………………………3

Chapter I. General notions about evaluation………………….

……………………5

I.1. The main classifications of

evaluation……………………………………5 I.2. Functions of

evaluation.………………………………………………….10

Chapter II. The main classifications of word-

combinations………………………12

Chapter III. Means of expressing evaluation on the word-

combination level in the novel «Lord of the

Flies» by William Golding……………………………………..16

IV Conclusions……………………………………………………………………...28

V Reference literature……………………………………………………………….30

3

Introduction

One of the main functions of the language is

informative. This function does it possible to impart

knowledge from one participant of communication process

to another with the help of the language. In our time the

value of information grew to the high level, and speed,

and clearness of the message have matter. However, the

emotional side of the message does matter too.

In recent years the linguists have started to pay

more attention to the subjective element in the language,

including man’s estimated attitude to the phenomena of

reality, as in the learning process and in the process of

4

communication the man expresses his attitude toward the

world.

There is no a language in which the idea about

«well» and «badly» would be absent . As asserts V.V.

Vinogradov: «a word not only has grammatical, lexical

and subject meaning, but also in the same time expresses

the evaluation of subject...» [7, p.21]

It is gathered a great empirical material and formed

certain directions of the study of evaluation semantics

in English, German, French, Spanish, Russian

languages.

In different languages the methods of expression the

evaluation are different, though they have semantic

similarity. The differences refer to the area of

evaluation stereotypes and are related to pragmatic

character of evaluation.

A lot of scientists did a great contribution to the

study of evaluation: N.Platon, I.Kant, B.Spiniza, T.

Hobbes, N. Arutiunova, A. Ivin, E.Wolf, V.Kunin,

Y. Stepanov and others.

5

In most linguistic researches which are devoted to

the category of evaluation, the types of evaluation means

and methods of their expression are described, it is

consider the connection between evaluation and modality,

peculiarities of function of evaluation expressions in

different types of texts, theory of argumentation and

axiology, cultural aspect of evaluation and logic –

philosophical concepts of evaluation.

The evaluation can be examined in two ways: as a

category of logic and as linguistic category. In modern

logic an evaluation in the most general view is

determined as judgment about values. The value can be

defined as positive or negative means of objects of

surrounding reality.

Evaluate - means to express opinion, judgment about

a value or about means of anybody or anything. Basic

sphere of means, that for a custom is

correlated with evaluative, related to the signs «well»

and «badly».

6

The present course paper is an attempt to make a

stylistic study of selected work of William Golding from

linguistic point of view.

The object of this scientific research is William

Golding’s story Lord of The Flies.

Golding uses a huge quantity of different words,

synonyms and foreign words. The use of diction is

powerful, with the gripping use of words and description.

Golding creates tension and reinforces his theme and tone

with the use of specific words.

The subject of the research is peculiarities of

means of expressing evaluation on the word-combination

level in the novel «Lord of the Flies» by William Golding

The topicality of course paper consists in fact that

firstly, though evaluation is the multidimensional

category that is examined within the framework of the

different research, it attracts attention of many

scientist nowadays, secondly William Golding’s literary

legacy is poorly studied in English literature.

The purpose is to present the description of

language means of expression of evaluation values in the

http://www.123helpme.com/search.asp?text=use+of+diction

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novel «Lord of the Flies» by William Golding on the word-

combination level and to educe the individual – author’s

peculiarities of transmission of the valued relation.

The structure of this work has been defined by its

goals and objectives, and consists of an introduction,

the first chapter, which is devoted to the general notion

of evaluation, the second chapter concerning the main

classification of word-combinations. Chapter three, which

tells about means of expressing evaluation on word-

combination level in the “Lord of the Flies” by Golding.

8

Chapter I.1. The main classifications of evaluation

Evaluation as philosophical concept realizes

judgment in which a certain object is characterized in

its qualitative representation, in particular through the

categories of approval or disapproval.

The evaluation of literary texts is something that

readers always, automatically, and spontaneously, engage

in. They judge the development of a plot and generate

feelings of pleasure or dislike at particular events, the

feel that the text does not yield what they had expected,

or they find the author’s style rewarding or awkward. All

of this evaluation usually takes place as an integral

part of the reading process. [5. p,1]

9

In the English literature evaluation is expressed by

means of units which sometimes difficult to connect in

one context. That’s why in expression of evaluation

means, as a rule, author’s individuality is traced.

The theory of evaluation has a long history of its

development.

The concept of evaluation came to the field of the

linguistic studies from logic assessments, where

evaluation is defined as a statement about the values.

[9, p.12]. In this connection value refers to any object

of any interest, desires etc. In this case the

distinction is made between positive and negative values.

[9, p. 62].

Having borrowed the concept of evaluation from

logic, linguistic scholars concentrated on the methods of

expressing the evaluation means in the language.

In linguistics evaluation is understood as a

universal language category.

Evaluation - a universal category that expresses a

positive or negative speaker's attitude to the content of

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speech and implements in parts of speech, exclamations,

modal shares, word -combinations, lexemes and sentences.

The difficult multicomponent structure of evaluation

predetermines existence of various classifications of

this category due to it’s criteria and functions.

The first complete classification of evaluation was

proposed by Finish scientist von Wright in his book

«Varieties of good». Scientist classifies evaluation due

to the three types of objects. This classification became

the basic for research of such linguists, such as: N.

Arutyunova, A.Wolf, A. Ivin.

Von Wright distinguished such types of evaluation:

1. Instrumental (evaluation of tools, instruments); 2.

Technical (evaluation of ability); 3. Evaluation of

favourableness(an orientation is on the achievement of

positive effect); 4. Medical(evaluation of functions of

organs of body and capabilities of mind);

5.Utilitarian(evaluation of utility, fitness); 6.

Hedonistic (evaluation of pleasure).

O. Wolf refers the structure of evaluation such

elements: subject of evaluation (individual, society, the

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part of society), object of evaluation (предмет object,

phenomenon or person of reality), evaluation

proper(evaluation predicate), subject of evaluation

(interlocutor), evaluation scale (comparson to the

standard), evaluation stereotype (standard, standard of

norm), backgrounds of evaluation (criterion, reason of

estimation). [8, p.242]

In the terminological encyclopedia «Modern

Linguistics» by Olena Selivanova the most exhaustive

explanation of estimation as a linguistic category can be

found. The author indicates three main approaches to the

study of estimation existing in linguistics nowadays.

According to the first approach, estimation is a

connotative component of a language unit semantic

structure which indicates the native speakers’ attitude

to a designated phenomenon according to the absolute

scale «good – neutral – bad» or according to the relative

scale «better – just as good – just as neutral – just as

bad – worse» [11. p.438]

Such an approach is basic for a number of

investigations, but some researchers insist on referring

12

evaluative meanings to denotation. This question is still

being discussed, but more scientists stick to the point

that evaluative meanings can form both denotative and

connotative components of a language unit semantic

structure. The analysis of my language material proves

the latter point of view.

The second approach treats estimation as a text

category, which expresses the author’s, personages’, or a

hypothetic reader’s attitude towards the described

events, characters, their behavior according to the

absolute scale «good – neutral – bad» or according to the

relative scale «better – just as good – just as neutral –

just as bad – worse» taking into consideration other

types of axiological modalities [11. p.438].

The third approach studies estimation as a kind

of utterance modality, which reflects axiological aspect

of a situation denoted by this utterance, that is the

speaker’s evaluative attitude to the interiorized event.

Within the limits of this approach, the following types

of estimation are distinguished: rational (utilitarian,

normative, teleological); logical (epistemological,

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deontical); emotional based on feelings (pleasant/

unpleasant); aesthetic that functions through ideas of

beautiful and ugly; ethic that is based on moral norms

(moral / immoral); sensory that is a result of perception

and quantitative that characterizes the degree or extent

of an object or its characteristics [11. p.439].

This approach raises question about the

classification of estimative meanings that is also an

object for discussion nowadays.

One of the most detailed and exhaustive

classifications of language estimation has been devised

by Nina Arutiunova. Her classification partly coincides

with that Olena Selivanova mentioned above, but it is

more detailed and well-grounded. Nina Arutiunova

distinguishes general estimation which is based on a summary

of miscellaneous properties of an object and particular

estimation, the meaning of which includes additional

components referring to the estimation structure (e.g.

motivation) [6. p. 194].

The meaning of general estimation is realized by

adjectives “good” and “bad” and their synonyms with

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different stylistic and expressive characteristics

(wonderful, great, excellent, terrible etc.) [6. p.198].

Meanings of particular estimation are differentiated

according to the side of a complex object they

characterize. These are: 1) sensory estimation (pleasant

– unpleasant; tasty – tasteless, fragrant – stinking

etc.); 2) psychological estimation which includes two

sub-types: a) intellectual estimation (interesting,

gripping, clever – uninteresting,trite, silly); b)

emotional estimation (happy – sad, pleasant –

unpleasant); 3) aesthetic estimation (beautiful – ugly);

4) ethic estimation (moral – immoral, kind – unkind) 5)

utilitarian estimation (useful – harmful, favourable –

unfavourable); 6) normative estimation (right – wrong,

standard – non-standard, healthy – ill); 7) teleological

estimation (effective – ineffective, successful –

unsuccessful) [6. p.198].

Evaluative meaning may be defined as calculated or

judged assessment of

15

the quality, importance or value of something or somebody

or a spontaneously expressed opinion of the kind, quality

or category of somebody or something.

This definition attempts to encompass both the conceptual

meaning of the word and its contextual meanings which

relate to concrete instances of its use and cannot be

exhaustingly accommodated in dictionaries. This

definition also suggests that adjectives and adverbs are

the principal carriers of evaluative meaning. With a few

exceptions that relate to conceptual meaning, adjectives

and adverbs, indeed, convey evaluation. Adjectives of

colour and names of material would make exceptions but

even these adjectives may become evaluative through the

extension of their meaning figuratively.

For example:

1) The actress gave a rather wooden performance.

2) She was known as the “Iron Lady”.

Therefore it is possible to conclude that adjectives

and adverbs of subjective evaluation generally group

around two poles of meaning –the positive and the

negative. For example: good: perfect, lovely, amazing,

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excellent, etc.; sweetly, pleasantly, etc. vs. bad: terrible,

horrible, awful, ghastly, frightful,

etc.; rudely, sourly, etc.

17

Chapter I.2. Functions of evaluation

There are three functions that evaluation is used to

perform, and each of these it an object of interest to

the linguist.

These functions are:

1)to express the speaker’s or writer’s opinion, and

in going to reflect the value system of that

person and their community;

2) to constract and maintain relation between the

speaker or writer and heare or reader;

3)to organize the discourse.

The function are not exclusive, that is, a single

instance of evaluation may well perform two or three of

the functions simultaneously.

The first function.The most obvious function of

evaluation is to tell the reader what the writer thinks

or feels about something. Identifying “what the writer

thinks” tells us more than just one person’s ideas. Every

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act of evaluation expresses a communal value-system, and

every act of evaluation goes towards building up that

value-system. This value system in turn is a component of

the ideology which lies behind every text.[4, p.6]

The second function of evaluation is to build and

maintain relationship between writer and reader. This has

been studied in the relation to three main areas:

manipulation, hedging and politeness. In each of these

areas, the writer can be said to be exploiting the

resources of evaluation to build a particular kind of

relationship with the reader. Evaluation can be used to

manipulate the reader, to resuade him or to see things in

a particular way. [4, p.8]

The third function. We have discussed above how

evaluation can used to build a relationship between

writer and reader, in particular by assuming shared

attitudes, values and reactions which it can be difficult

for reader, as subordinate in this relationship, to

dispute. This relationship does not exist only in terms

of the information in the text, however, but in terms of

the text itself. In other words, the writer does not only

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tell the reader “this happened, and this in my opinion

about it”, but also tells the reader “this is the

beginning of the text, this is my opinion about it”, but

also tells the reader “this is the beginning of our text,

this is how the argument fits together, and this is the

end of our interaction”. To take a simple example, if a

mother writes a letter to her daughter, an interaction

will take place between them as mother and daughter

reacting to event in the world, but in addition an

interaction will take place between them as writer and

reader keeping track of the progression or organization

of the text. In short, the letter-writer and letter-

reader have two relationships: as mother and daughter and

as discourse-producer and discourse-recipient.[4, p.11]

20

Chapter II. The main classifications of word-combinations

The main object of study in syntax is the

communicative unit of the language, the sentence. The

phrase is the syntactic unit used as a notional part of a

sentence. As a level-forming unit, it is characterized by

some common and some differential features with the unit

of the lower level, the word, and the unit of the upper

level, the sentence. Like the word, the phrase is a

nominative unit, but it provides a complex nomination of

the referent, a polynomination consisting of several (at

least two) nominative components, presenting the referent

as a complicated phenomenon, cf.: a girl – a beautiful girl; a

decision – his unexpected decision; etc. Moreover, the regular

free phrase does not enter speech as a ready-made unit

like the word; it is freely formed in speech, like the

sentence according to a certain grammatical pattern. As

for the fixed word-combinations, idioms, they are closer

to the word in the type of nomination: they are ready-

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made units fixed in dictionaries and studied mainly by

lexicology.

The definition of the phrase is rather a

controversial issue. In Russian linguistics, the narrow

approach, which was put forward by V. V. Vinogradov,

traditionally prevails: only a combination of two

notional words, one of which dominates the other, is

considered a word-combination. A much broader approach

was proposed by Leonard Bloomfield and it is shared by

many modern linguists. One of the leading specialists in

this field, V. V. Burlakova, defines a word-combination

as any syntactically organized group of syntagmatically

connected words; this includes combinations of functional

and notional words, and predicative and coordinative

combinations of words. Critical revision of these two

approaches is possible on the basis of the above given

description of the phrase (the phraseme) as a separate

lingual unit.

Defining the phrase as a polynominative lingual unit

helps reveal the status of notional phrases, semantically

independent («autosemantic») combinations of notional

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words, as the basic type of phrasemes. Besides notional

phrases (phrases proper), two other structural types of

syntagmatic groupings of words can be distinguished,

which can be defined as phrases or word-combinations only

in form: formative phrases and functional phrases. The

formative phrase is a combination of a notional word with

a functional word, which is contextually dependent

(«synsemantic») and functionally similar to separate

notional words used in various grammatical forms, e.g.:

of Peter (= Peter’s); in a moment, without doubt, etc. Functional

phrases are combinations of functional words similar to

regular functional words, e.g.: apart from, as soon as, with

reference to, must be able, etc. [11, p.58]

According to the syntactical and semantic

interrelation between the components, all word-

combinations split into coordinate, subordinate and

predicative. This division is based on syntagmatic

relations of independence, dependence and inredependence.

Coordinate word-combinations are formed from

components equal in rank which are connected either

syndetically (with the help of conjuctions) or

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asyndetically (without conjuctions): books and magazines; to

read, translate and retell; on the beach or in the water; quick but not

careless; neither this nor that; no sun. no moon; silent, immovable, gloomy.

Coordinate word-combinations are non-binary by their

nature: they may include several constituents of equal

rank, though not necessary of the same part of speech.

Coordinate word-combinations perform the function of

homogeneous parts of the sentence: There they were: stars, sun,

sea, light, darkness, space, great waters. [1, p.239]

As to the expression of sens , coordinate word-

combinations may be closed or open(infinite). Closed

word-combinations may consist of two components only:

rivers and lakes; neither he nor she; all but me. Open (infinite) word-

combinations consist of several components the number of

which may still be continued(as by enumerating): books,

note-books, bags, pens, pencils. [1, p.240]

The coordinated units are called conjoins, and the

resulting combination is a conjoint. The order of

conjoint words can be influenced by a tendency for the

shorter word to come first: cold and rainy; big and ugly; cup and

saucer; or by consideration of etiquette: mother and I.

24

By coordinating a word with itself, special meanings

are expressed, such as intensification: The car went slower

and slower; continuous action: They talked and talked; a large

number: We saw flowers and flowers and flowers all over the garden;

different kinds: There are teachers and teachers (= good and bad

teachers) [1, p.240]

Subordinate word-combinations are binary by their

nature: they consist of a head component commonly called

the kernel, kernel element, head-word, which is nucleus

of the word-combination, and of one or more subordinated

elements called adjunct, complement or expansion.

Adjuncts serve to describe, qualify, select, complete, or

extend the meaning of the head. They may be either a

single notional word or a group of words functionally

equal to it: Peter’s brother; her father and mother; take part in the

games; bad for you. [1, p.241]

On the base of the position of the adjunct in

relation to the kernel, subordinative phrases are

characterized as regressive or progressive: in regressive

phrases, the adjunct precedes the kernel, e.g.: a beautiful

25

girl; in progressive phrases, the adjunct follows the

kernel, e.g.: came home. [10, p.60]

Predicative word-combinations are structures with

predicative connection of words, built on syntactical

independence uniting the subject and the predicate. The

reciprocal nature of this connection consists in the fact

that the subject dominates the predicate determining the

person of predication , while the predicate dominates the

subject, determining the event of predication, e.g.

ascribing to the person some action, state or quality.

[1, p.242]

The traditional classification of phrases is based

on the part-of-speech characteristics of their

constituents (on the part of speech of the kernel in

dominational phrases); there are noun phrases (NP), e.g.:

a beautiful girl; men, women and children; verbal phrases (VP),

e.g.: went home; came and went; adjective phrases (AP),

e.g.: quite unexpected; nice and quiet; adverbial phrases (DP),

e.g.: quite unexpectedly. On the base of kernel-adjunct

relations, subordinative phrases can be divided into

those with objective connections (direct objective and indirect

26

objective) and qualifying connections (attributive and

adverbial), e.g.: to see a child (direct objective); put on the

table (indirect objective); a beautiful girl (attributive);

came soon (adverbial). [10, p.59]

Chapter.III. Means of expressing evaluation on the word-

combination level in the novel «Lord of the Flies» by

William Golding

27

Sir William Gerald Golding (1911-1993) wrote many

novels of a high intellectual and linguistic level and

was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1983. His education was

excellent. He studied in Oxford, at first natural

sciences and then English. His first published novel,

«Lord of The Flies» has been a great success ever since.

It is worth a closer look with an emphasis to the

language and stylistic devices he employs.

«Lord of the Flies» tells the story of a group of

English schoolboys who ended up on a tropical island

after their plane was shot down during a war. Though the

novel is fictional, its exploration of the idea of human

evil is at least partly based on Golding’s experience

with the real-life violence and brutality of World War

II. Free from the rules and structures of civilization

and society, the boys on the island in «Lord of the

Flies» descend into savagery. As the boys splinter into

factions, some behave peacefully and work together to

maintain order and achieve common goals, while others

rebel and seek only anarchy and violence.

28

On the very first pages it becomes clear that the

reading of «Lord of The Flies» is a challenging

experience. Golding uses a huge quantity of different

words, synonyms and foreign words. The use of diction is

powerful, with the gripping use of words and description.

Golding creates tension and reinforces his theme and tone

with the use of specific words. Many are connotative and

therefore create a story abundant in meaning and

symbolism.

Golding makes very good use of characters in «Lord

of the Flies», he shows both good and evil through each

of the characters.

Golding uses color such as yellow to symbolize

particular things such as innocence, as shown in the

piglets and the island, The word yellow makes the reader

think of the sun, enlightenment and Ralph: «The boy with fair

hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his

way toward the lagoon».[2, p.1]

The word-combination fair hair refers:

According to syntactical and semantic interrelation

between the components: subordinate

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According to the morphological characteristic of the

head word: noun phrase

According to the position of adjunct: regressive

According to type of relation between the

constituents in phrase: attributive

Ralph was described as the boy with fair hair, what gives

him already positive evaluation of the author.

The word-combination to pick his way refers




head word: verbal phrase

According to the position of adjunct: progressive


constituents in phrase: direct objective

The word-combination to pick his way describes determined

actions of Ralph, because he faces a lot of obstacles on

his way. It also gives him positive evaluation. While

most of the other boys initially are concerned with

playing, having fun, and avoiding work, Ralph sets about

30

building huts and thinking of ways to maximize their

chances of being rescued.

Ralph is the athletic, charismatic protagonist of

“Lord of the Flies”. Elected the leader of the boys at the

beginning of the novel, Ralph is the primary

representative of order, civilization, and productive

leadership in the novel.

The word representing color black brings to mind

evil and Jack. From the beginning of the novel, Jack

desires power above all other things. He is furious when

he loses the election to Ralph and continually pushes the

boundaries of his subordinate role in the group. He is

the leader of the hunters, the first time they find a

pig, Jack stops, and couldn't kill the pig. That revealed

how Jack was civilized, yet later on he would kill the

pig without hesitation. «We've got to have rules and obey them.

After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are best at

everything.» [ 2, p. 40]

This quote depicts how Jack thought he would never

become a savage, because he is "English" but in the end

he is far more than a savage. His thoughts were

31

prejudiced, as he was not the best. The phrase best at

everything emphasizes his self-confidence, what gives him

negative evaluation.

The word-combination best at everything refers:




head word: adjectival phrase


One of the characters that represents goodness is

Simon. He is very good and pure, and has the most

positive outlook. Simon is very different from the other

boys, he seems to always be helping the Littluns and many

other vulnerable boys such as Piggy. «Simon sitting between the

twins and Piggy, wiped his mouth and shoved his piece of meat over the

rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it.» [ 2, p.74]

This quote interprets an example of a time when

Simon helped Piggy by giving him food, it shows Simon's

wholeheartedness. The verb grab has rather negative

meaning and the author shows us how children were greedy

not only to food, but also to power and leadership.

32

The word-combination grabbed it refers:







constituents in phrase: direct objective

The children in the novel – all of them are boys –

show parts of their identities in their speech. On closer

examination it is found that there is a wide variance in

the age of the boys, from about 6 to 12 years of age.

From here on in the book the younger boys are simply

referred to as the "littluns" and the older boys as

"bigguns" Mostly, the actions of “littluns” are confined

to shouts during the meetings. An example of their speech

is the report of a littlun named “Phil”: «Last night I had a

dream, a horrid dream, fighting with things. I was outside the shelter by

myself, fighting with things, those twisty things in the trees.¨ He paused, and

the other littleluns laughed in horrified sympathy. ¨Then I was frightened

33

and I woke up. And I was outside the shelter by myself in the dark and the

twisty things had gone away.» [2, p.56]

The word-combination horrid dream refers:








In this quote we can find two examples of

evaluation. The first is horrid dream, at first the child

mentioned that he had a dream, we understand the word

dream as something good, he did not say a nightmare,

which has already negative meaning. But in the next part

of the sentence we have horrid dream, adjective horrid gives

negative meaning to the word dream. According to the

absolute scale we can evaluate this word-combination as

bad and refer it to the emotional type of evaluation.

The second example is laughed in sympathy. The verb laugh

is positive, because you are laughing of funny things,

34

but not in this case. The noun sympathy can be explain as

a feeling of understanding that somebody have experienced

something very unpleasant. Here, the author uses

oxymoron, he combines contradictory terms, which change

the evaluative meanings of each other.

The word-combination laughed in sympathy refers:







constituents in phrase: adverbial

In the Ralph’s speech we can find another example of

verbal phrase: «We need an assembly….» [2, p.58]

The word combination need an assembly refers:


between the components:

surbodinative



35


Type of relation between the constituents in phrase:

direct objective

The reader can evaluate this speech as positive. For

instance, the word-combination need an assembly evokes some

positive feelings in the reader, because of noun assembly,

which means that some group is together and this is

associated with cooperation which always has positive

meaning.

Most of the sentences in «The Lord of the Flies» are

simple. There are sentences that are complex and the

occasional compound sentence. Most characters speak

simply and clearly. Often, they speak in fragments. For

example, when twins come back from the mountain top, they

started hastily to describe the beast they thought they

had seen. In their fear, they are only able to say a few

words, before the other twin is interrupting, now himself

beginning new sentences without ending them. Golding

calls this “antiphonal speech”. In general, when the

boys, either biguns or littluns, are enthusiastic about a

new plan, a consent or a point of argument, they are

36

talking simultaneously and only single words are

understandable or, for a reader, readable. These broken

phrases show fear to the reader and evoke some negative

feeling, state of apprehension.

There is a second, more important aspect in the

novel to analyse. Golding is very skilled in the

description of landscapes and nature: «Here and there, little

breezes crept over the polished waters beneath the haze of heat. When these

breezes reached the platform the palm-fronds would whisper, so that spots

of blurred sunlight slid over their bodies or moved like bright, winged

things in the shade.»[2, p.11]

The word-combination bright, winged things refers:


between the components: coordinative






Golding uses imagery to describe the scenery and the

setting. The author describes the setting in two

37

contrasting ways. We think when the author describes the

island through the eyes of the children a more positive

ambience of the island is created because the children

are unaware of how bad their situation is and how bad the

island is. However, when the author is explaining the

setting he zooms into

small, yet significant, details and items that lead the

reader to understand that the boys are stuck in a deadly

island and that they will not be leaving for a while.

A good example occurs in the first chapter where

Golding writes: «There was a strip of weed-strewn beach that was

almost as firm as a road. A kind of glamour was spread over them and the

scene and they were conscious of the glamour and made happy by it.» [2,

p.25]

The word-combination strip of weed-strewn refers:






38



The word combination as firm as refers to the functional

phrases.

The phrase glamour was spread refers:






These word-combinations: strip of weed-strew, as firm as, glamour

was spread create a vivid world for the reader and evoke

negative evaluation.

The frightening description of the boy’s first

exposure to the island is mastered with sentences

conveying the underlying evil. For example Jack: «stood

there among the skull like coconuts” and the island was “torn

everywhere by the upheavals of fallen trees, scattered with decaying

coconuts.» [2, p.10]

The word-combinations fallen trees, decaying coconuts refer:

39








The author describes the island as the children’s

worst enemy.

The author uses negative words in the phrases fallen trees,

decaying coconuts to describe the setting. The word fallen, mean

that something is not in the correct position, that the

island does not seem to be right, that the island has an

air of animosity. The words are not pleasant and hint to

the reader that neither is the story. The author

describes how the coconuts are slowly dying by using the

word decaying. It suggests that the children are going to

die, just like everything else on the island. Eventually

everything on the island dies, the island dies from the

uncontrollable fire, the pigs die from hunting by the

40

boys and Piggy dies from hunting by the boys. This

suggests that the boys are their own worst enemy.

Golding uses the imagery to personify things in order

to make them even more evil then they already are: «the

heart of flame leapt nimbly across» and «the smoke increased, sifted,

rolled outwards…eating downwards» [2, p. 44], «the fire growled at

them.»[2, p.45]

The word-combination heart of flame refers:








In that word-combination Golding personified the

inherently baneful fire to create an even more corrupt

character to plague the boys like a normal fire never

could.

The word-combinations the smoke increased, the fire growded

refers:

41


between the components: subordinative






The author describes how the fire spreads. Everything on

the island dies from the uncontrollable fire.

In the novel we have the descriptions focusing on

the topic of noise.»The silence of the forest was more oppressive

than the heat, and at this hour of the day there was not even the whine of

insects. Only when Jack himself roused a gaudy bird from a primitive nest of

sticks was the silence shattered and echoes set ringing by a harsh cry that

seemed to come out of the abyss of ages.»[2, p.71]

The word-combination abyss of ages refers:






42



The word-combinations silence was oppressive, silence shattered

refers :






There is silence at first, belonging to the forest,

which is complete: even the insects are influenced by the

time of day, and the heat. Golding creates a strong image

when he says that silence is oppressive, silence is shattered – which

makes the reader think of breaking glass –Then, word

combination harsh cry makes the reader think of something

loud and disturbing – and the sentence ends with the

metaphor of an abyss, an abyss of ages, which brings a new

dimension to the description, because it shows enmity

against man, as nature’s age is enormous when compared to

the existence of mankind and it is only days since the

boys have stranded on the island and its jungle. But the

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island itself is much older and so are the birds and the

trees, which show the abyss like appearance of the cry.

The author also develops a positive ambience of an

uninhabited island by

giving the island features that the reader knows are more

positive than negative. An example of this is when the

author describes a cirque. The author describes the boys

position using: «They were on the lip of a cirque» [2. p.25].

The use of personification makes the reader identify

that the island is more like a person and not an evil

thing. If Golding had used a sentence such as they were on

the knife edge of a cirque, then the reader would have

identified the island with images of danger and

negativity.

The word-combination lip of a cirques refers:






http://www.123helpme.com/search.asp?text=negativity

44



The author later similarises the cirque with a waterfall. He

uses the such words to describe waterfall: filled waterfall,

overflow waterfall and spilled waterfall.

The word-combinations filled waterfall, overflow waterfall and

spilled waterfall refer:








A waterfall is usually a thing of beauty, which can

be found in national parks, and people do not identify a

waterfall as being a bad thing. The words also come in

chronological order. For example something cannot be

spilled before it is filled. This gives the reader a

sense of natural series of events, the feeling as if

everything is occurring the correct order and therefore

http://www.123helpme.com/search.asp?text=national+parks

http://www.123helpme.com/search.asp?text=waterfall

45

the island is normal and passive. However, if the author

had mixed the words in the incorrect order then the

reader might have felt a bit confused and wondered about

the safety of the island.

We can see that W.G. Golding creates a lot of tension

in some passages, especially towards the end, when only

Ralph is left of that little group of the civilized. All

his plans to secure the fire, maintain law and order, and

await a certain rescue have failed, and his flight from

the hunters has turned to a pure fight to survive. He is

finally trapped in a thicket and a hunter is coming near:

«The savage stopped fifteen yards away and uttered his cry. Perhaps he can

hear my heart over the noises of the fire. Don’t scream. Get ready.»[2,

p.264]

Golding narrative perspective takes a sudden. Ralph’s

thoughts are embedded in the storyline. He continues some

lines later: «The seconds lengthened. Ralph was looking straight into

the savage’s eyes. Don’t scream. You’ll get back. Now he’s seen you, he’s

making sure. A stick sharpened. Ralph screamed, a scream of fright and

anger and desperation.» [2, p.265]

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The whole tension that was built up in the chapters is

suddenly released by the arrival of the Navy Officer.

Here there is some kind of turning point. Before, the

children were described not so much like adults, at least

partly as biguns, then through the extensive use of

hunters, then as tribe and finally as savages. Their whole

development in a process of deterioration is summarized

in these expressions. They use weapons, they kill, Roger

wants to behead Ralph as sacrifice for the beast, they

build up a hierarchy and they have a “Chief” they

struggle for power, they know punishments. And when they

see the naval officer, they immediately turn to children

who cry. Jack does not even claim to be boss. He is

described as little boy.

William Golding wrote “Lord of the Flies” after the

events of the Second World War. He said «Before the

Second World War I believed in the perfectibility of

social man, that a correct structure of society would

produce good will, and that therefore you could remove

all social evil by a reorganization of society.» [3.

p.12]

47

He wanted to show that it is wrong to believe that

evil only lives in other nations. Many believe that after

a war everything bad is destroyed. But Golding points out

the existence of evil in all of us. He thinks about the

events in Germany and is sure that it can happen in any

country. - That is the reason why every symbol in “Lord

of the Flies” has a good and an evil side (e.g. the

island). The struggle between good and evil still goes

on, and will continue.

Conclusions

Evaluation - a universal category that expresses a

positive or negative speaker's attitude to the content of

speech and realizes in parts of speech, exclamations,

modal shares, word -combinations, lexemes and sentences.In the language expression the evaluation can be

limited to elements, smaller than the word, and can

characterize group of word and the whole statement.

Examining word-combination level in the novel «Lord

of the Flies», it can be noted that it often occurs noun

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word-combinations and it’s adjunct often change the

meaning of the kernel. The value of Golding’s creativity and the

peculiarities are that Golding is a writer, whose literary

heritage left an impact in the creative work of many other

succeeding generations of writers.

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