The Conch
Watch the language around the conch over the course of the novel- as its symbolic power changes, so does it's description.
Patterns through symbolism
Lord of the Flies is a pretty bleak story- we get to watch a group of "civilized" English boys try to survive on a deserted island.
It doesn't go well.
So, as the plot shows us how civilization can easily fall apart, the author employs many physical elements- motifs- that demonstrate this shift from civilization to savagery. There are many symbols that can give a careful reader a look into all the subtle ways this shift is occurring.
Good authors incorporate a large theme, and they integrate many small details to echo and demonstrate this theme. If we follow each occurrence of these elements and see how each changes over time, we can see how many ways Golding demonstrates the disintegration of civilization into chaos.
(Hint: using good keywords and synonyms as search strings in the electronic text can draw our attention more closely to details that we glossed over the first time around. Command +F is your friend!)
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Fire
Fire is used in different ways throughout the book. Pay attention to its different uses
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Pig Hunts
At the end of the first chapter Jack sees a piglet stuck in the "creepers". Watch how the desire to hunt pigs evolves throughout the book, and how the boys react to blood
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Roger/Rocks
Roger is a secondary character- " a slight, furtive boy whom no one knew, who kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy" (22). How does he change over the course of the book?
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Circles
Circles are powerful. There's an inside and an outside. Inside the circle can make one feel vulnerable or attacked. Outside can make one feel excluded. Won't you join the circle?
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What else?
As you read, consider what other details of character or plot elements change over the course of the book. How are they symbolic of the other changes on the island?