The pronunciation can be either exactly as it is writen, conch, with the -ch ending sound like the -ch ending for the word church, or by pronouncing the ending -ch as the sound of the letter K - http://www.macmillandictionary.com/pronunciation/british/conch.
It is also a regional food specialty of the Caribbean. On many visits to the Bahamas, I have feasted upon conch fritters, conch salad, and fried or cracked conch (images in descending order).
More importantly and academically, the conch shell appears throughout the novel when meetings are called (or sounded) and to take turns speaking at these meetings. What does the conch symbolize for the boys, especially Piggy? Please leave your answers in the comment section. PLEASE! I hate begging.
could the conch symbolize power or something important?
ReplyDeletesorry my computer wasnt working for a while.
ReplyDeleteHi Haley!
ReplyDeleteThank you for responding. While I readily accept your excuse of a floudering computer, I was more inclined to believe that you were still unpacking that mega-over-stuffed binder of yours! (save all of your notes on rhetorical devices!)
Yes, the conch does represent power, but what kind of power? I think, generally, that it is the power of authority, like an adult with a child. Piggy respects the sound of and the power of physically holding the conch, but, early on, he wishes to hear the sound of which authority figure in his life before the crash? Is there a connection between the two?
I'm not really sure with the connection can you please help me?
ReplyDeleteThink of the connection as what Piggy's Aunt's voice means/represents, as what the sound of the conch means/represents, and what the sound of children's voices means/represents. The conch and the Aunt's voice both represent authority, or, as you commented, power. The voices of the children, the survivors, do not have any authority, at least in the beginning of the story. Does that help? I am happy to continue.
ReplyDeleteNo adults = No authority
ReplyDeleteAuthority = Rules
ReplyDeleteRemember how Ralph celebrated the absence of adults in chapter one?