Ponyboy's Personality in The Outsiders

     Coming of age is the transition from childhood to adulthood. A variety of factors can affects a character’s coming of age. This affects a characters personality and morals. In The Outsiders by S.C Hinton, the main character, Ponyboy, has changed a lot from the beginning of the book to the end. His coming of age changed his personality drastically.

     In the beginning of the book, Ponyboy is quiet and weak. He admits, “I’m quiet around people, even the gang”(pg. 12). He doesn’t even like to talk when he’s with his Greaser friends. He is also very different than the usual Greaser. Greasers were seen as uneducated hoodlums who are rough and tough. Ponyboy is smart, scoring consistent A’s and B’s. He is a pacifist, not wanting to fight the Socs. In a confrontation with a group of Socs, he refused to fight and drops the weapon that was given to him. He says, “ I couldn’t use this” and then said, “I couldn’t ever cut anyone.”(pg. 45).  He relies on his friends to protect him. In the first few pages of the book, he is assaulted by a group of Socs. When he is about to get kill he starts “ screaming for Soda, Darry, anyone.”(pg. 5). An event in his life will cause his personality to change.

     The murder of the Soc, Bob, caused Ponyboy to change in personality. Ponyboy’s friend, Johnny, killed Bob. Johnny killed Bob because he was trying to kill Ponyboy. After this event, Ponyboy realized that in order to live in this society; he has to become more courageous and daring. Shortly after this event, him and Johnny run away to an abandon church. A few days later, the church caught fire, At the time of the fire, several kids were inside the church. Ponyboy was outside of the church with Jonhny, Ponyboy decides that he has to save those kids and rushes inside the church. He does not take his own well being into consideration. This shows Ponyboy’s change in personality. He is willing to save those kids, who he didn’t even know, from a fire. Ponyboy will continue to change in the book.

      The death of Johnny and Dally causes Ponyboy to have a drastic change in character. The death of his two friends causes him to become aggressive. During the fire in the church, Johnny went into the church to help Ponyboy rescue the children trapped inside. After all the chidren were rescued, the church collapses with Johnny inside. He suffers fatal injuries from the crash of the church. Ponyboy blames the Socs for the injuries Johnny suffered. When he is going to go fight in a rumble, he says he wants to win for Johnny. After the rumble, Ponyboy and his friends go to the hospital to see Johnny and tell him about their victory. They get to the hospital and see Johnny die. To pour salt on the wound, Ponyboy’s friend Dally has an emotional breakdown. He robs a grocery store and gets chased by the police. In the end, Dally is shoot to death. After these events, Ponyboy displays more Greaser like traits. He becomes violent. A group of Socs threaten Ponyboy, he retaliates by picking up a pop bottle, breaking it, and threatens the Socs. He starts to do badly in school, from getting A’s in his English class to being lucky if he gets a D. Ponyboy changed a lot from the beginning of the book.

     I realized that coming of age is difficult for some people, Ponyboy for example. The ongoing feud between the Socs and the Greasers caused Ponyboy to grow up in dangerous conditions. These conditions caused Ponyboy to have to adapt, and the adaptions that Ponyboy went through weren’t exactly good. But Ponyboy has gone through a lot and his personality has as well.

Coming of Age in The Outsiders

     The characters in a book are complex and develop as the story progresses. One example of character development is coming of age. Coming of age is the transition a young person goes through. This transition is from childhood to adulthood. In The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, the character Ponyboy is going through his coming of age. His social class affects his coming of age.  His social class has caused him to grow up in a dangerous environment.

     Ponyboy’s social class caused him to be placed in a dangerous siutaion. Ponyboy is a Greaser, a member of the lower class. The Greasers “are almost like a hood” (pg. 3). The Greasers are looked down upon by the Socials, also know as the Socs. The Socs are members of the upper class. The Socs view the Greasers as a group of hoodlums and “white trash with long hair” (pg. 55). The Socs harass the Greasers, both verbally and physically. The Socs and Greasers grew to become hate each other. This hatred led to violence between these two groups. Ponyboy, being a Greaser, is placed in a hazardous. He is caught between the ongoing problems of the Greasers and the Socs.

     Ponyboy coming of age is being affected heavily by the problem of social class. Being a Greaser, he is harassed by the Socs. In the beginning of the book, Ponyboy is assaulted and almost killed by the Socs. The Socs seemed like terrible people to him, but then Ponyboy meets a girl named Cherry Valance. She is a Soc girl that he meets at a drive in movie. He talks to here and realizes that they share interests. One line in particular encapsulates the conversation between Ponyboy and Cherry. She tells him “ Just don’t forget that some of us watch the sunset too” (pg. 46). She is trying to say that the Socs and the Greasers have things in common.  These conflicting ideas, the Socs and the Greasers being alike and the Socs just being cruel towards the Greasers, is going to cause Ponyboy’s coming of age to be confusing for him.

     Ponyboy’s coming of age is based on both social class, and it is also based on his friends and family. His gang friends are telling him that the Socs are not to be trusted. But others, such as Cherry Valance say that the Socs and greasers are the same. The people that he is around are influencing his coming of age. But the major influence on his coming of age is social class.

Response to Article

Evicted From Park, Occupy Protesters Take to the Sidewalks- http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/13/nyregion/evicted-from-park-occupy-protesters-take-to-the-sidewalks.html?_r=1&hp#

      

     The article I read is “Evicted From Park, Occupy Protesters Take to the Sidewalks” by Colin Moynihan. This article is about the Occupy Wall Street protesters occupying the sidewalks because they were removed from Zuccotti Park. This article is important because it shows the devotion of the protesters. The protesters have overcome obstacles to continue protesting.

     This article shows that the protesters are dedicated to their cause. After being disbanded in November form Zuccotti Park, they didn’t give up. They decided to start occupying the sidewalk. In order to camp out on the street, the protesters used a court decision from 2000 that allows them to sleep on the streets only if they don’t block doorways or half the sidewalk. This shows their dedication to their cause. Even though they were disbanded, they found a way to continue protesting.

     This article also shows that the protesters are stubborn. The police might have disbanded the protesters, but that didn’t stop the protesters. The protesters moved to the sidewalks and continue their protest from there. They want their voices to be heard. Now from the streets, they can continue to spread their ideas. After protesting for many months, the disbandment from Zuccotti Park couldn’t stop the protesters from spreading their message.

     From reading this article, I realized that the protesters are determined on making a change. Their message is how the financial system benefits the rich at the cost of the citizens. They have been protesting since September and have over obstacles to continue protesting. This is why this article is important. It shows the dedication the protesters have to spreading their message.

   

Plagiarism

What did the student do wrong? What could he/she have done to include the source correctly?

     What the student did that was wrong was that he or she plagiarized. He used the author’s words and tried to pass it off as his own. He copied and pasted the words of the author and claimed them as his own. The student should have paraphrased instead and then cite his source. The student could have also quoted the source and then cited it. If the student was going to incorporate a source, he shouldn’t have copied it without crediting the author.

   

Write a sentence using the original source correctly: use a quotation or paraphrase.

     The structures in the painting seem to cause a sense of isolation. The two structures that cause this feeling are the steeple and the dark structure to the left of the painting. The steeple ”casts down a sense of stability onto the town, and also creates a sense of size and seclusion”. The dark structure to the left “develops an even greater sense of size and isolation”. (A Brief Understanding of the Starry Night Paintings, Unknown Author)

What are at least three ways to avoid plagiarism?

     One way to avoid plagiarism is by paraphrasing. Instead of just copying and pasting, you can rephrase the text into your own words.  You can quote a line from the text instead of just copying it. Finally, you can make sure you cite your sources correctly. You should include both the title of your source and it’s author.

Two Favorite Blog Post

     813 has produced many great blog post, but my two favorite blog post have to be Izzy’s and Wolfe’s blog post. Izzy’s post is about Romeo and Juliet’s love and if it is real. Wolfe’s post is a series of intriguing poems. These are blog post great in their own ways.

     Izzy’ uses a lot of textual evidence to support her idea. Her blog post is about Romeo and Juliet’s love. She is questioning if they are truly are in love. This is a really deep thought about the book.  She uses a lot  evidence from the book to support her point. She uses lines that really support her idea. She also elaborated on the quote well. She explained the importance of the evidence to her point.  She also organized her essay well. She organized her paragraphs in a chronological order that showed their relationship. Her use of textual evidence, elaborating, and organization made her post good.

     Wolfe’s uses imagery and symbolism to enhance his poems. In his poem about cherry blossoms, he uses imagery to create a vivid image. He uses imagery to create an image of the cherry blossom fall to the ground. In his poem about Picasso, he uses symbolisms to represent Picasso’s emotions.  The symbolism in his poem represents Picasso’s deteriorating psychological state. He used this symbolism to express Picasso’s state in creative way. His use of imagery and symbolism make his poems creative.

     I think I can improve my blog post by using elements that both of these blog post. I can use more textual evidence from books to support my claim in my reading responses. When I write poetry, I can use the techniques that Wolfe used in his poems to improve my poems. 

Much Ado about Nothing Review

     My class and I went to see Much Ado about Nothing in the CSC Theater. I haven’t read or seen much Ado about Nothing before, so I thought this play would be confusing.  This was not the case. This play was easy to understand and also very entertaining. They follow the original dialogue, but put their own twist on the story. This twist, along with their stellar acting and amazing effects made this a spectacular show.

     The play is the same as the original, but the twist they added made the show magnificent. Instead of performing in a 1500’s scene, they choose a 1920’s scene. They made changes to the play to fit the scene such as changing costumes. Instead of having old fashion dresses and suits, the soldiers were dressed in a modern army uniform and the women were dressed in more modern dresses. They also wore suits that were up to date. This updated version of Much Ado about Nothing was a creative idea that was performed well.

     Other aspects of the play made it amazing. The actors did an excellent job performing. They spoke clearly and did well in dramatizing their lines. An example was the actor acting out Don Jon. He used props to express his anger. The effects in the play helped create a mood. They used lighting to help the mood. They used more light at a time, or less, and sometimes even used a different color of lighting that helped a lot. Also, they used music as well. Because this is a modern version of the play, they used Jazz music. They used music to help enhance the mood.  For example, in some parts, very uplifting music was played to show a feeling of happiness.

     This play was excellent and very entertaining. The plot was engaging, the acting was amazing, and the effects were spectacular. I would recommend this play to anyone.

Irony in Romeo and Juliet

     Irony is an outcome of an event that is not expected. Irony is a literary technique that is used a lot in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. In this play, the irony he used is not only enjoyable, but it also helps with the plot. In some cases, one ironic event led to another ironic event.

     One example of irony is in Act 1 Scene 2. The ironic event is between Capulet and the Serving man. Capulet gives the Serving man a list of names of people that are invited to his party. Capulet instructs the Serving man to tell the people on the list to come to his party. The irony is that Capulet doesn’t know that the Serving man is illiterate. The Serving man can’t read, so he can’t tell anyone on the list about the party. This ironic event actually leads to another ironic event.

      The event is in the same act and scene. The Serving man doesn’t know what to do. He has to give the list to someone who can read and have him or her read it to him. That is when Romeo and Benvolio stroll in. In desperate need of help, the Serving man gives them the list. The irony is that Romeo is a Montague, an enemy of the Capulets. This event also helps to progress the story. Romeo finds out that Rosaline, his one true love is going to attend that party. So he decides to crash the party in order to meet her. Irony is being used as a way to progress the story.

     Finally, one ironic event that is very important to the plot of the book is in Act 1 Scene 5. In this scene, Romeo falls in love with Juliet when he first sees her. The irony is that he came her to see his “true love” Rosaline, yet he fell in love with another girl. Also, Romeo says many times that Rosaline would be his only love, yet on line 60, he complete disregards his love for Rosaline. He says,” For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” He’s saying that he has not seen true beauty before, until he saw Juliet. This is also an important event because this is where Romeo and Juliet’s relationship starts.

     This is not all the irony in this book. This book is rich with ironic events and ironic dialogue. Shakespeare uses this as a way to entertain his audience. People are interested to find out what happens because of theses events.