The Outsiders Final

            Now as I come to an end of The Outsiders by S.E. Hilton, I really notice how wonderful this book is. I understand, the more times I read it, why it is considered an American Classic, and required reading in school. It has many themes throughout it, and while many of them are easy to see, others must be sought out. For instance, the life of a gangster is a theme that is very easy to see, but to notice that being displaced is another theme is more difficult to find on first glance.

            Ponyboy is a character who is displaced; his environment doesn’t suite him. For example, Ponyboy is a literate, intelligent character who is put into the path of the Greasers-a gang of hooligans. In fact, on page 2, Ponyboy says that “nobody in the gang digs movies and books the way I do. For a while there, I thought I was the only person in the world that did”. Ponyboy feels lonely and without anyone to talk to sophisticatedly, he is almost dumbed down. Ponyboy is displaced because if he lived in a more educated situation, he would thrive more, have another pen in his hand rather than another cigarette-school rather than rumbles.

            Another way that we see Ponyboy being displaced is that he is very considerate and thoughtful. He worries about his friends and family. When he wakes up the day after Johnny kills the Soc member, he becomes concerned with not only Johnny’s safety, but the safety and well being of his brothers. What kind of gang member worries so much? A gang member who has no other choice but to be involved in the gang.

            A final reason for why I feel that Ponyboy is displaced is that he does at first hate the Socs, because they hate him and Greasers, but during the end of the book he hates them less and less. Not that he would switch sides and become one of them, but because he’s a normal, rational human. This is what we would deem as being thoughtful and correct (not hating your “enemy”), but in the world of the gangsters, that isn’t correct. Being thoughtful isn’t good. You wouldn’t hear Sodapop saying “guys this isn’t right, fighting like this does no justice”. Ponyboy is not supposed to be in the situation he’s in and we know that by hearing his beliefs towards the Socs at the end of the story.

I feel sorry for Ponyboy; he has no direction. Darry tries to steer him clear of danger as much as possible, but Darry isn’t well equipped to being a parent. Ponyboy is a character who, if he had better guidance, could have a very successful life ahead of him. He’s smart and likeable, he would be a good candidate for a good career, marriage, parent, friendships, etc. but it won’t happen because he isn’t being taught the right morals during the time in which he is coming of age. He doesn’t have that role model in his life that he wants to be like.

Overall, The Outsiders was a fantastic book. I recommend this for all and although this wasn’t the first time I’ve read the book, I’m sure it won’t be the last time either.

The Outsiders Post #1

The Outsiders has been a novel which I have read time and time again, but never have I ever looked at it in a coming of age eye. This unit has brought me to dig deeper and pull out even more themes from this incredible piece of literature. I’ve noticed that Ponyboy is a product of his environment, before I didn’t even put thought into it.

            There are many things which have led me to believe that Ponyboy doesn’t fit in the context of the book. First off, his personality differs completely with the rest of the Greasers, or for that matter, any gang member. Ponyboy shows an emotional and thoughtful side by worrying about the safety of his friends and family, and by weeping by thinking about the situation both him and Johnnie were in after they ran away. He also shows a solitary side. For example, on page 68, Ponyboy has persuaded himself 1//2 way that he had dreamed what happened and that it wasn’t real. Also, instead of hanging out with the other guys, he goes out to the porch and thinks to himself. Yes, it could have been a product of his situation/environment, but it also could have been that he has a less social personality, unlike the other greasers. The traditional gang member that you would think of would be a huge, ruthless maniac that could kill anyone in his path. No sympathy. No empathy. In contrast to that, Ponyboy is extremely understanding and emotional.  Although Ponyboy’s personality forces me to stop and think that he doesn’t fit in with the time period or place in which the book takes place, it’s not the only thing.

            Another way in which Ponyboy differs from the Greasers is that he is very intelligent and literate. For instance, Johnnie buys Ponyboy a copy of Gone with the Wind because he knew that Ponyboy had wanted to read it, and so that Ponyboy would be able to read it aloud to the rest of the Greasers. Ponyboy did as planned, but when Johnnie tried to read it, he wasn’t able to. He said that there was no real story; just a tale told by Ponyboy. As if reading a book was real! By being able to read Gone with the Wind, Ponyboy shows the Greasers, and the reader, that he was the most scholastically advanced and literate out of all of the characters. It’s almost as if he was learning from rich education.

            The major reason for why I feel that Ponyboy is a product of his situation is that if you were to take his character and place him into almost any other situation, he would probably fit. In fact, he seems as if he had grown up in a richer family than he did; would he fit in with the Socs if he was part of them? I would even venture to say that he seems displaced in the Greasers; the Greasers are made up of trouble making, less fortunate people with “no future” while Ponyboy could have a successful future ahead of him. He’s not given enough support though. Growing up with no parents was a real detriment to him.

            Now that I’m over halfway through with The Outsiders, I can see many themes that correspond with this book, but most of all, I can tell how relatable many parts of the story is; the situation of being a product of your environment is an issue in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Another thing I can relate this book to is my life. I can see Ponyboy as a sort of stand out, I can’t quite see what for, but I can see it. The problem is that he doesn’t have enough backing from home (I understand that it isn’t anyone’s fault). I do many extra activities where I see standouts; music, baseball, school, etc., and many could be so much better at what they do than they are, but they don’t have enough parental support. Overall, The Outsiders is a pleasure to read over and over again, because no matter how many times you read it, you’ll always notice something different that you never noticed before.

The Age of Aquariums

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1196890/index.htm

Do we really need all the extras in our ball parks? When they built Fenway Park or Wrigley Field, two stadiums that are almost 100 years old, did they assume that fans needed more than the game to have a great time? I don’t think so. Back in the days of the historical ball parks fans came to see the game, not to go shopping or gaming. Today with new ball parks such as the highly styled Miami Marlins Stadium, people can do it all except watch the game in peace. Baseball is clearly not enough for people today, they need performance art between innings and a shopping mall on premises in case they have the urge to buy stuff not related to the game. Sadly, long gone are the days that ball park dimensions were determined by the streets around it. One of baseball’s secret charms is the fact that each ball park is unique in its footprint. Each one has different dimensions but the game always comes first. Ballparks used to made of brick and wood and they felt organic while now there are plexi glass fish tanks behind home plate, what for?

2012 is a year of change in baseball, some teams are switching leagues, the post season format is changing allowing more teams into the race, the season opened in Japan and the ballpark is the new amusement park. Baseball seems to be spending a lot of money on things that have little to do with the game I love and they make it harder for regular families to enjoy the great American pastime. While some kids might like all the bells and whistles of the new ballparks I just go for the baseball and maybe an ice cream and a few hot dogs and nachos…ok, I like all the new food choices that the stadiums have now, the changes are not all bad.

Baseball like music before sampling, has character because of the human touch. Umpires make calls in every play that can change the outcome of games and some would like to change this and institute a replay rule for baseball. I say No! No replays in baseball, part of the game is the ump and that is the way it should be. Baseball can tinker with the dimensions and layouts of its parks and they can add teams to the playoff format to make for a more interesting end of the summer but I ask the MLB to stop short of taking the human element away from the game. Let us enjoy our game with no clocks the way our parents and grandparents enjoyed it, simply.

Plagiarism

1. What did the student do wrong? What could he/she done to include the source correctly?
~In the example given, the student plagiarized; he/she took an excerpt from a source and used it as their own. Not showing that it was taken from somewhere else was what the student did wrong. He/she could have used the name of the source and put the excerpt in quotation marks in order to let the reader know that it was taken from somewhere else.

2. Write a sentence using the original source correctly; use a quotation or paraphrase. Also, make sure to cite correctly...
~"There is a peaceful essence flowing from the structures. Perhaps the cool dark colors and the fiery windows spark memories of our own warm childhood years filled with imagination of what exists in the night and dark starry skies. The center point of the town is the tall steeple of the church, reigning largely over the smaller buildings. This steeple casts down a sense of stability onto the town, and also creates a sense of size and seclusion.To the left of the painting there is a massive dark structure that develops an even greater sense of size and isolation." (http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/starryindex.html)

3. What are at least 3 ways to avoid plagiarizing?
~You can paraphrase the quotation, use quotation marks and cite the source correctly, or preface the statement you are about to make by using the name of the source.

Peer Blog Response

I've read 2 student blogs; Jake Lester (813) and Josh Waldman (813)'s blogs. I read Jake's response on Cats Cradle and Ice-Nine Josh's poem about America. Both responses were intriguing due to vocabulary, ideas brought up and techniques used.
Jake's response on Cats Cradle and Ice-Nine is interesting for me to read due to vocabulary. He uses phrases such as unrelenting distaste, meaning there must be some significance in the book of what he's describing. Another reason why I enjoy Jake's vocabulary usage is because it's very similar to how he speaks in real life. I remember when I was just learning how to write, teachers would say "write like how you speak", some people take that idea and create writing that is a little more difficult to understand, but Jake actually uses this idea and his writing comes out perfectly clear. In this response, another thing I like is how Jake uses true evidence from the book to support thoughts and even predictions. In fact, most of his statements tie in together, which he later explains. He really has found a way to take tons of text evidence and use it to prove a point that he's trying to make. Jake doesn't do very much retelling, he just elaborates on what he read.
Josh's poem on America is interesting because he uses tons of great technique and deals with mature topics. Josh uses techniques such as symbolism (belles), and even physical techniques like line breaks which help the flow and mood of the poem. Josh also touches on some mature topics such as unemployment in America and losing privileges such as Southern Blacks with voting. Josh finds a way to sneak politics and history into a poem about a place. The only suggestion I have for Josh is to change the color of the writing.
After reading these two blog posts, I've gotten some ideas of what to do. Using line breaks and techniques in poetry is healthy; it makes your artwork unique, and isn't that what writing is-a form of art?                                    Writing like I speak is a useful idea, but you can't take it literally because your writing won't turn out very well. trying to keep it similar to your own style is the goal though. One last struggle that I've had lately is citing sources correctly. Jake did it perfectly, so I will take his work into consideration. Overall, the two blog posts that I read were remarkable.    

Poem Response

            Studying poetry is hard. Trying to decipher what the poet is trying to say is challenging for sure, but I might be getting a little better at that. Picking the poem apart for certain techniques and literary devices is the easy part, decoding the language and finding what the author’s true intentions are is a different story. Two poems, “Harlem” by Langston Hughes and the lyrics to “Starry Starry Night” by Don McLean are very contrasting texts but they both touch on the power of your ultimate dream.

            A dream deferred, sad if you think about it. How many people do we all know living with a dream deferred, probably most. Sometimes, some things are more important than dreams. I actually can’t even believe I just said that, but I guess feeding a family can be more important than some dreams. Love might lead to a dream deferred, I could see that happening. In this poem, Langston Hughes uses many literary devices to catch our attention and although the poem is short, it drives the point home directly. Dream Deferred itself is alliteration, there are rhyming words and similes. There are lines in this poem that make your stomach turn and I found myself cringing at the thought of the smell of rotten meat and festering sores. Both of those images are awful to think about, the author must truly be disgusted at all the dreams he has seen deferred in a place like Harlem.

            Starry Starry Night is also about dreams but in a different way. Don McLean is telling us about a man who lived for his dream so intensely that it drove him mad. He has followed his dream down the road to obsession and from his room in an asylum, he paints. Nothing got in the way of Vincent Van Gogh’s dream of art, not family or love. He was in love with is work, a love never retuned but I must admit I think of him as courageous for standing by his true love. Don Mclean gives us the illusion that this a light and airy text with rhyming words like hills and daffodils. Palettes of blue and grey and summers day, these images are peaceful and the whole poem feels peaceful to me even though he is locked away and ultimately dies.

Animal Farm 2

The stage has been set for a rivalry between Snowball and Napoleon. On Animal Farm, the pigs have clearly established themselves as the ruling class. They are the smartest; they can read, debate, propose laws and have the ability to learn new skills. Since the idealistic views of Major, the pigs have been well respected by the other animals for their minds and opinions. Snowball and Napoleon have become the most outspoken and driven pigs on the farm. They can never seem to agree on anything at all. It does not seem that Animal Farm will be long for having two in charge. Soon enough, there will be one who rises up and takes control. Too much power to one person or one party is dangerous, humans and in this case pigs can get power hungry and greedy.

            I found it interesting that Snowbell wanted all of the animals to educated and have the ability to read. Even the Animals know the power of literacy. As it turns out you learn which animals are capable of reading and which were not. You also find out some key personality traits of some of the main characters. For instance on page 32, Orwell describes the dogs as “learned to read fairly well, but were not interested in reading any thing except the seven commandments.” This shows the dogs to be one track minded. They were intelligent enough to learn yet they did not have the sense to question they only wanted to follow the rules. This can represent the mindset of a soldier who internalizes the country or unit before self motto. A soldier who is taught not to question orders, only carry them out.

            Only a few animals of the farm were able to learn to read, the rest remained illiterate. Some of the stupidest animals were not able to learn the Seven Commandments by heart and they were condensed to one phrase that was at the heart of everything the Animalists stood for “four legs good, two legs bad.” Much like when they were in the barn watching Major give his rebellion speech and some of the less smart animals were only able to hum the tune of the Beasts of England. Although they were not fully aware of what was going on, they grasped enough to feel like they belonged to something so they stood behind it not totally blindly, but somewhat under informed. Condensing the Seven Commandments to only one line makes it lose a lot in the translation. A big part of the population of animals was only able to remember this line. When so many people/animals are so under informed it can lead following the wrong leader. When only few can read, question and be truly informed, it opens the door for others to take advantage of their blindness.