The Outsiders Theme

Does the book have a central theme?What does it mean?
The outsider is a teenage experience of a character who is a loyal to the people around him and will protect them at any circumstances. Throughout the story Ponyboy was not so stand up as he is in the intro of the novel. This weary character Ponyboy goes through beatings and losses of love one's as a the real average teenage gang member goes through. I think many of teens will find this book interesting because the main character stands out and comes almost to life as the literature progresses the whole theme of the book.

Thug Matrimony is about a woman and a man who relationship starts to fall apart at their 1st wedding ceremony. Many people are hurt, and the couple end up still engadged by the end of the day. This all started by an ex boyfriend of the bride showing up at the wedding ceremony. The groom starts to have second thoughts about the marriage and is soon punished for his action by the bride. I like this book for the simple fact that i would like to get married one day. I would recommend this book for people who are interested in alot of drama and surprises.

How it all ended

When i first started reading this book i didn't like it because of how they were getting treated. It was horrible how at such young ages Rachel and her little sister had to go through so many problems. They had all there toys taking away from them. They were not aloud to take them into hiding with them. They had to give up there bikes to the Germans and Rachel had just got hers when the day came to give them up.Rachel was confused one day when she saw her mom running towards them and was in tears. The reason why was because she had just found out that she had to be separated from her kids and they had to go in hiding because the Germans where coming to invade there home land. This part of the book made me want to keep reading and find out more. She had no choice but to tell her kids what was going on. She had to let them know how they would be living for the next couple of years until the war was over. I didn't like how they had to be separated from there parents and had to go live with complete strangers. As i got further in the book my feelings started to change about somethings in the reading. While Rachel and her little sister went from home to home the people they had to live with got nicer. They got to see there parents like every 3-4 months. They were always happy when the time came around to see there parents. I like how Rachel and her little sister were smart enough to understand that they will be living back with there parents when the war was over and took living strangers good. The time came for the war to be over Rachel and her little were now attached to the aunt and uncle they been living with for the last couple of years. Rachel was excited to finally see outside again because during the war time they wasn't aloud to be seen so that meant they couldn't go outside. Her little sister was still afraid to go outside she would not leave the house, until she heard some people outside talking and recoginzed there voices it was her parents and Rachel. She took off running. Rachel dad had found them a place to live so they can all be back together in one house. At first when they got back together as a family they were all stayng in the house that Rachel parents had been staying at during the war time. It had got to crowded in that house. I enjoyed the ending of the book because Rachel, her mom, her dad, and her little sister all made it through the war with out dying and was reunited as a family. They finally got to live a normal child life. Rachel got to go back to school with her friends. They were aloud to play outside and they were aloud to play with any kids nomatter what there race was. I think if i would have read this book when i was younger or waited to read this when i was older i would have still felt the same way because its just the impact the story has on you.

The Outsiders

Does this story or its characters remind you of another story you have read? Does it remind you of a movie? How are they alike? And how are they different?

-This novel reminds me of a book i read in eigth grade titled Flesh and blood, wich was a crime solving mystery novel about a female who was murdered with no trace of a killer. Eventhough it sounds nothing like the Outsiders, it relates to me because the girl in the book named lisa who was murdered personality is equal to pony boy's when it comes to thier loyalty to thier famliy.The movie that this book reminds me of is boys n tha Hood a classic movie staring Ice cube that tells a story of boys growing up in a rough nieghborhood wich cause them to clash with another group of boys. This ultimately relates to the book because cuba gooding jr try's to stay out of all the gang violence in the movie, but he is so loyal like(ponyboy) and ends up loosing a friend in a gang fight.The Outsiders

The main characters motivation seems to be her brother. The reason the main characters motivation seems to be her brother is due to the death of him. It had appeared that her brother had died to the drug of coccaine. but she seems to think more of it. and she wants to know why. now knowing that shes not really considerd the talking type or well known among her peers. Its going to seem kind of hard to seek out this information. This is why i feel he is her motivatin. she keeps herself hidden and is as quit as a mouse. now she must learn to raise her voice and speak out. Stand up and be seen. Only the motivation of the death of her brother can do this to a girl who hides herself from even a mirror.

Blog3 the black mirror

Yes i believe the characters experienes causes them to grow. I see the character in my book having no other choice. She keeps herself as a shadow. Its there but no one really pays much attention to it. Therefore after her brother dies she seems its much her fault for some reason. She has guilt that her invisibilty let him die. Not there to help him. shes not even sure of the real reason he died. So her new obligation is to seek out how and why. in order to do this she must become visible and known. She must become sociable with her peers from shool and his closest friends and enemies. Her death of her brother has caused curiosty and growth of herself.

Getting to know more about Hide and Seek

In every book there is a conflict. In this book Hide and Seek the conflict is the Germans is taking over everything that the Jewish people own including there lives. During this period of time there had to be many decisions made. The main character Rachel had to make many smart decisions. When she was in hiding she had to make decisions for her and her little sister because they were separated from there parents. They moved from house to house getting to know new people who they had to call aunt and uncle. The conflict in the book really had an impact on the characters that were Jewish. Rachel had to make a decision everyday to get through her daily life. The decisions that she were making were smart. Rachel moved in with people not knowing if they were Germans, she had to do what she was told to do if she wanted to live. She didn't know anything about the people that she had to live with.

If i had to be in Rachel position making the same decisions she made i honestly don't think i would have made those same smart choices. I would have refused a couple of times to keep switching hiding places. I would have been scared to just go live with a stranger even if it was to save my life. I would not have been thinking at that time that it was only to save my life like Rachel did. The reason me and Rachel would have had different decisions is because Rachel think before she really reacts to what she is thinking about doing or what she wants to say before she reacts to the situation but me i go with my first instincts because i believe that if i think to long about a situation it might be to late when i answer and the decision is already made for me,

Questions i would ask the character or author

If i could ask any character a question it would be the main character Rachel. The reason why i want to ask her a question is because every time she had to go and hide when the Germans where close by she would tell herself that she should just give up and let them catch her. She never gave up though and i want to know what made her change her mind and just keep hiding and not giving up. The reason i want to know this is because i be in alot of situations like that and i have to make a choice and i always pick the choice where i am giving up. I want to know what she was thinking at the time to make her think fast and come up with the choice to stay in hiding. So next time when i have to make a decision and i have to make it fast i would go with the smart choice not the one that comes to mind first. Another question for Rachel is how did she take losing her grandparents so well. I want to know this because losing my grandparents where the worst thing that ever happened to me so far. Did she take it so well because they were at war and she was bound to lose a family member or did she barely know them. If i could ask the author any question it would be what made him think about writing a book like this and using a young child for the main character. The reason i want to know this because it turned out to be a good book it drew me closer to the book by having a young girl as the main character. Another question i want to ask the author is did he come up with the title or the story first. The reason why i want to know this is because they go perfect together. If he came up with the story first he probably didn't have to think so hard about the title of the book even though that was a smart choice he made. Another question i would like to know is if the author is German or Jewish. I want to know this because if he was Jewish he probably is expressing his feelings towards the Germans and letting people know how people felt to live during such a war. If he is German then i believe he is just telling the story his ancestors lived.

More about the Outsiders

Reading through this novel I have learned that the story takes place about 40 years ago about the time when elvis was the top artist in music. The main character in the story is the narrator who is Ponyboy, he reminds me of ine of my friends from my early childhood a boy that wants to be in the mix but is not the brawling type if you know what I mean.If I could ask the auhtor a question i would say why do you only release info on the gangs relationship an not how they are in school or when thier just doing everyday lives. I ask this because I would like to know more about the narrator personally.The setting of the book enhanced the story because it t akes place in the 1950's in a small town called creekville wich gives me a suburb kind of feeling. I am looking forward to learning how ponyboy handles the soc's the next time he gets trapped in their territory.

The Allure of the West

<i>Into the Wild</i>, Jon Krakauer, pgs 144-207 (end)

<i>Death of a Salesman</i>, Arthur Miller, pgs 1-97

So, I finished <i>Into the Wild</i> and started rereading a book that I'm studying with my AP Literature class.  As I read the first act of the play I was struck by the similarity between Chris McCandless and many of the characters from <i>Death of a Salesman</i>.  The main character of this story, Willy Loman frets over a missed opportunity to accompany his older brother to Alaska to make money. Instead he is 60 and stuck in a dead end sales job.  Interestingly enough, Willy's father abandoned <i>him</i> as a child to also seek fortune in Alaska.  In a weird twist, Willy is disappointed in his son Biff because he is constantly seeking work outside of the norm of the day.  He's worked on cattle farms and other jobs that Willy does not respect.  Biff explains that he likes these jobs because he's not stuck inside at a desk and can be out in the open air.

In American culture the west has always been symbolic of the open frontier, a vast unexplored wilderness where a man could make his living outside of the realm of laws and societal constraints.  It's interesting that these two books, written 50 years apart, have such similar themes.

Does anyone else know of any characters who seek a life outside of society?  Anyone have a friend or family member who constantly wants to go out on the open road?  What do you think drives a person to feel like this?

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<b>Dear Blogger:</b>  This is not a spam post.  I am mailing to publish this on all of my student's blogs in order to provide a sample and to engage in discussions.  Please call off the spambots.

The Outsiders

The Outsiders has come to be a great peace of literature,building suspence in every chapter. The new characterts soda pop johnny and dallas all seem to be brothers in a gang called the greasers who have trouble with the socs, a vicious gang of rich kids.The socs idea of a good time is beating up on "greasers" like ponyboy. Im getting to know the character ponyboy alot, he is a kid who was born into a gang not realy tough but loyal and he also is the youngest so his brothers look after him. According to the author this book is a heroic story of friendship and belonging, so im looking forward to the next chapter.

I believe these characters seem real and believable. Well this is typical for american society. Us wanting to look a certain way or be a certain weight that we see in magazines. Not letting ourselve be who whe are. I can definately relate to there predicaments. look at my self for an example! Why i look at other girls or on t.v and just see what i dont have rather than what they dont have that i do. even you have. rather its not or having to much bress, your but being to big or not big enough. your skin being to pale or to dark. no one is able to look at them selves as perfect or good enough because of images society have created. This character is very much real to me.

The begining of Hide and Seek

The book so far is interesting. Its about a young girl who is living during a period of time when war was taking place. Sometimes when you read a book, short story, poem , or any type of work its something that always grab your attention. In this book i am pulled towards the main character Rachel, i feel bad for her. I think i am pulled towards her because of how she has to live her life at such a young age. She has no say so in anything thats going on. All she know is every time her dad say lets go its time to hide she have to hurry and find a place. She had to switch schools because the germans no longer were allowing jewish kids to go to that school anymore. Rachel is confused she dont know if she can be proud that she is a jew or hide what she is.

I can somewhat feel her pain even though i have not lived during a bad war like that. The reason why i feel like i can feel her pain is because i know how it feels to change schools and make new friends. I changed schools in the middle of the year i was never in one school for more than one year. I also know how she feels when it come to being scared to let people know her race. I had a friend who always had problems because of her race. I was there for her because i dont believe your skin color or race should affect how you get treated.

Even though im not that far in my book i think its going to be a big change in the story. I believe Rachel will get to live a life like a regular child. Hopefully she gets to play with any child nomatter what their race is.

The Black mirror

This book called the black mirror. It is story about asian not fitting into the typical look of the usual asian. she had hips and breast that they desribed as verluptuois. she felt weird and diffrent. ugly so she dicided to hide herself from the world and even her reflection. so far i seem to like what i am reading because this is an example of stereotype that go on everyday.

the intro to the book im reading

The book i am reading is written by S.E Hinton. The title of my book is the called The Outsiders about two gang rivals. In the first chapter of the book the gang called the greese creates a major conflict in the story as the gang jumps a character in the story called pony boy, who is part of another gang who name has not been revealed.

B) One thing i liked about the book that it is very exciting so far keeping me intrested on the next chapter.

The Intro To The Book im Reading

The book im reading is called Hide And Seek and is writing by Ida Vos. This book so far is about a eight year old girl who is living when the Nazis invade Holland. The young girl is jewish and the Germans does not like jewish people. One thing i dont like about the book so far is that the young girl has to go through these things at such a young age.

Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer Pages: 1-144

So, the book I'm reading is about this early twenty something kid who
is pretty alienated. It's a nonfiction book, and since I haven't
summed it up yet in a previous response, it's about a kid who is
searching for meaning in life and seeks this meaning by exploring.
At the beginning of the book we find out that he ends up dying in the
middle of Alaska to exposure.

Even though I think I'm supposed to, I'm having a really hard time
identifying with the main character, Chris McCandless. I look at
the cover and there's this picture of Emile Hirsch portraying
McCandless. He's a good looking kid, and he's kind of sitting in this
"top of the world" type dominant pose. The author seems to really
identify with the character, and spends a couple of chapters relating
his own similar experiences. And McCandless is seemingly the rugged,
individualistic antihero that Americans celebrate.

But, I can't get into him, and I think it's because I'm a parent
now. I see the way this kid abandoned his parents, went off into the
middle of nowhere, took chances, didn't write home, and espoused his
theories on the way life works to whomever would listen, and I'm
like, "dude...call your mom, dad and sister. They're worried sick."
The kid is kind of portrayed as this spiritual, deep Thoreau quoting
prophetic figure, but he just strikes me as naive and self centered.
I don't know what I'd do if I was his parent. I would be devastated
if my son took off after graduating college and just disappeared.
It's really rather sad.

(By the way, if you're wondering, this response is to the 7th bullet
under character. The total length of this response is 279 words. I
summed up the book to start because I figured you'd need that
information, but then I really tried to stick to talking about
whether or not I identified with the main character and why.)

Your 1st Post!

Today in class we will be posting to our blogs. To keep things simple, this
first post will be a kind of introductory thing. Here's what I'd like each
of you to write (make sure it is under your own display name):

1. In 2-3 sentences, give us a taste of the book. What is the title? Who
is the author? What is the "gist"? (It's about a girl who...)
2. In a separate paragraph of 2-3 sentences, finish this sentence: One
thing I like (or don't like) about the book so far is...

Welcome

Hello folks. I just wanted to give you a hearty welcome to the
blogosphere (the world of weblogs, according to my widget dictionary).

I'm going to send you more meaty information in the next few days
(right now I'm testing out the "mail to blogger" option I told some
of you about today).

But for now, I want to talk to you about grammar and conventions.
These are blogs for my English class, and I expect you to follow the
rules of standard English as best as you can. Some of our previous
rm305 blog discussions were replete with mistake after mistake. You
may IM your friends and write on Myspace one way, but on these blogs
we are going to assume a more academic diction.

Thanks for the help. If you have any questions, let me know.