"Ponyboy!" Darry called,"We`re going to be late!'
"I`m coming!" I replied as my concentration on my writing was broken. It`s been three years, since the week that took both Johnny and Dally away from us forever and ever since having to write that English theme about the lives of greasers and Socs I have discovered that writing is a talent of mine that allows me to express my feelings, whether they`re good or bad. Who would`ve thought that a greaser like me could turn out to enjoy such a civilized activity like writing. Not much has changed between us greasers and the Socs. We still take turns being in newspapers. Our story of being the young heroes that ran into a burning building to save those children has been long forgotten and reality
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has returned. "Beep!" the car horn blared signaling Soda and I to hurry or else Darry would leave without us for the annual memorial of Johhny and Dally. Each year our gang along with Tim Separd`s outfit meet in the lot to honor our friends who have been lost forever. "I don`t know how you boys are ever going to survive without me taking care of you next year?!" Joked Darry "Ohh, we`ll be fine, Don`t worry about us,Darry. All you need to worry about is not dying of exhaustion before your wedding with the way you work!" answered Soda, before getting into the car. As for our family Darry is now twenty-three years old and he`ll be getting married next summer, Soda is now nineteen going on twenty years old, and I`m sixteen years old. It`s going to be a lot different not having Darry in the house and it`s going to take some getting used to, but he deserves to be happy and how selfish would it be of Sodapop and I to take that away from him. Darry still works very hard and long hours to support us and soon his expanded family. As for Soda and I, he still works at the gas station with Steve, and I`m still getting good grades in school along with working at the gas station as well. The car slows down as we approach the vacant lot that is home to so many memories both tragic and joyous. The gang along with Tim Shepard`s boys greet us, before helping us unpack. After unloading the car we all gather around several picnic tables. "That rumble sure was memorable." stated Tim Shepard "Yes, it was." I sighed, before lighting a cigarette. "Do you know why it was so unforgetful?" "Why?" inquired the gang in unison "because we did it for Johnny." I replied, taking a long, slow drag on my cigarette. "We fought harder than ever against those Socs that night, not only because of who they were, but because of what they`d taken from us. They took what could never be regained, lives." "Braves ones, too" replied Soda proudly "What you boys did that day when you saved those kids, probably wouldn`t even have crossed our minds, if that were us.
It`s sad how remarkable stories like that become forgotten so quickly, isn`t it?" said Tim Shepard followed by many nods of agreement from the accompanying men.
"Man, I sure do miss Johnny and Dally." Sulked Darry " Now before we all start crying let`s have a good time honoring our friends and appreciate the fact that we`re still living." finished Darry as he motioned for everyone to begin the festivities.
While everyone else began partying, I looked back on that night that took both Johhny and Dally forever. That was a time of pain and suffering for us all. Johnny`s death was hard for everyone, but some learned to grieve easier than others. It was too much to handle for Dally , which lead him to his death. After a very dark period in my own life I arose from the pain through my writing, which allowed me to accept everything at my own pace. Although the pain from their deaths will never fully disappear it can be controlled. I now understand what Johnny meant by staying gold and I have made it my life`s goal to spread that message through my writing to keep Johnny`s memory
alive.
Often times the message of an article gets muddled to the reader depending on the stylistic manner of the author’s writing. The style in which the author uses to write, Am I Still Here?, takes away from the actual message of the article. The author, Anthony Doerr(‘)s, uses very descriptive language which is distracting to the reader. Also, the use of metaphors can deem challenging for the reader to understand the true meaning behind the article. Finally, the use of complicated diction makes it arduous to understand what the article is attempting to get across. The stylistic choices that the author uses takes away from the message of the article.
Dally is always getting into trouble and disregarding the law. He does not care if he gets caught because Dally believes he has nothing to live for. After losing Johnny, Dally pulls a gun on the police. Pony says, “I knew he would be dead, because Dally Winston wanted to be dead and he always got what he wanted” (154). Dally knew the police would shoot him after he pulled out the gun, but Dally does not see a point to living anymore. He committed suicide due to feeling his life was not worth living. Dally’s action shows he does not value his life. Likewise, Johnny does not find his life valuable either. With all of the abuse Johnny endured in his life, he feels so worthless to the point where he does not want to live anymore. In the letter he wrote to Ponyboy, it is clear he feels this way. Johnny writes, “Their lives are worth more than mine, they have more to live for” (178). Johnny is referring to the kids he saved in the church; he places more value on the kids’ lives than his own because Johnny feels he does not have a purpose for living. An additional example of Johnny placing little value on his life is when he and Ponyboy are in the lot. Johnny says, “‘I’ll kill myself or something’” (47). Only a person who considers their life unimportant would experience suicidal thoughts. Therefore, Johnny feels convinced his life has little significance. Neither Johnny nor Dally
Last but not least, O’Connor confirms that even a short story is a multi-layer compound that on the surface may deter even the most enthusiastic reader, but when handled with more care, it conveys universal truths by means of straightforward or violent situations. She herself wished her message to appeal to the readers who, if careful enough, “(…)will come to see it as something more than an account of a family murdered on the way to Florida.”
Hatcher, Nathan. "Sammy’s Motive." Ode to Friendship & Other Essays: Student Writing at Virginia Wesleyan College. Ed. Connie Bellamy. Norfolk, Virginia, 1996. 37.
Just as Johnny’s courage shines through so does his fast maturity from child to adult. His childhood was stolen away from him by his illness but instead of sulking he pulls himself together. He takes every difficulty in stride, and gets through them. Even when he is feeling down he hides it for he does not want anyone else to feel his pain. Being a seventeen year old boy he wants to do the things all other seventeen year old boys do.
...nny passed away a piece of each Greasers heart passed away as well. Ponyboy who usually aced his classes was lucky to get a C on assignments after Johnny deceased. He dazed off during classes and thought about the gang, mainly Johnny. While Dallas completely lost his mind when Johnny died. Dallas robbed a store to make sure the police followed him. He had made the bold decision to pull out his unloaded gun when he was surrounded by police officers. Dally new that once he pulled out his gun, his life was going to end. Dally had no reasons to stay alive since the only person he actually cared about passed away. Johnny spiritually gave Dally the courage and determination he needed to get through everyday when he was still alive. In other words, the loss and grief their group of Greasers underwent was what made all the boys make illogical decisions.
Expectations are define as personal belief that something will happen. It’s similar to judgment or assumption people made to a certain person or group of people. It may not be true and it could be different from what is expected. People can also change how they live their lives based on their own expectations just like how the Greasers and the Socs had different expectations. These two groups have contrast expectations that caused bad actions to come up or lead them to benefits for their own group. Expectations may force people into something they are not, even if it is to become a hero or the opposite.
Orenstein, Peggy. “What’s Wrong with Cinderella?” The New York Times Magazine. 4 Dec. 2006. Rpt. in Writing Communities and Identities. Ed. Cynthia Debes et al. 6th ed. Plymouth, MI: Hayden-McNeil Publishing, 2009. 50-54.
The legendary quote “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold” from the renowned novel “The Outsiders” is something that I hope my children and grandchildren will have the privilege to know and understand. The Outsiders has a strong value of family and friendship. Throughout the book there are many satellite themes and issues. The book is known as a coming of age for adolescence. When I first read this book it was in my 8th grade Language Arts class. The first thing that came to my mind was “hey, isn’t that the movie with that Cruise guy”. I had no clue that the story of Ponyboy Curtis would touch my heart in such a way. I had been going through so much that year, I felt as if I was Ponyboy. Middle school starts were kids finally come to a realization of
Greasers are the lowest of society and deserve whatever they get for being a Greaser nor do they deserve any chance to escape the vicious cycle of poverty and judgement and become anything but a Greaser. None of these beliefs are true, but society believes them to be true. Though it is true that many Greasers give up and conform to society’s expectations, who can blame them? In a society that will never accept them, why should they bother? However, Darrel Curtis, a Greaser, refuses to believe in his inherent “lack of worth” as a Greaser, unlike many of his friends and family. He is equal to or better than most Socs, and people can see it, yet few believe it and even fewer choose to make any note of it. The few people who take note of it, his family and a very select few, note that had he been born under slightly different circumstances such as not being born poor and had his parents not die, he could have been a Soc, gone to college and succeeded at life. Darry should have had a future regardless of his lack of socioeconomic status because of his considerable intelligence, hardwork and
Another emotion portrayed through the narrators language is disappointment. The center of the work is where the story takes a deep turn downward - and the black cloud presents itself. Mr. DonLeavy's presence was insult enough, but to say he was "glad to be here to see the work going on just as it was in the other schools" (838)...
A famous poet by the name of Horace once said, “Life is largely a matter of expectations.” Whether these expectations are produced within or those expressed by others, we go on living the standards of how we are supposed to; no more, no less. In the novel written by S.E. Hinton, “The Outsiders”, groups are often put in roles with specific limitations, some of which they put on themselves, while others were expectations from external sources. Moreover, in this novel conjectures played a major role in day to day situations displayed in the text. Both the Socs and the Greasers had roles with reputations to maintain; whether or not it was a good or bad reputation, they still felt the need to live up to the notions placed on them, both as individuals and as a group.
Growing up in a bilingual household, I have struggled with many things especially reading and writing. Reading and writing have never been my strongest points. The first struggle that I can recall, is when I was about six or seven years old. I was beginning my education at Edu-Prize Charter School. I was a cute little kid, in the first grade, just like everybody else. But in the middle of the school year, my mom told me that my great, great aunt, who lived in China, was getting really sick and old. So if I wanted to meet her, it had to be now. Being a little kid, I didn’t quite understand why she couldn’t just go see the doctor, take some medication, or let time heal her. Unfortunately, now I know it was my mom’s way of saying that she was dying. My parents made the decision that it was probably the best way for me to understand my Chinese culture, along with meeting my relatives on my mother’s side of the family. So for a month, I had to leave my dad, my brother, my school, and all my
For my second word I chose discrimination. The word discrimination relates to The Outsiders, because the greasers are constantly made fun of and treated differently just because they are greasers. In the article, an Israeli boy named Eliav Terk noticed that people were tearing down Islamic flags at an international festival taking place at his school. This reminds me of how the socs were following the greasers in their car and trying to start fights with them. Students from the following year’s international festival told Eliav that more discrimination was happening at the festival. This is sort of like how Ponyboy’s friends told him and Johnny what was happening when they visited both of them at the church.
Growing up in working class family, my mom worked all the time for the living of a big family with five kids, and my dad was in re-education camp because of his association with U.S. government before 1975. My grandma was my primary guardian. “Go to study, go to read your books, read anything you like to read if you want to have a better life,” my grandma kept bouncing that phrase in my childhood. It becomes the sole rule for me to have better future. I become curious and wonder what the inside of reading and write can make my life difference. In my old days, there was no computer, no laptop, no phone…etc, to play or to spend time with, other than books. I had no other choice than read, and read and tended to dig deep in science books, math books, and chemistry books. I tended to interest in how the problem was solved. I even used my saving money to buy my own math books to read more problems and how to solve the problem. I remembered that I ended up reading the same math book as my seventh grade teacher. She used to throw the challenge questions on every quiz to pick out the brighter student. There was few students know how to solve those challenge questions. I was the one who fortunately nailed it every single time. My passion and my logic for reading and writing came to me through that experience, and also through my grandma and my mom who plant the seed in me, who want their kids to have happy and better life than they were. In my own dictionary, literacy is not just the ability to read and write, it is a strong foundation to build up the knowledge to have better life, to become who I am today.