The Outsiders S.E.Hinton March 25, 1967 Coming of Age

1. The Outsiders S.E.HintonMarch 25, 1967Coming of Age Meghan.P 3rd Period

2. Setting • In The Outsiders, the city is dirty, noisy, crowded, and full of danger. With almost every fun thing to do in town is shut down, the only things the Greasers can do is go to the movies or the rodeo. Many of the Greasers hope for freedom, so they don’t have to deal with the Socs anymore. • The major places where the story took place is the church, the East side, and the West side. • The minor places would be the movies, there house, and the rodeo.

3. CHARACTERS

4. Conflict • The conflict in this story is, the clash between the poor Greasers and the rich Socs. And the fact that Ponyboy is trying to mature for his age and is having problems while doing that. • Example: Pages 4-6 Ponyboy is walking home and he sees and Corvair and five Socs get out and Ponyboy gets mugged or bit up. • Example: In the book it says that they found Jonny all huddled up in the corner of the field and he was all bruised and cut up. (Man.vs.Man)

5. Summary of Plot • Through out the book many things have happened, but you can tell that Ponyboy is finally maturing and him and Darry are becoming more closer. You find out at the end that Ponyboy is not charged with anything for the crime and him and Sodapop get to stay with their brother Darry. Also Ponyboy has trouble getting over the fact that his friend Jonny has departed. • In my point of view I believe that through out the story Ponyboy realizes that what he is going through is important and believes that if he tells his story, it can help boys his age out.

6. Theme • Bridging the gap between the rich and the poor. • Text Evidence 1:“Hey, grease,” one of the Socs said in an over-friendly voice. (pg.5) • Text Evidence 2:”Need a haircut, greaser?” (pg.5) • Text Evidence 3:“Someone had beaten him badly”, Ponyboy said. (pg.32)

7. Point of View • This story is told in first-person narration from Ponyboy’s point of view. The point of view in this story helps the reader understand what kids your age goes through in life. To me with Ponyboy being the narrator of this story it makes the story much more interesting to me, because he is a teenager. Also the point of view has a big impact on the novel because, the narrative feels realistic. • If the author was to change the point of view I don’t think I would understand the true meaning of the story.

8. Symbolism • In The Outsiders, sunrise and sunset are symbols of unity and connection. • Example: When Ponyboy connects with Cherry at the movies on the topic of sunsets, he began to realize that all humans are linked through the natural world. • The Greasers long, slick hair is a symbol of their gang. (On page 1 Ponyboy is describing his hair and he says it is long.) • The blue Mustang represents the Socs wealth.

9. Recommendation • I would recommend this book to any person, even if your older. This book is based on teenagers. I recommend this book, because when you read it you learn something new about each character throughout the book. Also this book gives vivid details and as you read it, it explains every part of the book in away so that you can understand it. In my opinion this book was one of the best books I have ever read, for the fact that it went so much into detail.