Name: ___________________Date:_________________________________
The Outsiders-Assignments
Over the course of the next several weeks, you will be reading S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. As you complete the chapters, you will work on your Reader’s Response Assignments as quickly as you please. There will be due dates for each assignment, but you are allowed to complete the assignments before the due dates if you want. I will check your work on the due dates to make sure you are not falling behind, but I will not collect the finished journal until after you have all seen The Outsiders movie in class and completed the movie assignment (#6). Be aware that we will be reading some chapters together in class, so you may end up re-reading sections you have already read if you choose to go ahead. Remember, re-reading opens our eyes to new aspects of the text.
Do each assignment IN the writing section of your binder.
Label each assignment clearly.
Reader’s Response Assignments worth 100 points:
#1. Ch.1-2: Response and Character Sketches Due date:
#2. Ch.3-4: Response and Point of View Due date:
#3. Ch.5-6: Response and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” analysis Due date:
#4. Ch.7-8: Response and Character metaphors Due date:
#5. Ch.9-10: Response and Peer Relations quotes Due date:
#6. Ch.11-12: FINAL response to movie: Information on this assignment will be given when the class watches the movie. Due date:
FINAL PERSONAL RESPONSE ASSIGNMENTS DUE DATE TBA:__________________
We will be doing additional activities in class and there will be other small assignments in between (discussions, vocabulary, idioms, quizzes, blog posts, etc.).
A. Reader’s Response Assignments
After you finish each of the sections below, you are responsible to first write a brief reader response in which you include you:
comments/reactions (r),
questions (q),
predictions (p),
inferences (i),
connections to self/world/other texts (c).
You should write at least one paragraph per segment, but you may feel free to write more. We will share our thoughts throughout this unit. Be sure to include a proper heading and title each “Reader Response Chapters______”.
Each of these is worth 10 points. You may skip the response portion twice (that means you will have 4 entries by the time we are done).
B. Chapter Activities Assignments
When you have completed your reaction, you are then to complete each of the following CHAPTER ACTIVITIES in your writing section. Be sure to include a proper heading and title each “Chapter Activities Chapters______”.
Each of these is worth 10 points. The final product will count as a grade and I will be checking your progress along the way.
Chapters 1 and 2: Character Sketches (10 points)
In this story, there are many characters and it can become confusing to keep track. List the characters in your writing section and draw a picture or print a picture for each character as you imagine them. Underneath each image, write at least five defining terms. If you would like to get creative, create a short poem for some or all of the characters instead.
Chapters 3 and 4: Point of view piece (10 points).
Consider these two chapters from the point of view of either Bob or Johnny. Rewrite the scene in the part in first person, present tense, as either of these two characters. Think about what might be going through their minds as the scene unfolds. Both are thinking about more than just the violence that gets played out in the park. Are they thinking about their friends? Their families? The other social group? What are their emotions throughout the scene? Your response should be at least two paragraphs in your writing section. If you would rather, write two poems, one from each of their perspectives releasing emotions about the incident. Be sure to use language that they would use.
Chapters 5 and 6: Poem analysis (10 points)
In Chapter 5, Ponyboy recites Robert Frosts poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” In a paragraph, discuss what you think the poem means. Support your answer with evidence from the poem. You can go line by line or refer to certain lines in your interpretation. The poem also has a lot of meaning personally for Pony and Johnny. Discuss in a second paragraph how the poem applies to their lives and the lives of the Greasers. Be specific and refer back to the text!
Chapters 7 and 8: Character metaphor mini-poster (10 points)
We have learned about idioms, which are cliché metaphors, or sayings that have become over used. Choose and important character from the book. Think about three metaphors (or similes) that you might use to describe that character. For example, Johnny is a stick of dynamite ready to explode, or Dally is a wild colt that cannot be tamed. Don’t be a cliché! When you’ve come up with your three metaphors for your character, make your mini poster (I will show you an example!).
Chapters 9 and 10: Peer relations quotes (10 points)
Choose two quotes from the list below. For each quote you choose, explain how the quote parallels or reminds you of social relationships you see in your everyday life. Write one paragraph for each quote. Obviously, there aren’t Greasers and Socs at HBW, but there are different social groups. How do the quotes you chose apply to the 7th grade or Middle School social groups or individuals? If you would like to challenge yourself to complete more than two or more than a paragraph each, be my guest! J
“I’m a grease, same as Dally. He’s my buddy.” –Ponyboy (p.23)
“You take up for your buddies, no matter what they do. When you’re a gang, you stick up for the members. If you don’t stick up for them, stick together, make like brothers, it isn’t a gang anymore. It’s a pack.” –Ponyboy (p.26)
“All Socs aren’t like that…That’s like saying all you greasers are like Dallas Winston.”-Cherry (p.34)
“It seemed funny to me that Socs- if these girls were any example- were just like us.” –Ponyboy (p.37)
“I mean… if I see you in the hall at school or someplace and don’t say hi, its not personal or anything…” Cherry (p.45)
“Socs were just guys after all. Things were rough all over, but it was way better that way.” –Ponyboy (p.118)
“You know, the only thing that keeps Darry from bein’ a Soc is us.” –Two Bit (p.126)
“Darry and the Soc walked slowly in a circle. Even I could feel their hatred. They used to be buddies, I thought, they used to be friends, and now they hate each other because one has to work for a living and the other comes from the West side.” –Ponyboy (p.143)
Chapters 11 and 12: “Family Filmgoer” (10 points)
After watching the movie “The Outsiders”, you need to write a brief review of the movie. You will need to include information about the appropriateness for family audiences.
Here are some examples below:
The Family Filmgoer
Submitted by Jane Horwitz on March 28, 2012 - 10:42am
A handsomely wrought, thoroughly engrossing adaptation that should satisfy fans of the books and other teens
“THE HUNGER GAMES,” Rated PG-13 — Even teens who haven’t read Suzanne Collins’ popular dystopian trilogy for young adults (“The Hunger Games,” “Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay”) will be gripped by this arresting film adaptation of the first book. Despite the bravery and selflessness of young heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and her co-fighter Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), the film has a dark view of human behavior and of the future that some younger teens — and certainly preteens — might have trouble processing. Katniss lives in District 12 of the country of Panem. District 12, a mining sector, looks like photos of 1930s Appalachia. Katniss’ father died in a mine explosion (nongraphic flashback). Panem is the nation that replaced America in a post-apocalyptic world. Its outrageously coiffed and clad rulers live in the glitzy Capitol and exercise ultra-control over Panem’s 12 districts. Every year, as punishment for a long-ago rebellion, the Capitol requires each district to contribute two teenagers, or “tributes,” to take part in the Hunger Games, a fight to the death in which only one teen can win. When Katniss’ little sister (Willow Shields) is chosen in the lottery, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She is an expert archer. Her guy pal Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth) vows to care for her mother (Paula Malcomson) and sister. Peeta becomes District 12’s second “tribute.” Katniss and he travel to the Capitol, mentored by an eccentric PR person, Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), and a former winner, Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), now a cynical drunk. As they’re groomed and trained for the games, Katniss and Peeta become favorites of the TV host (Stanley Tucci) covering the games. Once they and their 22 competitors are let loose in a woodland battlefield, all their actions are tracked and broadcast on TV. The agitated camera work gives the enterprise an urgency that works well. Katniss and Peeta are tested both physically and morally.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The actual violence is quite understated, but we do see bloody, painful-looking wounds on Katniss and Peeta. And you never lose track of the fact that the young “tributes” fight and kill one another with daggers, spears, arrows and even land mines. We see a former winner in a video holding the bloody brick he used to kill a rival. Katniss dispatches at least one competitor stalking her when she causes a huge wasps’ nest to fall on a group of rivals. We see multiple dead bodies of teen fighters. Katniss escapes a huge forest fire. The film includes rare, mild profanity and negligible sexual innuendo. A theme of loss runs throughout.
Fine for kids 6 and older
“DR. SEUSS’ THE LORAX,” Rated PG — There’s little poetry in this animated 3-D adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ save-the-trees parable, but it’s a lot of fun anyway, and great for kids 6 and older. The vivid colors, elastic character animation and rich humor in the script all serve the Seuss legacy nicely, if differently. Twelve-year-old Ted (voice of Zac Efron) lives in Thneedville, a walled city devoid of any plant life. Everyone there is happy with artificial trees. But Ted worships the lovely Audrey (Taylor Swift), a teen in love with the idea of real trees — the tufted Truffula Trees that used to grow in the town. The evil mini-tyrant Mr. O’Hare (Rob Riggle) is determined that the trees are never replanted. Ted longs to give Audrey a Truffula Tree, or at least a seed. His grandmother (Betty White) tells him to ride his motorbike out of town to find the Once-ler (Ed Helms), a grizzled hermit who can recount what happened to the trees. In a long flashback, the Once-ler recounts how he came to Truffula Valley and invented the “thneed,” a multipurpose scarf made of the tufts atop Truffula Trees. The Lorax (Danny DeVito), a furry spirit who spoke for the trees, tried to get the Once-ler and his greedy family to ease up, but they stripped the valley bare. Now the Once-ler regrets what he did. Ted gets a Truffula seed, takes to Thneedville and starts a green revolution.THE BOTTOM LINE: The bad guy O’Hare has two large goons who might scare kids under 6. When Ted rides outside of town he encounters a foreboding wasteland. The Once-ler recalls the time his bed floated down a river toward a waterfall. But nothing is really too scary here, even in 3-D.
http://www.theexaminer.com/features/entertainment/family-filmgoer-4
By Jane Horwitz, Published: April 12
10 and older
The Three Stooges: The Movie (PG). The Farrelly brothers, Bobby and Peter, have taken up the slapstick mantle of the “Three Stooges” films. The film is fine for kids 10 and older. The trio is sent to a Catholic orphanage as babies. They grow into hopelessly dumb, destructive, inseparable and unadoptable children and then adults, continuing at the orphanage as awful maintenance men. When it’s learned that the place will have to close if it can’t raise $830,000, the guys head out to find the cash. The cheatin’ wife of a millionaire may be their ticket.
THE BOTTOM LINE: All the beating up is executed with true “Three Stooges” panache and the guys always bounce right back — though not always other characters. At the very end, a few punches and pokes are demonstrated, to show kids they’re not real. The subplot about a character’s cheating on her husband and plotting his murder is played as comedy.