The+Outsiders

//The Outsiders// has become a timeless American classic with its relevant depiction of true to life issues that many teenagers still face today. Ponyboy Curtis, a serious, introspective and observant 14-year-old boy, suddenly finds himself both a literal and figurative outcast when his good friend Johnny commits accidental murder of a popular socialite in order to save Ponyboy. Both boys belong to a fiercely loyal group of friends known as the Greasers, a pack of high school drop-outs who nonetheless seem to know a great deal more about friendship, trust and doing what is right than their arch rivals from the other side of town, the wealthy Socs who come from prominent families and as such, seem to have it all. Through an unlikely friendship formed between Pony and Cherry, a Soc, readers gain an honest and insightful awareness of the hardships that all teenagers can face, regardless of economic status. Themes of friendship, life, death, independence and finding a path from adolescence to adulthood will be read, written about and discussed with in-class study guide assignments, vocabulary/writing assessment, and a diary project as the novel study's culmination.

Major Assignments:
Study Guide

Vocabulary/Writing Quiz This assessment will show not how well students memorize definitions of chosen words, but how well they really understand them. Students will be expected to write a 1-2 page short essay or story on the topic of their choice using a required number of vocabulary words from the novel. Novel definitions and parts of speech will be given, however the students must not rely on memorization in order to show their comprehension of words. The true test of vocabulary development is in the application of words' meanings in different contexts and using a variety of forms and parts of speech. Vocabulary words must sound like they came from the students' own knowledge and complement, rather than force their placement, in students' writing.

Novel Project Handout with instructions given in class. Will be primarily completed in class with final drafts of diary entries, diary assemblage and finishing touches completed as homework the weekend of Sep. 5/6.
 * Due dates: 8C, 8E, 8F Sep. 7; 8G Sep. 8** (these dates are firm; projects must be turned in at the beginning of class)