Choose Your Side

            When you are shopping at a store do you notice that everyone buys something different than everyone else?  There are many different types of groups of people in the world: mean, generous, popular. Some feel like they fit in and some just don’t. Stereotypes affect how people act around others and everyone should express how they are different in a certain way.

            When you are with your friends, do ever feel like you have to act like someone else or say something you normally wouldn’t say? You shouldn’t have to if they are your real friends. Sometimes, I feel that I have to dress differently than I normally would just to fit in. In the movie, Camp Rock, a girl wants to make friends with the “cool” girls so she wears fashionable clothes that don’t fit her personality. This shows how she is trying to impress them. In the book, The Outsiders, the two groups, greasers and socs, don’t try to be like the other group. The greasers’ opinion of the socs is wealthy, cold hearted, and always looking for a fight. Johnny said, “It seems like there’s gotta be someplace without greasers or Socs, with just people. Plain ordinary people.” This shows that you were either a greaser or a soc. Nothing else. People need to express their own self and show the world who they really are.

            Imagine a world where everyone is the same. Everyone has the same clothes, has the same hair cut, and has the same personality. The world would be boring, simple, and people would probably have no fun. You wouldn’t be able to express who you are as an individual and you would get treated the same way as everyone else. Therefore, people should respect others differences. I was at school one day a while back and a boy got laughed at because of his weight. This probably made him feel like he was less than everyone else and that he had no friends to stick up for him. In the book, The Outsiders, Ponyboy pretends to be cool with the rest of the greasers but he is unique in his own way. He smoked and tried to speak in a slang way. Josh Groban, a singer, says, “Don’t try to be like me. Try to be like yourself. Try to be very good at being like yourself.” This shows that he feels strongly about expressing yourself. Being yourself is one of the most important things in the world. Don’t change who you are.

Next time you are shopping with a friend, don’t buy what they want you to buy. Buy what best fits you and your own personality. Stereotypes are affecting people all over the world by making people be someone their not so you should always be yourself. Remember this and you will be better off in life.

           

           

           

           

           

How Randy Changes

Randy changes in many ways in the book, "The Outsiders". The night of Bob's death (Page 51), he probably realizes that there is no point in jumping anyone because it doesn’t make him feel proud. He just lost one of his best friends just because they were goofing around. He was so focused on being the tough soc that he didn’t realize that after he jumps people, his life moves on and it is just for the thrill. He was just too focused on being the tough guy. This reminds me of the movie, Soul Surfer. The main character is too busy focusing on winning the surfing competition, she doesn’t have time to go on a retreat to a poor country to feed and help them. It isn't until she looses an arm when she realizes similar situations are going on all around the world. Randy then realizes that greasers will always be greasers and socs will always be socs and that they should stop fighting. 

Johnny's Life or Death Situation

Author's Note: The purpose of this piece is to describe how a shy person could become a murderer in a life or death situation. In other words, how someone can change so quickly? I would like feedback about if I wrote the piece well so others can understand it.
             
       Johnny is known as the pet of the greasers. He would not hurt a fly. His parents abuse him to the point of Johnny not loving them anymore. Most every night, Johnny's father comes home drunk (If Johnny is even there to see him). Johnny usually spends the night at his friend's houses or in the streets so he doesn't have to suffer harsh beatings of his father. Being jumped is the thing he fears most. He took a harsh beating and got cut up to the point of death before. One night, Ponyboy, Johnny's friend, and Johnny walk around and fall asleep in an empty alley. Ponyboy wakes up and goes home only to find that his older brothers, Darry and Sodapop, are worried sick about him. Darry gets so mad that he hits Ponyboy who quickly storms out the door. He meets up with Johnny once again and they walk to the park. All of the sudden out of nowhere, a nice car pulls up and five socs get out. They walk over to the boys and Bob, one of the socs, starts to drown Ponyboy. Johnny then stabbed Bob and the rest of the socs ran away. He didn’t believe what he just did but he was just trying to save Pony. I think this was just self defense and Johnny did not really mean to kill anyone. But, after the first beating that he had, it scared him so much that he said he would use the knife he carried if needed. Here was the time to use it.

Ponyboy

Ponyboy is a 14 year old boy. He has two older brothers named Dally and Sodapop. His parents died in a car crash when he was 12 years old. Ponyboy is known as a greaser which is a person who had their hair slicked back and is of the lower class. He tipically wears sneakers, jeans, and a t-shirt. I predict that later in the book after the fire, Johnny and Ponyboy will make it safely out of the fire. Something will go wrong after this but I am not quite sure yet.