One-Fourth Of the Way Done

The first Quater has come to an end, finally. It’s been a long couple of months getting back to the school routine. It’s been tough getting a lot of homework, and waking up 3 hours earlier than I used too. Although it hasn’t been all bad, the first quarter has been kind of easy for me. My grades are pretty good which is great for the start of the year, because I had pretty much forgotten everything over the summer. I know that the first quarter set some standards for me, and it will push me to get better grades in the 2nd quarter

Making Connections Between the Outsiders and Self Concept

Self concept (by Saul McLeod) and the Outsiders have a big connection, which is the identities of each character. Each character and even groups of characters had different things that described their identities, and the characters even sometimes described themselves their own identities. “If there is a mismatch between how you see yourself (e.g. your self image) and what you’d like to be (e.g. your ideal self) then this is likely to affect how much you value yourself”(Self Concept). This relates back to the Outsiders because during the book, Ponyboy ask himself a lot about what his identity is. Especially near the end of the book, Ponyboy keeps asking himself why do people call him a hood when he doesn’t even do anything illegal.”A person's self image is affected by many factors, such as parental influences, friends, the media etc.”(Self Concept). This ties back to the Outsiders because the characters had a lot of things that made them who they were. For example, Ponyboy and most of the characters are greasers, but Ponyboy says he’s smart, not a trouble maker, and has grease in his hair. Those things all define his identity, and what he sees himself as, even if other people tell him otherwise. All together, identity is the big connection between these two texts. I really enjoy how both texts show how to identify yourself, and how to be truthful, to yourself.

The Outsiders Book to Movie Comparison

The Outsiders book and movie have many similarities and differences. Even though the book and movie are not perfectly similar, they still have a lot in common. Both the book and movie display the same main scenes, including the rumble scene, the burning church, and the Johnny and Dally death scenes. Also, the characters descriptions in the book match the movie descriptions even when Johnny and Ponyboy cut their hair and when Johnny was in the hospital. The book and the movie are not perfectly the same, but they do share the same scenes, character details, etc.

However, even though the book and movie have a lot in common, there’s also a lot that they're not common with. The book kind of explains the scenes and set the tone of the chapter, while the movie kind of rush's most scenes like the drive in scene, and the rumble scene. Also, in the scene we’re Darry is supposed to slap Ponyboy like the book says, but in the movie, Darry pushes him before Ponyboy runs away. The movie characters also didn’t really look strong and muscular as the book made them. One last thing that is different is the setting of the tone. The book gives really descriptive detail which makes it interesting, while the music in the movie makes it draw dropping. The book and movie are not the same at all, there are a lot of differences between the book and the movie.

Even though the book and the movie were not the same, I still enjoyed reading and watching the Outsiders very much. The whole book had a lot of turning points especially with Ponyboy and Johnny. The description of words in the book, and the surprising scenes and background music made the two stories jaw dropping. The different views of greaser from both the movie and novel writers was a little bit different but still mostly the same. Overall it was a great book and I’m glad we started it.

Part Time Indian

Part Time Indian is a great and unbelievable book. It is hilarious and entertaining, but also suspenseful and sometimes a little bit rushed. The main characters name is Arnold, but in the book he is mostly called Junior, and he is Indian. Growing up Junior went to schools in his reservation which weren’t the best. He knows he deserves better and wants to transfer schools, but it’s not just his knowledge that changes his mind. He does end up transferring to Reardan in Springdale which is a little far out of the reservation he lived in. Junior knew that he was going to be hated by every other Indian in the Rez, but also revive a lot of hostility from the all white Reardan School. The first couple of days for Junior weren’t so good, but things started to look up after a while. The greatest thing that helped him become popular, was dating the most gorgeous girl in school, Penelope. As soon as Junior started dating Penelope, he made new friends with the cool guys, made the basketball team, and started to become the school icon. The rest of the year, Junior does everything he can to not embarrass himself in front of everyone. Once the summer started, Junior went back to his reservation, and became himself again.