Jaythen's blog

The song Praying Kesha is about a girl getting over a break up. The relationship she was in was abusive and her ex-boyfriend was mentally abusive to her. The book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is about these kids who are in a gang. The Greasers have a gang rivalry with the Socs. It may not seem like it but these 2 stories have a lot in common. Like how they are both about young people trying to get through rough times. But there are also differences in these 2 stories like how Praying is about a couple, and The Outsiders is about a gang.

Both stories show young people going through tough situations. In praying it’s about a girl going through a break up. Her boyfriend is always saying things like that she is nothing without him. And she is trying to get out of this abusive situation. She says things like, “I had to learn to fight for myself.” and “No more monsters I can finally breathe.”

In S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders Ponyboy Curtis is constantly being terrorized by the opposing gang the Socs. One time the Socs take it too far and tried to kill him and his best friend Johnny Cade. Johnny has to stand up for them so he stabs 1 of the 5 Socs. They’re forced to run away or they could get in big trouble with the police. There is a fire at their hide out and Johnny is severely injured and dies in the hospital later. Ponyboy has to try and get death of his best friend and still deal with the Socs.

These stories are also similar in other ways like how they don’t hate the other side anymore. Ponyboy used to hate all Socs and he feared them too. But towards the end he hates them less and less until the hatred is all gone. In Praying by Kesha she wishes no harm on her ex-boyfriend she wishes him well. Like when she says, “I hope you find your peace.”

There are also many differences between the 2 stories like how in Praying she is trying to find strength on her own. She is trying to get better on her own and be better person on her own. She’s trying to show to him that she is something on her own and that she doesn’t need him, that he isn’t what makes her something. While The Outsiders is more of a family strength theme. Like how they all live through each other and even though they all aren’t blood related they’re still brothers. And how they do everything for each other.

In conclusion these story’s themes are different and the same in multiple ways. Like how in The Outsiders is about the strength of a family. While Praying is about individual strengths. But they’re similar because they are both about finding strength after a bad situation.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton which is about these kids from Oklahoma city who are a part of the greasers gang. In their city there are 2 sides. The East side greasers and West side Soc. The greasers are the poor kids who get in to trouble, wear jeans and leather jackets. They smoke cigarettes at young ages, and are proud of their criminal record. The socs are the rich kids who like to get drunk and beat up young Greasers. They frequently jump little greasers like Johnny Cade and seriously hurt them, and mentally scar them for life. The main conflict of the book is the gang conflict between the 2 gangs, greasers and the Socs. The main theme of the book is equality. Equality for everyone regardless of social status or the amount of money they have or their home. Or the side of town they live on.

 

Throughout the entire story this theme develops. Like how at the beginning of the story Ponyboy talks about the Socs like they’re and entirely different species. He thinks that all socs are just drunks who enjoy beating up little poor kids. He thinks they are all like Bob the Soc that gets drunk with his friend Randy and leaves their girlfriends at the movie house all alone. He thinks they’re all bad kids who are privileged and just have fun by beating someone up, or going to big parties and drinking so many beers they can barely walk. And he’s scared of all of them same as Johnny they both are so scared they are constantly looking over their shoulder.

 

Then towards the middle of the story the theme continues to evolve. Ponyboy starts to hate the Socs even more after the time at the fountain when the Socs tried to kill him and Johnny. While they’re at the old church in Windroxville they are forced to hide and leave their homes and the people that they love because they’re scared of the socs. They’re scared of what they’ll do to them when they get caught. I think that this fear is what makes their hatred even worse. I think that they resent them so much because their money gives them more authority and power, and  this fear turns into hate.

 

Then at the end of the middle part there is the fire at the church. Ponyboy Johnny and Dally rush into the fire. They risked their lives to go save the people inside the church.  Even though they were young socs they went inside and saved them. I think this shows that this event shows a change in character for the 3 kids who used to despise all Socs, but now they are even willing to give up their lives to save these little kids. Despite the fact that they are Socs. When Ponyboy is in the ambulance with the kids teacher Jerry he says that the 3 are heroes, he said that they’re the bravest kids he’s ever seen. Then Ponyboy reveals to Jerry that the 3 of them are greasers. Then he says “Greasers or not you kids are heroes.” I think that this could be another turning point because now he sees that not all Socs aren’t the same.

 

Towards the end of the story Ponyboy starts to see more and more that everyone is equal. Like when Randy asks to talk to him while him and Two Bit are walking to visit Johnny and Dally at the hospital. After he gets out of the car Two Bit asks him “What did that Soc want ?” and Pony boy said, “He’s not a Soc he’s just a guy who wanted to talk.” Then before the rumble when he meets up with Cherry to talk about rules he asks her a question. He says ” Can you see the sunset from the west side?” she replies with, “Yeah real good.” Then he said, ” You can see it from the east too.” this is a metaphor about equality. The sunset represents both struggles and prosperity. And when he says that they can both see it it’s saying they both have their fair share of good and bad times.

 

Some might argue that equality for all regardless of money wouldn’t be a good theme for this book for a few reasons. One reason might be that Ponyboy hates the Socs for a long portion of the story. Another reason might be that he still participates in the rumble which is a large fight between the 2 gangs Greasers and Socs.

 

But I say it doesn’t matter what he used to think about them as long as he changed his opinion by the end of the story which he did. Also it shows he has a change of feelings towards them because it starts as people like Cherry, and Randy trying to tell him that things are rough all over and that they have problems too. Now Ponyboy is trying to tell others like Two Bit that they just aren’t Socs they’re people just the same as the Greasers.

 

Also just because he fought in the rumble doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe in equality. He fought to protect himself and his family. Just because he thinks Greasers and Socs are equal doesn’t mean he’s going to stop being a Greaser and fight for his friends against those people who want to hurt them.

 

In conclusion the theme of The Outsiders is equality for all regardless of social class, or the amount of money someone has. This is true for many reasons like how Ponyboy is still friends with Randy and Cherry. Ponyboy doesn’t hate them at the end of the book. He also begins to see that everyone has problems and that they all also have their good times.

 

The Outsiders takes place in the west side of Oklahoma City. I think the time period is somewhere in the 1960’s, because in the book they allow children to smoke cigarettes. like on page 30 2-bit who is still a minor starts smoking a cigarette. Then he gives 1 to Johnny who is only 16 and 1 to Ponyboy who is only 14. Also they go to many places like drive-in theaters which were very popular in that time. Oklahoma City its dangerous for most kids because of the gang rivalry. The gang violence is between the south side/ west side socs .Who are the rich upper/ upper middle class. And the north/east side greasers. Who are the poor kids in the lower/ lower middle class. This hatred between the 2 gangs is the source of a lot of violence. It causes kids to get jumped, stabbed, and robbed.

Ponyboy is 14 and part of the greasers. He’s very quiet, loyal and smart. His parents died in a car accident when their car was hit by a train. Him and his brother Sodapop are raised by his other big brother Darry. His big brother always works many jobs to support the 3 boys. Darry also has to try and keep Pony and soda out of trouble or they’ll be sent away from him. Ponyboy feels unwanted and unloved because Darry is always on his back and yelling at him. Like the time when he got jumped by 4 socs on his way back from the movie house. Instead of making sure he was okay Darry spent most of the time yelling at him and telling him to use his head. The main problem Ponyboy faces is his gang the greasers vs. the socs.

The bell rings and kids rush out of their classes. Soon you hear lockers opening and shutting. After locker stops kids rush to class before that final bell rings. This process happens every 45 minutes for 7th and 8th graders and Blackhawk Middle School. And a common question asks is are passing periods long enough?

In Mrs. Fear’s 6th period creative writing class many 8th graders are late daily. But its not always their fault. At lunch they’re occasionally dismissed late. Which reduces their time to get to the other side of the school for class. So should they really be punished for being late, should they be forced to pull a card.

Other teachers take a different approach on this issue. Like Mr. Lund the business teacher. Instead of punishment he just takes note of if you’re late, and how late you are. He can understand that students are trying to get to class on time.

If students are struggling to get to class on time, they should the school extend the time? Mr. Hoering says “If it becomes a problem for everyone the passing period should be extended. But if it’s an individual problem the student and teacher should sit down and find a solution.”

Some schools like Red Oak Middle School get up to 5 minutes in a passing period. But for some that still isn’t enough time. If that isn’t enough for them then why do other schools only get 3-4 minutes.

“Passing period is a time when students get a snack, use the restroom, or stop y their locker but mostly to get from one class to another. Six minutes to do even one of these things, isn’t a lot of time. If students had just one extra minute they wouldn’t have to rush to class after using the restroom or retrieving materials from their lockers. Most students would agree that longer passing periods would be a benefit to tall.” Says Jason Li from the Panther Post. He also says other teachers don’t understand that students are trying to get to class on time. But they’re still receiving tardies when trying to travel all the way a crossed campus .

If they are struggling with 6 minutes of passing periods we can only imagine  how much harder it must be for kids at schools like Blackhawk middle school who only have half that time. I interviewed Aaliyah Dominguez and she said ” in the halls I feel very rushed, the halls are just too crowded. Whenever I try to go anywhere there is someone in my path. That makes it hard to get from place to place, which ends up making me late.

Another person I interviewed said ” No, passing periods aren’t long enough. You have to get all your book from your locker and get to your class. So you never have time to do anything like use the restroom.  And then in class teachers rarely let you use the bathroom while you are in class. So you’re stuck all day trying to hold it.

How do you feel, do you think that passing periods are too short. Do you maybe think the 3 minutes is too much. Or do you feel that it’s perfect for the students. Comment your opinion below and people can see how Blackhawk feels about this topic.

The bell rings and kids rush out of their classes. Soon you hear lockers opening and shutting. After locker stops kids rush to class before that final bell rings. This process happens every 45 minutes for 7th and 8th graders and Blackhawk Middle School. And a common question asked is, are passing periods long enough?

In Mrs. Fear’s 6th period creative writing class many 8th graders are late daily. But its not always their fault. At lunch they’re occasionally dismissed late. Which reduces their time to get to the other side of the school for class. So should they really be punished for being late, should they be forced to pull a card.

Other teacher take a different approach on this issue. Like Mr. Lund the business teacher. Instead of punishment he just takes note of if you’re late, and how late you are. He can understand that students are trying to get to class on time.

If students are struggling to get to class on time, they should the school extend the time? Mr. Hoering says “If it becomes a problem for everyone the passing period should be extended. But if it’s an individual problem the student and teacher should sit down and find a solution.”

Some schools like Red Oak Middle School get up to 5 minutes in a passing period. But for some that still isn’t enough time. If that isn’t enough for them then why do other schools only get 3-4 minutes.

“Passing period is a time when students get a snack, use the restroom, or stop y their locker but mostly to get from one class to another. Six minutes to do even one of these things, isn’t a lot of time. If students had just one extra minute they wouldn’t have to rush to class after using the restroom or retrieving materials from their lockers. Most students would agree that longer passing periods would be a benefit to tall.” Says Jason Li from the Panther Post.

It was a crisp cool Saturday morning. Perfect for a football game. As teams arrived at Paul Harding’s Arnold Oetting stadium the teams got prepared for for the games.  Each game is a 12 minute quarter, between the 4 teams the Panthers, the Nights, the Hawks, and St. Vincent catholic school. The first game was between the Panthers and St Vincent’s. The Nights and Hawks continued to warm up on the sidelines.

St.Vincent would kick to the receiving team the Pop Warner Panthers. It was a booming kick, fielded around the ten and returned to the 25 yard line. The panthers set up their offence and ran 3 plays then got a first down. After the first down  they quickly went 4 and out. on the St. Vincent’s drive they steadily marched picking up firs downs left and right. t while running down the clock they eventually scored and won the game. After the game the players lined up on the 50 and shook hands. “Good game.” congratulated the panthers as they walked off the field.

The last book I read last year was final crossings by Sean Rodman. The next week I started tap out by Sean rodman. But I never got to finish it so I checked it out this year.what I liked about final crossings was that it was a quick read and that it always keeps you on the edge of your seat. I’m not quite sure what this book will end up being the summary on the back was very vague. But I hope it stays exciting.

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