8: Outsiders paragraphs assignment

Check out the paragraphs assignment. (T-shirt not included.)

Here is the sample we did together in class today:

Can children suffer because they are given everything?

According to The Outsiders, kids who are given everything feel lost because they have no direction and no limits. In conversations between Ponyboy and some of the Socs, the author shows the way in which a lack of limits can be harmful, much in the same way poverty can be harmful. For example, in chapter three, Cherry tries to explain to Ponyboy why the Socs are so violent and wild. She says, 'It seems like we're always searching for something to satisfy us, and never finding it' (p 40). Cherry is saying that without the limitations of wanting things they cannot have, the Socs feel disconnected from life and disatisfied. Later in the novel, Randy tells Ponyboy about Bob and why he was as wild as he was: 'That was what he wanted. For someone to tell him "No." To have someone lay down the law, set the limits, give him something solid to stand on' (p. 121). Randy is showing that the Socs would benefit from some limitations, not just in material goods but in having some rules from their parents. With these two examples, the reader can see that Hinton wants us to understand the feeling of being lost that results from kids not having limitations in the things they have and the things they can do.

Today, kids who are given everything can suffer because they learn negative traits, like greed and selfishness. For instance, if as a child Margo always gets all the ice cream she wants and never has the feeling that she can't have ice cream, as an adult she will expect to have ice cream whenever she feels the desire, resulting in a greedy personality and possible health problems. Or, in another situation ...