Exploring your World - The Outsiders

Question 1

What is Context?

Answer 1

Context is the surroundings of events.

Example: Who, What, When, Where, How and Why?

Question 2

What does Context do?

Answer 2

Context illuminates the meaning and relevance of the text, and may be something cultural, historical, social or political.

Question 3

What is Context all about?

Answer 3

Context is all about providing a background or picture of the situation, and of who is involved.

Question 4

What does Context help with?

Answer 4

Context helps readers understand the views and movements prevalent in society at the time of writing.

Question 5

How to have a strong ‘voice’ in fiction?

Answer 5

• The text shows personality. The writer has written the narrative to be read and enjoyed by an audience, not just as an assignment. There is a connection between the writer and the reader.
• The language helps the reader “see” what is happening in the writing by including imagery and details that add authenticity.
• The writer has created a real sense of the protagonist by showing feelings and emotions in the text. The use of evaluative comments is critical to voice.
• The writer has used vocabulary / sentence structure and detail that evoke the culture and time being represented.
• The reader gets a real sense of humour, sadness, happiness, suspense, excitement etc from the writing.

Question 6

What is ‘Voice’?

Answer 6

The voice is the writer coming through the words, the sense that a real person is speaking to us and cares about the message. It is the heart and soul of the writing, the magic, the wit, the perspective.

Question 7

What do good writers do with their ‘voice’?

Answer 7

Good writers can vary their voice depending on the purpose of the message. For instance, a love letter carries a different tone than a letter to one’s lawyer. A good writer also varies his or her voice with the form of writing being used at the time; expository, persuasive or descriptive &; and then within that category to set the correct mood. Correct voice is largely a factor of correct word choice, but other factors are involved, as well, such as length of the sentences and the flow of those sentences; the choice of detail to include; use of evaluative comments

Question 8

What is Bildungsroman: The Coming of Age Story

Answer 8

• A novel that focuses on “the moral, psychological, and intellectual development of a main character” (Buckley)
• This main character is almost always a child
• The reader follows this character as he/she gains a better understanding of the world
• It’s a literary genre

Question 9

How does Bildungsroman work?

Answer 9

• A bildungsroman consists of four stages, stages that characters must face on their path to maturity
• Because of these stages, the reader usually follows the character for a number of years.
• Sometimes, the reader literally follows the protagonist from childhood to adulthood.
• Other times, the reader follows the protagonist from child like thoughts/feelings to more mature understandings of the world around him/her

Question 10

Step One of Bildungsroman:

Answer 10

• The protagonist experiences an event that sets him/ her on a journey
• This experience is usually a tragic loss or sense of unhappiness causes the character to leave his/her home or family. (Howe)

Question 11

Step Two of Bildungsroman:

Answer 11

• The character is almost always stuck in an “unbending social order” where society has strict rules that one is supposed to follow (Howe)

Question 12

Step Three of Bildungsroman:

Answer 12

• A majority of the character’s conflicts result from this social order, where the character struggles between his/her personal needs and “the judgments enforced by this unbending social order.” (Howe)

Question 13

Step Four of Bildungsroman:

Answer 13

• Eventually, the character learns how to fully enter society. The novel ends with the character evaluating himself/herself and his/her new place in society (Howe)

Question 14

Outcome of Bildungsroman:

Answer 14

• It typically ends on a positive note
• The hero or heroine has made some mistakes and experienced painful disappointments, but he/she is able to move on and put those experiences behind him/her
• End suggests a productive, happy future

Question 15

How is a narrative and a story different?

Answer 15

NARRATIVE is a recount of events while STORY is the deliberate engaging of an audience through plot, character and voice.

Question 16

Characteristics of First person?

Answer 16

• Words “I”, “My” are used
• Perspective of one character
• In present or past tense

Question 17

Pros of first person narrator:

Answer 17

• It accommodates many different writing styles
• It offers a factual, less ‘fictional’ presentation of the story
• It follows one character through a growing experience
• It can show a greater emotional depth

Question 18

Characteristics of second person?

Answer 18

• “You”
• External narrator
• Used in blog posts, non-fiction, Choose Your Own Adventure, and self-help books

Question 19

Characteristics of third person?

Answer 19

• He/She/They
• Describing
• External narrator
• Logical level
• Emotional level
• Some distance

Question 20

Advantages of the third person narrative

Answer 20

• Robust character development.
• Wider narrative scope
• Gives the reader a 360 degree of the plot
• Narrative flexibility.
• Character flexibility because you can be everywhere, help your reader see everything, and switch between various characters’ stories.
• This style gives you the ability to be inside a character’s thoughts, feelings, and sensations, which can give readers a deeper experience of character and scene.
• An authoritative, trustworthy narrator.
• The narrator above the action, creating a bird’s-eye-view of the story.
• The character is reliable as they have nothing at stake

Question 21

What is a Limited Point of View?

Answer 21

The ‘close third’ person is used to build interest and heighten suspense.

Question 22

What is a Omniscent Point of View?

Answer 22

The omniscient narrator knows everything about the story and its characters.

Question 23

Wit Definition:

Answer 23

the capacity for inventive thought and quick understanding; keen intelligence.

Question 24

What does the Purpose do for a story?

Answer 24

The purpose of narratives is to tell a story.
They can teach the reader a moral or a lesson.
They can be both informative and entertaining.

Question 25

What is Narrative Structure?

Answer 25

Narrative structure describes the way a story is composed. Narrative structure can be linear or non-linear.

This structure might also be used to give background information about characters and events, especially if the events occurred before story began.

Finally, flashbacks can be used to create parallels between past and present. Readers are better able to identify similarities between past and present when events are placed in close proximity to each other.

Question 26

What happens if a story has a linear narrative structure?

Answer 26

The events occur in chronological order.

Question 27

What happens if a story has a non-linear narrative structure?

Answer 27

• Events are told out of chronological order and might employ flashbacks to jump back in time.
• Authors might use a non-linear narrative structure to create suspense. When the reader does not have all the information, the story is more intriguing.

Question 28

How to Structure a narrative? (Letters)

Answer 28

OSCRC
O - Orientation
S - Series of Events
C - Complication
R - Resolution
C - Coda (optional)

Question 29

Purpose of Orientation:

Answer 29

A short introduction about the main characters and settings. Who, what, when, where, why?

The main purpose of your orientation is to ‘hook’ the readers’ interest and make them want to read on.

Question 30

Purpose of Series of Events:

Answer 30

Well structured, and sequenced events which tell the reader a story, and reveal more about the information presented in the orientation.

Question 31

Purpose of Complication:

Answer 31

This is embedded into the series of events. It is where a potential problem occurs and the whole narrative is based around this, and how it will be solved.

Question 32

Purpose of Resolution:

Answer 32

The complication is resolved and the narrative ends.

Question 33

Purpose of Coda:

Answer 33

Gives the audience some extra information in regards to how the character(s) were feeling, how they have changed, and what could be taken from this narrative.

Question 34

How to ‘hook’ readers and keep them engaged?

Answer 34

Action: Get straight to the point; begin your narrative in the heat of battle.
‘Charging at the old, abandoned door of the house, he used all his strength to force it open.’

Dialogue: Slightly less dramatic than full-blown action, but still gets into the story quickly.
‘“How on earth could that have possibly happened!” complained Andrew.’

Character: Immediately give the readers someone to connect with.
‘Her curls of golden hair fell across her face, catching the light from the glistening moon.’

Setting: Immediately give the readers somewhere to imagine.
‘The stale smell lingered in the air. The smell of rotting wood could be sensed from towns away. It had not been entered for years.’

Question 35

Should you raise questions in the Orientation to keep them engaged?

Answer 35

Action: Get straight to the point; begin your narrative in the heat of battle.

‘Charging at the old, abandoned door of the house, he used all his strength to force it open.’

*What’s behind the door? Is he running away from something? Does he want to get in or out?

Dialogue: Slightly less dramatic than full-blown action,
but still gets into the story quickly.

“How on earth could that have possibly happened!”
complained Andrew.’

*What has happened? Who is Andrew?

Character: Immediately give the readers someone to connect with.

‘Her curls of golden hair fell across her face, catching the light from the glistening moon.’

*Who is this girl? What is so great about her?

Setting: Immediately give the readers somewhere to imagine.
‘The stale smell lingered in the air. The smell of rotting wood
could be sensed from towns away. It had not been
entered for years.’

*Where do you think this place is?
Why do you think it has not been entered?
Why do you think rotting wood can be smelt?

Question 36

What types of forms can narratives be written with?

Answer 36

myths, fairy tales, fables, parables, science fictions, adventure, historical, romance, mystery, horror, humorous and fantasy stories.

Question 37

What character traits does Ponyboy have in the Outsiders?

Answer 37

Ponyboy is a reliable and earnest narrator, and the seriousness of his narration reflects the seriousness of his story. Moments of humor and levity are few and far between and are often provided by Two-Bit. Although the entire story is told from Ponyboy’s point of view, he is a deft enough storyteller that the reader doesn’t feel the absence of other perspectives. Specifically, Ponyboy’s use of dialogue allows the reader to hear different perspectives without changing the novel’s point of view. When Ponyboy and Randy are talking in the car before the rumble, we empathize with Randy’s decision not to fight because we are hearing the conversation from Ponyboy’s perspective, and we know that Ponyboy is truly attempting to understand the Socs point of view.

Question 38

How is The Outsiders written?

Answer 38

The Outsiders is written from the first-person point of view. Ponyboy is the protagonist and the narrator and refers to himself as “I” throughout the story. Additionally, the reader experiences the events from Ponyboy’s perspective. The use of the first-person point of view closes the distance between the reader and Ponyboy by creating a sense of intimacy in the reading experience. We see what Ponyboy sees, and we feel what he feels. Experiencing the events of the novel while perched on Ponyboy’s shoulder intensifies the reading experience because we become invested in the outcome of Ponyboy’s story.

Question 39

What things make it obvious that The Outsiders was written in first person?

Answer 39

Ponyboy is an articulate and sensitive narrator and immediately draws the reader into seeing things from his point of view. The first-person point of view also means that the reader becomes reliant on Ponyboy for information about the story, setting, and characters and focuses the reader’s attention on the important people in Ponyboy’s world. For example, we know from the first few pages that Darrell has cold blue eyes and is hard, physically and emotionally. Because the characters jump off the page so early in the book, we know immediately that the focus will be on Ponyboy and his friends.

Question 40

How does The Outsiders being written in first person make it suspenseful?

Answer 40

In other ways, however, being dependent on Ponyboy’s point of view can be limiting to the reader. For instance, we don’t learn until three-quarters of the way through the book that the story takes place in Oklahoma, when Two-Bit says, “I thought all the wild Indians in Oklahoma had been tamed.” From this statement, we can extrapolate that the story takes place in Tulsa since we know the story takes place in a medium-sized city. Puzzling out information about the book’s setting take a bit of work on the part of the reader. However, the author’s choice to relegate information about the setting to a mere aside reiterates that the focus of the book is the characters, and that is where the reader should invest their emotional energy.

Question 41

What is the positives about The Outsiders being written in first person?

Answer 41

Ponyboy’s first person focus on the characters rather than the setting also gives a sense of universality to the story. A reader doesn’t need to understand the culture of Tulsa to empathize with these characters. We may not know someone exactly like Johnny, but we have probably known someone who is vulnerable and sensitive. We might not have a Dallas in our lives, but we probably know someone who is wild and tough.

Interestingly, the first-person point of view sets limitations as the narrative stops completely due to Ponyboy falling asleep or fainting. There are large chunks of time that are lost to the reader due to Ponyboy’s being unconscious.

Experiencing the story through Ponyboy’s eyes creates an emotional attachment to and investment in the characters that is immediate and powerful from the first pages of the book.

Question 42

Rumble Definition:

Answer 42

to engage in a gang fight

Question 43

Mugged Definition:

Answer 43

Attacked with intent to rob

Question 44

Lynx Definition:

Answer 44

A wilcat with thick, soft fur, a short tail, and tufted ears

Question 45

Bawling Definition:

Answer 45

Crying or sobbing loudly

Question 46

Reckless Definition:

Answer 46

Without care for consequences or danger

Question 47

Vacant Definition:

Answer 47

Empty; unoccupied

Question 48

Nonchalantly Definition:

Answer 48

In an unconcerned manner

Question 49

Incredulous Definition:

Answer 49

Doubtful; disbelieving; skeptical

Question 50

Stocky Definition:

Answer 50

Solidly built; sturdy or chubby

Question 51

Roguishly Definition:

Answer 51

Deceitfully; mischievously