Can We Live Without Motivation?

 Authors note: This is and essay on how Dally from the book "The Outsiders" is a static character.

          

            Dally ran into the store knowing that if he stole anything they would call the police, because he’s a greaser, which is what he wanted. Shortly after that he burst out of the store carrying a pack of gum. As soon as he got out of the store he could hear the sirens blaring. Dally made his way to the lot as quickly as possible. It was there were the police finally caught up with him. He whispered to himself quietly “I have nothing to live for”, and then pulled out his unloaded gun. The police were unaware that Dally’s gun was not loaded, without hesitation they shot him.  Johnny was Dally’s only motive to live, and without him he had nothing to live for. 

He intentionally committed homicide; he got the police to kill him because he couldn’t do it himself. Dally is a static character because he never changes through the book, he was a nice guy before the book began but once the book begins he already lost his innocence. He was cold and hard throughout the book except when around Johnny. So when Johnny died he felt it was his time too. In the end he was controlled by anger and his tough attitude. Even in death Dally remained static, against all the socs and society in general.

Throughout the book “The Outsiders” written by S.E. Hinton, Dally was a tough, hard guy and Johnny was his life support. He felt that he needed to protect Johnny, who was his only reason to live. Dally got in many fights with socs, and even some with greasers. He stole whatever he wanted and he didn’t care if he got caught or sent to jail. At the end of the book it seemed like he wanted and was trying to change and become nice but then Johnny died. Johnny was his only motive to live, so when he died Dally is taken over and controlled by his anger and tough attitude and eventually intentionally makes the police kill him.

Another reason why Dally is a static character is because of his attitude towards the socs and the police never changed. He hated both groups because of many reasons. Some of them are, the socs jumped him many times for no reason and the police take him to jail just because he is a greaser. He thinks of the socs as just rich snotty kids and didn’t really care about their families. Because of this he treats them really bad and gets in fights with most of them. Even in the end of the book he gets in a big fit against the socs. When it comes to the police Dally doesn’t care if he goes to jail, and I know this because he never buys anything that he needs, he always just steals it.  He is like this in the beginning of the book and at the end because he goes to jail many times and at the end he steals a pack of gum from the store to make the police kill him.

On a different note Dally has a tough and an almost determined attitude and a figure that reminds me of Dally is Jon Krakauer from the book “Into Thin Air”. These two characters are alike because they both are trying to defy stereotypes; Dally by being a greaser while nobody thinks Jon can climb Mount Everest. Also both of these characters are determined to beat the odds, but only one of the two does. Dally seems like he is going to change at the end of the book and overcome Johnny’s death but he lets his toughness control him and purposely gets the   police to kill him. Jon on the other hand does overcome the odds and climbs Mount Everest when nobody thinks he can. Jon could’ve easily given up and let the circumstances determine his fate like Dally did, but instead he faced his challenges and overcame them. Jon and Dally are alike in many ways, but also have their differences.

 Everyone has differences and similarities. One similarity that everyone on earth has with each other is motives. Without realizing it we have many small things that motivate us to do certain things and without them we can get lost. In the story “The Outsiders” written by S.E. Hinton there is a perfect example of this. Johnny is Dally’s only motive to live so when he dies Dally loses himself in his anger and makes the police kill him. It wasn’t just the end of the book that he was like this. He starts off really tough and angry at everything, and in the end he is controlled by his anger therefore he never changed. This makes Dally a static character.

The Unforgettable Words

Author's Note: This is my response to "The Outsiders" for Main Idea/Topic.

“Stay gold, Ponyboy.” Johnny said these words to Ponyboy in his dying breath hoping that he would not lose his innocence. This saying relates back to the poem that Ponyboy recited on page 69 of The Outsiders book,

"Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then the leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.”

 To me this poem shows that eventually everyone loses their innocence.  Johnny knew that he Ponyboy could but he didn’t want him to lose his innocence, he did not want Ponyboy to become the stereotypical greaser, firm and unloving. Dally became this when he went to jail because he everyone in jail is really tuff and firm and it did not allow him to enjoy life anymore. Johnny and Ponyboy were different and Johnny didn’t want him to change. They always thought of other people before themselves as they did when they saved the little boys burning in the church. Johnny killed himself to save little the children, no one else would've ever done this, not on purpose at least. Going back to the original phrase "Stay gold Ponyboy" it makes me realize what the main theme of the book really is; the loss of innocence within the two different cliques. These unforgettable words that Johnny recited to Ponyboy in this devastating moment are one of the many things that he will never forget about Johnny's personality.

As The Years Go On

People don’t get to choose their groups, you are born into them. Cherry Valance is a perfect example. She was born into the soc group but it doesn’t seem like she wants to be there. Over a period of time she will start to drift away from her soc friends and start to hang out with the greasers.  My reasoning behind this prediction is that she doesn’t seem to like being a soc. She doesn’t judge the greasers like everyone else. . I think she will eventually “jump” groups and become a greaser. After this happens I think that her and dally will start to date. I think this will happen because her soc friend starts to judge him because she “heard” stuff about him but she doesn’t seem to mind. Then later that night she told Ponyboy that she might be in love with Dally. This will not happen in just a few days though; I think this will happen over the next few years of her life. It was never her choice to be a soc.

Why Did The Colonists Die So Soon?

Author’s note: I wrote this piece saying why I think so many Jamestown colonists died so fast.
So many colonists died in Jamestown, but why? They were not prepared for the hardships they would face on the new land. When they arrived too late to plant crops, so most of the crops failure and the harsh winters, it was almost like they were projected to die from the start. There were many gentleman who refused to work and just lived off their money so they suffered by bringing extra people without getting work out them, they should have put them to work on helping with the brackish water or even fighting the Indians. In 1607 over 100 Englishmen settled in a bay on the coast of Virginia, why did it only take a little over 3 years for all of them to die?

There were many reasons that the colonists may have died in Jamestown but one of the biggest reasons was the environment. When the colonists arrived it was too late to plant crops they did not bring enough food to survive them throughout the winter. The next four years or so they got little to no rain at all which made their crops go bad and not grow. Not only they couldn’t plant crops but they couldn’t drink the water because it was brackish. The brackish water made it unable to drink without cleaning it which took more work.

Not only were the environmental problems bad the settler skills were a problem too. The settlers only brought one surgeon expecting that they wouldn’t have many problems but they didn’t realize they were not going to get there after it was too late to plant crops. They also had many gentlemen who did not work so they were bringing extra people for nothing. The workers had to work for them and get them food and clean their water for nothing so it wasted a lot of energy and supplies.

Although the settlers were not very qualified workers I think another big reason most of the settlers died was because they did not have a good relationship with the Indians. The settlers came to this new land and just barged in and that made the Indians upset. This caused the Indians to start a few fights and kill a ton of the settlers. Also I think the Indians were upset because they wanted the trees and all the other stuff to stay but the people from Jamestown destroyed it all to make shelters.

Why did so many Jamestown colonists die? There are many different theories on why they died but are any of them really true? They pretty much set themselves up for failure. They came right before the winter and did not have much food. They probably died from many different things but I think the top three reasons are environmental problems, the settlers did not have the best skills, and the colonists relationships with the Indians. These many reasons conclude to all of them dying. They thought they could last forever but it only took three years for them all to die.

Are You Proud of Your Country?

Are you proud of your country? If you are like me you don’t really know how to respond to that question. I don’t have a response to that question because I have no real reason to be proud of my country because I am a thirteen year old kid that also just moved here from Canada two years ago. I could say that I'm amazed how the country has improved on intelligence but I could not say I'm proud because I don’t believe in fighting, so it is not like every time we win a war I cheer and say I'm so proud of them.

It's amazing how many people actually are proud but honestly what is there really to be proud of? Some people say that they are proud because we have a democracy but almost every country has more as a type of government that they think works. Also people say we are so lucky to have sports in our country but it is really only the third world countries that are not allowed sports other than that I cannot think of any countries that are not allowed to play sports.

Many people are proud of their country but what is the real reason? People say it is because we have wars or we have a democracy but those are not things to be proud of, almost every country has those things. I along with many others am unable to say I am proud, but I am able to say I'm amazed. I believe that this topic is very debatable on what they mean on "Are You Proud" but from my standpoint, no I am not proud of my country.

Moving to Canada

Authors note: We were assigned to write a persuasive piece of our choice so I decided to try to convince people that Canada isn’t a bad place to move to.

Most people would not think positively about moving to Canada. This is because they do not know much about it. Just as in the U.S. there are some big cities, sports, and lots of entertainment. Unlike the U.S. there are many places where there aren't a lot of people. Canada may be larger in square miles to the U.S. but has a much smaller population. In Canada you will also find some big tourist destinations. There is a province called Quebec and it is almost exactly like France but just across the border from the eastern U.S. Also in Edmonton, Alberta you will probably end up finding yourself in the Edmonton mall. There are lots of things to see and to do in Canada.

If you do end up in the Edmonton mall you will find that it is very big. It is more than 6 million sq. feet which is the biggest mall in the world. There are over 800 stores and over one hundred restaurants in the West Edmonton mall. The largest water park under one roof you can also find in the WEM (west Edmonton mall).If you lived anywhere near there you would probably visit Edmonton mall a lot. There is so much to do in there I couldn’t imagine why you would not want to live in Edmonton.

You think there is so much to do at the Edmonton mall "why not move there?" Well there is much more to do than just the mall. Another reason you might want to move to Canada is if you like hockey or almost any sport. In almost every city you will find at least one hockey arena. There are five NHL hockey teams and one MLB team in Canada. Also if you don’t like those sports you will also find a CFL league. It is a Canadian football league, which is like the NFL but played on a wider and longer field with only three downs.

Even if you don’t like sports, there are lots of other entertainment options. In Canada, there are two very well known singers. One of them all the girls fall for and the other has a lot of fans but not all girls. You may not have known this but these people are Justin Bieber and Drake. They probably have lots of tours in Canada considering they were born there. Some good places that they would probably tour are Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

You may not think of moving to Canada but this is only because you don’t know much about it. In the U.S. there are many big cities, sports teams, and lots of entertainment. It is a lot like that in Canada as well. In Canada there are 5 NHL teams, and one MLB team, the largest mall in the world and two of the world’s most famous singers. Canada as you may know is the second largest country in the world (by sq. miles) so that means there is lots of room to pack up your bags and move. There are so many things to do I don’t know why you would not want to live there.

Scary Sasquatch Story

Authors Note: This is half of a short story. It is about a guy that doesn’t believe in Sasquatch. (Big mistake)I will continue the other half of it for my next writing piece.

They ran through the forest not knowing what hit them. It was raining hard and they couldn’t see a thing. All they knew was it was a dark and stormy night when all of the sudden bang. Something was coming and it was coming fast. It all started when he was fifteen in the summer of '98. There was a Bigfoot sighting and he didn't believe it was true. All of his friends thought he was scared because one of his early family members had just recently disappeared.

Up until yesterday they have been making fun of him. He was so absurd today he decided to go out in the woods camping with his friends right in the center of the "wrestling ring". They call it the wrestling ring because it is the home to the most disappearances and Bigfoot sightings. They were having fun playing games, roasting hot dogs forgetting why they were there in the forest. They went back in the tent to go to sleep and it started to lightning. None of them could fall asleep, they were scared and worried that Bigfoot may actually be real.

Two of them went and checked outside. When they started to come back the others got worried they didn’t know what was coming. All of the sudden the door propped open and they all screamed! They were so scared they didn’t even realize that it was just their friends. Later that night one of them woke up to a scream but didn’t know where it came from, there was no one else awake and everyone was still there. He decided to take a walk outside when he saw something in the distance. He approached it suspiciously not knowing what to expect. He saw a very hairy man turn his head towards him, he started walking in his direction he started to run too and the he tried to yell but he…… was all that he got out.