Nathaniel and Ponyboy

Author's Note: This was an assigned essay. Please comment on organization.

As I wasreading Give Me Liberty, by L. M. Elliot, I realized how much the maincharacter, Nathaniel, and Ponyboy, from The Outsiders are alike. It washard coming up with any differences. From their families to the way they act, Nathanieland Ponyboy are very alike.

Onesimilarity between Nathaniel and Ponyboy is that they are both missing parents.Nathaniel is taken away from his parents to be an indentured servant. Ponyboy'sparents are killed in a car accident. While they are both missing parents, theyboth have some sort of family, even if they aren't related to them. Nathaniel'smaster, Basil, and Ben, an apprentice, are Nathaniel's friends, but they arealso like family: "He mattered to Basil. Family didn't have to be bloodrelations, he reckoned"(342). Ponyboy's older brothers are obviouslyhis family but he also has the gang, which looks out for each other:"...one of the four boys Darry and Soda and I have grown up with and considerfamily" (7). "...all the noise I had heard was the gang coming torescue me" (10). These quotes show that family is important in both books.

The waysNathaniel and Ponyboy act are similar too. Both of them sometimes act withoutthinking. When Nathaniel stole from Basil to help his friend, he "didn't stopto consider or worry about consequences. Within five minutes, Nathaniel hadslipped into the house, fished out two pounds from Basil's meager savings whilehe snored,..."(195). He would later see the consequences. Ponyboyacted without thinking too. On page 7, Ponyboy is walking home from the moviesby himself. He's thinking that he should've called one of the gang members todrive him home or walk home with him. Soon some Socs drive up and beat him up.

There isone difference between Nathaniel and Ponyboy; that is the time period in whichthey live. Nathaniel lives in the 1770's. Yet Ponyboy lives in the 1960's. Thatlarge difference in time does not seem to affect their similarities. It does,however affect the way they speak. The time periods impact the plots of the twobooks. The amount of work and responsibility Nathaniel has leaves him almost noidle time. Ponyboy has a lot of time just to hang out and do stuff with thegang. This is largely due to freedom from slavery and advances in education.Further, Nathaniel's friend Ben wants to be part of the war to help hiscountry, while Ponyboy and his gang don't really think beyond their town.

Besides the physical features, people can have similar personalities like the way they act. That is the case with Nathaniel and Ponyboy. Even though they're fictional characters, they resemble the way we are alike with other people even if they lived long ago.

Text structure assignment

At the very beginning of Give Me Liberty, Nathaniel has a problem. His owner is going bankrupt so he's selling all of his slaves, servants, horses, everything. Nathaniel is going to be bought by a blacksmith named Mr. Owen. A selfish, mean, blacksmith. He's already hit Nathaniel and he hasn't even bought him yet. Owen wants Nathaniel to pick out a horse. Nathaniel decides to have a little fun. He picks a wild horse. When Owen sees the horse, the horse leans forward and kicks Owen with her back legs. Owen lands a few feet back. The horse turns around a rears up and stomps down a few times trying to hit the rolling Owen. Soon the horse runs off and Nathaniel chases after.

Instead of being bought by that mean blacksmith, Nathaniel is saved. After getting the horse under control, Nathaniel gets beat by Owen. Owen's first blow hits Nathaniel right in the right eye. The second, his lip. On the third Nathaniel used his hands to block. Then Owen switched to pounding his back. The man in the carriage, with a horse, that Vixen, Nathaniel's horse, had messed with, came yelling at Owen. He was telling Owen to stop beating Nathaniel. Soon he bought Nathaniel from the auctioneer. Owen gave him up saying that Nathaniel would rob him in his sleep. Nathaniel thought that would not be true. Later, that prophecy will be fulfilled.

Bill and his secret

Bill was an average 13 year-old with a secret. He didn't like to talk about it because people thought he was crazy. Bill secretly liked snowy afternoons in the summer. You're probably already thinking how crazy that is. That's why he didn't talk about it. Another thing you're probably wondering is how you could you have a snowy afternoon in the summer. What if I told you that Bill lived in Alaska. The next question you have is why did people think he's crazy? That's because, thirty years ago, in 2026, all of the snow in Alaska melted. You want to know why? I do too. Anyway, there's no snow. So how could he like snowy afternoons if there isn't any snow you ask? Well, you know those machines that make snow at ski hills? Even though the weather in Alaska is warmer now, the new snow machines make snow that lasts for a day or two. Now, you're wondering why they just can't keeping making snow. I'll tell you. The fuel that the snow machines use is very expensive and they can only buy it from one place. People thought Bill was crazy because of how expensive it is to make snow. Any questions? You want to know how I know all this? Well Bill is my great uncle.

Point of View

Author's Note: This is a Point of View piece for language arts class. Please comment on organization.

In Give Me Liberty, by L. M. Elliott, the point of view is the narrator telling us about Nathaniel. "Nathaniel pressed his nose against the coarse linsey-woolsey of his sleeve." (page 3) The narrator doesn't just tell us what is going on, at the same time he shares with us Nathaniel's thoughts. "You are getting too fond of this old man, Nathaniel warned himself." (page 81) This point of view affects how we interpret the story because we know the truth of what's happening. One reason is because if Nathaniel was telling the story from his point of view, we might miss some details depending on his opinion about things. For example:" He unfairly charged me more money." That makes the reader believe Nathaniel. When in fact, there could be a perfectly good reason he was being charged more. The narrator tells the truth about what's going on while including how Nathaniel feels. "On the way home, Ben was flushed and excited. Nathaniel did like Ben. He worried for him." (page 104)

Creative piece

My name is John. I am a procrastinator. I always wait until the last minute to do everything. I was supposed to check out a book at the local library and read the first chapter for language arts. But I didn't. So now I'm hear at the library trying to get in.

The doors were locked. I knocked a few times and finally someone came to the door. I stepped back as he opened the door.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Yeah, I would like to check out a book," I replied.

"Are you crazy? It's four o'clock in the morning!" he exclaimed, "The library's closed."

"Come on. I just need one book. Please," I begged.

"I'm sorry. I'm not allowed to let people in before we're open."

"Fine," I said as I walked away.

I was going to get in there somehow. I just needed to figure out how. Two thoughts crossed my mind. One: Who was that guy. I'd never seen him before. Two: Why don't I use my blueprint of the library to find a way in. Don't ask me why I have a floor plan of the library. I don't even know. I pulled the blueprint from my backpack and located a service door on the roof.

Once on the roof I checked to make sure I didn't leave anything on the ground. I had climbed up the plants that grew on the side of the building. After locating the service door I call my parents.

To be continued...

Basil's Point of View

Author's Note: This is a part in my Social Studies book told in Basil's Point of View.

A wild horse ran up to my cart and started messing with my horse. It was driving my horse in a circle. Books were flying out of my cart. I let the reins go and clung to the wooden box containing the spinet. Soon a small boy came slowly toward the horses with his arms outstretched calling to the horse. Finally my horse stopped moving and both horses snorted to complete the negotiation between them. The boy picked up the reins of both horses. I was still frozen to the box as the boy picked up the books and put them in the cart.