4th hour Paragraph (copy and paste into Word)

4th hour Body Paragraph:

In life, everybody has problems, but adversity can make a person stronger because it teaches valuable lessons. Even if someone’s life seems obstacle-free and easy, nobody is perfect even if they seem so on the outside. Each person has his own set of hardships that will either make him or break him. Adversity, or hard times, can help a person learn about himself, about those who care for him, and about what is really important in life. In The Outsiders, Ponyboy learns these lessons through dealing with his hardships and learning about other people’s problems. He learns that even the Socs have trying times, even though it appears they have everything they want. When Ponyboy meets Cherry, the beautiful, intelligent Soc, at the movies, in their conversation, she reveals to him, “We have troubles you’ve never even heard of… Things are rough all over” (34-35). Cherry means that the Socs have different kinds of problems than the Greasers do, but they are just as tough as the Greasers’ problems. Most of the Socs do not seem to respond well to their hardships, but Randy, Bob’s best friend, changes his life for the better because of Bob’s death. Randy decides that fighting is useless and that he wants better than the meaningless life he had in his clique. Not only does Randy learn from his adversity, but Ponyboy does as well. Ponyboy faces tremendous trials in The Outsiders, such as: his parents’ death, gang rivalry, fights, murder, hiding from the law, concussions, dying friends, and others. Because of all he has been through, Ponyboy decides to write his theme about the life of the Greasers because “someone should tell their side of the story, and maybe people would understand” (179). Ponyboy writes his theme to help not only people like himself, but also to help all others too. This shows that his adversity has made him more open, aware, understanding, and loving of other people. He wants to use his experience to help others, which shows incredible strength. Ponyboy and Randy demonstrate how a person can grow through adversity.