Name:
Date:
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Most Valuable Idea Core Part Three: Connecting to Teens today
(To be typed and printed, rather than written) Use evidence from The Outsiders and the article of your choice to
explain why your theme is still relevant in the lives of teenagers alive today.
(The Outsiders is from the 1960’s, yes, but there are certain elements of that novel that have not changed—probably the same elements you included
when trying to prove your theme).
Answer the following questions:
1. What aspect of “teenagers today” do you plan to focus on? Explain clearly which aspect you’re choosing
and how it relates to your theme.
2. How does your evidence from The Outsiders show that your theme is still relevant to teens today? Write
one paragraph in response.
3. How does your evidence from the article of your choice show that your theme is still relevant to teens
today? Write one paragraph in response.
Requirements:
o At least two direct and correctly cited quotations in the literature and article paragraphs
o Clear topic sentences in each paragraph that states your theme and argument
o Thorough analysis of each quote, when quotes are used, and clear explanation of your claims in order to
prove your theme is still relevant
Example:
1. Which Aspect of Teens Today My Theme Connects To:
The theme, “when a person depends on the approval of others for happiness or validation, he will form
his identity based on what people expect him to be rather than who he actually is” is extremely relevant to
teenagers today because social media has put our lives on constant display for the approval or disapproval of our
peers. In 2017, we live in a world where we are continually expected to make our lives public and accessible to
others. Our lives, due to evolving technology and current social expectations, are on display always, along with our
choices, preferences, and beliefs. Although this alone might not influence the development of our identities it’s
important to note that when we post our lives, others are generally invited to comment on everything we do. This
means that if we don’t fit our peers’ idea of who we are supposed to be, those peers won’t comment positively on
our posts, or even acknowledge them as worth seeing. Many teenagers now end up posting tweets, pictures, and
life events they think will create the most positive response in others, rather than making posts that really reflect
who they are. This proves that teenagers, through the culture of social media, often depend on the approval of
others for happiness and validation. It also proves that this need for approval can help to form our identities more
than our personal decisions do.
2. How The Outsiders Shows the Connection Between My Theme and Teens Today:
S. E. Hinton’s book, The Outsiders proves that the theme “when a person depends on the approval of others
for happiness or validation, he will form his identity based on what people expect him to be rather than who he
actually is” is still relevant to teenagers today. The characters in Hinton’s novel may be from the 1960’s, but the
way they act when they are forced to confront their own identities makes it clear that they are not so different from
teenagers in 2017. One character that makes this especially clear is Randy. Randy’s struggle to be the person the
Socs and expect him to be shows, in order to determine who he is, he depends of the approval of others.
Throughout the story, he seems sure of his Soc identity. But after Johnny and Ponyboy overturn what he believes
about Greasers, and he loses his best friend Bob to gang violence, he begins to question if he’s making decisions
based on who he is or who he’s expected to be. He admits to Ponyboy that he didn’t expect a Greaser to save kids
from a fire, and Pony tells him, “Greaser didn’t have anything to do with it…It’s the individual” (97). Ponyboy, like
some teens who have decided that what makes someone an individual shouldn’t have anything to do with fitting
in, understands that everything he does is based on who he is rather than who he’s expected to be. This makes
Randy feel unsure about what decisions to make. When considering the rumble, he admits, “It doesn’t do any
good, the fighting and the killing…greasers will still be greasers and Socs will still be Socs…I’m a marked chicken if
I punk out at the rumble, and I’d hate myself if I didn’t” (98-99). At this point in the story, he is starting to
recognize that his identity is separate from that of the typical “Soc” identity. He doesn’t think fighting is worth it,
but knows his gang expects him to fight. This is similar to the way that some teens might want to post something or
say something just to fit in, but struggle with deciding if that post reflects who they are or who they’re expected to
be.
3. How My Article Shows the Connection Between My Theme and Teens Today:
The article I used, “Herd Behavior” by CommonLitStaff, proves that the theme, “when a person depends
on the approval of others for happiness or validation, he will form his identity based on what people expect him to
be rather than who he actually is” is extremely relevant to teenagers today. Due to the fact that herd behavior is a
phenomenon that affects people in large groups, and social media typically enables large groups of people to
interact at once, one could argue that herd behavior actually affects teenagers more than any other group on a
daily basis. Herd behavior, “has a connotation of irrationality, as people’s actions are driven by emotion rather
than thinking through a situation” (CommonLitStaff). When teenagers post an aspect of their lives publicly, they
can be emotionally affected by the responses of their peers (positive or negative). Due to the fact that teenagers
make decisions about what they post based on emotional investment, it shows that they are likely subject to herd
behavior—making a decision based on what a group wants to see rather than who that teenager might actually be.
When teenagers decide how to represent themselves publicly, they often do so after observing what their peers
generally like or dislike about other people’s posts. Just like the way “a family…walking down the street to have
dinner…[is] far more likely to choose [a] crowded (restaurant)” (CommonLitStaff), teenagers are far more likely to
make posts that they think lots of people will like rather than posts that convey their real feelings or experiences.
The CommonLitStaff assert that “herding can be subtle this way: it simply involves people’s tendency to follow a
crowd rather than carve out an individual path in many situations” (CommonLitStaff). This fact is undoubtedly
true of all people and certainly true of teenagers, as those teenagers generally have access to the opinions of just
about all of their peers at all times. Therefore, it is clear to see that due to the social phenomenon of herd
behavior, a teenager who depends on the validation of others for happiness will form his identity based on what
people expect him to be rather than who he actually is.