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The Outsiders Final Essay – English 7
A literary analysis essay requires you to present your interpretation of a literary work. Base your analysis on a close and careful reading of
the literature using the notes you have been taking. Then present your ideas in a carefully planned essay, connecting all of your main
points with specific references to the text.
Topic Question
Are Greasers kids or criminals?
Instructions for Writing the Essay
You will write a five-paragraph essay that answers the topic question. This will be identical in format and organization to the “article of
the week” papers you have been writing this year. I have broken down what you need in each paragraph.
1. First Paragraph (Introductory Paragraph)
Your first paragraph will start with a lead—use the pink leads paper I gave you. If you cannot find it, it is on my web page. Make it
interesting. It should grab my attention and make me want to read more.
After your lead you will have a transition. This is a sentence or two that bridge the lead and claim.
After your transition, you will write your claim. A claim is ALWAYS the very last sentence in the first paragraph. It is what you believe
about something. For this paper, your claim is about what type of person you believe Greasers are—it answers a question—in this case, it
answers “are Greasers kids or criminals?”
To make it easier for you, I am giving you your claim. Use one of the following for your claim:
1) In S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, the Greasers are normal, regular, everyday teenagers who are generally good.
2) In S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, the Greasers are corrupt, heartless criminals who are generally bad.
That’s it for your opening paragraph—a lead, a couple transitions sentences, and a claim.
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Both paragraphs should follow the “perfect paragraph” format we have practiced. To remind you, your first sentence is the topic sentence
(TS)—this is the main idea of the paragraph. Your second sentence is a concrete detail (CD)—this is a direct quote from the novel that
supports your TS. Please put the page number in parentheses like I have done in the example below. Your third and fourth sentences are
your commentary (CM), or your own thoughts and ideas. Your last sentence is your concluding sentence (CS)—this sentence wraps it
up in a unique way.
Please make sure that each paragraph is a different topic—you don’t want two paragraphs with basically the same topic.
Example of a Body Paragraph:
There really isn’t any difference between the Greasers and Socs—they’re both good groups of kids. Ponyboy points out that
“Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset” (p. 41). While the Greasers may appear
“rough around the edges,” they are in fact like every other teenager, including the Socs. Being a teenager means being human, and when it
comes right down to it, we all have more similarities than differences. This idea is a valuable lesson in the novel—that we shouldn’t judge
a book by its cover and that being human means being good.
4. Counterclaim (Fourth Paragraph)
Your counterclaim also follows the perfect paragraph format as outlined above, except that in this paragraph, you are acknowledging the
other side in your topic sentence and then refuting (telling why they’re wrong) the other side in the rest of your paragraph. Your topic
sentence should follow the same format we practiced in our last article of the week—“There are some who believe that
________________; however, _____________________.”
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Example of a Counterclaim:
There are some who believe that Greasers are heartless criminals; however, various Greasers demonstrate acts of kindness
throughout the book. When Randy is surprised that a Greaser would go into a burning building to save children, Ponyboy remarks that
“‘Greaser’ didn’t have anything to do with it…it’s the individual” (p. 115). This shows that you can’t judge and label an entire group. As
Ponyboy says, it’s the individual—there are good and there are bad, but generally speaking, most teenagers are good. Judging someone by
their actions and not by their looks is crucial to understanding this book.
5. Concluding Paragraph (Fifth Paragraph)
Leave your audience convinced that you are right. First, restate your opinion in a new way. Second, summarize your reasons in a single
sentence. Third, call on your audience to take some kind of action in a few sentences. Your very last sentence should be a “zinger,” one
that leaves the reader thinking “wow.”
Some Things to Remember
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Please don’t re-tell the story to me. You will receive a failing grade if this is all you do.
You are not just telling me that social class exists in The Outsiders and providing examples. I know that social class exists in the
novel, you do not need to prove this to me. You are making a claim about social class in the novel and then backing up that
claim, or trying to convince me that what you believe is true.
In formal essays like this, avoid using “I” and “my” and “you.” That’s just a rule about writing formal essays, please follow this
rule.
Capitalize “Greaser” and “Soc.” When making these plural, all you do is add an “s” (“Greasers,” “Socs”).
Make sure to include the page number, in parentheses, for your quote.
Grading
Your grade for this paper will be based on the six traits of writing: organization, ideas, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and
conventions. The rubric I will be using to grade your essay will look like this:
Organization (20 points): You have 5 paragraphs in the order I stated above, your introduction contains a lead, transition and thesis (in
that order), your perfect paragraphs have 5 sentences in the right order, and your conclusion follow my instructions above.
Ideas (10 points): The writing explores a theme of the novel, includes specific details and direct references from the novel, maintains a
clear and consistent view from beginning to end, and displays a unique and fresh way of looking at things.
Voice (10 points): Sounds believable and informed and reflects the writer’s clear understanding of the text.
Word Choice (10 points): Shows careful choice of words—not boring, overused words.
Sentence Fluency (10 points): Flows smoothly from one idea to the next and uses transitions.
Conventions (10 points): Follows the standards of punctuation, grammar, and spelling, observes English department standards (typed,
double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 font, no extra spaces between paragraphs, etc.), and your paper is wrinkle-free and fold-free—it has
not been through the wash nor has it been folded up in your back pocket for the last week
Your essay will be due on ___________________________________________. On this day you will give me the following: Your essay
(70 points) and your notes (30 points)—the total possible points for this is 100 points. If you do not do this assignment, your final grade
for 2nd quarter will drop significantly. Please see me if you have any questions.