While discussing the theme of social divisions in a school/community found in The Outsiders, the students were divided into two groups: "Greasers" vs. "Socs" for a "rumble" (friendly competition). The Socs were given a slight advantage in both challenges, but the experience fed into a nice literary discussion about many of the barriers and Character vs. Society and Character vs. Character conflicts that take place in the novel. We finished class with interpreting the Robert Frost poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" that is referenced in the novel as well.
After reading "The Medicine Bag" and "Who Are You Today, Maria?", students analyzed the concept of symbolism both in the two short stories and made text-to-self connections identifying what symbols represented themselves.
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