Telling a story using a first-person narrator has many benefits. In The Outsiders, you get to know Ponyboy very well because you see everything through his eyes and you read his thoughts and know his emotions. The downside to this kind of narrator, though, is that you don't always get to know the other characters very well. In other words, a first-person narrator is limited in his or her perspective.
For this activity, you will attempt to see an important event through the eyes of a character other than Ponyboy. To find important details, skim the specified chapters and reread pertinent texts to help you understand the character's outlook. Then, make inferences that lead you to a conclusion about the character's thoughts and opinions of the event. Be sure to write your account referring to the character using the pronouns I, me, my, and we.
Choose a character other than Ponyboy and describe a key event in the novel from that character's point of view.
Submit your Different Perspective assignment to your teacher. Your work on this assignment will be graded using the following rubric.
| 5 - Expert | 3 - Strong | 1 - Beginning | |
| Perspective of the Characters | Student chooses a major event and a character (other than the narrator) who is knowledgeable about that event. Based on details from the novel, student makes logical inferences about the character’s perspective of the event. | Student chooses a major event and a character (other than the narrator) who is somewhat knowledgeable about that event. Based on details from the novel, student makes some well-founded inferences about the character’s perspective of the event; however, some inferences are not logical or are not based on information in the novel. | Student chooses a minor event and/or a character who is the narrator or one who is not knowledgeable about that event. Student does not use details from the novel to make inferences, or inferences are not logical. |
| Description of a Character’s Perspective | In one or two paragraphs, student describes a major event in the novel from the character’s perspective. The description is written in first-person point of view and clearly expresses the character’s thoughts and opinions about the event. The description is based on details from the novel, as well as inferences and conclusions made by the student. | In one or two paragraphs, student describes a major event in the novel from the character’s perspective. The description is written in first-person point of view and expresses some of the character’s thoughts and opinions about the event. The description is mostly based on details from the novel; however, student does not include many inferences or conclusions about what those details mean. | Student describes a minor event in the novel from the main character’s perspective or from a character’s perspective who has little knowledge of the event. The description is not written in first-person point of view and/or does not express the character’s thoughts and opinions of the event. Inferences and conclusions about the details are missing. |
| Punctuation and Grammar | Student uses correct punctuation and grammar throughout with only one or two errors. | Student uses correct punctuation and grammar throughout with only three or four errors. | Student does not use correct punctuation or grammar, and more than four errors are included. |
