Examples of Evidence and Reasoning in The Outsiders

TEACHER MODELING / EXAMPLES:

CLAIM:  Ponyboy did not change.

EVIDENCE:  “’Stay gold, Ponyboy,  Stay gold…” (148).

REASONING:  This line of dialogue is particularly important because it’s the last thing that Johnny says to Ponyboy before he dies.  When Ponyboy and Johnny are hiding out in the church, they watch a sunrise.  Pony quotes the poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost.  It is explained that as people get older, they change and lose the brightness that makes them special.  Later, when Johnny lays dying, he tells Ponyboy to stay the same person he always was:  someone who digs sunsets and poetry.  In other words, staying gold means keeping a part of your innocence by having a sense of wonder and beauty.  Logically, the word “stay” means to not change.  Ponyboy does “stay” gold from the beginning to the end because he respects Johnny’s dying wish and still loves poetry and sunsets.  Therefore, Ponyboy most definitely did not change.


CLAIM:  Ponyboy did change.

EVIDENCE:  “’You really would have used that bottle, wouldn’t you?… Steve and me were backing you, but I guess we didn’t need to.  You’d have really cut them up, huh?’” (171).

REASONING:  This is what Two-Bit says to Ponyboy at the end of the book regarding using a broken bottle to fend off Socs.  Ponyboy was about to be jumped like he was at the beginning, but this time instead of being beaten up and saved by his gang, he used a broken bottle all alone to scare the Socs away.  The first chapter of the book showed how Ponyboy didn’t know how to defend himself, or was unwilling to.  Therefore, Ponyboy most definitely changed in that he is more aware of the threats around him and now knows how to protect himself.  The difference between being a victim and being safe is the very definition of change.


NOTES ON REASONING

• Think of what happens when you tell a joke to someone and they don’t get it.  So you have to explain and fill in the missing information for them to understand.  If you have to explain it, it is probably not funny anymore.  But at least they understand it.  That’s reasoning!

• Your evidence does not speak for itself.  Your evidence is only a quotation without any position or opinion.  It’s cold.  It's the job or Reasoning to give your quotation meaning and tie the quotation back to the claim.

• Reasoning explains why the quote is relevant and why the quotation matters.  “This is important because…”

• Reasoning uses words to draw a direct connection between your quotation and your claim.  “This means that.” Connect the dots for the reader just to be extra, extra clear.  Don’t assume they see what you see.

• Reasoning elaborates on the situation or idea that is being explored.  It adds relevant details so that the point is 100% clear and focused.  It fills in any important information to help the reader to understand what you mean.