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Transcript

"On the Bridge" by Todd Strasser

Introuction

Have you ever hung out with people who you thought were your friends? Have you ever pressured yourself to do things that you knew were bad just to fit in?

Summary

In the short story "On The Bridge" by Todd Strasser, the main character Seth gets himself in a lot of trouble while hanging with someone that he thought was his friend. Seth is the protagonist and Adam is the antagonist. Seth is the type of boy that doesn't do bad things or get into trouble. Adam on the other hand always does bad things or get into trouble. Seth is convinced that Adam is his friend but it's not till later on in the story that he realizes Adam is not.

By the end of this presentation, you should be able to understand:

How the author uses indirect as well as direct chracterization to create the conflict of the short story.

How the author uses indirect as well as direct chracterization ...

How point of view, setting, and symbolism are used to grab the reader's interest.

How point of view, setting, and symbolism are used to grab t...

How the literary elements listed above combine to create one relevant theme or universal lesson

How the literary elements listed above combine to create o...

Characters

Protaginist (Dynamic Character): Seth Dawson. A high schooler who has the ability to discriminate between good and bad but chooses to make the wrong choices because he wants to hang out with this cool kid named Adam.

Antagonist (Static Character): Adam Lockwood. A high schooler who always is on the run from the cops. He never listens to anyone and always breaks the rules. He is the antagonist because he is the reason behind every conflict in the story.

Example of Seth's personality

Indirect Characterization: "They just don't like me, Adam said .You know how it is.

Seth nodded. Actually, he didn't know how it was. But there was no way he'd admit that. lt was just pretty cool to think that the cops didn't like you. Seth was pretty sure the cops didn't even know who he was."

Direct Characterization: "Seth had decided to wear it anyway, but he felt like a fraud. Like a kid trying to imitate someone truly cool."

Example of Adam's Personality.

Indirect Characterization: "l beat the crap out of this guy at the mall yesterday," Adam Lockwood said. He was leaning on the stonewall of the bridge, smoking a cigarette and watching the cars speed by on the highway beneath him. "He just bugged me, that's all. He was bigger, probably a senior. I guess he thought he could take me 'cause I was smaller. But I don't let anyone push me around."

Direct Characterization: "Adam's leather jacket looked authentically old and worn. The right sleeve was ripped and the leather was creased and pliant. lt looked like he'd been in a hundred fights with it. Seth had never been in a fight in his life. Not a serious punching fight, at least. He wore the leather jacket to school every day. Adam wasn't one of these kids who kept their cool clothes in their lockers and only wore them in school because their parents wouldn't let them wear them at home."

Plot/Setting

Climax: Adam flicks a ciggarette which lands on a car with three men. The three men come back and say they will beat up the person who did it

Rising Action: Seth and Adam hang out on a highway bridge and smoke Marlboro ciggarettes while causing mischief to other cars crossing the bridge

Falling Action: Adam puts the blame on Seth and the three men don't give Seth the opputrunity to explain. They make him lick the cigarette off their car.

Plot/Setting

Exposition: High schooler Seth Dawson hangs out with Adam, a person who is a bad influence and always gets in trouble.

Resolution: Adam asks Seth if he wants to hang out more; but Seth now says no without any hesitance

Conflict(s)

Man vs. Man (External Conflict):

Adam is a bad influence on Seth which causes him to do bad things. Adam uses Seth as his puppet but when he gets in trouble, he puts the blame on Seth which causes him to get beaten up.

Man vs. Self (Internal Conflict):

Seth is harming himself and he knows that he is harming himself when he socializes with Adam;

however he doesn't do anything about it because of peer pressure

Example of Man vs. Man

"Which one of you geeks flicked that butt on my car? The question came from the husky guy with a black moustache and long black hair that curled behind his ears. Seth and Adam glanced at each other. Seth was determined not to tell. He didn't believe

squealing on his friends. But suddenly he noticed that all three guys were staring at him. He quickly looked at Adam and saw why. Adam was pointing at him."

Example of Man vs. Self

"Seth kept glancing toward the exit ramp to see if the woman the blue car had gotten off. He was really tempted to leave, but he stayed because he liked being with Adam. lt made him feel good that a cool guy like Adam let him hang around."

Point of View

The point of view in this story is third person limited. It seems that Todd Strasser purposefully used this point of view so we get a better understanding of the change in personality Seth had from the exposition to the resolution.

Evidence of this point of view

"He didn't even turn to watch Adam go.

On the way to his house, Seth stopped near some garbage cans a neighbor had left at the curb for collection. He looked down at his denim jacket. The spots of blood had turned dark. lf he took it home and washed it now, the stains would probably make it look pretty cool. Like a jacket that had been worn in tons of fights. Seth smirked. He took it off and threw it in the garbage can."

Analysis Of Quote

This quote is an example of symbolism; Seth is walking with this cool-looking jacket with the blood stains all over it. Previously in the story, Seth thinks that Adam's jacket looked really intimidating and made him look cool. If he wanted Seth could have kept the jacket so he would be considered cool by others - but he doesn't; instead he throws it into a neighbors trash can. The jacket is symbolic of the "friendship" that Seth and Adam had that was mostly based off of peer pressure. Now that he understands that Adam was not his real friend, he will not be afraid to do what is right

Theme

It is important to be yourself; never change the way you think or act just because someone else does so - especially if what they are doing or saying is wrong!

Famous Quote

Albert Einstein: “What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right.”

Famous Quote

THANKS FOR WATCHING

One image used from Google Images.

Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfwOJWDj18k

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