The Outsidersby S.E. Hinton

A book about growing up and how complicated it can be to be

on the “outside”

The Socs The Greasers

WealthyFancy clothesJocks and CheerleadersPopular kids at schoolSpoiled

PoorJeans/ worn clothesParents weren’t around Bad gradesGet into a lot of fights

“I was wishing I looked like Paul Newman-he

looks tough and I don’t-but I guess my own looks

aren’t so bad.”

“We’re poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we’re

wilder, too.”

“And nobody in our gang digs movies and books

the way I do.”

“I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe

me.”

“I used to make A’s in

English.”

“I’ve always been kind of

absent minded.”

“I never noticed clouds and

colors and stuff until you kept reminding me

about them.” -Johnny

“You’re a nice kid, Ponyboy.” -Cherry

Images of Paul Newman

Let’s Brain Storm

GANG

Darrell (Darry)Sodapop

CherryDallas Winston (Dally)

Johnny

•Older Brother of Ponyboy•Jock in HS and smart•Trying to be a parent to Sodapop and Ponyboy

•Smallest of the Greasers•Parents hit him•Sleeps in the park sometimes•Ponyboy’s best friend

•Middle brother•Dropped out of school•Works on cars•Best friend is Two-Bit•Happy-go-lucky

•A Soc•Falls for Dally•Helps out the Greasers•Becomes friends with Ponyboy

•Older friend of Ponyboy and Johnny•Tough guy•HS dropout•Helps the boys out

Drive InThe Park

The Church

1) Man vs. Man (physical) – Ponyboy and the other boys fight against the Socs with fists and knives, but they have guns and

the most might

2) Man vs. Circumstances (classical) – Ponyboy struggles with the fact that he wasn’t born with money and priviledge

3) Man vs. Society (social) – Ponyboy and the Greasers struggle against the wealth and the elevated social position of the Socs

4) Man vs. Himself/Herself (psychological) - Ponyboy struggles with the trouble he feels he has caused and whether to turn

himself in or not

It doesn’t feel good to be on the ‘outside’

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Family relationships change and evolve

Life Isn’t Fair

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature’s first green is gold,Her hardest hue to hold.Her early leaf’s a flower,

But only so an hour.

As leaf subsides to leaf,So Eden sank to grief.

So dawn goes down today,Nothing gold can stay.

Written by Hinton as a 16 year old, so sometimes

themes are oversimplistic. The world is black or white, Greaser or Soc, nothing in

between.

Very accessible to young readers. It was

essentially the first young adult novel that gave a realistic look at what it was like to be

a teenager.

Hinton criticized for her overly macho male

characters and her rather flat and stereotypical

female characters.

Music from the 60’s

• Elvis Presley: “In the Ghetto”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH17bUYAPhg

• The 1960’s: a retrospectivehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKBk2J7SNuA