The Outsiders.notebook

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The Outsiders

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Author Spotlight Questions

1. What two pieces of advice does S.E. Hinton give to someone who wants to be a writer?2. What does the Margaret A. Edwards Award honor?3. What is the novel The Outsiders about?4. Why does Hinton publish books under her initials rather than her full name?5. How old was Hinton when she wrote The Outsiders?6. Where is Hinton from?7. What was the title of Hinton's fifth book?8. Why did Hinton take a 7 year break after her fifth book?9. How is Big David, Little David different from Hinton's other books?10. What does Hinton do when she's not writing?

The Outsiders.notebook

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Activity One1. Using your technology, a dictionary or your own thoughts, define the following terms:

‐ Identity‐ Class‐ Race‐ Individuality‐ Group Identity‐ Clique‐ Gang

Once you have defined these terms, give an example of each one.

2. What makes you unique as a person? ( Ex: sports activity, musical instrument, other talent)

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Chapter One Questions1. Describe each of the characters and their relationship to one another.2. Who are Socs? Who are the Greasers?3. How do Ponyboy’s relationships with Darry and Sodapop differ? Describe each relationship.4. Why is the gang important to Johnny?5. How does Ponyboy react to what Sodapop tells him about Darry?6. Do you think Darry loves Ponyboy? Why does he treat Ponyboy the way he does?7. What does Ponyboy mean when he says “I lie to myself all the time”?8. Explain the quote, “The shade of difference that separates a Greaser from a hood wasn’t present in Dally”.9. Why did Ponyboy feel you just couldn’t win against the Socs?10. From whose point of view is the story told? What is the literary term for this point of view?

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Chapter Two Questions1. Who is the “fuzz”?2. Are the names Ponyboy and Sodapop nicknames? Explain.3. Who are Cherry and Marcia?4. Why does Ponyboy hate referring to Soda as a dropout?5. What is “weed” slang for in 1967?6. Why does Dally look sick now?7. What is Ponyboy comparing Two Bit to when he calls him a “chessy cat”? What figure of speech is this?8. What literary device does the author use to describe Johnny’s mugging?

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Chapter Three Questions

1. What does Cherry explain as the difference between the Socs and the Greasers?2. What does Ponyboy mean when he says, “Johnny and I understood each other without saying anything”?3. What happens when Pony comes home after his curfew?4. Why does Johnny like it better when his father is hitting him?5. At the end of the chapter, how does the author foreshadow that bad things are to come?6. What were “fair” rules for a gang fight? What did “fair” mean and how were these rules established?

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Chapter Four Questions

1. What major event happens in this chapter?2. What does Pony mean when he says the Socs were ‘reeling pickled’?3. How did the author foreshadow that Johnny would use his knife (See Chapter 2)?4. What advice would you give Johnny and Ponyboy if they had come to you for help instead of Dally?

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Chapter Five Questions

1. What does Pony mean when he says, “I was supposed to be the deep one”?2. Why does Johnny think Dally is a hero?3. Do you think Dally is a hero based on what he did? Why or why not?4. Examine Robert frost’s poem, Nothing Gold Can Stay.a) What do you think that the poem is saying?b) How might this apply to the characters in the novel?5. What makes Pony realize he doesn’t like Dally?6. What does Pony mean when he says he drinks Pepsi like a fiend?7. What is a heater? Why does Dally have one?8. Why are the Socs and Greasers going to fight in the vacant lot?9. Who is the spy for the Greasers? Does this surprise you? Why or why not?

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Chapter Six Questions

1. Do you think Dally’s parents have influenced the way he is (his personality)? Explain. 2. What “other side” of Dallas is revealed in this chapter?3. What is your own definition of a hero?4. Do the three boys prove themselves to be heroes according to your definition? Explain. 5. Why do you think Johnny wasn’t scared, despite the obvious danger on page 92‐93?

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Chapter Seven Questions

1. Explain what Pony means when he says Soda “...reminds me of a colt”.2. What condition is Johnny in after the fire?3. Why would being crippled be worse for Johnny than someone else?4. “Maybe people are younger when they are asleep”. What do you think this means?5. What is a juvenile delinquent?6. Why would Two‐Bit think Johnny, Dally and Ponyboy were heroes all along, before the incident at the church brought them to the public’s attention?7. What was Bob’s ‘real’ problem, according to Randy?8. Why did Pony think it was better to see Socs as ‘just guys’?

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Chapter Eight Questions

1. What does the doctor first say that foreshadows Johnny’s condition?2. Explain the significance of the following quotations:a) “We needed Johnny as much as he needed the gang. And for the same reason.”b) “ We could get along fine without anyone but Johnny”.3. What is your first impression of Johnny’s mother?4. If Darry didn’t have Soda and Pony as brothers, why would he be like a Soc?5. a) What does Cherry mean when she says Bob “wasn’t just anyone”?b) Cherry feels Bob was better than others. How?

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Chapter Nine Questions

1. a) Why do the boys fight?b) Why is Pony different?2. What is the difference between Tim Sheppard’s gang and Ponyboy’s gang? 3. Why does Ponyboy feel this difference might give his group the upper hand?4. What do you think Johnny’s last words to Pony mean? Why is this significant?

Chapter Ten Questions

1. What is the purpose of Pony’s dreaming, or lying to himself, in this chapter?2. Why was Johnny’s dying so difficult for Dally to handle?3. Why do you think Dally would have wanted to die?4. Do you think the rumble was worth the trouble? Why or why not?5. What did it mean when Pony said, “And the ground rushed up to meet me very suddenly”? 6. Why did Ponyboy tell himself not to think, and not to remember?7. Why was Ponyboy concerned with whether or not he had asked for Darry while he was unconscious?

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Chapter Eleven Questions

1. Explain why Pony might rather have anyone’s hate rather than their pity.2. What do you think is going on when Ponyboy says “Johnny didn’t have anything to do with Bob’s getting killed”?3. Why was Ponyboy concerned about his friends seeing his house but not about Randy seeing his house?4. What is significant about Darry calling Ponyboy “little buddy”?

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Chapter Twelve Questions

1. What “circumstances” does Ponyboy’s teacher refer to? What circumstances does Ponyboy think his teacher is referring to?2. Why doesn’t Ponyboy feel scared when the Socs approach him and he threatens them with a broken bottle?3. How is this a dramatic change from the Ponyboy we have seen up to this point?4. What does Darry mean when he says, “You don’t stop living because you lose someone”?5. How do we know that Sandy didn’t love Soda as much as he loved her?6. Explain how Darry and Ponyboy play “tug of war” with Soda.7. What do we learn was so special about Johnny?8. What does Ponyboy end up doing for his English assignment?