The Outsiders Chapter Questions
Character Grid
Create a table for your assigned character. Your table should contain information in the form of textual
evidence (include page numbers)about the characters thoughts, feelings, actions, appearance, or how
other characters feel about them. You will use this information for the culminating project, so make sure
you keep up with the table and its contents!
Chapter 1
• Who is telling the story? How might the point of view from which the story is told impact the
story?
• What significance does the “gang” have for Johnny?
• Dialectical Journal Response:
• Do you think that Darry dislikes Ponyboy? If so, what evidence do you have? If not, why do
you think that he is so “mean” to him? Support your responses with actual evidence from the
text!
Chapter 2
• How are Ponyboy and Johnny different from the stereotypical greaser like Dally?
• What kind of troubles might the Socs have? How are they different from the Greasers’
troubles?
• Why has Johnny been so “jumpy” lately?
Chapter 3
• Do the characters in the novel seem real? If so, how did the author create such believable
characters? If not, why don’t they seem like real people?
• Why do you think Cherry opened up to Ponyboy?
• Describe the conflict between Ponyboy and Darry. Is it internal or external?
• Respond to the following: What can or should parents do or say to show their children that
they care for them?
Chapter 4 (the graphic aid from the PowerPoint is not included)
• Can what Johnny did be justified? Why or why not? Is there ever a time when murder is
justified? State your claim and support it.
• Where on the plot map might the events from chapter four fall (exposition, rising action,
climax, falling action, or resolution)? How will the action of chapter 4 propel or move the plot
forward?
• Write the descriptions about Johnny’s behavior from pgs. 11, 27, and 34 (these should be
actual quotes from the text). Now, write the following quote, “But Johnny, except for the fact
that his hands were twitching, looked as cool as Darry ever had.” “We’ll need money. And
maybe a gun. And a plan.” (p.57). Explain how Johnny’s behavior [from chapter 4] contradicts
his previous behavior or overall demeanor.
Chapter 5
• What does Dally’s arrival in Windrixville reveal about his character (did he have to show up . .
. Why did he?)? How is this different from how he portrays himself to the rest of the world?
• What would motivate Cherry to want to become a “spy” for the greasers? Do you think she is
genuine (real)?
• Poem analysis
Chapter 6
• What initially motivates Ponyboy to run into the burning church? Write the line from the text.
• What did Ponyboy mean when he said, “Johnny wasn’t behaving at all like his old self.”? Is
this a contradiction of what we expect Johnny to act like?
• How was Jerry’s (the school teacher’s) initial impression of Johnny, Dally, and Ponyboy
different from the impression most people have about greasers?
• What is Ponyboy’s “Aha Moment”? How might this change things?
Chapter 7
• Why was Dally upset that he was being labeled as “a hero”?
• How did Randy’s perceptions of greasers change?
• What does Randy say made Bob the way he was? Do you agree with Randy?
• What does Randy mean when he says, “You can’t win, you know that, don’t you?”
• Ponyboy now understands what Cherry meant when she said that things are rough all over.
What did she mean?
Chapter 8
• Johnny mentions that at one point in his life, he considered suicide. Now he says “I don’t
want to die.” What changed? What did Johnny realize about life, about living?
• Why is Johnny’s mother upset that Johnny doesn’t want to see her? What does the dialogue
between her and the doctor indicate about who she is as a person and as a mother?
• When Ponyboy says that “something bad is going to happen”, it is an example of what??
What do you think is going to happen?
• Why did Ponyboy ask Cherry about sunsets? How are sunsets symbolic in this novel so far?
• Explain this quote “The only reason Darry wasn’t a Soc was us”.
Chapter 9
• What do you think Johnny meant when he said, “Stay gold Ponyboy. Stay gold . . .” How does
this line represent a theme within the novel? BE VERY SPECIFIC!!
Chapter 10
• What does gallant, as it is used in the text, mean? Did Dally “die gallant”? Explain.
Chapter 11
• Do you think that Randy is genuinely concerned about what could possibly happen to
Ponyboy after they go to court? What words or phrases from the text support your answer?
• Why does Ponyboy continue to deny that Johnny is dead?
Chapter 12
• Reflect on the letter that Johnny wrote to Ponyboy. Why did Johnny write the letter? What
was he trying to say? What do you think Ponyboy will learn from reading the letter?
• What “theme” did Ponyboy write about?