The Outsiders
Useful Things to Know
Evaluate Your Evidence
• Each column contains the information
required.
– Character traits are personality traits. Use your own
words, not the author’s.
– Circle the 2 most important traits for each
character. See if there is evidence to support them
– “Textual evidence” (p. #) – precisely accurate
– Evidence must connect to traits. Draw an arrow
from the specific piece of evidence to the trait it
reveals.
• If there is anything you would do differently
given another chance on this assignment,
explain what it is on the back of the chart.
Chapters 1 and 2 Trivia
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
What is Cherry’s last name?
What side of town are the Socs from?
When did Dally first get arrested?
What are the two types of cars that the Socs
usually drive?
What does the gang sometimes call Johnny?
What is Cherry’s real first name?
Is Johnny younger or older than Ponyboy?
What is the Greasers’ slang term for jail?
What is the name of the shirts the Socs wear?
Chapters 1 - 3
1. What is the equivalent of a “fence” in The
Outsiders?
2. On pages 40 and 46, find the symbol that can
unite the two groups. Who introduces the symbol
and why is it important to notice this person?
3. Brainstorm some significant qualities of this
symbol.
Chapters 1 - 3
1. What is the equivalent of a “fence” in The
Outsiders?
The economic divide separates the “haves”
from the “have nots” in society. Separation of
groups in The Outsiders isn’t restricted to
economics, but that is often where it starts.
From economics, find a power dichotomy.
2. On pages 40 and 46, find the symbol that can
unite the two groups.
dichotomy according to Merriam-Webster
• A division into two especially mutually
exclusive or contradictory groups or entities
-- the dichotomy between theory and practice
• also: the process or practice of making such a
division
-- dichotomy of the population into two
opposed classes
Qualities of a Sunset
•
•
•
•
•
beautiful
relaxing
warm
special
marks the end of something
Cherry introduces the symbol of the sunset.
Since she is the only strong female character, we
need to watch her carefully.
Connect each symbol to one of the 4 universal
themes from this year. Clearly explain the
connection using text-based analysis.
sunset -
rings -
Flashback
an interjected scene, interrupting the
forward/linear motion of the plotline and taking
the reader back into the events of the past for a
specific reason that has bearing on the current
situation
Flashback is not simply a recounting or
summarizing of events from the past.
“He had been hunting our football to practice
a few kicks when a blue Mustang had pulled
up beside the lot. There were four Socs in it.
They had caught him and one of them had a
lot of rings on his hand – that’s what had cut
Johnny up so badly.” (33)
1. What do the rings tell about the incident?
Inferences:
1. Johnny likes football.
2. Since the rings cut Johnny’s face and there was
only one guy wearing lots of rings, the guy with
the rings is the primary antagonist.
3. The rings would have cost money; ergo the Soc
with the rings had both money and the
inclination to flaunt it.
4. The rings are used as a weapon to beat others
down.
1. What do the rings tell about the incident?
Inferences:
5. Since Johnny was alone and the Mustang pulled
up near him w/ no other cars around, he may
have first been startled by the noise.
6. There are 4 Socs and one greaser; therefore,
the Socs don’t worry about fighting fair.
7. Since the Socs caught him, he must have been
trying to run away.
2. What feeling or mood does this flashback
add to the danger that Johnny and Ponyboy
are in outside the drive-in?
3. How does Cherry alter the mood
at this point in the plotline?
4. What does the flashback reveal
about gang life?
Use textual evidence and your own
analysis to support your response:
1. Explain the probable influence of the economic
divide on the dynamics among the Socs and
among the greasers within their own groups.
2. Explain the probable influence of the economic
divide between the Socs and the greasers.
3. Is the influence of economics on the relationships
between Socs and greasers total or partial?
Explain.
Use textual evidence and your own
analysis to support your response:
1. Explain the probable influence of the economic
divide on the dynamics among the Socs and among
the greasers within their own groups.
Use textual evidence and your own
analysis to support your response:
2. Explain the probable influence of the
economic divide between the Socs and the
greasers.
Use textual evidence and your own
analysis to support your response:
3. Is the influence of economics on the
relationships between Socs and greasers total or
partial? Explain.
Use textual evidence and your own
analysis to support your response:
4. How does the economic divide create a
dichotomy in power? How does the group with
less power seek to grab some of it back?
5. What role does Cherry Valance play in the
dynamics between the two groups? Why do we
need to watch her carefully?
Chapters 3 & 4 RQ EC
Do the EC on the back of your quiz.
• Write a complete sentence about
an event or character found in
chapters 1-4 of The Outsiders
using one word from Vocab. Unit 2
with appropriate context!
• Circle the vocab. word and
underline the context.
Explain why the following line is ironic.
“Johnny had killed someone.”
Consider the character traits revealed in the first
3 chapters of the novel.
When you have explained the irony, turn to page
62 and find textual evidence to support your
explanation.
Explain why the following line from the
reading assignment is ironic.
“‘I didn’t mean to!’”
Consider both characters who speak the line and
the circumstances in which each is spoken.
Explain why the following line from the
reading assignment is ironic.
“‘Don’t you ever use your head?’”
Consider both characters who speak the line and
the circumstances in which each is spoken.
Explain why the following line from the
reading assignment is ironic.
“My dream’s come true and I’m in the country.“
Consider the circumstances of the speaker’s
dream along with his circumstances at the time
of this line.
“I climbed over the barbed-wire fence…”
(64)
1. What is the fence separating?
2. What is it keeping out?
3. What is on the other side?
4. How can you compare this to the fence in The
Boy in the Striped Pajamas. (Don’t forget to think
like a writer as well as a literary scholar.)
“The road got steeper with every step.” (66)
1. What road could this be, other than the literal
road to the church?
2. Why is it getting steeper for the boys?
• “I saw Johnny’s cigarette glowing in the
dark and wondered vaguely what it was like
inside a burning ember…” (47)
“‘I’ve been thinking about it, and that poem, that
guy that wrote it, he meant you’re gold when
you’re a kid, like green.’” (178)