GRADE 7 ELA – UNIT 2
Rationale:
S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders is the story of a boy who struggles with right and wrong, as well as his identity, in a
society in which he believes that he is an outsider. Students in 7th grade have continued their work in literary and
nonfiction reading, comprehension, and writing. The study of The Outsiders provides further opportunities to examine
literature and other texts that deal with conformity and issues of it within society. The Common Core Standards for
reading require students to analyze the development of complex characters. This course of study will advance students’
skills in literary analysis, to prepare them for high school level work. The Outsiders is a high interest, sophisticated text
in that it uses period appropriate vocabulary; complex characters, and contains multiple levels of meaning. Students will
continue to develop their ability to cite evidence from the novel to support their interpretations of themes and judgments
about characters. The Outsiders is ideal for inspiring discussion of personal values in light of its themes around
conformity, individuality, heroism, and a loss of innocence. While strengthening their skills in reading, writing, listening,
and discussion, students will be reconciling their personal values with a growing social consciousness, awareness of self,
and sense of responsibility.
Performance tasks will require students to:
Identify literary elements within a text;
Cite evidence and develop their ideas in writing with examples from the text;
Compare and contrast within the text;
State a position and support it with evidence.
Theme:
Personal Honor and Social Acceptance
Unit Text:
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Essential Questions:
Why might people hide their true selves?
What is more important, individuality or social acceptance?
1
Chapters 1-3
Overview: The first three chapters of The Outsiders introduce students to Ponyboy Curtis and provide a basic
understanding of his family, friends, and the struggles he faces growing up and trying to fit in when he really feels like an
outsider. Readers learn of the dynamics between the Curtis brothers and their group of friends, known as the greasers.
The students will also begin to learn about the conflict between the greasers and the “Socs”, the west-side rich kids. These
chapters are also an opportunity to continue teaching students about genre and point-of-view, discussion techniques &
weekly journal entries, and to explore Essential Questions.
Essential Questions: Why might people hide their true selves? What is more important, individuality or social acceptance?
Example1:Students first respond to the EQ individually in writing. They will then have an opportunity to revisit their
response before a whole group discussion.
Reader Response Journals:
The Reader Response Journals are a place for students to:
respond to text in writing
record personal reactions to text
generate questions
dialogue with a peer
brainstorm and draft for Assessment Tasks
What is close reading?
Close Reading:
Begins with an independent read during which students may or may not use annotation strategies that have been pretaught, based on student readiness. Length or amount of text may be differentiated. An independent reading is followed
by a teacher-led or peer-led read aloud. Discussion questions are revealed to students prior to the read-aloud, so that
students are engaging in a second read with questions in mind.
>>Discussion Supports Writing:
After the read-aloud, students discuss the passage or text within their group and the group generates responses to the
discussion questions. Students then produce written responses to the discussion questions. Discussion questions may
differ from group to group, but always support the written task.
2
1
Teachers may choose to explore EQs with students through individual or group written opportunities and/or through group discussion. This is one
example.
3
Chapters 1-3
Instructional Questions
Why might people hide their true
selves? (EQ)
Can people truly rise above their
given station?
What is more important,
individuality or social
acceptance? (EQ)
How does your use of language
indicate your social class?
Learning Activities
Shared Reading: Students will engage in a shared
reading experience with short biography of S.E.
Hinton. While building understanding of S.E. Hinton’s
background, students will also explore the purpose of
multiple readings of a text, as well as begin to engage
in group discussions that support comprehension.
Small Group Discussion: After responding to the EQ
in writing, students will then discuss their responses,
as well as the responses of their peers, to the EQ in
groups.
Think Pair Share: Character analysis (including major
vs. minor and static vs. dynamic) – Students work with
a partner to analyze two characters from the novel –
Johnny and Dally. Students work together to complete
a character analysis graphic organizer.
Standards
RL 7.3 Analyze how particular
elements of a story or drama
interact (e.g., how setting
shapes the characters or plot).
RL 7.4 Determine the meaning
of words and phrases as they
are used in a text, including
figurative and connotative
meanings
Supplemental Texts / Resources:
S.E. Hinton biography – www.notablebiographies.com
Power Point – Life and Issues of the 1960’s
Vocabulary:
Alienation, society, cliques, gangs,
identity, individuality, social class, cuss,
rumble
Tasks
Anticipation Guide (pre-reading)
Quiz: Chapters 1-3
Chapter Focus Questions/Activities:
In this chapter we meet members of the greasers’ gang. Write a short description of
each and predict what role you think each will play in the story based on their
description. (Ch. 1)
Describe the incident that took place at the movie theater. (Ch. 2)
At the end of Chapter 3, the conflict between Darryl and Ponyboy takes on a new
layer. What happens? How does each person react? (Ch. 3)
Scaffolds / Support
Paired and group discussions
Paired Reading
4
Chapters 1-3
Textual Evidence in Support of Tough
I remembered Johnny--his face all cut up and bruised, and
I remembered how he had cried when we found him, halfconscious, in the corner lot. Johnny had it awful rough at
home--it took a lot to make him cry.
"Fiery, huh? Well, that's the way I like 'em." He started to
put his arm around her, but Johnny reached over and
stopped him.
"Leave her alone, Dally."
"Huh?" Dally was taken off guard. He stared at
Johnny in disbelief. Johnny couldn't say "Boo" to a goose.
Johnny gulped and got a little pale, but he said, "You heard
me. Leave her alone."
Johnny was high-strung anyway, a nervous wreck from getting belted every time he turned around and from hearing
his parents fight all the time. Living in those conditions
might have turned someone else rebellious and bitter; it was
killing Johnny. He had never been a coward. He was a good
man in a rumble. He stuck up for the gang and kept his
mouth shut good around cops. But after the night of the
beating, Johnny was jumpier than ever. I didn't think he'd
ever get over it. Johnny never walked by himself after that.
And Johnny, who was the most law-abiding of us, now
carried in his back pocket a six-inch switchblade. He'd use
it, too, if he ever got jumped again. They had scared him
that much. He would kill the next person who jumped him.
Nobody was ever going to beat him like that again. Not over
his dead body...
Textual Evidence in Support of Sensitive
Johnny Cade was last and least. If you can picture a little dark puppy
that has been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of
strangers, you'll have Johnny.
He had a nervous, suspicious look in his eyes, and that beating he got
from the Socs didn't help matters. He was the gang's pet, everyone's
kid brother. His father was always beating him up, and his mother
ignored him, except when she was hacked off at something, and then
you could hear her yelling at him clear down at our house. I think he
hated that worse than getting whipped.
Johnny came back then and sat down beside me. He looked around
for Dally, then managed a shy "Hi" to the girls and tried to watch the
movie. He was nervous, though. Johnny was always nervous around
strangers.
I can't take much more." Johnny spoke my own feelings. I'll kill myself
or something."
Johnny asked no questions. We ran for several blocks until we were
out of breath. Then we walked. I was crying by then. I finally just sat
down on the curb and cried, burying my face in my arms. Johnny sat
down beside me, one hand on my shoulder. "Easy, Ponyboy," he said
softly, "we'll be okay."
Suggested Close Reading Passage
Discussion Questions

5
Chapters 4 - 5
Overview: In Chapters 4 - 5 readers begin to understand the depth of the conflict between the greasers and the Socs. Ponyboy and
Johnny get into some trouble with the Socs and have to flee in order to protect themselves. The reader also learns more about the
internal struggle Ponyboy is facing with who he is and how he fits into his world.
Assessment Task 1: Which word best describes Johnny, tough or sensitive? Choose one and then write a short explanation
defending your choice.
Chapters 4-5
Instructional Questions
How does setting help us understand
the motivations of characters?
How do we make informed
judgments about characters?
How do we make connections
between different types of texts?
How can an author’s use of symbols
deepen a reader’s understanding of a
text?
Learning Activities
Think Pair Share: Character analysis (including
major vs. minor and static vs. dynamic) – Students
work with a partner to analyze two characters from
the novel – one a dynamic and the other a static
character. Students work together to complete a
character analysis graphic organizer.
Close Reading: Poem – “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by
Robert Frost. How does this poem connect to the
characters in the novel?
Small Group Discussion: How has Ponyboy’s
leaving affected the lives of his brothers?
Standards
RL 7.3 Analyze how particular
elements of a story or drama
interact (e.g., how setting
shapes the characters or plot).
SL7.1 Engage effectively in a
range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grade 7
topics, texts, and issues,
building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
W7.1.b Support claims with
logical reasoning and relevant
evidence, using accurate
credible sources and
demonstrating an
understanding of the topic or
text.
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Supplemental Texts / Resources:
Character analysis graphic organizer
Vocabulary:
Gallantly, sophisticated, apprehensive,
contemptuously, premonition, character
traits, inferences, protagonist, antagonist,
perspective, imploring
Tasks
Character analysis graphic organizer
Quiz – Chapters 4 - 5
Chapter Focus Questions:
Describe the incident that took place in the park from the point of view of one of
the characters. (Ch. 4)
What is the poem’s meaning or message? How does this meaning/message
relate to the characters in the story so far? (Ch.5)
Scaffolds / Support
T-Charts /Chunk text for students to
read independently with greater
success.
Provide a focus and text-based
vocabulary for each chunk.
Character analysis graphic organizer
7
Chapters 4-5
Textual Evidence in Support of Tough
Johnny had a blank, tough look on his face--you'd have had
to know him to see the panic in his eyes.
"I killed him," he said slowly. "I killed that boy."
Bob, the handsome Soc, was lying there in the moonlight, doubled up and still. A dark pool was growing from
him, spreading slowly over the blue-white cement. I looked
at Johnny's hand. He was clutching his switch-blade, and it
was dark to the hilt.
"Yeah." His voice quavered slightly. "I had to. They were
drowning you, Pony. They might have killed you. And they
had a blade... they were gonna beat me up...."
Textual Evidence in Support of Sensitive
"Stop it!" Johnny gasped from between clenched teeth. "Shut up about
last night! I killed a kid last night. He couldn't of been over seventeen
or eighteen, and I killed him. How'd you like to live with that?" He was
crying. I held him like Soda had held him the day we found him lying
in the lot "I didn't mean to," he finally blurted out, "but they were
drownin' you, and I was so scared..."
The dawn was coming then. All the lower valley was covered with mist,
and sometimes little pieces of it broke off and floated away in small
clouds. The sky was lighter in the east, and the horizon was a thin
golden line. The clouds changed from gray to pink, and the mist was
touched with gold. There was a silent moment when every-thing held
its breath, and then the sun rose. It was beautiful.
"Golly"--Johnny's voice beside me made me jump--"that sure
was pretty."
Johnny jumped up and dragged me up by my sweat shirt.
He shook me. "Calm down, Ponyboy. Get ahold of yourself."
Suggested Close Reading Passage
Discussion Questions

8
Chapter 6
Overview: In chapter 6 Ponyboy and Johnny begin to realize the impact their actions on everyone at home. The reader also starts to
see the true depth of concern and love that Dally has for Johnny. The three boys become unlikely heroes when the church they are
staying in goes up in flames. Also, Ponyboy starts to see Darry in a new light.
Chapter 6
Instructional Questions
How do the personal experiences we have
growing up affect our thinking and
behavior?
How can appearances be deceiving?
Why is it important to see things from the
perspective of others?
Learning Activities
Think Pair Share: Students will discuss
the events that have led the Curtis brothers
to have the relationship they have and how
it will be different since the events that
have taken place.
Shared Reading: Students will be broken
up into small groups. Longer, more
challenging nonfiction articles on social
issues facing teens will be divided among
the groups to increase engagement and
comprehension.
Standards
RL 7.1 Cite textual evidence to
support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
SL7.1 Engage effectively in a
range of collaborative discussions
(one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners
on grade 7 topics, texts, and
issues, building on others’ ideas
and expressing their own clearly.
RL 7.6 Analyze how an author
develops and contrasts the points
of view of different characters or
narrators in a text.
RI 7.9 Analyze how two or more
authors writing about the same
topic shape their presentations of
key information by emphasizing
different evidence or advancing
different interpretations of facts.
Supplemental Texts / Resources:
Review what Socratic Seminar is and how to prepare for it.
Vocabulary:
Theme, cliché, honor, justice
bewilderment, delinquents
Tasks:
Socratic Seminar
Scaffolds / Support
T-Charts – Chunking text
Partner Reading
9
Chapter Focus Questions/Activities:
At the end of Chapter 6, the conflict between Darry and Ponyboy begins to be
resolved. At the end of the chapter Ponyboy says, “Everything was going to be
okay now.” Write a paragraph that tells what you believe the relationship
between Ponyboy and Darry will be like from now on. Use examples from the
first six chapters of the novel to support your answer.
Reader Response Journal:
1. What is social acceptance? How is this concept evident throughout the book?
10
Chapters 7-8
Overview: In chapters 7-8 Ponyboy tries to readjust to being back at home and come to terms with Johnny’s condition. He senses
that something terrible is gong to happen, but he is not able to make anyone understand what it is. Ponyboy also realizes that not
everyone is always the way they seem after he has a talk with Randy, one of the Socs, and Cherry Valance. He is beginning to see
that Cherry was right, “things are rough all over.”
Your Task: Complete the following graphic organizer by providing evidence of a social issue from two research articles and
The Outsiders. Be sure to thoroughly explain how your evidence supports the social issue you have chosen.
Chapters 7 - 8
Instructional Questions
How do the personal experiences we have
growing up affect our thinking and
behavior?
How can someone else’s pain impact your
thinking and emotions?
Learning Activities
Think Pair Share: Students will discuss
how Johnny’s perspective on life has
changed since he and Ponyboy ran away.
Shared Reading: Students will be broken
up into small groups. Longer, more
challenging nonfiction articles on social
issues facing teens will be divided among
the groups to increase engagement and
comprehension.
Socratic Seminar: How do the personal
experiences we have growing up affect our
thinking and behavior?
Standards
RL 7.1 Cite textual evidence to
support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
SL7.1 Engage effectively in a
range of collaborative discussions
(one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners
on grade 7 topics, texts, and
issues, building on others’ ideas
and expressing their own clearly.
RL 7.6 Analyze how an author
develops and contrasts the points
of view of different characters or
narrators in a text.
RI 7.9 Analyze how two or more
authors writing about the same
topic shape their presentations of
key information by emphasizing
different evidence or advancing
different interpretations of facts.
11
Supplemental Texts / Resources:
Review what Socratic Seminar is and how to prepare for it.
Vocabulary:
Theme, cliché, honor, justice
bewilderment, delinquents,
manslaughter, subtleties, vile, abruptly,
reluctantly
Tasks:
Socratic Seminar
Quiz Chapters 6-8
4 Step Response to Quote
Chapter Focus Questions:
What condition is Johnny in after the fire? Why would being crippled be worse
for Johnny than for someone else? (Ch. 7)
Ponyboy talks about his feeling that something bad is going to happen that
night. What do you guess might happen? (Ch. 8)
Scaffolds / Support
T-Charts – Chunking text
Partner Reading
Reader Response Journal:
2. What is social acceptance? How is this concept evident throughout the book?
12
Chapters 6-8
Textual Evidence in Support of Social Issues
I thought about it for a minute--Darry and Sodapop were my brothers and I loved both of them, even if Darry did scare me; but not
even Soda could take Mom and Dad's place. And they were my real brothers, not just sort of adopted ones. No wonder Johnny was
hurt because his parents didn't want him. -Broken Home
"I am?" I had never thought about it. Everyone in our neighborhood, even the girls, smoked. Except for Darry, who was too proud of
his athletic health to risk a cigarette, we had all started smoking at an early age. Johnny had been smoking since he was nine; Steve
started at eleven. So no one thought it unusual when I started. I was the weed-fiend in my family--Soda smokes only to steady his
nerves or when he wants to look tough. - Teen Addiction
There was another column about just Darry and Soda and me: how Darry worked on two jobs at once and made good at both of
them, and about his outstanding record at school; it mentioned Sodapop dropping out of school so we could stay together, and that I
made the honor roll at school all the time and might be a future track star. (Oh, yeah, I for-got--I'm on the A-squad track team, the
youngest one. I'm a good runner.) Then it said we shouldn't be separated after we had worked so hard to stay together. -Broken
Home
"You know what?" Sodapop said to no one in particular. "When we stomp the Socs good, me and Stevie here are gonna throw a big
party and everybody can get stoned. Then we'll go chase the Socs clear to Mexico." -Teen Addiction
"He's dead--his mother has had a nervous breakdown. They spoiled him rotten. I mean, most parents would be proud of a kid like
that--good-lookin' and smart and everything, but they gave in to him all the time. He kept trying to make someone say 'No' and they
never did. They never did. That was what he wanted. For somebody to tell him 'No.' To have somebody lay down the law, set the
limits, give him something solid to stand on. That's what we all want, really. -Child Abuse / Neglect; Gang Violence
"And tonight. . . people get hurt in rumbles, maybe killed. I'm sick of it because it doesn't do any good. You can't win, you know that,
don't you?" And when I remained silent he went on: "You can't win, even if you whip us. You'll still be where you were before--at the
bottom. And we'll still be the lucky ones with all the breaks. So it doesn't do any good, the fighting and the killing. It doesn't prove a
thing. We'll forget it if you win, or if you don't. Greasers will still be greasers and Socs will still be Socs. - Prejudice / Gang Violence
"I'd help you if I could," I said. I remembered Cherry's voice: Things are rough all over. I knew then what she meant.
He looked at me. "No, you wouldn't. I'm a Soc. You get a little money and the whole world hates you." -Prejudice
"You'll be okay," I said with fake cheerfulness. "You gotta be. We couldn't get along without you."
The truth of that last statement hit me. We couldn't get along without him. We needed Johnny as much as he needed the gang. And
for the same reason. - Gang Violence
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Chapters 6-8
Textual Evidence in Support of Social Issues
I was silent most of the way home. I was thinking about the rumble. I had a sick feeling in my stomach and it wasn't from being ill. It
was the same kind of helplessness I'd felt that night Darry yelled at me for going to sleep in the lot I had the same deathly fear that
something was going to happen that none of us could stop. As we got off the bus I finally said it. "Tonight--I don't like it one bit" Gang Violence
"He killed Bob. Oh, maybe Bob asked for it. I know he did. But I couldn't ever look at the person who killed him. You only knew his
bad side. He could be sweet sometimes, and friendly. But when he got drunk... it was that part of him that beat up Johnny. I knew it
was Bob when you told me the story. He was so proud of his rings. Why do people sell liquor to boys? Why? I know there's a law
against it, but kids get it anyway..." - Teen Addiction; Prejudice
"I wouldn't want you to see him. You're a traitor to your own kind and not loyal to us. Do you think your spying for us makes up for
the fact that you're sitting there in a Corvette while my brother drops out of school to get a job? Don't you ever feel sorry for us. Don't
you ever try to give us handouts and then feel high and mighty about it." - Prejudice
Suggested Close Reading Passage
"You going to take Sandy to the party?" I asked, just to be saying something.
Instant silence. I looked around. "What's the deal?"
Sodapop was staring at his feet, but his ears were reddening. "No. She
went to live with her grandmother in Florida."
"How come?"
"Look," Steve said, surprisingly angry, "does he have to draw you a
picture? It was either that or get married, and her parents almost hit the roof at
the idea of her marryin' a sixteen-year-old kid."
"Seventeen," Soda said softly. "Ill be seventeen in a couple of weeks."
"Oh," I said, embarrassed. Soda was no innocent; I had been in on bull
sessions and his bragging was as loud as anyone's. But never about Sandy. Not
ever about Sandy. I remembered how her blue eyes had glowed when she
looked at him, and I was sorry for her.
There was a heavy silence. Then Darry said, "We'd better get on to work,
Pepsi-Cola." Darry rarely called Soda by Dad's pet nickname for him, but he did
so then because he knew how miserable Sodapop was about Sandy.
14
Discussion Questions
 What inference can you make about Sandy?
What clues in the text led you to this
inference?
 What does the author mean by "a heavy
silence?" What details from the text reveal
this meaning?
 What does this passage reveal about society
at that time?
Chapters 9 - 10
Overview: In chapters 9 – 10 the conflict between the greasers and the Socs comes to a climax through the rumble. Ponyboy senses
something bad is going happen, but is unable to express his thoughts or feelings to the group. Upon arriving at the vacant lot,
Ponyboy, once again, feels as though he and his friends are outsiders and they don’t fit in with the others there. The greasers win the
fight, however, their happiness is short lived because Johnny dies in the hospital right after, and Dally cannot handle Johnny’s death
so he puts himself in harm’s way by robbing a store. This in turn gets him killed by the police.
Assessment Task 3:
After reading in Chapter 10 we see that some of the characters are not as we first believed them to be. After reading the poems,
Bronx Masquerade” by Nikki Grimes and “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar consider the characters from the novel,
The Outsiders. Which character do you think “wears a mask” and why? In your response be sure to include comparisons of both
poems and connect those comparisons to your chosen character from the novel.
Instructional Questions
Which is more important, personal honor
or obeying the law?
How does the presentation or new
information in a text change our opinions
about the characters?
Learning Activities
Think Pair Share: Students will discuss
recurring themes in the text, such as heroism
and loss of innocence and discuss the message
theses themes convey the author’s point of
view about life and growing up.
Close Reading: Students will engage in a close
reading experience with two poems, “Bronx
Masquerade” by Nikki Grimes and “We Wear
the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar in
preparation for Assessment Task #3.
Shared Reading: Students will be broken up
into small groups. Longer, more challenging
nonfiction articles on social issues facing teens
will be divided among the groups to increase
engagement and comprehension.
Supplemental Texts / Resources
“Bronx Masquerade” by Nikki Grimes
“We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Standards
RL.7.1 Cite textual evidence to
support analysis of what the
text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text
RL 7.2 Determine a theme or
central idea of a text and
analyze its development over
the course of the text; provide
an objective summary of the
text.
RL 7.9 Compare and contrast a
fictional portrayal of a time,
place, or character and a
historical account of the same
period as a means of
understanding how authors of
fiction use or alter history.
Vocabulary:
Reputation, menace, contracted,
agony, point-of-view, concussion
15
Tasks
Quiz Chapters 9-10
Chapter Focus Questions
Why does Ponyboy think that he, Darryl, and the others do not really belong
with the Brumley Boys and Tim Sheppard’s gang? (Ch. 9)
Why was Johnny’s death difficult for Dally to handle? Why do you think Dally
would have wanted to die?
Reader Response Journal:
1. Based on where we are in the book right now, select a scene in which a
character had to choose between personal honor and obeying the law.
2. What does it mean to be an outsider? Use evidence from the text to support your
response.
16
Scaffolds / Support
Partner reading
T-Charts – Chunking text
Chapters 11 - 12
Overview: In chapters 11 – 12 Ponyboy struggles to understand all that has happened over the past week. He has difficulty
remembering what happened the night Bob died and believes he is person guilty of taking another person’s life. He is also concerned
that he and his brothers will be split up because of these events. The issues between Darry and Ponyboy have resurfaced and
Sodapop is caught in the middle again.
Instructional Questions

How do decisions, actions, and
consequences vary depending on the
different perspectives of the people
involved?

How might it feel to live through a
conflict that disrupts your way of
life?
Learning Activities

Think Pair Share: Students will
discuss how Ponyboy’s experiences
have impacted the world around him.

Socratic Seminar – How do
decisions, actions, and consequences
vary depending on the different
perspectives of the people involved?
Standards
SL 7.1a Come to discussions prepared, having
read or researched material under study;
explicitly draw on that preparation by
referring to evidence on the topic, text, or
issue to probe and reflect on ideas under
discussion.
SL.7.1b Follow rules for collegial discussions,
track progress toward specific goals and
deadlines, and define individual roles as
needed.
SL.7.1c Pose questions that elicit elaboration
and respond to others’ questions and
comments with relevant observations and
ideas that bring the discussion back on topic
as needed.
SL.7.1d Acknowledge new information
expressed by others and, when warranted,
modify their own views.
Supplemental Texts / Resources:
Venn diagram
Vocabulary:
Compare, contrast, circumstances
Tasks
4 Step Response to Quote
Socratic Seminar
Venn diagram – compare and contrast the hardships faced by Ponyboy and Cherry
Chapter Focus Questions
Explain why Ponyboy would rather have anyone’s hate than his or her pity.
(Ch. 11)
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Scaffolds / Support
The Outsiders – movie clips
Paired readings
Ponyboy comes to conclusions about both his conflicts. First, after another
argument with Darryl, he has an even deeper understanding of his brothers and
their relationship. Second, after reading Johnny’s letter to him, he puts his
concerns about being a hood in perspective.
Write a short paragraph explaining his “new thoughts” about each conflict.
Summative Task: Write an essay in which you discuss one of the social issues facing both the youths in the novel as well as youths
in your community. Use details from the novel, your research, and examples from your communities to support your discussion.
In your essay be sure to:
 Choose a social issue
 Identify at least one character from the novel mostly affected by this issue
 Discuss the causes of this issue
 Discuss the effects/impact this issue has on the youths of the novel as well as the community
 Discuss how this character tries to handle the issue. (You may want to motivate your peers to follow the advice of Johnny Cade
to “stay gold”)
 Discuss possible solutions to this issue
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