The Outsiders Study Guide, Chapters 3-4
Name: ___________________________________
In Chapter 3 it becomes clear that many of the characters have dreams they know will probably never come
true. Some are very obvious, some you need to thinks about because they are implied rather than stated. For
each of the characters listed below, explain (in detail) what their dreams are. Then explain why their dreams
will never come true (10 points).
Pony’s Dream
Why it won’t come true:
Cherry’s Dream
Why it won’t come true:
Soda’s Dream
Why it won’t come true:
Darry’s Dream
Why it won’t come true:
Dally’s Dream
Why it won’t come true:
1. Why does Darry strike Ponyboy?
2. Do you think he means to?
3. How does he feel afterwards? Explain. (pp. 49-50)
4. The blue Mustang is a symbol (an object that represents one or more ideas). What do you think to blue
Mustang symbolizes? Explain.
5. According to Cherry, what separated the Greasers from the Socs?
Chapter 4
If you were Johnny and Pony’s lawyer, how would you defend them in a court of law? (Give THREE reasons for
your defense).
A.
B.
C.
9. Does defending a friend's life justify Johnny's action in the park? Why or why not?
10. The boys immediately turn to Dally for help. Why is he the logical choice?
11. Explain what your advice to Johnny and Pony would be if they'd come to you for help instead of Dally.
12. List as many ways as you can that Dally helps the Pony and Johnny in this chapter.
13. What does Pony mean when he says, "Johnny and I understood each other without saying anything (p39)?
Have you ever had a relationship with someone who you understood, or who understood you, without having
to say anything? Explain.
14. What does Pony mean when he says, "Maybe the two different world's we lived in weren't so different.
We saw the same sunset." (p41)?
Directions: Fill out the sequence plan for Ponyboy and Johnny after Dally helps them with a plan of escape
(pp60-61).
First
Find Dallas Winston.
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
Sixth
Seventh
Go to the old abandoned church on top of Jay Mountain.
Name ___________________ Hour_______________________ Date: _____________________
The Outsiders, CHAPTERS 3-4
Directions: Fill in the web on how Ponyboy, Johnny, and Cherry are alike.
Similarities
of Ponyboy,
Johnny, and
Cherry.
Directions: Answer the following questions. Be sure to include the question into the answer and all
answers should be complete sentences.
1. According to Cherry, what is the difference between the socs and the greasers (p38)?
2. What does Pony mean when he says, "Johnny and I understood each other without saying anything (p39)?
Have you ever had a relationship with someone who you understood, or who understood you, without
having to say anything?
3. What does Pony mean when he says, "Maybe the two different world's we lived in weren't so different. We
saw the same sunset." (p41)?
4. What is a simile that Pony uses to explain Darry (p42)?
5. Why does Cherry choose to ride home with Bob (p45)?
6. What happens when Pony comes home after his curfew (p49)?
7. Why does Johnny like it better when his father is hitting him (p51)?
8. Contrast the family situations of Ponyboy and Johnny.
9. At the end of Chapter 3, how does the author foreshadow that bad things are to come (p52)?
10. What does Pony mean when he says the socs were "reeling pickled" (p54)?
11. What major event happens in this chapter (p56)?
12. How does Johnny's past experience with the socs affect his behavior in the park (p57)?
13. How did the author foreshadow that Johnny would use his knife in Chapter 2?
14. Does defending a friend's life justify Johnny's action in the park? Why or why not?
15. Explain what would your advice be to Johnny and Pony if they'd come to you for help instead of Dally?
16. What does the narrator mean when he says, "My dream's come true and I'm in the country"? (p63)
17. How is this really not the dream he wanted?
18. Describe the setting on p66.
19. Why do you think S.E. Hinton leaves us with the phrase, "But this church gave me a kind of creepy feeling.
What do you call it? Premonition?"
Directions: Fill out the sequence plan for Ponyboy and Johnny after Dally helps them with a plan of
escape (pp60-61).
First
Second
Find Dallas Winston.
Third
Fourth
Fifth
Sixth
Seventh
Go to the old abandoned church on top of Jay Mountain.
Directions: Imagine that Pony writes a letter to his dead mother, expressing emotions that he cannot
share with anyone else. Write his letter on a separate sheet of paper. You can begin like this...
Dear MomSometimes I feel so angry and depressed that I wish I was dead. I have nobody to talk to. Yeah sure I can talk to
Johnny, but I can't explain everything to him. The thing that upsets me most is the way that...
*Remember to use paragraphs and check your writing for errors (verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, and
missing words).