Writing the Chapter 5 Summary
A Letter to Soda
Imagine you are Pony or
Johnny. You are sitting in the
car at Dairy Queen with
Dally, finally feeling full after
eating a huge lunch. Dally is
explaining that things have
heated up with the Soc’s. It
has become more dangerous
and he has started to carry a
gun for protection.
“Johnny gulped. "Don't worry," Dally went
on, "it ain't loaded. I ain't aimin' to get
picked up for murder. But it sure does help a
bluff. Tim Shepard's gang and our outfit
are havin' it out with the Socs tomorrow
night at the vacant lot. We got hold of the
president of one of their social clubs and had
a war council. Yeah"--- Dally sighed, and I
knew he was remembering New York--"just like the good old days. If they win,
things go on as usual. If we do, they
stay outa our territory but good. Two-Bit got
jumped a few days ago. Darry and me came
along in time, but he wasn't havin' too much
trouble. Two-Bit's a good fighter” (Hinton
83-84).
Then, before Dally tells you that Cherry is
acting as a spy for the Greasers, he pulls
out a couple of pieces of paper and pencils
and says, …
“Hey if you two are done eating,
Sodapop asked me to have you write him a
letter to tell him you are okay. He and
Darry are really worried, and not just
about Pony, but about you too, Johnny,
You both need to write Soda a letter tellin’
him about whatcha been doing this week.
Don’t write about the park or nothin’,
cuz that could be bad if a cop got hold of
it, just tell him about this last week on Jay
Mountain. You might want to call it
something else though, somethin’ that
sounds like Texas.”
Dally stood up to go pay for the
lunch. “Go ahead and write, we got time.”
2 MAR
2021
CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY NOTES:
To Summarize chapter 5 please OPEN AND
SAVE the writing assignment in TEAMS titled:
“A LETTER TO SODA” to your ELA Folder.
READ AND ANNOTATE THE INSTRUCTIONS!
Write a letter to Soda. Write it as if you really
are Pony or Johnny (make sure to decide
which one you are before you start writing).
Tell Soda what you have been doing and how
you have been feeling since you got to Jay
Mountain. You may want to make a list first of
the things the guys have been doing, in order,
so you will know what to write about.
Make sure to describe about how you
disguised yourselves, what you have been
eating and how you have been spending
your time. Add the details that the author
inferred, but didn’t include, like why Pony is
bad at poker. Include specific details and
explanations.
GRADING REQUIREMENTS:
1. The letter must be written in the first person point of view.
2. It must be at least 125 words long.
3. It must summarize the primary events in chapter 5.
4. It must be written in your own words . You can look over the chapter
but then close the book and just write about what has happened as if it
happened to you.
5. If you want to write about things that you and Johnny have said, that is
fine, but don’t quote dialogue from the chapter, paraphrase it the way you
would if you were remembering a conversation you had.
6. Stick to calibri, 11 pt. for your font. Fancy fonts are cute, but difficult to
read and I have to read this.
7. EDIT THE JOURNAL. Check all the words underlined in red. Unless it
is dialogue written to sound like someone speaks, it probably should not
be underlined in red. You may use the EDITOR tab in the ribbon at the
top of your word document. You will lose a ½ point for every red line
mistake over 3.
EXAMPLE LETTER
Dear Soda….
Here is an
example “Letter
to Soda”.
Notice that
•
it is written
in first
person.
•
there are
no red
lines –
after I
wrote it, I
checked
for red
lines and
corrected
the
mistakes.
Thanks for asking me to write you a letter.
I don’t think anyone has ever asked me to
write them a letter before, except for in third
grade when Ms. Jones everybody write a
letter to Santa Claus. I know Pony writes lots
better, but I can tell you what this last week
has been like for me and maybe that will fill in
any bits he forgets.
Last week when Ponyboy and I got to
TEXAS I figured maybe we would be here for
a day or two, but it has been most of a week
now. We were so tired when we arrived that
we flopped down on the floor and went to
sleep. I don’t think I have ever been so tired
in all my life.
At night it’s so cold, we near freeze to death.
It is colder here in Texas than it is back home.
We have water, but it is like drinking from an
iceberg.
We have enough to eat, because the morning
we got here I loned it down to the store and
went shoppin’ for food. Still, if I never eat
another baloney sandwich in my life, that’ll be
alright by me, and Pony would give all the cash
he has in the bank for a Pepsi.
We been spendin’ a lot of time playin’ cards.
I know Ponyboy is smart and he does a great
job reading and explaining things, but he
should never go to Vegas. He can’t play poker
to save his life. His face always gives away what
he is holding. Poor kid is $150 in the hole
already.
We been reading Gone With The Wind to
pass the time too. Pony does a good job
explainin’ the parts I don’t get. He does the
voices too. I ‘bout fell off the steps the first
time he read like Scarlet, she’s the bossy girl in
the story. Mostly I like the parts ‘bout this guy
she likes named Ashley, cuz he reminds of a
GRADING REQUIREMENTS:
1. The letter must be written in the first
person point of view.
6. Stick to Calibri, 11 pt. for your font. Fancy
fonts are cute, but difficult to read and I have
to read it.
2. It must be at least 150 words long.
7. EDIT THE YOUR WRITING BEFORE YOU
TURN IT IN!
Check all the words underlined in red. Unless
it is dialogue written to sound like someone
speaks, it probably should not be underlined
in red. You may use the EDITOR tab in the
ribbon at the top of your word document.
You will lose a ½ point for every red line
mistake over 3.
3. It must summarize the primary events in
chapter 5.
4. It must be written in your own words .
You can look over the chapter but then close
the book and just write about what has
happened, as if you are Pony or Johnny.
5. If you want to write about things that
you said (dialogue), that is fine, but don’t
quote dialogue from the chapter, write your
own.