Summer Reading
8th Grade English
New Albany Middle School
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TEXT: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
MATERIALS: Three-prong report folder
Loose leaf notebook paper
Blue or black ink only
FORMATTING: Begin each of the assignments on a new page. Each assignment should have
the student’s name and the name of the text in the top left corner of the page.
staple the pages of the assignment together.
The assignments should be handwritten in blue or black ink or typed in Times New
Roman 12pt font with 1” margins.
Write in complete sentences and write only on the front side of the paper.
GRADE VALUE: The summer assignment counts as a major grade. The assignment is due the
second day of school; your grade will drop a letter grade for each day the assignment is late.
Students should thoroughly read the book, not just one of the many summaries
that are widely available. The movie will not help you with this assignment.
Students should do their own work on the summer assignments. Copying the work
of other students or material that is available on the internet is considered plagiarism
and will result in a grade of zero.
Students may discuss the novel with classmates but should not work in groups
to complete assignments. One purpose of the summer assignments is for the
teacher to get a sense of each student’s personal voice and writing style.
Students should use their best organizational and writing skills and proofread
carefully for grammatical errors. Be sure to follow all instructions.
ABOUT: The Author
Susan Eloise Hinton was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on July 22, 1950. Dissatisfied with the YA
literature she read, Hinton decided to write her own. The Outsiders, her first novel, was
published by Viking in 1967 when Hinton was just seventeen years old, and she has been
writing ever since. When Hinton's not writing, she rides her horse, takes courses at the
university, and is involved in her son Nick's school. She currently lives in Tulsa and has
written numerous other books such as That Was Then, This Is Now, Rumble Fish, and Tex.
The Novel
According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc
(short for "social") has money, can get away with just about anything, and has an attitude
longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the outside and needs to
watch his back. Ponyboy is a greaser, and he's always been proud of it, even willing to rumble
against a gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers--until one terrible night when his
friend Johnny kills a soc. The murder gets under Ponyboy's skin, causing his world to crumble
and teaching him that pain feels the same whether a soc or a greaser.
Remember, for each assignment, NEATNESS COUNTS!
Assignment 1:
The Outsiders is a story with very unique characters that all possess very special characteristics. These
characteristics are portrayed throughout the novel through dialogue and what the narrator says about the
characters without using dialogue, which is called characterization.
Choose a quote (does NOT have to dialogue, just taken word-for-word from the novel) from each chapter that
describes the personality and character traits of one of the characters. For each quote, chose from one of the
following characters ONLY: Ponyboy, Dally, Johnny, Cherry, or Darry. The page number of the quote must
be included.
Also, give a short explanation in 2-3 COMPLETE sentences about how the chosen quote defines the character.
Remember, you are looking at their personality, NOT appearance.
Format: Number your entries according to the chapter number. Write the character you chose, then the
quote, followed by the page number. Skip one line, and then begin your explanation. Skip two lines between
entries.
Example (No, you many not use it):
1. Ponyboy: “I drew a quivering breath and quit crying. You just don’t cry in front of Darry.” Pg. 8
This quote shows that Ponyboy is self-conscious. He worries that Darry and the others won’t think he
is tough and able to handle himself if he cries.
Assignment 2:
Choose THREE (3) vocabulary words from each chapter and write the words and their definitions. DO NOT
pick simple words that you already know, or you will not get credit for this section. Make sure these are
difficult words that you do not already know, and you may not repeat words once they are used.
Assignment 3:
A theme is a lesson or message that the reader takes away from the story, like loyalty or good vs. evil. It is
never said, but the reader can infer themes by reading between the lines of a story. There are many different
themes in every story. Pick three themes found in The Outsiders. Write a 5-paragraph essay explaining
themes you picked and use examples to prove that your themes are in the story along with short, 1-2
sentence quotes (examples taken word-for-word from the story, like the ones you chose in Assignment 1).
Be sure to use the standard format for a 5-paragraph essay. You will need a 2-3 sentence introduction
paragraph, three 4-6 sentence body paragraphs (one to explain each theme you chose), and a conclusion
paragraph.
Assignment 4:
There are a lot of different versions of The Outsiders. Bibliographic information lets anyone in the world
know exactly which book you used on your assignment. For example, when I include the bibliographic
information of the book in my assignment, a person in China could pick up the same version of the book, turn
to page 8, and find the quote I used in Assignment 1. Bibliographic information is very important! When you
write yours for The Outsiders, use the copyright and title pages and FOLLOW THIS FORMAT EXCATLY. There
is no room for creativity with bibliographic information. All lines AFTER the first must be indented.
Author’s last name, first name. Title of Book. Place of Publication:Publisher, earliest
copyright date. Print.