2nd Quarter Graded Assignment – Intermediate English B
Literature Unit 17: The Outsiders
Study Guide
Fill in the Study Guide as we review in class to prepare you for the test!
Who’s who in The Outsiders…?
Character
Description
Ponyboy
Darry
Soda
Johnny
Two-Bit
Dally
Steve
Cherry Valance
Chapters 1 and 2
1. Chapter 1: The narrator of The Outsiders is
2. Chapter 1: What point of view is this story being told? Why did the author choose this point of view?
3. Chapter 1: The setting: ____________(where) _________________(when)
4. Chapter 1: Ponyboy describes the Greasers as “tuff.” What does he mean by this?
5. Chapter 1: The Socials and the Greasers are rival gangs. The main reason they are rivals is because
6. Chapter 2: Pony, Dally, and Johnny sneak into a drive in movie. Dally starts bothering one of the girls
they run they see there. What does Johnny say to Dally? How does Dally react to Johnny?
7. Chapter 2: Ponyboy describes the time Johnny got beat up by the Socs. What can we infer about
Johnny based on Ponyboy’s description?
Chapters 3 and 4
8. Chapter 3: Why does Darry get so mad when Johnny comes home late after falling asleep in the lot?
9. Chapter 4: After fighting with Darry, Ponyboy runs back to the lot to find Johnny. They then proceed
to go to the park. Who pulls up in the blue Mustang?
10. Chapter 4: Describe what happened between Ponyboy and Johnny and the Socials they encounter at
the park.
11. Chapter 4: Johnny and Pony find Dally after Johnny kills Bob, one of the Socials. What does Dally
advise them to do?
Chapters 5 and 6
12. Chapter 5: While hiding at the church, Pony walks outside and sees the most beautiful sunset. What
poem does he recite? Why does it have special meaning?
13. Chapter 5: Dally comes to visit the boys at the church. He brings Pony a letter from his brother Soda.
What does the letter say about Soda’s character?
14. Chapter 6: Upon returning from taking a drive with Dally, the boys see that the church is:
15. Chapter 6: Describe how Ponyboy, Johnny, and Dally help. What happens to Johnny?
16. Chapter 6: Soda and Darry are waiting for Ponyboy at the hospital. How does Pony feel about his
brother as the two hug? How does the first person point of view help us understand these feelings?
Chapters 7-9
17. Chapter 8: As they are leaving the hospital, they see Johnny’s mother. Why does Johnny refuse to see
her?
18. Chapter 8: The Socials and the Greasers are about to have a rumble. Before it all goes down, Ponyboy
talks to Cherry. Why does he ask her if she “can see the sunset real good from the West Side?”
19. Chapter 9: As Dally and Ponyboy drive to the hospital to visit Johnny the day after the rumble, Dally
tells Pony that “If he'd (Johnny) been like me he'd never have been in this mess. If he'd got smart like
me he'd never have run into that church.” What is the cause of his frustration?
20. Chapter 9: Why does Dallas run out of Johnny’s hospital room? What happened to Johnny?
21. Chapter 11: Ponyboy must stay in bed for days because he has a concussion. Randy, one of the Socials,
comes to visit him. How do we know that Randy has changed?
22. Chapter 12: Ponyboy finds a letter from Johnny in his copy of the book Gone with the Wind. What is
the advice he offers to Pony and Dally?
 Advice to Ponyboy:

Advice to Dallas:
End of Novel Reflections:
23. Describe the conflicts in this novel.
24. What is the theme of The Outsiders?
25. Why does the author mention that Ponyboy calls his English teacher to ask about the paper he has to
write?