The Outsiders
Unit Packet
Inspiration for writing
"The "idea" for a story, more often than not, is something discovered by the
reader while the writer continues to try to explain to herself where it came
from! I am impelled toward writing by love stories, by the demands of my
own imagination. I have been especially interested in writing about children
as they encounter the daily surprises of life, frequent periods of loneliness,
the inexplicability of events and the feelings they evoke." -S.E. Hinton
S.E. Hinton
By the time she was 17 years old, Susan Eloise
Hinton was a published author. While still in high school in her
hometown--Tulsa, Oklahoma--Hinton put in words what she saw and felt
growing up and called it The Outsiders, a now classic story of two sets of
high school rivals, the Greasers and the Socs (for society kids). Because
her hero was a Greaser and outsider, and her tale was one of gritty
realism, Hinton launched a revolution in young adult literature.
Since her narrator was a boy, Hinton's publishers suggested that she
publish under the name of S. E. Hinton; they feared their readers
wouldn't respect a "macho" story written by a woman. Hinton says today,
"I don't mind having two identities; in fact, I like keeping the writer part
separate in some ways. And since my alter ego is clearly a 15-year-old
boy, having an authorial self that doesn't suggest a gender is just fine
with me."
Today, more than twenty-five years after its first publication, The
Outsiders ranks as a classic, still widely read and one of the most
important and taboo-breaking books in the field. Finally, someone was
writing about the real concerns and emotions of a teenager. The Outsiders
marked the beginning of a new kind of realism in books written for the
young adult market, and Hinton's next four books followed suit.
Who Was Famous?
Paul Newman
Marilyn Monroe
Johnny Carson
Actor
Actress
Comedic TV Host
Jack Nicholson
Alfred Hitchcock
Actor
Film Maker/Producer
What Music Was Popular and Who Sang It?
The Beatles
Rock
Elvis Presley
King of Rock ’n Roll
Hank Williams Sr.
Country Western
Who Was in Politics?
John F. Kennedy
Martin Luther King Jr.
U.S. President
Civil Rights Activist
Malcolm X
Civil Rights Activist
Where Did They Eat?
McDonald’s
Kentucky Fried Chicken
The Outsiders: Base Statements
Directions: AGREE or DISAGREE with the statements below. Write a sentence or two stating WHY you feel this
way. Then, choose one or two of the statements you feel most strongly about, and write a one page journal entry.
1. You can tell a lot about a person by the clothes he/she wears. ____________________________
2. Most people pick friends who have similar interests and backgrounds. ______________________
3. It’s easy to make friends with many different types of people. __________________________
4. Loyalty is the most important thing in a friendship. ___________________________
5. People all want the same things: Love, acceptance, and respect. ____________________________
6. You can recognize how intelligent a person is by the way they look. ___________________________
7. It’s easy to form opinions about people without getting to know them. _____________________________
8. Book smarts is the only kind of smart that will take you far in life. _________________________
Relationships in The Outsiders
RELATIONSHIP
PONY
&
JOHNNY
CHERRY
&
PONY
SODA
&
PONY
WHAT IS THE
RELATIONSHIP?
HOW ARE THEY ALIKE?
DIFFERENT?
INFLUENCES/BASIS
FOR THE
RELATIONSHIP
IS IT A GOOD OR BAD
RELATIONSHIP? WHY?
Relationships in The Outsiders
RELATIONSHIP
DALLY
&
JOHNNY
DARRY
&
PONY
SOC’S
&
GREASERS
WHAT IS THE
RELATIONSHIP?
HOW ARE THEY ALIKE?
DIFFERENT?
INFLUENCES/BASIS
FOR THE
RELATIONSHIP
IS IT A GOOD OR BAD
RELATIONSHIP?
The Outsiders Vocabulary Chapters 1-4
Chapter 1
 acquired:
 unfathomable:
 rumble:
 gingerly:
 sagely:
Chapter 2
 wince:
 incredulous:
 nonchalantly:
 vague:
 rebellious:
Chapter 3
 gallantly:
 ornery:
 aloofness:
 elite:
 dumbfounded:
Chapter 4
 unceasing:
 bootlegging:
 defiance:
 contempt:
 premonition:
The Outsiders - Chapter One Questions
1. How were the Socs and Greasers alike? How were they different?
2. What happened to Ponyboy on the way home from the movies? Why did this
happen?
3. How did the Greasers react when they found Ponyboy?
4. According to Sodapop, why did Darry get upset with Ponyboy?
5. How were Ponyboy and his brothers different from other hoods or greasers?
Literary Devices:
Simile – “Soda attracted girls like honey draws flies”
What is being compared? What is the effect of this comparison?
Point of View –
From whose point of view is this story being told? Who is our narrator?
The Outsiders- Chapter Two Questions
1. How did Ponyboy and the Greasers spend their time?
2. Why did Dally break laws?
3. Why was it surprising that Cherry was attracted to Dally?
4. What are the rules of a “fair” gang fight?
5. Why do you think Ponyboy and the other Greasers resented the Socs?
Flashback: A Flashback is a device that an author uses to interrupt a story in order to
relate and event that happened at an earlier time.
1. What past event did the author relate?
2. Why did the author use a flashback in this chapter?
3. Why was the information in the flashback important?
The Outsiders – Chapter 3 Questions
1. According to Cherry, how were the Greasers and the Socs different? What made
Ponyboy feel that they were not completely different?
2. How had life been unfair to the Greasers?
3. What did Ponyboy mean when he said as he awoke in the field “the stars have
moved”?
4. How did Darry react when Ponyboy finally came home? Why did he act this
way?
5. What did Ponyboy decide to do to change his life? Why did he change his mind?
6. Why do you think Ponyboy was happy to realize that both he and Cherry saw the
same sunsets?
Cliffhanger: A cliffhanger is a device borrowed from silent serialized films in which an
episode ended at a moment of heightened tension or suspense. In a book it is usually
placed at the end of a chapter to encourage the reader to continue to the next part. What
is the cliffhanger at the end of Chapter Three?
The Outsiders – Chapter Four Questions
1. Why did the Socs come looking for Ponyboy and Johnny?
2. Why did Johnny behave in an uncharacteristically violent way?
3. Why did Ponyboy and Johnny turn to Dally for help? What did he do for them?
4. Why did Ponyboy feel that he and Johnny would be in hiding for the rest of their
lives?
5. Do you think Ponyboy and Johnny had to run away? What other choices could
they have made?
6. What do you think Darry and Sodapop will do when they discover Ponyboy is
missing? What might be happening in the Curtis household?
The Outsiders Vocabulary Chapters 5-8
Chapter 5
 sullenly: (adv) gloomily; in a dull way
 indignant: (adj) strong displeasure; angry; irritate
Chapter 6
 conviction: (n) strong belief
Chapter 7
 mimicking: (v) imitating; making fun of someone by copying them
 juvenile: (adj) young; immature
 divert: (v) turn aside; distract
Chapter 8
 abruptly: (adv) quickly; suddenly; in a hurry
 aimlessly: (v) to turn aside; to distract; to deflect
The Outsiders – Chapter Five Questions
1. How did Ponyboy feel when he awoke in the church?
2. In what ways did Johnny care for Ponyboy?
3. Why did the boys change their hairstyle? Why was this hard for them to do?
4. How did the boys pass the time in the church?
5. How did Johnny feel about Dally? Why did he feel this way?
6. What information did Dally bring to the boys?
7. Gone with the Wind is a romantic story about the South during the Civil War.
Why do you think Johnny enjoyed reading it?
Idioms are common expressions that do not mean exactly what they say. Tell the
meaning of the idioms below:
1. Johnny let me look in the old cracked mirror…I did a double take.
2. We killed time by playing poker.
3. I was dying for a Pepsi.
4. You look like you’ve been through the mill.
5. We both got a little green around the gills when Dally took a corner on two wheels
with the brakes screaming.
Are there any idioms you have used or have heard that are not used above? What are
they? What do they mean? Provide examples below.
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Robert Frost
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay.
Directions: In at least two paragraphs, explain what you think the poem
means, and answer the following questions about the poem above:
1. Why did Ponyboy remember the poem?
2. What do you think the poem means to Ponyboy and Johnny?
**Please do this assignment on a separate sheet of paper. It may be hand written, or
typed. Please make sure your writing is legible, and that you answer ALL parts of the
directions given.
Please be sure your final copy has both your name and your period number on it.
Due Date: ___________________________
The Outsiders – Chapter Six Questions
1. Why did Cherry decide to help the Greasers?
2. What did Johnny decide to do? Why did he reach this decision?
3. Why did Ponyboy and Johnny go into the burning church?
4. What happened to Johnny, Ponyboy, and Dally because of the fire?
5. When did Ponyboy realize that Darry really loved him?
6. How did Ponyboy feel about his life now that he understood Darry?
The Outsiders – Chapter Seven Questions
1. Why were the television reporters interested in what happened to Johnny?
2. What was Johnny’s physical condition after the fire? How did Ponyboy think
this would affect Johnny’s life?
3. What information did Ponyboy learn from the newspaper?
4. Why did Randy want to talk to Ponyboy?
5. Why didn’t Randy want to fight in the upcoming rumble?
6. What important discovery about individuals did Randy and Ponyboy make
when they met at the Tasty Freeze?
The Outsiders – Chapter Eight Questions
1. Why did the doctor allow the boys to see Johnny?
2. What did Ponyboy mean when he considered, “Sixteen years on the streets and
you see a lot; But all the wrong sights, not the sights you want to see”?
3. Why did Johnny refuse to see his mother?
4. What was Dally going to do with Two-Bit’s knife?
5. Why was Ponyboy upset with Cherry?
6. Do you think there could be any way to stop the fight between the Greasers and
the Socs?
The Outsiders Vocabulary Chapters 9-12 Activity
Directions: After defining each word, use the word in your own sentence.
*Remember: A complete sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a
period.
Chapter 9
 Example: reputation
Definition: What is generally believed or said about a person’s character.
Sentence: Marcus has the reputation of being a bully because he is always
bossing people around.
 menace
Definition:________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Sentence:_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
 contracted
Definition:________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
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Sentence:_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
Chapter 10
 stupor
Definition:________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Sentence:_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
 bewilderedly
Definition:________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Sentence:_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
 clad
Definition:________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Sentence:_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
Chapters 11 & 12
 liable
Definition:________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Sentence:_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
 circumstances
Definition:________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Sentence:_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
 veered
Definition:________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Sentence:_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
The Outsiders – Chapter Nine Questions
1. What preparations did Ponyboy make before the fight? Why did he do this?
2. Why was Darry concerned about Ponyboy’s involvement in the fight?
3. Why did Dally want Ponyboy to be tough and hard like him rather than be like
Johnny? Do you think Dally believed his own advice?
4. What did Johnny mean when he told Ponyboy to “stay gold”?
5. Why do you think Darry wants to fight Paul?
The Outsiders – Chapter Ten Questions
1. Why did Ponyboy keep repeating that Johnny wasn’t dead?
2. What happened to Dally? Do you think he planned what happened to him?
3. Why did Ponyboy believe that other Greasers would end up like Dally?
4. Why did Ponyboy end up in the hospital?
5. What did Ponyboy think about when he regained consciousness?
6. How have Ponyboy’s ideas about life changed since the beginning of the book
and the start of the rumble?
The Outsiders – Chapter Eleven & Twelve Questions
1. What did Ponyboy realize when he looked at Bob’s picture?
2. Why did Randy visit Ponyboy?
3. Why was Ponyboy worried about the judge’s decision at the hearing?
4. Why did Ponyboy keep saying that he killed Bob?
5. Why did the judge’s question surprise Ponyboy?
6. What decision did the judge make? What did this reveal about his character?
The Outsiders Slang
Extra-credit Opportunity
According to Mr. Webster (the dictionary that is), slang is language peculiar to a
particular group… an informal, non-standard vocabulary. The Outsiders seems very real
because the author has been able to use slang words to make the gang members become
true-to-life.
Some of the slang in this text is listed below. Many of the words cannot be found in a
dictionary, so you will have to get the meaning from the context of the book. Your task: First,
define each word yourself; second, find each word in the book and give the book’s definition.
The page number for each of the words listed after the word. (5 pts)
tuff (37)
rank (37)
woofing (53)
gross (58)
crocked (59)
hoods (64)
spooks (65)
fuzz (80)
heater (83)
beefed (89)
chicken (127)
cooler (135)
Now, for an additional 5 pts, think of 10 slang words that are currently used today by
teenagers. List them below and provide a definition for each.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.