By S. Boyd
Revised by B. Lamkin
Portfolio Requirements
• As we read The Outsiders, you will be required to complete a
portfolio analysis of the book.
• You will be given a file folder for this project
• Portfolio front-page expectations include your name, title, and
picture related to the book.
• Complete all of the expectations as indicated on the following
slides.
• Neatness and clarity will count as part of the grade. Answers
should be typed.
• Skip lines between each answer.
• Some questions can be answered without finishing the entire book.
These are designated with a star *.
• This will be completed with a partner however that simply means
the discussion of the answers is with the partner, many answers
may be different when written/typed. Each person must have own
answers.
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.
She wrote her second book while she was in
college at the University of Tulsa, studying
to be a teacher. But "I don't have the nerve
or physical stamina to teach," she says. "I
did my student teaching, but I couldn't leave
the kids and their problems behind me; I'd
go home and worry about them. I think
people who are good teachers do one of the
most important jobs there is; I can't praise
them highly enough."
David Inhofe, who is now her husband, was her
boyfriend then and was instrumental in helping
her get her second book written. Hinton was
suffering from writer's block. Inhofe refused to
go out with her at night unless she wrote two
pages during the day, and slowly but steadily
over four months, she compiled the manuscript
that became That Was Then, This is Now, a story
of drugs, delinquency, and a tough kid making a
tough decision. She and David were married in
1970; the second book was published in 1971.
Section I: Author Facts
On a piece of paper write Author Facts then
answer the following questions.
• *1. After reading the previous slides, write
down five of your favorite facts about the
author S. E. Hinton.
• *2. Which fact surprises you the most?
Explain.
Character Map
Design a character map that describes each
character’s personality and appearance and
illustrates the relationships between the characters
The Outsiders is a book that
shows that “beneath the
trappings of madras or
leather, individual hearts
have much in common.”
"Nothing Gold Can Stay" by 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.
Section III:
Interpreting the Frost poem
On a piece of paper write Nothing Gold Can Stay then
answer the following questions in complete sentences.
*1. What do you think the poem, “Nothing Gold Can
Stay” means? Use at least two direct quotes (lines)
from the poem in your answer of 4-6 sentences.
2.
Johnny writes a note to Ponyboy and places it in
Ponyboy’s book, Gone With the Wind. The note
explains Johnny’s interpretation of “Nothing Gold
Can Stay.” What is his interpretation?
Section IV: Conflict
On a piece of paper write Conflict then answer
the following questions.
*1. Define Conflict.
*2. List the TWO main types of
conflict.
*3. List the four subtypes of
Conflict.
Section V:
Plot Development in The Outsiders
On a piece of paper, write Plot Development then answer
the following questions.
1. Use the literary terminology links on the Gr. 8
Web page to define plot.
2. What three things does the plot do?
3. What is the major conflict in The Outsiders?
4. List several minor conflicts in The Outsiders.
5. What scene is the climax of the plot? Describe it
briefly.
6. How is the major conflict resolved?
Section VI: Character Development in The
Outsiders
On a piece of paper, write Character Development then answer the
following questions.
*1. Read about Characterization on the Gr. 8 Webpage.
List three of the five methods an author uses to reveal
a character’s personality.
*2. Which ones does S.E. Hinton use?
*3. Make a T-Chart of major and minor characters in
the Outsiders. Think carefully about which list to put
each character in.
4. List at least two conflicts experienced by Ponyboy, and
label them as internal or external.
Section VI:
Character Development in The Outsiders
Continued
5. What characterization methods are
used to portray Ponyboy?
6. What is Ponyboy’s character like
initially (in the beginning of the book)?
7. What forces cause Ponyboy to change?
Section VI:
Character Development in The Outsiders
Continued
8. What is Ponyboy like after he changes?
9. What is the turning point in Ponyboy’s
character development?
10. Write a detailed sentence describing each of
the following characters (can answer after
reading ch. 1-6):
Ponyboy
Dally
Johnny
Soda
Two-bit
Darry
Cherry
Section VI:
Character Development in The Outsiders
Continued
11. Why is Johnny such a nervous boy?
12. How do the other characters feel toward
Johnny?
13.What is Ponyboy’s family situation?
14.Name 5 differences between the Socs and the
Greasers. Write in complete sentences.
Section VII:
Setting in The Outsiders
On a piece of paper, write Setting then answer the
following questions.
1. Read about Setting on the Gr. 8 Webpage.
Define it.
2. What is the setting of The Outsiders?
3. How does the author establish the setting?
4. Could this story take place in another
setting? Why, or why not? Explain in a
detailed paragraph.
Section VIII: Theme in The Outsiders
On a piece of paper, write Theme then answer the
following questions.
1. Read about Theme on the Gr. 8 Webpage. Define it.
2. Describe at least three themes expressed in The
Outsiders that can be applied to our everyday life
(place a star by the most important).
Section IX: The Outsiders Study Questions:
On a piece of paper, write Study Guide then answer the following
questions in healthy paragraphs of 5-7 sentences.
1.
Ponyboy comments that self-defense is the only good reason for
fighting. Do you agree? Why, or why not?
2. Sodapop insists that if he, Darry, and Ponyboy don’t have each
other, they have nothing. Do you agree? Why, or why not?
3. Some critics say that The Outsiders is too sentimental. Do you
agree? Why, or why not?
4. Discuss the violence in The Outsiders. How do you define
violence? Do you object to it? Why do you think the author
included it?
5. Explain why you do, or do not agree with Johnny’s message to
Ponyboy.
Section X : Literary Terms that apply to The Outsiders
On a piece of paper, write Literary Terms then answer the following
questions.
A.
Look up each term below. Read about it, then:
*1. DEFINE IT
*2. Provide an example of the term from the book.
a.
allusion
h.
symbol
b.
atmosphere
i.
tragedy
c.
dialect
d.
dialogue
e.
flashback
f.
irony
g.
point of view (3 types)
Section XII:
Vocabulary Development in The Outsiders
On a piece of paper, write Vocabulary Development then answer the
following questions.
*1. Below is a list of vocabulary words found in The Outsiders. For each
word—
a) find the page and skim until you locate the word
b) write the sentence that the word is used in.
c)
Based on the context clues of the word is used in the sentence, make
up a definition of it
d) look up the word in the dictionary. Write the definition that is
appropriate for the way the word is used in the novel.
unfathomable sagely
roguishly
incredulous
Quavered
ruefully
conviction
premonition
aghast
stupor
vaguely
indignant
eluded
subsides
contemptuously
End of book
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Be sure you have completed the Reading Analysis Portfolio as precisely as possible.
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The following are all of the sections covered. It is IMPERATIVE that each section is clearly
marked in your portfolio and lines were skipped between each answer:
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Section I: Author Facts
Section II: Character Map
Section III: Nothing Gold Can Stay Analysis
Section IV: Conflict
Section V: Plot Development
Section VI: Character Development
Section VII Setting
Section VIII: Theme
Section IX: Study Guide Questions
Section IX: Literary Terms
Section X: Vocabulary Development