The Outsiders Study Guide



The Outsiders Study Guide

Use the following t-chart to list the character traits of Greasers and Socs. Be sure to use SPECIFIC WORDS AND PHRASES from the novel.

Greasers Socs

Using the following charts, describe the characters listed in the boxes below. You should explain what they look like, how they act, what their reputations are, etc. Be sure to use SPECIFIC WORDS AND PHRASES from the novel.

Label each character DYMANIC or STATIC. Label who is the PROTAGONIST and who is the ANTAGONIST.

Dynamic Characters: Characters who go through a dramatic change during the course of the story. Changes include new insight, understanding, commitment, and/or values. The protagonist is usually a dynamic character.

Static Characters: Characters who do not change dramatically in the story. They stay the same throughout the course of the story.

|Character Name |Physical |Personality |

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Making Connections – Self, Text, World

|Connection Type |Phrase/Situation in Text |My Connection |

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Flashback is when a character pauses to remember something that happened prior to the current action. The purpose of the flashback is to make a comparison between the present action and something that has happened in the past, to provide additional information about the characters.

Foreshadowing is a device in which the writer places clues in a story to prepare the reader for events that are going to happen later. Foreshadowing may clearly foretell an event or merely hint at it. Foreshadowing creates a feeling of suspense, draws the reader into the story, or adds layers of meaning that are only revealed later in the story.

Complete the chart for examples of foreshadowing and flashbacks

|Page |Flashback or Foreshadow|Quote |Explanation on WHY it is that device. |

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Nothing Gold Can Stay

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. hue = color

So Eden sank to grief, subsides = falls back down

So dawn goes down to day. Eden = Adam and Eve

Nothing gold can stay. so = like

In Chapter 5, Ponyboy recites a famous poem written by the American poet, Robert Frost. Ironically, he says that he remembered the poem because he never really understood what it was about. As we read a poem, the easiest way to understand and appreciate its theme is to analyze it in pieces, or line by line, then think about the lines as a group and decide how they relate to each other.

Directions: For the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” read each line and try to make an educated guess as to what the poet is trying to say. Then answer the questions that follow to try to figure out the theme, or deeper meaning, of the poem.

1 Nature's first green is gold, ______________________________________________________

2 Her hardest hue to hold. ________________________________________________________

3 Her early leaf's a flower; ________________________________________________________

4 But only so an hour. ___________________________________________________________

5 Then leaf subsides to leaf. _______________________________________________________

6 So Eden sank to grief, __________________________________________________________

7 So dawn goes down to day. ______________________________________________________

8 Nothing gold can stay. _________________________________________________________

1. What does the word “gold” suggest? If you have gold, what do you have? ______________________________________________________________________________________________

2. To what do you think the poet is referring when he says “Nothing gold can stay”? What does it mean?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What kind of mood is this poem expressing: happiness, sadness, fear, anxiety, etc? What words show this mood?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. How does this poem apply to the events/characters of the novel so far? (What "gold" did Pony have that didn't last?)

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One of the major topics of chapter 7 is that “things are rough all over.” Using the Venn diagram below, list the following:

A. things that are rough for the Greasers

B. things that are rough for the Socs

C. things that are rough for both the Greasers and the Socs

Greasers Socs

Using the information from the above graphic organizer, write a short response explaining how “things are rough all over.”

Pony asks everyone in the gang why they like to fight. Fill in the chart below using this information.

Compare the Greasers and the Socs who show up at the rumble (how many, appearance, attitudes, etc.) (pp. 138-142).

Greasers Socs

Each of the following quotes from the chapter is very important. They give the reader a better understanding of the characters referred to by the quotation. Explain why the quotations are important. Tell me who said it and to whom. TAKE YOUR TIME AND BE VERY, VERY THOROUGH WITH YOUR ANSWERS!!!!!

1. “It’s okay… We aren’t in the same class. Just don’t forget that some of us watch the sunset too.”

2. " ‘Oh, blast it, Johnny’—he pushed his white-blond hair back out of his eyes-

‘you get hardened in jail. I don't want that to happen to you. Like it happened to

me…’ “

3. "I caught one quick look at his face; it was red-marked from falling embers and sweat-streaked, but he grinned at me. He wasn't scared either. That was the only time I can think of when I saw him without that defeated, suspicious look in his eyes. He looked like he was having the time of his life.”

4. "I let go of Soda and stood there for a minute. Darry didn't like me... he had

driven me away that night... he had hit me... Darry hollered at me all the time... he

didn't give a hang about me.. . Suddenly I realized, horrified that Darry was

crying.”

5. “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold.”

Complete the chart to show Ponyboy’s evolving understanding of the Socs. How does his opinion of the Socs at the end of the novel differ from his opinion at the beginning?

Ponyboy’s ideas about the Soc’s

In the beginning In the middle At the end

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Conflict

Every story has a conflict - a struggle between two opposing forces. The conflict may be between two people or it may be between a person and some other force, regardless, every story revolves around conflict and it's important for you to understand the various kinds of conflict.

• Internal Conflict is a struggle that occurs within the main character. This struggle happens within the character's own mind.

• External Conflict is a struggle that the main character has with something else. Can be PERSON to PERSON, WITH SOCIETY, or WITH NATURE.

Conflict # 1 ________________________________________________________________

External (with type) or Internal _________________________________________________

Evidence of Conflict: (QUOTE WITH PAGE NUMBER)

Resolved?

• Yes

• No

Explain why this conflict was or was not resolved:

Conflict # 2 ________________________________________________________________

External (with type) or Internal _________________________________________________

Evidence of Conflict: (QUOTE WITH PAGE NUMBER)

Resolved?

• Yes

• No

Explain why this conflict was or was not resolved:

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Soda

Steve

Darry

Two-Bit

Pony

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