the outsiders book review questions

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The Outsiders

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Reading, Discussion & Quiz Questions

Chapters 1-3.

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1. As the novel opens, what local establishment does Ponyboy exit?

Answer: the movie theater

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2. Which greaser pretends to be a Soc at the drive-in, scaring Johnny?

Answer: Two-Bit

3. Cherry admits to Ponyboy that she could see herself falling in love with whom?

Answer: Dally

4. Why does Ponyboy arrive home past his curfew after the drive-in?

Answer: He falls asleep in the vacant lot.

1. After the greasers save Ponyboy from a worse mugging by the Socs, for what action is he criticized?

A) Ponyboy wasn’t supposed to be out that evening at all.

B) Ponyboy forgot to use the moves Darry taught him.

C) Ponyboy should not have been walking home alone.

D) Ponyboy could have outrun his attackers but hadn’t tried.

2. With regard to the opening chapters, which of these statements best describes Ponyboy’s relationship with his older brother, Darry?

A) Ponyboy assumes Darry thinks of him as a stressful responsibility.

B) Darry wants Ponyboy to avoid any contact with the other greasers.

C) Ponyboy and Darry weren’t very close until their parents were killed.

D) Darry expects good grades, but Ponyboy can otherwise do as he pleases.

3. Why is Johnny particularly afraid of Bob?

A) Bob is the leader of the Socials (Socs) and tells them what to do.

B) Bob is the Soc who beat Johnny badly, cutting his face with rings.

C) Bob threatens to hurt Johnny’s parents if Johnny talks to Cherry again.

D) Bob led the rumble that defeated the greasers the month before.

4. What is Ponyboy trying to suggest when he says he and Cherry see the same sunset?

A) that he and Cherry share a poetic romanticist’s view of the world

B) that he might be developing romantic feelings for her

C) that they share a goal to attend the same college and not return

D) that their two social groups aren’t as different as everyone thinks

5. The Socs threaten to cut off Ponyboy’s hair. Why would a greaser find this threat hurtful or intimidating?

6. Why did Cherry and Marcia become frustrated with Bob and Randy at the beginning of their date at the drive-in?

7. What warning does Two-Bit bring to the drive-in for Dally?

8. What prompts Ponyboy to return to the vacant lot and consider running away?

Discussion Suggestion: Use this question to introduce discussion on Ponyboy’s conflicts within the first three chapters. Review or present the difference between internal conflict and external conflict . List Ponyboy’s various conflicts in these early chapters, analyzing whether each one is internal or external.

QUIZ ANSWERS

1. C. Darry tells him he should have known better than to try walking alone at night.

2. A. Ponyboy assumes Darry thinks of him as a burden to support, feed, and supervise.

3. B. Bob returns to the drive-in; it turns out he is Cherry’s boyfriend. Johnny recognizes him as the Soc whose rings cut his face badly when he was attacked four months before.

4. D. Ponyboy is hurt when Cherry tells him she probably won’t talk to him in front of others, and he tries to remind her that their social groups have some things in common.

5. Some greasers wear their hair long as a symbol of pride and marker of their identity. It also represents loyalty to their social group.

6. Bob and Randy brought alcohol. They drove away for a while when the girls became angry.

7. Tim Shepard’s gang wants to fight Dally because he was caught slashing their tires.

8. Ponyboy arrives home late and gets into an argument with Darry. Darry slaps him, prompting Ponyboy to run back to the lot.

Chapters 4-5

1. How do the Socs try to kill Ponyboy in the park?

Answer: by drowning him in the fountain

2. Whom does Johnny kill?

Answer: Bob

3. What items does Dally give Ponyboy and Johnny when he sends them to Windrixville?

Answer: He gives the two of them one gun and fifty dollars. (He also gives Ponyboy a dry shirt.)

1. How is Ponyboy’s trip to the country on the train ironic?

A) He had planned to go with several friends but travels with only Johnny.

B) He had been to the country a week ago but came home.

C) He had yearned to leave the city but not as a fugitive.

D) He had loved trains as a child but lost his parents in a train accident.

Discussion Suggestion: Use this question to discuss irony . Considering the characterizations so far of Johnny and Ponyboy, how is it ironic that they are fleeing the city? What type of irony best explains this turn of events: verbal , situational , or dramatic ? What other ironies can you find in the story so far?

2. Which description best explains Johnny’s view of Dally?

A) Dally is intelligent and capable, like a doctor or scientist.

B) Dally is calm and consistent, like a teacher or a parent.

C) Dally is fearsome and brutal, like a medieval warrior.

D) Dally is gallant and brave, like a southern gentleman.

3. According to Dally at the Dairy Queen, what event is planned for the next night?

A) an arrest

B) a hearing

C) a rumble

4. Besides cigarettes, matches, peroxide, and food, what two items does Johnny purchase at the store with the intention of passing the empty hours?

5. Why does Johnny bring a bottle of peroxide to the church?

6. When Dally arrives to share information with Ponyboy and Johnny in Windrixville, what news does he share about Cherry?

1. C. Ponyboy spoke of escaping their city for places in the country without harshly defined social groups just hours before; he certainly did not expect it to be under his current circumstances.

2. D. Johnny thinks of Dally as gallant and bold, like the gentleman about to go fight the war in Gone with the Wind .

3. C. Dally tells Ponyboy and Johnny that a rumble is set for the next night to settle the “all-out warfare” taking place between the greasers and the Socs.

4. He buys a deck of playing cards and a copy of Gone with the Wind to read aloud.

5. He convinces Ponyboy to cut off his long hair and bleach what’s left so that Ponyboy will be harder to recognize.

6. She is serving as a spy for the greasers.

Chapters 6-8

1. Who saves Johnny from the burning church?

2. Who accompanies Ponyboy in the ambulance?

Answer: a teacher named Jerry who was with the school group

3. What two items does Two-Bit buy for Johnny?

Answer: hair grease and a copy of Gone with the Wind

4. Whom does Johnny refuse to allow to visit him in the hospital?

Answer: his mother

1. When Johnny says he intends to turn himself in, how does Dally react?

A) Dally tells Johnny the police are on the way.

B) Dally says he is proud of Johnny and will go with him.

C) Dally claims Johnny’s parents agree that he should.

D) Dally says he doesn’t want Johnny to go to jail.

2. What are Johnny’s injuries?

A) His back was on fire, but he will recover in time.

B) He will be crippled for life and has severe burns.

C) His arm has minor burns, and he sprained a wrist.

D) He is disoriented and nauseous with a concussion.

3. Besides the story titled “Juvenile Delinquents Turn Heroes,” in what way does the newspaper cover the greasers?

A) a letter to the editor against both the Socs and greasers

B) a column about the hardworking Curtis brothers

C) a story on Johnny’s background and achievements

D) an obituary for Bob and tribute about his life

4. Why is Randy going to avoid the rumble?

A) He is afraid of getting hurt or hurting someone.

B) He has a record and an arrest means jail time.

C) He does not think fighting will avenge Bob’s death.

D) He promised Bob before he died to end the violence.

5. Why does Dally hit Ponyboy across the back at the church?

6. How did the fire probably start?

Discussion Question: What do the Ponyboy’s and Johnny’s decision to run into the burning church show indirectly about their characters? What other scenes, actions, or dialogue involving these characters support your evaluation of each one?

7. When Ponyboy asks Sodapop if he will take Sandy to the party, what does Pony learn about Sandy?

8. Why do Two-Bit and Ponyboy clean the Curtis house the day after the church fire?

1. D. Dally does not want Johnny to go to prison and become a hardened criminal.

2. B. Johnny has severe burns and a broken back, which doctors say will cripple him for life.

3. B. The paper runs a feature on the orphaned Curtis brothers and their achievements and work ethic.

4. C. Randy confides to Ponyboy that he (Randy) thinks the greasers and Socs will not change who they are, so continued fighting will not solve anything.

5. Ponyboy’s coat was on fire from rescuing the children in the burning church, and Dally was trying to extinguish the flames.

6. Ponyboy’s and Johnny’s cigarettes

7. Refusing to allow a marriage between Soda and Sandy, Sandy’s parents forced her to move to Florida.

8. Ponyboy says they should clean up in case police, reporters, or “those guys from the state” come to visit.

Chapters 9-10

1. Which greaser initiates the rumble?

Answer: Darry

2. What crime does Dally commit that causes the police to chase him?

Answer: theft (he robs a grocery store).

3. How many days is Ponyboy semi-conscious with a minor concussion, shock, and delirium?

1. What can be inferred about the way Dally manages to leave the hospital to attend the rumble?

A) He was discharged with medication.

B) He threatened a nurse to let him go.

C) He coerced a doctor to release him.

D) He sneaked away without anyone seeing.

2. To what piece of writing does Johnny refer in his dying words to Ponyboy?

A) a Robert Frost poem

B) Gone with the Wind

C) an essay assigned in class

D) the news article about them

3. When Ponyboy wakes up, for whom does Darry say Ponyboy mostly asked for in his delirium?

Discussion Question: Use this question as a starter for discussion on the complexity of Darry and Ponyboy’s relationship. What events or actions so far support Ponyboy’s opinions about how Darry feels about him? What events or actions so far dispute those opinions?

4. When Ponyboy and Dally tell Johnny the greasers won the rumble, what is Johnny’s reaction?

5. Why does Dally pull his unloaded gun in the vacant lot?

6. How did Ponyboy get a concussion?

1. B. Dally says he used a knife to “talk” a nurse into letting him leave.

2. A. Johnny tells Ponyboy to “stay gold,” a reference to Robert Frost’s poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay.”

3. D. Darry tells Ponyboy that he mostly asked for Sodapop in the time he was semi-conscious.

4. Johnny tells them it was “useless” because fighting is not the answer to their troubles.

5. He wants to draw the police’s fire; he wants to be shot and killed.

6. He was kicked in the head at the rumble.

Chapters 11-12

1. Whose photo stirs thoughtful questions in Ponyboy?

Answer: Bob’s

2. Who calls Ponyboy “little buddy” for the first time?

3. Where does Ponyboy find the letter from Johnny?

Answer: in the copy of Gone with the Wind

1. Of these, which is the best description of Ponyboy’s feelings after Randy’s visit to his home?

A) angry that Randy tried to intimidate him

B) resentful that Randy is mean and privileged

C) shocked that Randy feels grief and regret.

D) envious that Randy is close with his father

2. What actions does Ponyboy take when Socs threaten him and Two-Bit?

A) He runs for several blocks as they follow.

B) He tells them he’s done fighting them.

C) He keeps quiet while Two-Bit scares them off.

D) He threatens them with a broken glass bottle.

3. What upsets Sodapop enough to run off?

A) Ponyboy will not stay in bed and rest.

B) Two-Bit tells how Ponyboy reacted to the Socs.

C) Ponyboy and Darry begin another argument.

D) Sandy wrote to say she is breaking up with him.

4. What must Ponyboy do to pass English?

5. What message did Johnny want Ponyboy to relay to Dally?

Discussion Question: Use this question to discuss the overall themes of the book. Define or review the difference between a theme topic and a theme statement ; construct a theme statement that can be supported by events, character actions, and dialogue. How does Johnny’s letter and his notion of “staying gold” contribute to the novel’s overriding message?

1. B. Ponyboy, still dealing with confusion and denial, mostly feels bitter that Randy is well-to-do and has not suffered loss to the same extent as Ponyboy. He thinks Randy is “cold-blooded mean” like the other Socs.

2. D. Ponyboy stands, breaks off a bottle, and threatens the Socs. Two-Bit is surprised and tries to remind Ponyboy he is not like the other greasers and not to “get tough.”

3. C. Darry and Ponyboy get into another argument, sending Sodapop running from the house. After he goes, Darry and Ponyboy find a letter he wrote his girlfriend Sandy sent back unopened, so they realize he might be upset.

4. He must write a good essay.

5. There is still good in the world.