Name: _________________________________________
6B- _____
Date: _________________________________
Reading: Guided Reading for The Outsiders: Chs. 1-3
Directions:
USE PENCIL or TYPE. After reading Chapters 1-3, answer the
following questions in complete sentences, echoing the questions in your answers.
Write at least 6 lines for each answer. Highlight your quotes.
*If you type this assignment, use Google Docs; you may work in groups of no
more than THREE people (from any Butler 6 English class) on this assignment,
dividing the questions equally among group members, editing and revising each
other’s work in the process. If you decide to do this, please print your answers,
writing every group member’s first and last names on your final copy of the
assignment. Each group member must then bring a typed copy of the
assignment to class for credit.
1. Contrast the greasers and the Socs. How are they different? Use specific text
details to illustrate these differences.
2. Assign the best possible character trait (personality adjective) to each of the
following characters. Then provide a text detail, with a page number, to support
your trait. Your text detail may be a simple summary of an event; it doesn’t have
to be a quote.
Character
Trait
Supporting Detail
Ponyboy (Pony)
Curtis
(pg. _____)
Darrel (Darry)
Curtis
(pg. _____)
Sodapop (Soda)
Curtis
(pg. _____)
Dallas (Dally)
Winston
(pg. _____)
Cherry Valance
(pg. _____)
Johnny Cade
(pg. _____)
(over)
3. First, provide at least two specific examples of a character’s behavior that
seems to fit into a stereotype; name the stereotype (jock, geek, princess, etc.) for
each behavior. Second, provide at least two specific examples of this same
character’s behavior that seems to defy, or challenge, a stereotype. In other
words, choose a character who might appear to fit into a certain stereotypical
group, and then find an example of this person acting “out of character,” doing or
saying something that seems to defy your expectations for this type of person.
4. Provide a strong example of foreshadowing  a hint about what will happen
(often negatively) later in the story. When characters explicitly state what will
happen next, this is not really a great example of foreshadowing: “I didn’t study;
I’m probably going to fail the test.” Instead, foreshadowing occurs when readers
notice more subtle clues that allow them to anticipate what will happen
sometime in the future: Claire spends English class doodling hearts in her
notebook, each one containing her initials paired with the initials of the boy she
likes; as class dismisses, Claire’s dream date rushes past her desk, trying to catch
up with the girl ahead of him, who happens to be Claire’s arch enemy. In the
process, he accidentally tears Claire’s drawings, breaking one of her hearts…
Use a QUOTE to name the example of foreshadowing, and then, based on this
quote, make a prediction about what will happen later in the story.
5. Cherry and Pony talk about watching sunsets. If the sun is a symbol, what might
it symbolize? Why? Explain your answer using details from the text.
6. Reflecting on his own relationship with Darry and on Johnny’s relationship with
Johnny’s parents, Pony complains, “It ain’t fair that we have all the rough
breaks!” Following this, he explains, through narration, what he means. React to
Pony’s statement and his explanation. Based on your experience in and
understanding of life, is he right? Wrong? Is this a reasonable statement for
Pony to make? Or, as Cherry claims at the concession stand (at the end of
chapter 2), are “things rough all over”? Explain your answer with text details
and / or with examples from the real world that connect to the text.
7. Before leaving with the drunken Socs, Cherry says to Pony, “…If I see you in the
hall at school or someplace and don’t say hi, well, it’s not personal…” What do
you think of this statement? Is Cherry being reasonable? Do you respect her
choice to ignore Pony in public? Why or why not? Explain your answer.
8. Based on their meaning in the context of The Outsiders, write a definition or a
synonym for the following words, either in your own words or using a dictionary
definition. If you use your own wording, check them in a dictionary.
Asset (p. 3): ______________________________________________________________________________
Loping (p. 7): _____________________________________________________________________________
Sympathetic (p. 8): ______________________________________________________________________
(next)
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Unfathomable (p. 10): __________________________________________________________________
Rarities (p. 11): __________________________________________________________________________
Savvy (p. 17): ____________________________________________________________________________
Roguishly (p. 22): _______________________________________________________________________
Incredulous (p. 24): _____________________________________________________________________
Stalked (p. 25): __________________________________________________________________________
Nonchalantly (p. 25): ____________________________________________________________________
Shanghaiing (p. 28): _____________________________________________________________________
Incidentally (p. 28): _____________________________________________________________________
Feud (p. 29): _____________________________________________________________________________
Stricken (p. 32): _________________________________________________________________________
Vaguely (p. 33): _________________________________________________________________________
Rebellious (p. 34): ______________________________________________________________________
Law-abiding (p. 34): ____________________________________________________________________
Digested (p. 34): ________________________________________________________________________
Reform school (p. 35): __________________________________________________________________
Gallantly (p. 37): ________________________________________________________________________
Aloofness (p. 38): _______________________________________________________________________
Practically (p. 38): ______________________________________________________________________
Bleakly (p. 41): __________________________________________________________________________
Elite (p. 41): _____________________________________________________________________________
Reeling (p. 44): __________________________________________________________________________
Pity (p. 45): ______________________________________________________________________________
Soused (p. 46): __________________________________________________________________________
(over)
3
9. What theme(s) seems to emerging from this story? Explain your interpretation
of the theme(s) using specific examples from the text.
Pony, from Francis Ford Coppola’s film version of The Outsiders, smoking a cigarette…
4