The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton - Novel Guide Teacher Edition Grades 7 & 8 - Amplify
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Novel Guide • Teacher Edition • Grades 7 & 8
The Outsiders
by S. E. Hinton
Published and Distributed by Amplify.
Copyright © 2019 by Amplify Education, Inc. 55 Washington Street., Suite 800, Brooklyn, NY 11201 www.amplify.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form, or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of Amplify Education, Inc., except for reprinting and/or classroom uses in conjunction with current licenses for the corresponding Amplify products.
Table of Contents
Teacher Edition
Welcome to Amplify ELA’s Novel Guides 1
Part 1: Introduction 2–3
Part 2: Text Excerpt and Close Reading Activities 4–5 RL.7.6; RL.8.6
Step 1: Close Reading Activity 6–7 RL.7.6; RL.8.6
Step 2: Connected Excerpts to Continue Close Reading 7 RL.7.6; RL.8.6
Step 3: Writing Prompt 7 W.7.1.B; W.8.1.B
Part 3: Additional Guiding Questions and Projects
SL.7.1.A, SL.7.1.D, RL.7.1, RL.7.3,
Step 4: Guiding Questions to Read the Whole Book 8–9 RL.7.4, RL.7.6; SL.8.1.A, SL.8.1.D,
RL.8.1, RL.8.3, RL.8.4, RL.8.6
Step 5: Extended Discussion Questions 9 SL.7.1; SL.8.1
Step 6: Writer’s Craft 10 RL.7.4; W.8.4
Part 4: Summative Projects
Step 7: Writing Prompt 11 W.7.1; W.8.1
RL.7.1, RL.7.4; RL.8.1, RL.8.4
Step 8: Compare and Contrast 11–12
Step 9: Challenge 12–14 RI.7.9; RI.8.9
Step 10: Extra 15 SL.7.1.A; SL.8.1.A
Step 11: Extended Reading 15
Note: The student worksheets can be found on pages 17–30. Teachers can make copies of
these pages to distribute to students.
The Outsiders • Teacher
Welcome to Amplify ELA’s Novel Guides
We created a series of Novel Guides to provide you with a flexible resource
for the books you most want to teach. Some of the titles are in the digital
library while others will need to be accessed through your school, public,
or classroom libraries. We selected one strong aspect of each novel and
are having students focus on this element as they explore and analyze a
key theme.
Rather than fully built-out lessons, these guides offer lean, targeted
instruction that follows Amplify ELA’s pedagogy as students explore great
literature. Each Novel Guide provides activities and questions with sample
answers for the Teacher Edition, including:
• A
complete close reading session, • Discussion questions
including the text excerpt
• Writing Prompts
• C
onnected excerpts to extend
• Exploration of Writer’s Craft
reading and skill practice
• Role-playing opportunities
• G
uiding questions and activities
to support reading the whole book • Collaborative learning
• A
n introduction to the book and • Social-emotional learning
the author discussion questions, Writing
• A Prompts, or activities
ctivities that focus on a range
of literacy skills • Standards alignment
• Project-based learning
The diverse selection of books we chose comprises a range of genres
from mystery to non-fiction, and themes from social justice to identity
and courage. Students explore classics and contemporary award winners,
expand their literacy skills, and discover the rewards that come with close
reading compelling texts. The guides are designed to be used flexibly and
offer suggestions for implementation.
All the guides are housed in the Amplify Library as downloadable,
printable PDFs. They include student worksheets and instructions for the
teacher that will take students through a close reading of a passage all the
way to the end of the novel.
The Outsiders Novel Guide 1The Outsiders • Teacher
Part 1 Introduction
About the story
The Outsiders is wildly popular in middle school classrooms. And it’s easy
to see why. Although the novel was written by S. E. Hinton more than 50
years ago, the themes and central focus remain relevant today. Students
still relate to the idea of being an outsider, the appeal of finding common
ground with others, and the complex question of conformity versus
nonconformity.
The story revolves around 14-year-old Ponyboy and his two older brothers,
Soda and Darry. After their parents die in a car crash, the brothers
struggle to find their footing as a family and as part of society. They find a
community by becoming part of a gang called the greasers.
Themes that align with this guide
The Outsiders
by S. E. Hinton This guide centers on the question of identity and the central character’s
(Ponyboy) ambivalence about his identity as a “greaser.” He is both
This guide was based on
the Speak Platinum edition proud and ashamed of it, sometimes simultaneously. To non-greasers
of The Outsiders, (2006). the term is an insult, but to the boys themselves, it is a badge of pride.
Ponyboy does and does not fit in the category, and being inside and
outside of it are essential to his character. A strong throughline in the
novel is about the power of labels and names (“greaser,” “Soc,” “dropout,”
“hood,” “Ponyboy” “Sodapop”) to create tribes, define loyalties, and mark
individual glory. Ponyboy has to decide if the benefits of his group identity,
including a sense of family, are worth the price.
About the author
S. E. Hinton, an American writer born in 1948, wrote The Outsiders when
she was in high school. The book has gone on to sell more than 14 million
copies and continues to sell upwards of 500,000 every year. Hinton has
published nine books, many of them award winners. She has won the ALA
Best Book for Young Adults four times.
2 The Outsiders Novel GuideThe Outsiders • Teacher
When and how to use the Novel Guide
Amplify ELA’s Novel Guides can provide flexible teaching options. They
can be used at any point in the year or paired with thematically related
core units, before or after teaching the units. Or, if you would like to build
out lessons, the guides can be used as the foundation for a more fully
developed curriculum based on the titles.
The Outsiders Novel Guide aligns with the following core units:
7A: Red Scarf Girl & Narrative
Sub-Unit 3, Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural
Revolution
Ji-li Jiang describes the intensely difficult questions around
conformity and nonconformity.
8A: Perspectives & Narrative
Sub-Unit 3, Lessons 5–11, Narrative Writing
Amy Tan and Kaitlyn Greenidge write about the difficulties
inherent in coming of age and belonging.
8C: Science & Science Fiction
Sub-Unit 1, Gris Grimly’s Frankenstein
Mary Shelley’s story explores identity and community and
the idea of self.
The Outsiders Novel Guide 3The Outsiders • Teacher
Part 2 Text Excerpt and
Close Reading Activities
Excerpt: The Outsiders, pages 1–4
Focus standards for Part 2:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.6
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.6
1 When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the
movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a
Skill: Analyze how an author
ride home. I was wishing I looked like Paul Newman — he looks tough
develops and contrasts the
points of view of different and I don’t — but I guess my own looks aren’t so bad. I have light-
characters or narrators in a text. brown, almost-red hair and greenish-gray eyes. I wish they were more
gray, because I hate most guys that have green eyes, but I have to
Ponyboy describes himself, be content with what I have. My hair is longer than a lot of boys wear
introduces the term greaser, theirs, squared off in back and long at the front and sides, but I am a
describes his brothers, and
greaser and most of my neighborhood rarely bothers to get a haircut.
suggests he both is and is not
like the rest of his gang. Besides, I look better with long hair.
2 I had a long walk home and no company, but I usually lone it anyway,
for no reason except that I like to watch movies undisturbed so I can
get into them and live them with the actors. When I see a movie with
someone it’s kind of uncomfortable, like having someone read your
book over your shoulder. I’m different that way. I mean, my second-
oldest brother, Soda, who is sixteen-going-on-seventeen, never cracks
a book at all, and my oldest brother, Darrel, who we call Darry, works
too long and hard to be interested in a story or drawing a picture, so
I’m not like them. And nobody in our gang digs movies and books the
way I do. For a while there, I thought I was the only person in the world
that did. So I loned it.
3 Soda tries to understand, at least, which is more than Darry does.
But then, Soda is different from anybody; he understands everything,
almost. Like he’s never hollering at me all the time the way Darry is, or
treating me as if I was six instead of fourteen. I love Soda more than
I’ve ever loved anyone, even Mom and Dad. He’s always happy-go-
lucky and grinning, while Darry’s hard and firm and rarely grins at all.
But then, Darry’s gone through a lot in his twenty years, grown up too
fast. Sodapop’ll never grow up at all. I don’t know which way’s the best.
I’ll find out one of these days.
4 Anyway, I went on walking home, thinking about the movie, and then
suddenly wishing I had some company. greasers can’t walk alone too
4 The Outsiders Novel GuideThe Outsiders • Teacher
much or they’ll get jumped, or someone will come by and scream
“Greaser!” at them, which doesn’t make you feel too hot, if you know
what I mean. We get jumped by the Socs. I’m not sure how you spell it,
but it’s the abbreviation for the Socials, the jet set, the West-side rich
kids. It’s like the term “greaser,” which is used to class all us boys on
the East Side.
5 We’re poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we’re wilder
too. Not like the Socs, who jump greasers and wreck houses and throw
beer blasts for kicks, and get editorials in the paper for being a public
disgrace one day and an asset to society the next. Greasers are almost
like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up
gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while. I don’t mean I do
things like that. Darry would kill me if I got into trouble with the police.
Since Mom and Dad were killed in an auto wreck, the three of us get
to stay together only as long as we behave. So Soda and I stay out of
trouble as much as we can, and we’re careful not to get caught when
we can’t. I only mean that most greasers do things like that, just like
we wear our hair long and dress in blue jeans and T-shirts, or leave our
shirttails out and wear leather jackets and tennis shoes or boots. I’m
not saying that either Socs or greasers are better; that’s just the way
things are.
6 I could have waited to go to the movies until Darry or Sodapop got off
work. They would have gone with me, or driven me there, or walked
along, although Soda just can’t sit still long enough to enjoy a movie
and they bore Darry to death. Darry thinks his life is enough without
inspecting other people’s. Or I could have gotten one of the gang to
come along, one of the four boys Darry and Soda and I have grown up
with and consider family. We’re almost as close as brothers; when you
grow up in a tight-knit neighborhood like ours you get to know each
other real well. If I had thought about it, I could have called Darry and
he would have come by on his way home and picked me up, or Two-Bit
Mathews — one of our gang — would have come to get me in his car if
I had asked him, but sometimes I just don’t use my head. It drives my
brother Darry nuts when I do stuff like that, ’cause I’m supposed to be
smart; I make good grades and have a high IQ and everything, but I
don’t use my head. Besides, I like walking.
The Outsiders Novel Guide 5The Outsiders • Teacher
Step 1: Close Reading Activity (with sample answers)
Possible answers are provided
under each activity.
1. Highlight words and phrases that Ponyboy uses to describe what
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.6 it means to be a “greaser” (Where do they live? What do they look
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.6 like? What do they do? Who are their friends and enemies?)
Sample answer: “My hair is longer than a lot of boys wear theirs, squared
off in back and long at the front and sides, but I am a greaser and most of
my neighborhood rarely bothers to get a haircut”; “Greasers can’t walk
alone too much or they’ll get jumped...”; “We’re poorer than the Socs and the
middle class. I reckon we’re wilder, too”; “Greasers are almost like hoods; we
steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have
a gang fight once in a while”; “We get jumped by the Socs. I’m not sure how
you spell it, but it’s the abbreviation for the Socials, the jet set, the West-side
rich kids”; “all us boys on the East Side”; “we wear our hair long and dress in
blue jeans and T-shirts, or leave our shirttails out and wear leather jackets
and tennis shoes or boots”; “We’re almost as close as brothers...”
2. Work with a partner and use your highlights to create a list of four
key things Ponyboy says define a “greaser.”
Sample answer: Long hair; dress in blue jeans and T-shirts, leave our
shirttails out, wear leather jackets and tennis shoes or boots; steal things,
hold up gas stations, drive old souped-up cars, fight; wild, as close as
brothers, poorer than the Socs.
3. With your partner, reread and circle words and phrases that
Ponyboy uses to describe himself.
Sample answer: “my hair is longer than a lot of boys wear theirs”; “usually
lone it”; “digs movies and books”; “stay out of trouble”; “good grades and have
a high IQ and everything, but I don’t use my head.”
4. Looking back at your greaser list, name two things that define a
“greaser” that also define Ponyboy.
Sample answer: They both have long hair, wear the same kind of clothes, and
think of the gang as a kind of family.
5. Choose a sentence from the excerpt that you think describes what
Ponyboy thinks is the best part of being a greaser. Choose one that
represents the worst part.
Sample answer:
Best: “I could have called Darry and he would have come by on his way home
and picked me up, or Two-Bit Mathews — one of our gang — would have come
to get me in his car if I had asked him...”
Worst: “Greasers are almost like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up
cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while.”
6 The Outsiders Novel GuideThe Outsiders • Teacher
6. Does Ponyboy’s writing make you think he is proud of being a
greaser? What are one or two details you would point to in your
answer?
Sample answer:
Yes, he is proud of belonging to a group that looks out for one another,
especially since his parents have died.
No, he is too different from them, he is smart and likes books and movies, and
they aren’t interested in either. They like to fight and steal.
Step 2: Connected Excerpts to Continue
Close Reading CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.6
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.6
Continue your work with development of point of view.
Pages 26–31: Sodapop and Ponyboy first meet Cherry and Marcia.
Pages 34–36: Ponyboy and Cherry continue to interact.
Pages 70–72: Ponyboy gets his hair cut.
Pages 133–137: The greasers are on their way to fight.
Pages 178–180: Ponyboy reads the note from Johnny and decides to
be a writer.
Step 3: Writing Prompt
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1.B
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.1.B
Analytical:
Ponyboy changes during the course of the novel. Does his point of view
about being a greaser change? Use evidence from the text in your answer.
The Outsiders Novel Guide 7The Outsiders • Teacher
Part 3 Additional Guiding Questions
and Projects
Step 4: Guiding Questions to Read the
Possible answers are provided
under each question. Whole Book (with sample answers)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1.A
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1.D
Use the discussion questions below to guide reading throughout the
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1.A whole book. Students should come prepared to discuss their answers by
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1.D referring to evidence from the text. Students should also be prepared to
respond to comments made by classmates.
1. Chapters 1–2: What horrible event happened to Johnny and how
did it change him?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.6
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.6
Sample answer: He was brutally beaten by the Socs.
2. Chapters 3–4: After Ponyboy and Cherry talk, how does Ponyboy
begin to see the Socs differently?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.6
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.6
Sample answer: He begins to see that the two gangs are similar in some
ways and different in others. They are different in how they show emotions:
the Socs are too cool to have, or show, emotions, while the greasers “feel too
violently.”
3. Chapters 5–6: Why does Johnny decide that he and Ponyboy
should turn themselves in to the police?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.1
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.1
Sample answer: After Cherry says she will testify for them, Johnny has hope
that they will be okay.
4. Chapters 7–8: Ponyboy says “we could get along without anyone
but Johnny.” What does he mean?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.3
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.3
Sample answer: He has a connection with Johnny; they understand each
other in a way that no one else does. They are outsiders both in their families
8 The Outsiders Novel GuideThe Outsiders • Teacher
and in the gang.
5. Chapters 9–10: How does Ponyboy’s perception of Darry change
and why?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.6
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.6
Sample answer: Ponyboy used to think that Darry didn’t care for him, but
now he sees that Darry loves him and would risk everything for him.
6. Chapters 11–12: What does Johnny mean when he tells Ponyboy to
“stay gold”?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.4
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.4
Sample answer: Johnny is referring to the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” He
is telling Ponyboy to look at the good, or innocence, in life.
Questions for social and
Step 5: Extended Discussion Questions emotional learning
(with sample answers) CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1
• Ponyboy and Johnny had difficult issues that were beyond their
abilities to resolve. What were those problems?
Sample answer: Ponyboy lost his parents and his oldest brother Darry didn’t
seem to understand him, so Ponyboy used the gang as a kind of family. But, he
wasn’t really like them. They were “almost like hoods” and he was different, he
was into books and movies—he was an outsider from his family and his gang.
Johnny’s parents beat him or ignored him to the point where he avoided going
home, he even slept outside sometimes. And, he was brutally beaten by the
Socs. The gang was his chosen family, but they weren’t able to give him the
kind of help he needed.
• Who could they have talked to about these issues?
Sample answer: Ponyboy and Johnny could have talked to their teachers or
the school social worker.
• Who would you have talked to?
Sample answer: Friends, teacher, trusted family member, social worker
The Outsiders Novel Guide 9The Outsiders • Teacher
Step 6: Writer’s Craft (with sample answers)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.4
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.4
Establishing voice
Hinton tells us who Ponyboy is by showing us the way he talks. She uses
Possible answers are provided
slang she knows we won’t know, and subtly helps us figure it out.
under each activity.
• Example 1: Page 1: Ponyboy says, “I usually lone it.” The sentences
that follow show what he means: seeing movies solo, reading books,
drawing. In essence, “going it alone.” The final sentence reinforces
the meaning by repeating “So I loned it.”
• Example 2: Page 20: Ponyboy warns that “no one wants to be
around when the fuzz shows up.” “Fuzz” refers to the police. This
nickname refers to their military-style haircuts. The definition
of fuzz is easy to understand in the context of the sentence but
it also provides a way for Hinton to point to a boldness and a
disrespect for police when she has Ponyboy use it. It shows an
attitude that runs deep with greasers and gives the reader another
clue to their identity.
Find three other ways in which Ponyboy or another character uses
language in unique ways.
Sample answer: “Nice cut, too. Makes you look tough” (12); “...chains
and heaters and pool sticks and rumbles” (29); “Remember how he was
wisecrackin’ last night?” (74)
Write down three words or phrases that you and your friends use a lot
that may be different from the way your parents or another group of
kids speaks.
Sample answer: lit = amazing // hangry = hungry + angry // throw shade = to
insult with words or an expression
10 The Outsiders Novel GuideThe Outsiders • Teacher
Summative Projects Part 4
Step 7: Writing Prompt
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.1
Violence, even murder, plays a central role in The Outsiders. Was Johnny
wrong to have murdered Bob? If he had lived, should he have gone to
prison? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
Step 8: Compare and Contrast
Possible answers are provided
(with sample answers) under each question.
You can use this link to find the
Compare Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem “We Real Cool” to poem and to play the audio of
The Outsiders. Brooks reading her poem as
students silently read along:
www.poets.org/poem/we-
Gwendolyn Brooks was born in 1917. She wrote more than twenty books real-cool
of poetry and was the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in poetry,
among many other prestigious awards.
Pair Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem “We Real Cool” with a discussion of
gang-member representation as it relates to The Outsiders. This poem is
famous for its musicality, often called jazz in a poem.
Discussion questions or Writing Prompts:
1. Who is the “we” in the poem? How would you describe them?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.4
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.4
Sample answer: The “we” in the poem refers to the boys playing pool at the
Golden Shovel. They are cool, skipping school, and are outsiders. They may be
part of a gang like the greasers. “We” also implies a group, like the greasers.
2. Are the characters in the poem similar to or different from the
characters in The Outsiders? Explain.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.1
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.1
Sample answer: The greasers and the characters in the poem are similar—
they are all outsiders. They are both groups of kids who “left school” and break
the rules. In both the poem and the book, the characters are part of a group,
The Outsiders Novel Guide 11The Outsiders • Teacher
banded together. And in both cases, the characters drink alcohol. The Socs
are described as always drinking and the greasers as getting drunk at parties.
3. The poem ends with “We / Die soon.” Would this ending make
sense for The Outsiders? Explain.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.4
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.4
Sample answer: Yes, death is a part of both the poem and the book. In The
Outsiders, Johnny dies young as a result of an incident caused by gang violence.
If Johnny hadn’t killed Bob to save Ponyboy, he wouldn’t have died from injuries
after running into the burning church. The characters in the poem and the
book risk dying young because of their actions as gang members.
4. Compare reading the poem silently and listening to Gwendolyn Brooks
read the poem. How are they different? How are they similar?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.7
CCSS.ELA.LITERACY.RL.8.7
Sample answer: When I read the poem silently, I only understood part of it. I
saw that the characters were probably gang members and outsiders. But, I
didn’t understand the jazz or musical part of “We Real Cool” until I listened to
the poet read the poem. Brooks brought a personality to the poem. I felt like I
was at the scene and cool for just being there.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.9 Step 9: Challenge
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.9
The Outsiders + Street Roots News
Source for article:
news.streetroots.
org/2016/05/05/youths-and- The Outsiders was based on S. E. Hinton’s high school experience in Tulsa,
gang-life-their-stories-their- Oklahoma, in the 1960s. The news article you are about to read is focused
words 1
on gang members in Portland, Oregon, and was written in 2016. After
reading the article, write about what has changed and what has stayed
the same since S. E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders. Explain using evidence
from the text.
As you read the article, underline phrases or sentences that are similar to
The Outsiders, and circle phrases that are different.
12 The Outsiders Novel GuideThe Outsiders • Teacher
Street Roots News
Youths and the gang life: Their stories, in their words
Young adults doing time for gang violence talk about their paths and what
might prevent other kids from following in their footsteps
by Emily Green | 5 May 2016
Portland is about to enter a second consecutive summer filled with what’s
predicted to be a record-breaking level of gang shootings, homicides and
violence.
The gunmen are getting younger and younger, and the violence
increasingly senseless, according to those who work with current and
formerly incarcerated gang members in the Portland-metro area....
...The perspective of those who pull the trigger is seldom explored.
Who are they? What happened to them before they found themselves with
a weapon in hand, not caring about the consequences of taking another
human being’s life?
Street Roots sat down with young adults serving lengthy sentences in
Oregon Youth Authority correctional facilities, for crimes ranging from
armed robbery to murder, and asked them these questions. All the youths
are either gang members or deeply gang-involved....
Gang member interview:
Josefina, 20
Josefina is serving her sentence at Oak Creek Youth Correctional Facility
in Albany, an all-girls facility. She joined a gang shortly before her arrest
and had been gang-involved for some time leading up to it.
“I was born and raised in Northeast Portland. My family — we’re kind of
tight, but we weren’t really close. It was the struggles we went through
growing up — we came together.
“We’d be homeless for a couple weeks at a time. We usually got kicked
out because my brother would throw parties at the house or terrorize the
neighbors. We’d live in our van or live with friends, but it wasn’t for that long,
but long enough to know how it feels to be homeless. Or my mom wouldn’t
have enough money for the bills and our water would get shut off — or our
electricity. Stuff like that, and living in Northeast Portland growing up, there
was a lot of gang violence, especially in the area we lived in...
The Outsiders Novel Guide 13The Outsiders • Teacher
“I have three sisters and three brothers. One of them was adopted; she
was my friend, and my mom took her in. The oldest two had a rare bone
disease and needed special medical care, so my mom had to give them to
this family that specialized in medical stuff.
“I didn’t have a dad. I’m the baby of the family, but I was the only one who
had a different dad.
“My oldest brother that lived with us, he’s like really crazy, and he was
getting into trouble.
“My brother being involved in gangs kind of made me be involved. But the
stuff I went through with my brothers when I was little, I didn’t really look
up to them.
“I didn’t really look up to anybody, because I didn’t have any strong figures
in my family. I didn’t even look up to my mom; she was my hero, but I
didn’t look up to her.
“My fourth-grade teacher; something about me, she wanted to help me, I
got involved in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, and she was like my
mentor-type person. Ever since fourth grade, she was my big sister. Me
and her still maintain contact.”
“I started getting into trouble around fifth grade. I started having troubles
in school. Up until sixth grade I got A’s and B’s.
“Maybe the fact that I didn’t have a father figure, my dad died before I was
born, and my brothers, they were the only male figures that were there,
and having them abuse me, physically, mentally, emotionally, like I think
that was my biggest thing when I was younger.
“When I was 12, my cousin — she was the leader of this gang — and I hung
out with them, but I wasn’t really in one. But a couple months before I got
locked up, I actually got jumped into my cousin’s rival gang, which was
kind of like a dis on her because I didn’t really like her...”
14 The Outsiders Novel GuideThe Outsiders • Teacher
Step 10: Extra
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1.A
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1.A
Interview a character
Arrange students in pairs.
Today, you will role-play either a newspaper reporter or a character from
The Outsiders.
Decide with your partner who will be the interviewer and who will role-play
either Ponyboy, Sodapop, or Cherry. Work together to come up with a
list of five or more questions that will reveal factual information about the
character gathered from the text, in addition to imaginative answers that
will provide an idea of what happened to the character after the book ended.
When creating the list of questions, remember to ask...
• open-ended questions that can’t be answered with a simple
“yes” or “no.”
• follow-up questions to get your interviewee to provide details.
Record or take notes during your interview and work together to write a
newpaper article based on the interview.
When writing the newspaper article, remember to include...
• a lead sentence that grabs the reader.
• an introduction that tells the reader where and when the story
happened.
• a main paragraph that is the heart of the story.
• a conclusion that sums up the story.
Step 11: Extended Reading
• That Was Then, This Is Now by S. E. Hinton
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
• The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore
• Miracle’s Boys by Jacqueline Woodson
The Outsiders Novel Guide 15You can also read
