Link to the novel online:
http://www.mrclements.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/S.E.-Hinton-The-Outsiders-Full-Text.pdf
The Outsiders Chapter 1 Questions
1. What do you know about Ponyboy, Sodapop, and Darry?
2. Who are the Socs? Who are the Greasers?
3. How do Ponyboy’s relationships with Darry and Sodapop differ? Explain.
4. Why is the “gang” important to Johnny?
5. How does Ponyboy react to what Sodapop tells him about Darry?
6. What does Ponyboy mean on page 18 when he says, “I lie to myself all the
time?” Do you ever lie to yourself? Why?
Chapter Two
1. Who are the Fuzz?
2. Are the names Ponyboy and Sodapop nicknames? Explain.
3. Who are Cherry and Marcia?
4. What happens at the drive-in?
5. Why doesn't Ponyboy like referring to Sodapop as a dropout?
6. What literary device does the author use to describe Johnny’s mugging [pgs.31-34]?
7. What happened to Johnny?
Chapter Three
1. What does Cherry explain as the difference between the socs and the greasers?
2. Why don’t the Socs feel anything and the Greasers feel too violently?
3. What does Pony discover about the Socs who were in the car?
4. What happens when Pony comes home after his curfew?
5. Why does Johnny like it better when his father is hitting him?
6. At the end of the chapter, how does the author foreshadow that bad things are
to come?
Chapter Four
1. What does Pony mean when he says the socs were “reeling pickled” on page 54?
2. What major event happens in this chapter?
3. How did the author foreshadow that Johnny would use his knife in chapter 2?
4. What would your advice be to Johnny and Ponyboy if they’d come to you for
help instead of Dally? Explain.
5. How did the setting foreshadow the events in this chapter?
6. Do you think Bob’s death was justice? Explain.
Chapter Five
1. Why does Pony have a problem with Johnny’s idea to disguise themselves?
2. What does Pony mean when he says, “I was supposed to be the deep one” [p.75]?
3. Who does Johnny think is a hero [p.76]? Do you think Dally is a hero based on what he did?
4. On page 78, Johnny compares Pony and his brothers to their parents. Which
one of your parents are you most like? What similarities do you share?
5. Why are the socs and the greasers going to fight in the vacant lot?
6. What’s a characteristic Pony repeats about himself in this chapter?
7. What is it that foreshadows Johnny’s predicament on pg. 69?
Chapter Six
1. Do you think Dally’s parents have influenced the way he is; his personality? Explain.
2. Why doesn’t Dally want Johnny to turn himself in?
3. What “other side” of Dallas is revealed in this chapter?
4. What’s your own definition of a hero? Do the three boys prove themselves to be heroes, according to your definition? Explain.
5. Why do you think Johnny wasn’t scared, despite the obvious danger, on page 92?
6. What does Pony realize about Darry at the end of this chapter?
1. Who are the Fuzz?
2. Are the names Ponyboy and Sodapop nicknames? Explain.
3. Who are Cherry and Marcia?
4. What happens at the drive-in?
5. Why doesn't Ponyboy like referring to Sodapop as a dropout?
6. What literary device does the author use to describe Johnny’s mugging [pgs.31-34]?
7. What happened to Johnny?
Chapter Three
1. What does Cherry explain as the difference between the socs and the greasers?
2. Why don’t the Socs feel anything and the Greasers feel too violently?
3. What does Pony discover about the Socs who were in the car?
4. What happens when Pony comes home after his curfew?
5. Why does Johnny like it better when his father is hitting him?
6. At the end of the chapter, how does the author foreshadow that bad things are
to come?
Chapter Four
1. What does Pony mean when he says the socs were “reeling pickled” on page 54?
2. What major event happens in this chapter?
3. How did the author foreshadow that Johnny would use his knife in chapter 2?
4. What would your advice be to Johnny and Ponyboy if they’d come to you for
help instead of Dally? Explain.
5. How did the setting foreshadow the events in this chapter?
6. Do you think Bob’s death was justice? Explain.
Chapter Five
1. Why does Pony have a problem with Johnny’s idea to disguise themselves?
2. What does Pony mean when he says, “I was supposed to be the deep one” [p.75]?
3. Who does Johnny think is a hero [p.76]? Do you think Dally is a hero based on what he did?
4. On page 78, Johnny compares Pony and his brothers to their parents. Which
one of your parents are you most like? What similarities do you share?
5. Why are the socs and the greasers going to fight in the vacant lot?
6. What’s a characteristic Pony repeats about himself in this chapter?
7. What is it that foreshadows Johnny’s predicament on pg. 69?
Chapter Six
1. Do you think Dally’s parents have influenced the way he is; his personality? Explain.
2. Why doesn’t Dally want Johnny to turn himself in?
3. What “other side” of Dallas is revealed in this chapter?
4. What’s your own definition of a hero? Do the three boys prove themselves to be heroes, according to your definition? Explain.
5. Why do you think Johnny wasn’t scared, despite the obvious danger, on page 92?
6. What does Pony realize about Darry at the end of this chapter?