Outsiders Session 1 Chapters 1 and 2 Good readers gather information to develop theories about their characters. We ask ourselves, “What do we know about the characters?” and “What did the characters do or say to make us think that?” As you read chapters 1 and 2, take notes in your writer’s notebook about the characters. Describe the attributes that make them different from one another.

Chapter 1 Ponyboy- likes movies, gets good grades, but doesn’t always “use his head” Soda- 16 going on 17, movie-star handsome, sensitive, long blonde hair, dark brown “laughing” eyes, Darry – 6’2, muscular, brown hair, pale blue- green eyes like ice, 20, smart, “doesn’t understand anything that isn’t plain, hard fact “Greasers” – poorer than “Socs” and middle class, have gang fights, steal, drive souped-up cars,

Chapter 1 Steve Randall- 17, combs hair in swirls, cocky, smart, Soda’s best friend, really good with cars, doesn’t really like Ponyboy tagging along Two-Bit Matthews – 6’0, stocky build, wisecracker, “always has to get his two-bits worth in,” fancy switchblade is his trademark, loves fights, blondes, and school – goes for fun Dallas (Dally) Winston – dangerous, sharp features, blue eyes blaze icy hatred of the world, tougher, colder, meaner than the rest Johnny Cade – 16, small, black eyes, dark hair and complexion, nervous, the gang’s pet, father beat him, mother yelled at him,

Chapter 2 You finish in Chapter 2… Cherry- Marcia- Socs-

Outsiders Session 2 Chapters 3 and 4 Critical readers study a character’s desires wondering why a character might want or long for those things. From chapter 2, we may notice that Ponyboy mentions if he had the same worries as the Socs, he’d consider himself lucky. So why might Ponyboy want to be a Soc? This is pretty obvious on a very surface level. It would mean he had more money, a better car (when he gets to drive), better clothes, and most likely a guaranteed opportunity to go to college. But later we realize there’s more…

Outsiders Session 2 Chapters 3 and 4 (p. 43) Ponyboy realizes all of his friends have it rough. He wants a better life for everyone considering most of them are “on their own” in some way or another. It seems most of them are working to help support their household or just plain keep a decent living. He thinks about the Socs and how having money means they don’t have to work; they don’t have to drop out of school. They have plenty of free time to just hang out and get bored and cause trouble from that. One can infer he probably thinks it must be nice to have such meaningless worries as, “Which party should we go to tonight?” So the Socs get to go to school, hang out with friends, go to college, and get a job and live a nice, comfortable life still only worrying about which party to go to in the evenings. Continue reading chapters 3 and 4. Write your own entry regarding a character’s desires. What do they want and why do they want it? The possibilities are endless!

Outsiders Session 3 Chapters 5 and 6 Critical readers often ask, “Who or what has power in this text?” and “How is power shown?” Readers also notice that sometimes characters have power in some ways and do not have power in other ways. Characters can simultaneously have power and not have power. It is not an “either/or” situation. Obviously in Chapter 4 there was a complete power struggle! Literally! Ponyboy was struggling for his life against Bob who was overpowering him by physically holding him down in the fountain and attempting to drown him. This is very clear cut: Bob had physical power and Ponyboy did not, but there are certainly many more cases of power struggles throughout this novel. Think about Johnny. Bob assumed he overpowered Johnny just by the mere memory of having beaten him before, but Johnny overcame this and showed power in the form of bravery, adrenaline, and maybe fear in order to kill Bob so that he could save Ponyboy’s life. Think about Dally. Where did Ponyboy and Johnny go after killing Bob in self-defense? Not the police. They have power in authority, but is it enough to protect Johnny and Ponyboy? Dally has the power to help Johnny and Ponyboy and it is shown through his knowledge of a hideout, the money, coat, and a gun that he gives to Johnny and Ponyboy. Read Chapters 5 and 6. Write an entry explaining who has power in these chapters and how is the power shown. This entry should be at least two paragraphs in length. You may write about one or more characters having power.

Outsiders Session 4 Chapters 7 and 8 Powerful readers are always searching to understand our characters in deeper ways. We look carefully at characters’ words and actions and ask ourselves why the characters might talk or act in that way. You will write an entry focusing on a specific quote or action from a character and then describe what that reveals about the character.

Quote and Writing Example Pg. 102 “Even if he lived, he’d be crippled for the rest of his life.” To begin, the doctor tells the boys about Johnny’s condition flatly and without emotion. Doctors cannot afford to become emotionally attached to patients. It may also be suggested that he was annoyed in dealing with “Greasers” instead of Johnny’s parents. Ponyboy’s reaction is clearly dread and a bit of panic. The word “if” obviously means that Johnny could die. It is curious also that the doctor chose to say, “If he lived,” rather than, “If he died…” This leads us to believe the chances of death are greater than Johnny’s chances of living. Furthermore, the idea of Johnny being crippled for life could be arguably more dreadful than his actual death. Ponyboy knows what Johnny’s life is like at home. With parents that already beat and scream at a relatively normal-functioning kid, what are they going to do a cripple? Certainly they will not become new people overnight. They will continue with their actions or even worse. Wheelchair ramps, safety bars, and other accommodations would be needed for their house, but these things will not be built or installed. Instead we could predict they would become angrier and more abusive (afterall, neglect is abuse) and would even blame Johnny for inconveniencing them due to his sacrifice of saving innocent children from a burning church.

Another example Pg. 115 Randy, a soc, says to Ponyboy, “How come?... I wouldn’t have.” (This is in response to Ponyboy saving the kids in the fire.) Ponyboy responds by saying, “It’s an individual thing.” Being a greaser or a soc didn’t come into factor if he saved the kids or not. So what does this show us about the characters? We realize Ponyboy knows and is teaching the reader that your social class does not define who you are. He shows this through his words to Randy and his actions in saving the kids. Randy still might hang on to the “old” ideas of social class, but by Ponyboy’s example there is an inkling that he too might change his views.

Outsiders Session 5 Chapters 9 and 10 Readers examine the pressures characters face because these pressures are often related to social issues in the book. Then we ask ourselves how the characters resist or respond to the pressures and why we think they resist or respond in that way. Write an entry discussing a pressure a character faces. How does this character respond to the pressure? Do they go along or resist? Why?

Writing Example For example, we have already read that Randy is not going to show up at the rumble. He’s quick to admit that he’s not chicken, but he realizes the fighting doesn’t do any good. He tells us the Soc’s will still be Soc’s with all the money and breaks in life and the Greasers will still be where they are- on the bottom. It doesn’t even matter if the Greasers can beat them in a fight. It changes nothing, so why fight? Although this shows a stronger side of Randy standing up to pressures from him friends and social group, he still shows weakness when he suggests he might “skip town” for the fight. If Randy were truly a role model, he would not have to run away with a lame excuse to his friends. He would take a stance clearly declaring why he wasn’t participating in the fight and then would even attempt to convince others to see his view, encouraging them to change their behavior as well. On the other hand, Ponyboy does participate in the rumble even though he too believes it is wrong…

Outsiders Session 6 Chapters 11 and 12 When powerful readers finish a book, we keep asking questions and thinking about our characters. We ask ourselves, “Could we have done anything to change the life for this/these character in the book? Would we have been able to do anything realistically? How would these changes affect the characters?

For example… Could we have put into place an adult mentoring program to check on the “gang” more since their parents were gone? Could we have made it mandatory to have more counselors in school? Why do we wait for a tragedy and then react; why can’t the schools be more proactive in this approach? Do greasers need more inspiration to achieve knowing they do not have the same financial opportunites? In other words, should there be scholarships awarded? Would this help? These questions are not enough. I am looking for questions you are asking about what we could possibly do AND how it would affect the characters. **Expand your thoughts…For a book to be written today that "realistically deals with teenage life" to feel true, what would it have to include?