WorksheetsNJH The Outsiders
Total questions: 35
Worksheet time: 36mins
Greaser known for being a smart-alek, shoplifter and his black-handled switchblade
Darry
Sodapop
Ponyboy
Two-Bit
Greaser who was beat badly by the Socs and carries a large switchblade because the Socs are never going to jump him again, not over his dead body
Ponyboy
Johnny
TwoBit
Sodapop
Oldest of the Curtis brothers, he’s strong, works hard and used to be a star football player
Ponyboy
Darry
Sodapop
Johnny
The middle of the Curtis brothers, he’s funny, loved by all the ladies because he’s “a doll” and he works at a gas station
Two-Bit
Ponyboy
Darry
Sodapop
Youngest of the Curtis boys, he’s a dreamer, very smart and he was jumped by the Socs at the beginning of the story
Johnny
Ponyboy
Darry
Sodapop
The real hood of the greasers. He has quite an arrest record and is known for being tough.
Dallas Winston
Steve Randle
Randy
Bob
Sodapop’s best friend, he kind of hates Ponyboy, and Ponyboy kind of hates him
Dallas Winston
Steve Randle
Randy
Bob
The Soc with all the rings, he dates Cherry Valance, loves to get drunk and jump Socs. He gets stabbed to death
Dallas Winston
Steve Randle
Randy
Bob
Red-headed Soc girl, she’s super-pretty, a dreamer, kind to Ponyboy, and scared of falling in love with Dally
Cherry Valance
Ms. Early
Mrs. Flatt
Ms. Jenkins
He’s Bob’s best friend, drives a tuff blue Mustang, and figures out that fighting’s no good in the end.
Dallas Winston
Steve Randle
Cherry Valance
Randy
“Dally walked us back to the door, turning off the porch light before we stepped out. “Git goin’!” He messed up Johnny’s hair. “Take care, kid,” he said softly.
“Sure, Dally, thanks.” And we ran into the darkness.
What does the above passage reveal about Dally and his motivations where Johnny is concerned?
He is mad at Johnny
He cares about and wants to take care of Johnny, like a father or older brother
He cares about Johnny and Ponyboy because that’s what gang loyalty is all about
He is worried for the two boys safety and wants to provide for them
“I had a sick feeling Dally was up to his usual tricks, and I was right. He started talking, loud enough for the two girls to hear. He started out bad and got worse. Dallas could talk awful dirty if he wanted to and I guess he wanted to then. I felt my ears get hot. Two-Bit or Steve or even Soda would have gone right along with him, just to see if they could embarrass the girls, but that kind of kicks just doesn’t appeal to me. I sat there struck dumb.”
What might Dally be hoping to gain by talking this way to the girls?
He wants to get their attention and cause the girls to become upset
He wants to further his rep
He has no real reason other than just to be bad
To impress Ponyboy and Johnny
How do Dally’s actions in the drive-in movie scene affect the plot of the story?
He gets Cherry to throw a soda on him, which makes the story funnier
He causes the girls to get upset and seek the protection of Johnny and Ponyboy, which later leads to the main conflict of the plot when Bob and Randy come looking for them
It causes him to get in a fight with Bob and Randy and get arrested
It causes him to get in a fight with Tim Sheppard who cracks three of his ribs and now he can’t be in the big rumble
What internal conflict causes Cherry Valance to tell Ponyboy that if she sees him in school, she might not say hi to him if he speaks to her?
She is worried that Ponyboy might develop a crush on her, and she wants to stop that.
She is worried that Bob will be jealous and attack Ponyboy if she is nice
She is worried what her rich parents and friends might think if she is seen talking to a Greaser
She is painfully shy and awkward in large social situations and doesn’t know how to overcome that
How do Bob’s actions as revealed through the flashback of Johnny’s beating affect the plot of the story?
Bob beat Johnny badly, which caused him to want to get revenge and steal Bob’s girlfriend
Bob beat Johnny, causing Johnny to carry a switch blade and decide he would rather kill someone than be beaten that badly again, so when Bob and co. attacked Ponyboy and Johnny, Johnny killed Bob
Bob beat Johnny, causing Johnny to be scared that he wouldn’t speak, and if he had spoken up when Bob and Randy first showed up to get Cherry and Marcia none of this would have ever happened
Bob beat both Johnny and Ponyboy which caused them to become best friends
“But this church gave me a kind of creepy feeling. What do you call it? Premonition?”
Which words in the above sentence help the reader figure out what Premonition means?
Church
What do you call
Creepy feeling
But this church
“But this church gave me a kind of creepy feeling. What do you call it? Premonition?”
Why did the author put a question mark after Premonition?
To show that Ponyboy was searching for the right word
Because it’s the answer to the previous question
She must’ve had a bad copy-editor
She doesn’t understand how complete sentences work
“But this church gave me a kind of creepy feeling. What do you call it? Premonition?”
What mood is created by the above sentences?
Foreboding
Jumpy
Happy
Pretentious
“You know,” Johnny said slowly, “I never noticed colors and clouds and stuff until you kept reminding me about them. It seems like they were never there before.”
“I know,” I said. “well,” I said thinking this over, “you aren’t like any of the gang. I mean, I couldn’t tell Two-Bit or Steve or even Darry about the sunrise and clouds and stuff. I couldn’t even remember that poem around them. I mean, they just don’t dig. Just you and Sodapop. And maybe Cherry Valance.”
Johnny shrugged. “yeah,” he said with a sigh, “I guess we’re different.”
“Shoot,” I said, blowing a perfect smoke ring, “maybe they are.”
What might the reader infer about the impact Ponyboy’s friendship has had on Johnny?
Ponyboy has inspired Johnny to be a painter
Ponyboy has helped Johnny notice more
Ponyboy has helped Johnny to be more thoughtful, and thankful about the little good things in his world
Ponyboy has made Johnny scared and changed his view of the world
“…but one night I saw Dally getting’ picked up by the fuzz, and he kept real cool and calm the whole time. They was getting’ him for breakin’ out the windows in the school building, and it was Two-Bit who did that. And Dally knew it. But he just took the sentence without battin’ an eye or even denyin’ it. That’s gallant.”
Why does Johnny admire Dally in this passage?
Dally was so cool and calm
Dally is cool for getting arrested
Dally took the punishment for a crime he didn’t commit to help a friend
Dally was totally defiant of the police
“…but one night I saw Dally getting’ picked up by the fuzz, and he kept real cool and calm the whole time. They was getting’ him for breakin’ out the windows in the school building, and it was Two-Bit who did that. And Dally knew it. But he just took the sentence without battin’ an eye or even denyin’ it. That’s gallant.”
Which words from the above passage help the reader infer the meaning of gallant?
one night I saw Dally getting’ picked up by the fuzz
Breakin’ out the windows
He just took the sentence
Cool and calm
What influence does setting the story in a primarily bad neighborhood have on the plot?
It helps create the bond of the gang and heighten the tension between the rich Socs and poor Greasers
It makes it so that everyone knows everyone and so the whole town knows your business
It highlights the bad crime and horrible slum-lord living conditions
It causes many characters to come and go as many people move at the end of each month
“Johnny, I ain’t mad at you. I just don’t want you to get hurt. You don’t know what a few months in jail can do to you. Oh, blast it, Johnny”—he pushed his white-blond hair back out his eyes—“you get hardened in jail. I don’t want that to happen to you. Like it happened to me…” [Dally said]
Why does Dally say the above things to Johnny?
He wants to protect him
He’s worried Johnny doesn’t know he cares about him
He wants Johnny to become tough like him
He actually wants Johnny to go to jail--reverse psychology
What does Ponyboy snapping at Cherry for not going to see Johnny before he dies, and then stopping himself and asking Cherry about sunsets reveal about what Ponyboy is feeling on the inside?
It shows that he’s starting to lose his mind
It shows that he’s starting to become loyal to the Socs and not his Greaser buddies
It shows that he really has a bad crush on Cherry
It shows that he’s mad/sad about Johnny dying, but understands Cherry has her own feelings and struggles too
When Ponyboy and Dally come to tell Johnny that they won the rumble, what does Johnny’s statement that fighting’s no good reveal about Johnny?
Killing Bob showed him that fighting, killing for their petty reasons is pointless
Saving those kids made him holier than thou
He’s learned that Dally is a fraud
That “Stay Gold” poem really changed him, man
. “Soda was awake by then, and although he looked stony-faced, as if he hadn’t heard a word the doctor had said, his eyes were bleak and stunned.”
Based on the sentence what is the most likely meaning of the word bleak?
Cheerful
Angry
Hopeless
Confused
“Dally was his usual mean, ornery self.”
Based on the sentence what is the most likely meaning of the word ornery?
Hopeful
Grumpy
Humorous
Energetic
“She gave him an incredulous look; and then she threw her Coke in his face.”
What is the meaning of incredulous in the sentence?
Confident
Disbelieving
Suspicious
Depressed
“Living in those conditions might have turned someone else rebellious and bitter; it was killing Johnny.
What is most likely the meaning of the word rebellious based on the sentence?
Disobedient
Angry
Wise
Depressed
“His eyes were closed, but when the door shut behind me he opened them, and I suddenly wondered if my own eyes looked as feverish and bewildered as his.”
What is most likely the meaning of the word bewildered based on the sentence?
Shocked
Understanding
Sympathetic
Annoyed
. “Numerous bruises along my back and on my face were throbbing, but I felt detached from the pain, as if it wasn’t really me feeling it.”
What is most likely the meaning of the word detached based on the sentence?
Attached
Removed
Compassionate
Confused
“He was very still, and for a moment I thought in agony: He’s dead already.”
What is most likely the meaning of the word agony based on the sentence?
Peace
Confusion
Misery
Shock
Use the poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay", to answer questions 33-35.
How does the poet use the word gold symbolically in this poem?
Gold is used to represent riches
Gold is used to represent treasure like a pirate might have and fight for
Gold is used to represent something valuable, beautiful and rare
Gold is used to represent yellow, which is also symbolic of greed and cowardice
Use the poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay", to answer questions 33-35.
How does the poet support the message that beautiful things are fleeting?
By using references to time like hour and clock imagery to indicate a constant countdown to death in nature.
He just flat out says it
By creating imagery through nature, and allusion of things that were beautiful but died or faded away
By Personifying Nature
Use the poem, "Nothing Gold Can Stay", to answer questions 33-35.
How does this theme relate to the Stay Gold theme of The Outsiders?
Ponyboy constantly notices all the things people take for granted, tuff cars, Madras, Rings and he wishes he could have it for himself, showing that “gold” things don’t really matter to those that have them.
Ponyboy constantly notices beautiful “gold” things that don’t last--his mother, sunsets, sunrises and when Johnny says, “Stay Gold” he’s telling him to keep looking for the good things and appreciating them because they are so fleeting
The poem references sunsets, “dawn goes down to day” which is something that both Ponyboy and Cherry Valance share creating a connection of dreamers between the Greasers (Ponyboy) and the Socs (Cherry).
Robert Frost actually wrote the poem about Ponyboy’s Mom dying because he was so touched by the story
