The Outsiders
By S.E. Hinton
“You take up for your buddies, no matter
what they do. When you’re a gang, you stick up for the members.”
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS/GRADE 8
2012-2013
Name ______
Mrs. Voss
Page 1 of 30
Sentence Stems for Student Generated Questions
Excellent readers generate excellent questions as they read. This ensures that they comprehend the text, think critically about it, and are able to participate in an intelligent discussion with others. Use these sentence stems to help you generate questions as you read each chapter. Avoid developing questions that have “yes” or “no” answers. The best questions are ones that may not have a definite answer, but rather begin discussion.
· Who is…
· How did…
· How would…
· What if…
· Why did…
· When did…
· What would happen if…
· Do you think…
· If I were…
· Compare…
· Contrast…
· Predict…
· Identify…
· Examine…
· What is your opinion…
· What can you infer…
Reading Guide Questions – Chapter 1
1. What conflicts are introduced in this chapter? Explain who is involved and what the conflicts are about.
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2. Student Generated Question:
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Words of Wisdom – Chapter 1
Directions: While reading The Outsiders, keep track of the quotes that you think are thought provoking or significant to teens today. Use the space below to record a quotation that you find significant. Be sure to include the page number for the class to refer to. Then, explain why you chose this quote to record. We will use these to decorate our back bulletin board throughout the unit.
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Pg. # ______
I chose to record this quote because ______
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Chapter 2 Activity - Comparing the Socs and Greasers
Directions: Write a brief description for each of the “gangs” provided in the chart below according to the categories listed.
Greasers / SocsTurf (Where they live and hang out)
Social Class (rich, middle class, or poor)
Clothing
Hairstyle
Cars
Behavior
Attitude / Turf (Where they live and hang out)
Social Class (rich, middle class, or poor)
Clothing
Hairstyle
Cars
Behavior
Attitude
Reading Guide Questions – Chapter 2
1. What literary technique does S.E. Hinton use to explain what happened to Johnny? Why does she do this?
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2. What does Cherry tell Ponyboy in defense of the Socs? Why can’t Ponyboy accept her opinion of the Socs?
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3. Student Generated Question
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Words of Wisdom – Chapter 2
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Pg. # ______
I chose to record this quote because ______
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Reading Guide Questions – Chapter 3
1. According to Cherry, what makes the Socs different from the greasers?
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2. How does Chapter 3 create suspense regarding the two conflicts introduced in Chapter 1?
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3. Student Generated Question
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Words of Wisdom – Chapter 3
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Pg. # ______
I chose to record this quote because ______
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Chapter 3 Activity - Teen Issues: Then & Now
Directions: In the left column, write down the issues that you think most effect teens today. In the right column, write down the issues that the characters in the novel face.
Teen Issues Today Teen Issues in the 1960s
Reading Guide Questions – Chapter 4
1. How does Hinton tie the two conflicts in the book together in Chapter 4?
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2. Do you think that the boys’ decision to run away was a smart one? Why or why not?
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3. Student Generated Question ______
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Words of Wisdom – Chapter 4
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I chose to record this quote because ______
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Chapter 4 Activity – Murder or Self-Defense?
Self-Defense or Murder? Oklahoma Case Sparks Debate
By CLAYTON SANDELL (@Clayton_Sandell) , SABRINA PARISE and KATIE KINDELAN
May 30, 2011
A story of crime and punishment that is dividing an Oklahoma community has now entered the online world, raising questions about what is self-defense and first-degree murder.
The debate stems from the life sentence an Oklahoma City, Okla., jury handed down to pharmacist Jerome Ersland on May 26 for a first-degree murder conviction in the killing of 16 year-old Antwun Parker.
Ersland's attorneys told jurors throughout the murder trial that their client had acted in self-defense when he shot Parker six times during an attempted robbery at his Oklahoma City pharmacy. Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued Ersland went too far.
"This defendant was absolutely not defending himself or anyone else," Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Chance told jurors during closing arguments Thursday.
Defense attorney Irven Box asked jurors to close their eyes and imagine what they would do in the same situation.
"He eliminated the armed robber," Box said.
After 3.5 hours of deliberation, the jury — eight women and four men — recommended a life sentence.
Self-Defense, or Murder?
In the days since the verdict, an outpouring of support erupted in Ersland's hometown of Oklahoma City, with calls for Oklahamo Gov. Mary Fallin to commute the local man's sentence.
"I'm gonna spend the rest of my career, however long it may be, trying to right this wrong," one prominent supporter, Oklahoma State Sen. Ralph Shortey (R), told ABC News.
ABCNEWS.com
Ersland, 59, had been hailed as a hero for protecting two co-workers during the May 19, 2009, robbery attempt at the Reliable Discount Pharmacy in south Oklahoma City.
Dramatic surveillance video of the attempted burglary shows Parker and an accomplice running into the pharmacy in the crime-ridden neighborhood and pointing a gun directly at Ersland.
The video then shows Ersland, a former Air Force lieutenant colonel, firing a pistol at the two men, hitting Parker with one shot that knocked him to the ground.
After chasing Parker's accomplice out of the store, Ersland retrieved a second gun and returned to shoot Parker five more times, 46 seconds after firing the first shot.
Ersland's lawyer told ABC News that the pharmacist saw Parker moving and thought he was still alive, and still a threat."
Now the debate over his sentencing has taken to Facebook, with pages both for and against Ersland's punishment, and Twitter, where posts and tweets have been just as divided.
One Facebook page supporting Ersland has more than 2,000 followers, while other groups say his punishment is deserved. Facebook pages such as "Free Jerome Ersland" and "Pardon for Jerome Ersland" have also sparked petition sites with goals of sending more than 5,000 signatures to Gov. Fallin.
But any action by the governor on the case will not be soon.
First, Ersland must go before the judge in the case, Oklahoma County District Judge Ray Elliott, on July 11, for sentencing.
The judge could suspend part or all of the life term. If he chooses to uphold the jury's full suggestion, Ersland will not be eligible for parole for another 38 years and three months.
Jurors had the option of finding Ersland guilty of first-degree manslaughter instead of murder, or of acquitting him.
Ersland's attorneys have vowed to appeal the murder conviction of their client, and have also asked that the formal sentencing be rescheduled for as soon as possible.
Directions: Use the space below to record the details from the case that would qualify the act as either murder or self-defense.
Murder / Self-DefenseReading Guide Questions – Chapter 5
1. Describe the conditions in which Johnny and Ponyboy are living.
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3. Student Generated Question
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Words of Wisdom – Chapter 5
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I chose to record this quote because ______
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Chapter 5 Activity - “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost
Poetry Analysis
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief.
So dawn goes down to day,
Nothing gold can stay.
1. Read the poem. Explain what each couplet[1] is saying.
Couplet 1 says: ______
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Couplet 2 says: ______
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Couplet 3 says: ______
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Couplet 4 says: ______
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2. Explain briefly and in your own words, what the poem means.
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3. What images does Robert Frost use in the poem? What do they have in common?
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4. Why do you think Hinton chose to include this poem in Chapter 5?
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5. Do you agree with the theme of the poem? Why or why not?
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Reading Guide Questions – Chapter 6
1. Why do Johnny and Ponyboy feel compelled to risk their lives by running into the church?
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2. What discovery does Pony make about Darry when his brothers arrive at the hospital? Why has Darry been so strict with Ponyboy?
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3. Student Generated Question #1
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Words of Wisdom
“______
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I chose to record this quote because ______
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Reading Guide Questions – Chapter 7
1. Explain the significance of the conversation between Ponyboy and Randy?
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2. Student Generated Question
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Words of Wisdom “______
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I chose to record this quote because ______
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Chapter 7 Activity – Poetry Analysis
“Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean-favoured and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good Morning!" and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich, yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine -- we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked and waited for the light,
And went without the meat and cursed the bread,
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet in his head.
Reading Guide Questions – Chapter 8
1. What do you think of Cherry Valance? Why?
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2. Student Generated Question #1
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Words of Wisdom
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I chose to record this quote because ______
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Reading Guide Questions – Chapter 9
1. What does Johnny tell Ponyboy just before he dies? What is the significance of these last words?
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2. Student Generated Question
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Words of Wisdom
“______
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I chose to record this quote because ______
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Chapter 9 Activity – Advice for the Future
“Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)”
By Baz Luhrmann
Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of 99...
Wear Sunscreen
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You’re not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you
Sing
Don’t be reckless with other peoples hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss
Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind the race is long, and in the end, its only with yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody elses. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..
Dance even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time its 40, it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than its worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen...