Questions and Answers

1. THE OUTSIDERS
Chapter 5
Questions & Answers
December 2018
Miss Riddell

2. Vocabulary

3. (page 71) trademark
(noun) a distinctive mark or feature particularly
characteristic of or identified with a person, thing
or group

4. (page 75) plantation
(noun) a large estate in a semitropical area on
which cotton, tobacco, sugar cane or the like is
grown

5. (page 76) gallant
(adjective) brave, spirited, noble-minded, or
chivalrous

6. (page 83) heater
(noun) Slang - a pistol, revolver, or other firearm

7. 1. Pony's first feeling when he
wakes up in the church is...
b) confusion

8. 2. When Ponyboy awakens, he
notices that Johnny’s jean jacket
“had somehow got thrown across
me.” What does this show us about
Johnny?
He’s a good guy. It’s almost like he’s serving the role of an
older brother/caretaker for Ponyboy.
Interestingly, the label of “murderer” just doesn’t fit this
kid. It’s another example of labels providing an incomplete –
and inaccurate – picture of someone.

9. 3. Gone with the Wind (the book
Johnny and Pony are reading) takes
place during...
c) The Civil War

10. 4. The fact that Johnny is getting
more out of the book than Pony,
even though Pony is the
"smart" one is an example of:
c) irony

11. 5. What example does Johnny give
to show why he thinks Dally is
gallant?
c) The way he acted when the police busted
him

12. 6. How did Soda figure out that
Dally knew where the boys ran to?
c) The sweatshirt Pony left behind at Buck’s

13. 7. Why did the police haul Dally
into the station after the events
in the park?
d) He gets brought in anytime something
happens in that part of town

14. 8. What did Johnny admire about
Dallas?
He was good at swearing.
He kept his mouth shut.
He took the rap for Two-Bit.

15. 9. Of all the boys, Ponyboy likes
Dally the least. Why? What does this
realization show us about Ponyboy?
He says that Dally is “too real,” while the other
boys all have heroic qualities like the characters
in the novels he reads. Dally, however, doesn’t
have those traits; he is rough and raw and
violent. This scares Ponyboy. This realization
shows us that Ponyboy likes to imagine himself
living in an idealized world. Dally, however, lives
in the real world that Ponyboy wishes he didn’t
have to confront.

16. 10. Ponyboy doesn’t want to cut and
bleach his hair with peroxide, but
Johnny knows they need to alter their
appearances. According to Ponyboy, how
does a military or prison haircut serve as
a method to break young men from their
social class?
For Greasers, long hair is part of their identity. By
requiring a haircut, officials are taking away a young
man’s identity and sense of self. This can be a good
thing for the military that needs group identity to
function well, but this can be a tool of humiliation in
the criminal justice system.

17. 11. Is the length of boys’ hair
today important to any adults
you know? If yes, then who and
why?

18. 12. a) Johnny compares the Curtis
brothers to their deceased parents.
Which boy looks/acts like which
parent?
Sodapop looks like their mom, but acts like their
dad.
Darry looks like their dad, but acts like their mom.
Ponyboy doesn’t look or act like either of the
parents.

19. b) Which one of your parents are
you most like? What similarities
(physical or behavioral) do you
share?

20. 13. Who is the unexpected spy for
the Greasers? Why would this person
be willing to serve in this role?
Cherry Valance, the red-haired Soc girl from the drive-in, has been
giving information about the Socs to the Greasers.
Although the chapter doesn’t say why, we can conclude that she
has several motivations. First, she knew Bob, her boyfriend, was
sometimes a menace, a drunk, and ran with a thuggish group of
Socs. She feels responsible for the whole mess because she was
the reason Bob and the Socs came back looking for the boys that
night. She also knows that Johnny and Ponyboy are sweet-natured
and wouldn’t go looking for trouble. Looking at the evidence
objectively, she must realize what really happened that night.
Also, she has an odd attraction to Dally and wants to help him.