Questions and Answers Grade 9 ELA

1. THE OUTSIDERS
CHAPTER ONE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
November 2018
Miss Riddell

2. 1. Which character?

3. 1. “He has big black eyes and a
dark tanned face…”
Johnny Cade

4. 2."Leave my kid brother alone,
you hear?" (Who's talking?)
Sodapop Curtis

5. 3. "He gets drunk on plain
living..."
Sodapop Curtis

6. 4. "He would've run away a million
times if we hadn't been there."
Johnny Cade

7. 5. "He would be real handsome if
his eyes weren't so cold."
Darryl (Darry) Curtis

8. 6. "I liked ________ only because
he was Soda's best friend."
Steve Randall

9. 7. Thinks Pony is a tag-along and
a kid...
Steve Randall

10. 8. Got out of the "cooler" early
for "good behavior"
Dallas (Dally ) Winston

11. 9. Scared of his own shadow...
Johnny Cade

12. 10. Always has to have the last
word...
Two-bit Matthews

13. 11. "understands everybody"
Sodapop Curtis

14. 12. Has a car.
Two-bit Matthews

15. 2. True or false?
And why?
Pony says that the Greasers
sometimes deserve the treatment
they get from other people.
True – they steal and cause trouble
False – they can’t control the fact they
are poor

16. 3. Which quote is the reason
Pony gives for the behaviour of
Soda and Steve?
“too much feeling with no
way to blow it off”

17. 4. Describe Sodapop, Darry and
Ponyboy’s home life?
Darry and Soda work full-time. Darry is the father
figure and head of household. They are allowed to
stay together so long as they stay out of trouble.
Their parents were killed in a car crash. There is a
lot of visiting from the gang. Darry has strict rules
for Ponyboy and less for Soda, but he is the ruler of
the house.

18. 5. Using the stereotype of a
“Greaser”, make a web of a
“typical” member of the Greasers.

19. GREASERS
Wear their hair
longer and use
hair oil.
Wear t-shirts,
jeans, leather or
jean jackets, boots
or tennis shoes.
Drive souped up
cars.
Have rumbles
(gang fights),
steal, sneak
into movies.
Belong to a gang.
Girls wear lots of
make-up and
short, tight skirts.
Swear.
Some drink or
do drugs.
Come from the
poorer side of
town.

20. 6. What makes Ponyboy
different from the rest of his
Greaser crew?
Ponyboy is younger, only 14, and not really a full member of
the gang. He is book smart, gets good grades, and is a deep
thinker. He prefers to go to movies alone so he can fully
escape into the film and think about it. He enjoys drawing
and writing stories.

21. Why are these good traits for a
narrator to have?
For a narrator, you want someone, like Ponyboy, who is
innocent and open-minded. Ponyboy isn’t jaded yet, so he
can still see/believe in a time when fighting between the
social classes will end. It’s also good to have a smart
narrator, a thinker, so we can hear all of his deep thoughts
about this world.

22. 7. Use the stereotype of a “Soc”
(Social), make a web of a
“typical” member of the Socs.

23. SOCS
They are in
trouble with
the law one day
and praised the
next.
Dress preppy in
madras shirts/jackets,
khaki pants and
loafers.
Drive expensive
cars. Corvairs
and Mustangs.
They fight and
jump people.
Go out in groups.
Girls wear less
make-up and
dress more
modestly.
Some drink.
Come from the
richer side of
town. Socially
elite.

24. 7. Explain the difference
between “tuff” and “tough”.
Tuff = cool, sharp
Tough = rough

25. 8. Vocabulary

26. Madras (page 5)
(noun) a strong, fine-textured
cotton fabric, typically
patterned with colorful stripes
or checks

27. (page 6) cowlick
(noun) a lock of hair that
grows in a direction different
from the rest and that resists
being combed flat

28. (page 10) unfathomable
(adjective) incapable of being
fully explored or understood

29. (page 17) savvy
(verb) know or understand

30. 9. How do Ponyboy’s
relationships with Sodapop and
Darry differ? Explain.
Ponyboy is closer with Soda because Soda is
kind, funny, and easy-going. Pony is also closer
in age to Soda and they share a bedroom.
Ponyboy feels like Darry is always disappointed
or irritated by him. Darry is the oldest and is
under a lot of stress. He often snaps at Pony,
making Pony feel like Darry doesn’t love him.
This isn’t true of course.

31. 10. What has Johnny learned from
the gang that he couldn’t learn from
his parents? What’s the irony in
this?
Johnny’s parents are abusive and don’t take
care of him. The gang cares for him and
teach him about love and affection. It is
ironic because the public sees the “Greasers”
as public menaces but the group is the exact
opposite. Instead of promoting hate the gang
provides love and acceptance for each other.

32. 11. As they are falling asleep,
how does Pony react to what
Soda tells him about Darry?
He pretends to agree with Sodapop and
understand that Darry is tough on him out of
love, but he doesn’t really agree or
understand. He doubts Darry’s love but he
keeps that to himself.

33. 13. Do you think Darry loves
Ponyboy? Why does he treat
Pony the way he does?
Yes, Darry definitely loves Pony but he’s exhausted from
working two jobs and he’s stressed. Sometimes parents (or
parental figures) use tough love to try and protect and help
the ones they love. And, sometimes, those parents get tired
and frustrated. Darry isn’t soft and warm, but he does love
his brothers. If he didn’t love them he wouldn’t work so
hard and hassle them like he does.

34. 14. At the end of the chapter,
Ponyboy says, “I lie to myself all the
time. But I never believe me.”
Explain what he means.
In this scene, Ponyboy is telling himself that
he won’t love his older brother, Darry,
anymore, but he also knows this is a lie. Of
course, he’ll always love his brother even if
they may not always get along.

35. In what ways is this idea true for
you, as well?
Everyone lies to themselves while being aware of what
we’re really doing. If you make a promise to get better
grades, but deep-down you know you won’t change your
actual behaviours to make this happen, that’s an
example of what Pony is talking about. We also lie to
ourselves when we choose to believe something that we
know isn’t true just to make our lives easier in the
short-term. We call this denial and it is a classic
defense mechanism.