This document provides chapter summaries, vocabulary definitions, and questions and answers about Chapters 7 and 8 of The Outsiders. Key details include: Johnny is badly burned and paralyzed, while Dally has a burned arm. Randy talks to Ponyboy to understand why they went into the burning church. Being paralyzed would be worse for Johnny due to his abusive home life. The document also examines themes of individuality versus social groups and the challenges faced by characters from different sides of the Socs versus Greasers divide.

1. THE OUTSIDERS
Chapter 7 & 8
Questions & Answers
December 2018
Miss Riddell

2. Vocabulary

3. a) (page 101) radiates
(verb) (of persons) to project (joy, goodwill, charm,
etc.)

4. b) (page 102) third-degree (Google)
burn (dictionary)
(noun) an injury usually caused by heat
Third–degree (full thickness burns) go through
dermis and affect deeper tissues. They result in
white or blackened charred skin that may be numb.

5. c) (page 104) icebox
(noun) older use – electric or gas refrigerator

6. d) (page 107) squaw
(noun) Older use: Disparaging and Offensive – a
contemptuous term used to refer to a North
American Indian woman, especially a wife
In current times it is respectful to use the term
First Nations or Indigenous.

7. e) (page 108) manslaughter
(noun) Law – the unlawful killing of a human being
without malice aforethought (without planning)

8. f) (page 113) outcast
(noun) a person who is rejected or ignored by
society

9. g) (page 113) exploits
(noun) a striking or notable deed; feat; spirited or
heroic act

10. 2. What are Johnny’s and Dally’s
conditions?
Johnny – badly burned (third-degree), broken back,
paralyzed
Dally – burned arm (will be scarred)

11. 3. Why would being paralyzed be
worse for Johnny than for someone
else?
Johnny wouldn’t be able to escape from his house and his
parent’s abuse and fighting.
His parents may not take care of him.
He wouldn‘t be able to play football or fight with the gang.

12. 4. Why did Randy come to talk to
Ponyboy?
Randy was trying to understand why Johnny, Pony
and Dally went into the burning church.

13. 5. According to Randy, what was
Bob’s biggest problem?
Bob had no limits or responsibilities. His parents
lack of limits shaped Bob’s personality and was the
reason for his behavior. The result was that Bob
acted more and more horrendously in an attempt to
have his parents intervene. They never did.

14. 6. Randy suggests that all kids want
their parents to set limits and to
tell them “no” because this gives
kids “something solid to stand on.”
Is he right or wrong? How do you
react when your parents don’t
allow you to do something?

15. 7. Explain the significance of the
statement below. How does this
statement separate Pony from
many of the other characters?
“Maybe you would have done the
same thing, maybe a friend of
yours wouldn’t have. It’s the
individual.” Ponyboy Curtis, Pg.
115

16. Ponyboy believes everyone makes their own
decisions. You can not judge a person based on a
group. Dally and Johnny reacted differently even
though they are both Greasers.
One of the themes of the book asks the question:
Are you truly are defined by your social class?

17. 8. Randy has a problem that can be
described as a catch-22. Explain
what a catch-22 is (you will likely
need to look this up in a dictionary)
and then explain how this is what
Randy faces in regards to tonight’s
rumble.
Catch-22 (noun) a frustrating situation in which one
is stuck with two bad choices; it’s a trap with no
escape

18. This is true for Randy. On one hand, he doesn’t want
to fight because it’s meaningless and won’t change
or accomplish anything. On the other hand, if he
doesn’t show up, he’ll be labelled as a chicken and
will become a target of the other Soc boys. He
considers running away, but knows that he can’t
really do that, either. He doesn’t want to fight, but
he feels trapped into having to fight.

19. 9. After talking with Randy,
Ponyboy says he is comforted
knowing that “things were rough
all over.” Explain what he means
by this.
Ponyboy has had a growing hatred against Socs, but
he now realizes that all of the boys have struggles
and problems. As he gets to see the other side of
the issue, he realizes that they all share more
similarities than differences. They are all, at the
end of the day, just guys.

20. 10. a) Explain in what ways the
gang is family to Johnny and how
his mother can never really be.
The gang loves and takes care of Johnny and his
mother doesn’t.

21. b) Explain why he doesn’t want his
mother to visit him.
Johnny doesn’t want to see his mother because he
thinks she will blame him for his situation.

22. 11. Explain in detail the quote:
“You know, the only thing that
keeps Darry from being a Soc is
us.” Two Bit Mathews, Pg. 126
Darry would have gone to college if his parents
hadn't died. He would have gotten out of the
neighborhood. He fit in with the Socs in high school
through football and marks. His situation holds him
back and he chooses to stay for his brothers.

23. 12. What is going on with Soda and
Sandy?
Sandy is pregnant.
It is NOT Soda’s baby but he loves her and offered
to marry her.
However, her parents wouldn’t allow it and sent her
away to live with an aunt.

24. 13. What was Cherry’s reason
for not visiting Johnny?
He killed her boyfriend Bob.

25. Was it the whole reason? Was it
justified?
On one hand, she knows that Bob was drunk and a bully and
probably deserved the stabbing; she knows Johnny acted in
self-defense.
However, she loved her boyfriend, Bob, and can’t face the
young man who killed him.
She knew Bob’s good side and is having a hard time
reconciling her feelings.
She wants to help the Greasers and minimize the damage
that will result from this evening’s rumble, but she just
can’t bring herself to fully sympathize with the boy who
killed Bob.

26. 14. a) Hyperbole
Obvious and intentional exaggeration

27. 14. b) Metaphor
A comparison, where a term or phrase is applied to
something to which it is not literally applicable in
order to suggest a resemblance

28. 14. c) onomatopoeia
The formation of a word, such as cuckoo, meow,
honk, or boom, by imitation of a sound

29. 14. d) Simile
Two unalike things are compared using like or as

30. “The reporters fired one question
right after another” (page 100)
metaphor

31. “I heard Ford’s vrrrrooooom and
thought: Soda’s driving.” (page
113)
onomatopoeia

32. “He so greaser… he goes to the
barber for an oil change, not a
haircut.” (page 114)
hyperbole

33. “He was as pale as the pillow and
looked awful.” (page 120)
simile

34. “We knew better than to talk to
Dally when his eyes were blazing.”
(page 125)
metaphor