Lesson 29: The Outsiders, Chapter 8, Part 2

Four Corners Debate

Remind students that they reflected on the big ideas in Chapter 8 in their Journals after the last lesson. Today, they will think about how characters react to difficult situations and how those reactions influence others.

Prepare the learning space for a Four Corners debate by placing four corner signs on each of the four walls of the learning space, labeled Agree, Disagree, Strongly Agree, and Strongly Disagree.

Say these Directions: Sometimes authors give readers clues about what might happen next in a story. These clues help readers make predictions about characters and events. Think about what happened to Johnny in Chapter 8, when Ponyboy and the gang visit him in the hospital.

Read the statement. Considering your opinion of this response, do you agree, disagree, strongly agree, or strongly disagree?

• Johnny will recover and return to the Greasers.

Direct students to move to the corner that best represents their opinion. Once students have chosen a corner, ask volunteers to explain their thinking.

Say these Directions: Discuss your response to the questions below.

• Ask: What evidence from Chapter 8 supports your prediction?

• Ask: What details in the chapter make you think something different might happen?

Ask two to three students to briefly share.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Readers often make predictions based on clues from the text, but characters inside the story also make decisions based on what others say or do. Today, we will look closely at how characters respond to each other and how those choices shape what might happen next in The Outsiders.

Generating Situations, Context, and Examples

Target Words: mentality, mob mentality

Say these Directions: In the previous lesson, we talked a lot about loyalty. Today, we’re going to talk about how someone’s state of mind might shape their loyalty.

Activity 1

Introduce the Word: Present the word mentality to students and pronounce it.

• Ask: Have you seen the word mentality before? Where?

Say these Directions: Write a few sentences to explain whether you agree, disagree, strongly agree, or strongly disagree with this claim:

Write or display the following claim where all students can see it:

Your mentality is more important than your ability.

• I disagree that your mentality is more important than your ability. Your mentality might help motivate you, but it can’t do anything if you don’t already have a natural tendency for something.

After students have had a minute or two to respond, ask them to discuss with partners.

Say these Directions: Share your response with someone near you. Be prepared to share with the large group.

Discuss students’ responses in a whole-group discussion. Encourage multiple responses to show the range of contexts where the vocabulary words can apply. Then, continue to lead students through a discussion about mentality:

• Ask: How can your mentality positively influence your actions?

  • If I believe I can do something, it makes me more likely to try hard to accomplish something, even if it’s difficult.

• Ask: How can your mentality negatively influence your actions?

  • I can get way too into my head sometimes! Negative self-talk can really get in the way of me finishing big projects.

• Ask: How do you believe your own mentality has influenced those closest to you?

  • Sometimes, friends aren’t worried about a big project or task until I shared how scared I am. That makes them feel more nervous or afraid.

Activity 2

Introduce the Expression: Present the expression mob mentality to students and pronounce it.

• Ask: Have you seen the expression mob mentality before? Where?

Say these Directions: Write a few sentences to explain whether you agree, disagree, strongly agree, or strongly disagree with this claim:

Write or display the following claim where all students can see it:

In Chapter 8, the Greasers' loyalty to each other makes it impossible for any one of them to walk away from the rumble.

• I strongly agree that loyalty makes it impossible for any Greaser to back out. Even Two-Bit, who knows Dally shouldn't have a weapon, gives him his switchblade anyway because refusing would feel like a betrayal. No one in the group questions whether the rumble is a good idea. The Greasers’ group mentality takes over individual judgment.

After students have had a minute or two to respond, ask them to discuss with partners.

Say these Directions: Share your response with someone near you. Be prepared to share with the large group.

Discuss students’ responses in a whole-group discussion. Encourage multiple responses to show the range of contexts where the vocabulary words can apply. Then, continue to lead students through a discussion about mob mentality:

• Ask: Where else might mob mentality occur?

  • In friend groups, among sports fans, in political circles

• Ask: How could a mob mentality build loyalty?

  • If everyone is behaving or acting a certain way, it can make you think that you really have to stand up for that group, no matter what.

• Ask: How can a mob mentality cause division?

  • If you’re really close to one group, it can make you feel like you can’t be part of another. Groups of close friends might conflict with your family.

Connection to Today’s Learning

• Say: Today, we are going to explore how a mentality centered around division can have very real consequences.

Part A: Loyalty Mentality: Chapter 8 (RL.7.2, RL.7.3) (10 minutes)

Loyalty Mentality

Guide students through a discussion about a loyalty mentality at the end of Chapter 8 of The Outsiders.

• Ask: What does it mean to have a “loyalty mentality”?

  • Loyalty mentality is prioritizing devotion to a group or person, even when it causes tension or difficult choices.

Tell students they will examine how loyalty affects the conversation between Ponyboy and Cherry at the end of Chapter 8.

Have students read the conversation between Ponyboy and Cherry on page 128 that begins “Ponyboy stay a minute” and concludes at the end of the chapter.

• Say: As we read this section out loud together, listen for one new idea about loyalty that appears in the conversation.

  • Cherry describes the loyalty between Randy and Bob.

• Ask: Why is this a new idea about loyalty?

  • We haven’t really seen any of the conflicts or friendships from their perspectives before.

After you reach the end of the chapter, lead a discussion about how loyalty is presented in this passage.

• Ask: What new idea about loyalty do we learn from this conversation?

  • Cherry shows loyalty to Bob even after his death. She wants to help Ponyboy, but she cannot forget Bob.

• Ask: How do Ponyboy’s and Cherry’s loyalties create tension between them?

  • Ponyboy and Cherry get along, but their loyalty to different groups makes it difficult for them to truly be friends.

• Ask: How does loyalty hold each group together even when it causes problems?

  • Both gangs stay loyal to each other even though the rumble could make things worse.

Part B: An “Us vs. Them” Mentality (RL.7.3, RL.7.6, RI.7.2) (20 minutes)

Students will continue their examination of mentality by exploring a modern-day “us vs. them” mentality.

• Say: In the last lesson, we talked about how to build bridges over divisions. Today, we will examine how shifting someone’s mindset can help break down “us vs. them” thinking.

Distribute copies of the article “Overcoming an ‘Us vs. Them’ Mentality” to each student. Explain that students will examine how individuals move away from “us vs. them” thinking.

Say these Directions: Read the article “Overcoming an ‘Us vs. Them’ Mentality” out loud with a partner. As you read, annotate the text for one example of division and one example of someone changing their mindset. Be prepared to discuss your findings with the large group.

• Eric Perez used to think that people fighting on the other side of a war or people who were in a rival gang were “the other.” He learned how to respect other people and groups and now helps others do the same.

• Ask: What is an “us vs. them” mentality?

  • It’s a mindset where someone who is different or who does not agree with you is automatically wrong.

• Ask: How can such a mentality be dangerous?

  • It can convince you that someone who is wrong is also dangerous.

• Ask: How can shifting away from an “us vs. them” mentality be helpful?

  • It teaches empathy, which helps people treat each other with more understanding and kindness.

Then use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast the divide between (Soc) Randy and (Greaser) Ponyboy and now (Soc) Cherry and (Greaser) Ponyboy. Students consider the difference in perspective they receive through Ponyboy's narration and his dialogue. How does dialogue between Ponyboy and Cherry help readers understand Cherry’s perspective in a way Ponyboy’s narration alone does not?

Compare/Contrast

Transition students to an exercise that examines the “us vs. them” mentality of the Socs and the Greasers.

Distribute the Triple Venn Diagram graphic organizer to students and explain that students will compare the perspectives of Randy, Ponyboy, and Cherry.

Say these Directions: Apply the idea of an “us vs. them” mentality to the key relationships among the Socs and the Greasers using a Venn diagram to help organize your thoughts. Label each circle Randy, Ponyboy, and Cherry. Then, complete the Triple Venn Diagram graphic organizer to compare and contrast the bridges and divides among these three characters’ perspectives.

Quick Write

Collect formative data on students’ understanding of how characters begin to see the ‘us vs. them’ divide.

Say these Directions: Respond to the prompt in two sentences.

• Ask: At the end of Chapter 8 on page 129, Ponyboy asks Cherry if she can see the sunset from the West Side. What does the sunset symbolize about how Ponyboy and Cherry begin to see each other differently? Would another image communicate the same idea?

  • Optional Sentence Starter:

    • The sunset symbolizes _____ because ______. Another image [would/would not] be as effective because_____.

      • The sunset symbolizes a shared humanity between Ponyboy and Cherry because even though they live on opposite sides of the social divide, they can both see the same beautiful thing. Another image would not be as effective because a sunset is fleeting and bittersweet, just like their connection. Ponyboy is the one who brings it up, which shows that he is reaching across the divide rather than waiting for Cherry to close the gap.

Instruct students to read Chapter 9 of The Outsiders and write a brief paragraph in their Journal in response to the following prompt:

• How does Ponyboy's attitude toward the upcoming rumble differ from the rest of the greasers? Use details from the opening pages of the chapter to support your thinking.