Lesson 9: The Outsiders, Chapter 3, Part 1

Have students take out The Outsiders with their annotations.

Lesson 8 Homework: Students were instructed to finish reading Chapter 3 and write a brief response to this prompt: Which character do you think understands Ponyboy best? Why?

Retell & Paraphrase Partner Check

Say these Directions: With a partner, take turns briefly summarizing the plot of a section of Chapter 3 in your own words. Check each other's retelling for accuracy and correct any mistakes. You may use these sentence starters to guide your responses:

• Frame 1 (Partner 1): “After the movie, Ponyboy . . .”

• Frame 2 (Partner 2): “After Cherry and Marcia leave . . .”

  • After the movie, Ponyboy talks with Cherry about the differences between how Socs and Greasers act. They share details about their lives. When Ponyboy tells Cherry about his oldest brother, Darry, he claims Darry hates him, and Two-Bit and Johnny loudly disagree. Cherry’s and Marcia’s boyfriends Randy and Bob find and confront the Greasers. After Cherry and Marcia leave with their boyfriends, Ponyboy and Johnny look at the stars and Ponyboy dreams about the life he wants in the country. They fall asleep, and Ponyboy doesn’t come home until two in the morning. Darry is furious with him for being out so late and hits him. Ponyboy is shocked. He runs out of the house and goes to find Johnny. The two of them decide to walk around the park.

Connection to Today’s Learning:

• Say: Today, you’ll return to Chapter 3 and perform a closer read and some annotation, focusing on how the author develops Ponyboy’s voice and shows how others understand, or misunderstand, him. You’ll learn more about how authors use craft features like voice and dialogue to develop a strong character point of view. This will help you later in the unit, when you begin writing your own personal narrative.

Guide students in analyzing vocabulary through word associations and context clues to deepen their understanding of meaning and point of view. Facilitate partner discussion to connect word choices to how Ponyboy interprets characters and groups.

Word Associations

Target Words: aloofness, hoodlum

Say these Directions: We’re learning about the words aloofness and hoodlum today. Let’s explore these words more deeply.

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

Display the Text Excerpt from Chapter 3: “Socs were always behind a wall of aloofness, careful not to let their real selves show through. I had seen a social-club rumble once. The Socs even fought coldly and practically and impersonally” (pg. 38). 

Use Context Clues: Have students turn and quickly talk to a partner:

1. Which context clues in this passage help you figure out what aloofness might mean?

2. Based on these clues, what do you think aloofness means?

   • “careful not to let their real selves show through,” “coldly and practically and impersonally”; I think aloofness means being disconnected.

Confirm Meaning: Explain that aloofness describes the state of being emotionally distant, unfriendly, and disconnected from what is going on around you.

Build Word Relationships: Present aloof and aloofness to students.

• Ask: How do you think the words aloof and aloofness are related?

  • Aloof is an adjective meaning emotionally different, unfriendly, and disconnected; aloofness is a noun describing this state. If needed, remind students that the suffix -ness turns adjectives into nouns.

Introduce Activity: A word association is a connection between a word and another thought, feeling, idea, action, etc. related to the word. Forming word associations can help readers understand words’ meanings more deeply.

Say these Directions: Discuss these prompts with a partner and then be ready to share your responses in a whole-group discussion.

• When you hear the word aloofness, what emotions do you associate with it? Why?

  • I think about feeling unhappy, unfriendly, and lonely. Someone acting with aloofness might not want to get too close to other people.

• What are some actions that might show aloofness?

  • Avoiding others and acting cold and impolite to them, or fighting without showing emotion, like Ponyboy says the Socs do.

• What words come to mind that mean the opposite of aloofness?

  • warmth, friendliness, passion, and caring

Repeat the routine with hoodlum.

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

• Display the Text Excerpts:

• “'Dropout' made me think of some poor dumb-looking hoodlum wandering the streets breaking out street lights" (p. 23).

• “Dally—wild, cunning Dally—turning into a hoodlum because he’d die if he didn’t” (p. 43).

Use Context Clues: Turn and quickly talk to a partner:

1. Which context clues in this sentence help you figure out what hoodlum might mean?

2. Based on these clues, what do you think hoodlum means?

   • “dumb-looking”/“wandering the streets breaking out street lights”/“wild, cunning”; I think hoodlum means someone who is behaving badly and maybe breaking laws.

Confirm Meaning: Explain that hoodlum refers to a young person who is violent, is a troublemaker, and commits crime.

Say these Directions: Discuss these prompts with a partner and then be ready to share your responses in a whole-group discussion.

• When you hear the word hoodlum, which images come to mind? Why?

  • I imagine someone fighting or destroying property. I picture a kid wandering the streets, like Ponyboy pictures when he thinks about a dropout.

• Which words do you associate with the character Dally? How do these words help you understand the meaning of hoodlum?

  • I think of Dally as tough, aggressive, and smart. These words help me understand that hoodlum can be used to describe someone who is a combination of “good” and “bad” things—violent but also smart.

• Which words and phrases describe how someone seen as a hoodlum might feel?

  • They might feel angry, scared, and under pressure to be tough because of their environment, the way Dally might feel.

Tell students that this vocabulary will be further analyzed in this lesson’s text analysis work.

Allow students to share their work. Once sharing is complete, affirm the connection:

Connection to Today’s Learning:

• Say: As you learned from the text excerpts, words like aloofness and hoodlum reveal both how characters see themselves and how they are seen by others. As you annotate and answer text-dependent questions, think about the words the author chooses to describe how characters view themselves and others. Word choices can help you identify how characters connect, or fail to connect, to one another.

Transition the students into Learning in Action by adding new characters/adjectives (Randy, Bob) to the Character Chart and adding the lesson’s vocabulary words (or their variations) to describe characters.

Part A: Identify How Authors Build Point of View (RL.7.3, RL.7.6) (15 minutes)

Review how authors can build characters’ points of view through both narration and dialogue. Each of these story elements shows how characters feel and how they build connections and learn to understand each other.

Model analyzing a dialogue passage. Reread the Chapter 3 passage beginning “‘That’s why we’re separated’” and ending with “‘getting our names in the paper.’”

• Say: Ponyboy’s dialogue shows him coming to a new understanding. He sees the difference in behavior and values between the two groups. Cherry agrees with him and adds her own observation. I think this dialogue helps Ponyboy feel understood. It also helps him see something he shares with the other Greasers. What do you think that is?

  • He has strong emotions.

Explain that another way authors build point of view through narration is by using a distinct voice for their narrators. Prompt students to recall that voice is the style a narrator uses to tell a story; it includes the unique qualities that make the narrator sound different from others.

• Ask: How would you describe Ponyboy’s voice and personality as a narrator?

  • anxious, shy, thoughtful, emotional

Show an example of voice by reviewing the line “‘Sodapop was horsecrazy. I mean it’” (p. 39) from Chapter 3.

• Say: Instead of just saying “Sodapop loves horses,” Ponyboy describes him as “horsecrazy.” The author uses expressions like this to develop Ponyboy’s voice. Readers learn more about Ponyboy’s affection for Soda by listening to how Ponyboy talks about him.

Turn and Talk

Say these Directions: Annotate the early conversation between Cherry and Ponyboy in Chapter 3, beginning when the chapter opens and ending with “We saw the same sunset” (p. 41). Then, turn and talk with a partner to respond to these questions, using the words narration, dialogue, and voice in your responses:

• Choose a moment where Ponyboy feels understood. How does the author show this feeling? What does this moment indicate about Ponyboy’s need for belonging?

  • Ponyboy feels understood when Cherry says, “I think you’re the first person I’ve really gotten through to” (p. 38). The author shows this feeling by having Ponyboy agree with her in his narration. I think this moment indicates that Ponyboy is willing to listen to others talk about their feelings, and he wants people to understand his feelings too. This shared understanding helps him feel like he belongs.

• Choose a moment where Ponyboy feels misunderstood. How does the author show this feeling? What does this moment indicate about Ponyboy’s need for belonging?

  • Ponyboy feels misunderstood when Two-Bit makes fun of how he and Johnny rarely talk when they are together. Ponyboy reflects on this moment in his narration when he thinks about why he’s talking so much to Cherry; he doesn’t often talk to others this much. I think that when Ponyboy can stay quiet with someone else and still feel understood, like with Johnny, he feels like he belongs.

• Choose a sentence where Ponyboy’s voice feels especially strong. How does the author develop his voice?

  • The sentence beginning “I had cried, too, if you want to know the truth” shows a strong voice because Ponyboy sounds vulnerable and deeply affected by losing Soda’s horse. The author develops his voice by having him admit, in narration, details he would not want to admit to another person in dialogue.

• How does the word aloofness help you understand Cherry and the Socs?

  • I think that Cherry may be used to hiding behind aloofness to avoid showing her true feelings. She believes that in order to fit in with her social group, she has to act like she doesn’t really care about important things. I wonder if other Socs feel this way, and if that feeling motivates them to act the way they do.

Part B: Analyze How Authors Build Point of View (RL.7.3, RL.7.6) (15 minutes)

Keep students in pairs. Tell them that they will continue to annotate and answer questions about the chapter with a focus on moments when Ponyboy feels understood or misunderstood. Remind them to pay attention to how dialogue builds connections between characters and how narration develops point of view.

Think-Pair-Share

Say these Directions: Annotate the rest of Chapter 3 and follow the Think-Pair-Share routine to discuss the answers to the questions below. First, independently annotate the text and form your own ideas. Then, join your partner and discuss your ideas. Listen carefully to your partner’s ideas. Before sharing a new idea, show you understand by repeating it in your own words or asking a question. Think about what your partner said and be open to improving your own ideas based on their input.

• Choose another moment where Ponyboy feels understood. How does the author show this feeling? What does this moment indicate about Ponyboy’s need for belonging?

  • Ponyboy feels understood when Johnny says “‘It’s because we’re greasers’” (p. 47), and Ponyboy knows what he’s talking about; the narration suggests he’s thinking the same thing. Johnny is describing why Cherry and Marcia left them and will likely not want to spend time with them anymore. This moment indicates that Ponyboy wants to be seen as more than just a member of the group he belongs to.

• Choose another moment where Ponyboy feels misunderstood. How does the author show this feeling? What does this moment indicate about Ponyboy’s need for belonging?

  • Ponyboy feels misunderstood when he’s telling Cherry about Darry, and Johnny says that he thought Ponyboy got along well with his brothers. The author uses narration to explain that Ponyboy doesn’t feel he can get Johnny to understand the tension between him and Darry. Johnny’s parents are abusive, and Darry doesn’t abuse Ponyboy. This moment indicates that Ponyboy wants to feel like he truly belongs in his family, but he has a hard time explaining that feeling to others.

• How does the word hoodlum help you understand Dally?

  • The word helps me understand how people may unfairly stereotype Dally because they don’t know what his life is like. Ponyboy explains that Dally’s “hoodlum” behavior developed as a way to survive the poverty and violence he experienced.

Have students use their annotations to write a brief summary of Ponyboy’s sense of belonging using text evidence. Circulate to spot check annotations for quality and alignment to key concepts like point of view and belonging.

Annotation Spot Check

Say these Directions: Use your annotations to write two sentences summarizing what Ponyboy wants most in terms of belonging.

You may use these sentence frames:

• “What Ponyboy wants most is . . .”

• The text evidence in Chapter 3 that . . . supports this idea because . . .

  • What Ponyboy wants most is to spend time with the people he loves without worrying about class differences or threats. The text evidence in Chapter 3 that Johnny wants to find a place with “plain, ordinary people”—not divided groups—supports this idea because it makes Ponyboy imagine his ideal life in the country, where group divides and tension would no longer be a problem.

As students write, examine or “spot check” their annotations for the first half of Chapter 3 (from the beginning to “It just didn’t seem right to me”). Look for students to:

• mark brief passages (phrases, sentences, and individual words as appropriate) as text evidence.

• take notes that indicate what the evidence shows.

• use note-taking terms related to topics discussed in class (e.g., point of view, belonging).

Instruct students to take notes in their Journal on the following prompt:

• Which character’s perspective have readers not heard yet? What do you think readers could learn from hearing more about this character?