Notes

7. What happens when Pony comes here after his curfew?
8. Why does Johnny like it better when his father is hitting him?
9. At the end of the chapter, how does the author foreshadow that bad things are
to come?
Chapter Four
1. What does Pony mean when he says the socs were “reeling pickled” on page
54?
2. What major even happens in this chapter?
3. How did the author foreshadow that Johnny would use his knife in chapter 2?
4. What would your advice be to Johnny and Ponyboy if they‟d come to you for
help instead of Dally? Explain.
5. How did the setting foreshadow the events in this chapter?
6. Do you think Bob‟s death was justice? Explain.
Chapter Five
1. Why does Pony have a problem with Johnny‟s idea to disguise themselves?
2. What does Pony mean when he says, “I was supposed to be the deep one”
[p.75]?
3. Why does Johnny think is a hero [p.76]? Do you think Dally is a hero based
on what he did?
4. On page 78, Johnny compares Pony and his brothers to their parents. Which
one of your parents are you most like? What similarities do you share?
5. What‟s a „heater‟? Why does Dally have one?
6. Why are the socs and the greasers going to fight in the vacant lot?
7. Who‟s the spy for the greasers? Does this surprise you? Why or why not?
8. What‟s the poem about on pg. 77 by Robert Frost?
9. What‟s a characteristic Pony repeats about himself in this chapter?
10. What is it that foreshadows Johnny‟s predicament on pg. 69?
Chapter Six
1. Do you think Dally‟s parents have influenced the way he is; his personality?
Explain.
2. Why doesn‟t Dally want Johnny to turn himself in?
3. What “other side” of Dallas is revealed in this chapter?
4. What‟s your own definition of a hero? Do the three boys prove themselves to
be heroes, according to your definition? Explain.
5. Why do you think Johnny wasn‟t scared, despite the obvious danger, on page
92?
6. What does Pony realize about Darry at the end of this chapter?
Chapter Seven
1. What condition is Johnny in after the fire?
2. Why would being crippled be worse for Johnny than someone else?
3. “Maybe people are younger when they are asleep” [p.104]. What do you think
about this comment?
4. What is a juvenile delinquent [p.107]? Find a definition on the internet, in a
dictionary, or create your own based on your own knowledge.
5. Why would Two-Bit think Johnny, Dally, and Pony were heroes all along;
before they saved the kids?
6. What was Bob‟s „real‟ problem, according to Randy [p.116]
7. Why did Pony think it was better to see socs as “just guys” on p.118? What do
you think he means by this?
8. What happened with Sandy?
9. Why does Randy talk with Pony?
Chapter Eight
1. How does what the doctor first says, on page 119, foreshadow Johnny‟s
condition?
2. “We needed Johnny as much as he needed the gang. And for the same reason”
(p.121). What do you think Pony means, and what is the reason?
3. What does Pony mean on p.123 when he says, “we could get along without
anyone but Johnny”?
4. If Darry didn‟t have Soda and Pony, why would he be a soc?
5. What does Cherry mean when she says Bob” wasn‟t just anyone” on p.129?
Chapter Nine
1. On the bottom of p.132, when Pony asks what kind of a world it is, what
comment is he making about how he judges people?
2. Why do the boys fight? Is Pony different?
3. What is the difference between Tim Sheppard‟s gang and Ponyboy‟s? Explain
how Pony feels this difference give his group the upper hand?
7. What do you think Johnny‟s last words to Pony mean?
8. What happened with Dally in the end?
Chapter Ten
1. How does pony‟s dreaming, or lying to himself, finally work in this chapter?
2. Why was Johnny‟s dying so difficult for Dally to handle?
3. Who do you think Dally would have wanted to die?
4. How does Pony describe Dally as being a person who made a difference on
pg. 154?
Chapter Eleven
1. Explain why Pony might rather anyone‟s hate than their pity (p.162)?
2. What do you think is going on with Ponyboy when he says,”Johnny didn‟t
have anything to do with bob‟s getting killed”(p.166)?
3. Why does Randy come to visit Pony, beyond the obvious?
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