The Outsiders - Chapters 4 and 5

Before commenting on either of our questions for Chapters 4 and 5, enjoy a video clip from the 1983 movie version of The Outsiders. As you watch, don't click on the pop-ups that ask you to subscribe to anything or to rate the clip. Just watch and enjoy:





Now, feel free to comment on any one of these three questions. Proofread what you post before posting it and correct as many spelling and grammar errors as possible:

• Even though Johnny killed Bob the Soc, it seems that this act might be justified in that the Socs were drowning Ponyboy. Do Johnny and Ponyboy do the right thing in escaping to the countryside, or did they have a better choice? Explain why you feel the way you do.
  

• As we get to see more of Dally in Chapters 4 and 5, do you see any positive character traits in him, or is he simply bad news? Justify your answer with an example or two from the story so far.
  

• Many readers are surprised to suddenly encounter a poem in Chapter 5. It's a good guess that the message of this poem is important to this novel. What do you think is the message of the poem?:

Nature's first green is gold

Her hardest hue to hold

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

The Outsiders - Chapter 2 - Class of 2011-2012

In Chapter 2, Ponyboy says, "You take up for your buddies, no matter what they do. When you're a gang, you stick up for the members." Do you agree with this philosophy? Why or why not? From what we know of Ponyboy's gang, should he stick up for their behavior? If you were Ponyboy, how might you behave when, instead of being on your own with a good book or movie, you're with the rest of the greasers?

Of Mice and Men - "The Best Laid Plans...:

At the conclusion of a well-written story, the reader comes away with two feelings, even if those feelings seem to contradict each other:

1.) The ending was exactly what one would have expected, given the characters and the situation.

2.) The ending was surprising, a fist in the gut that leaves you breathless.

Now that you have read part 6, what do you think about the ending of Of Mice and Men? Were you surprised? Do you believe that George behaved in a way that fit his character as we have seen it throughout the book? Did George do the right thing for Lennie?

The Outsiders - Chapters 4 and 5

Before commenting on either of our questions for Chapters 4 and 5, enjoy a video clip from the 1983 movie version of The Outsiders. As you watch, don't click on the pop-ups that ask you to subscribe to anything or to rate the clip. Just watch and enjoy:



Now, feel free to comment on any one of these three questions. Proofread what you post before posting it and correct as many spelling and grammar errors as possible:

• Even though Johnny killed Bob the Soc, it seems that this act might be justified in that the Socs were drowning Ponyboy. Do Johnny and Ponyboy do the right thing in escaping to the countryside, or did they have a better choice? Explain why you feel the way you do.
  

• As we get to see more of Dally in Chapters 4 and 5, do you see any positive character traits in him, or is he simply bad news? Justify your answer with an example or two from the story so far.
  

• Many readers are surprised to suddenly encounter a poem in Chapter 5. It's a good guess that the message of this poem is important to this novel. What do you think is the message of the poem?:

Nature's first green is gold

Her hardest hue to hold

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

The Outsiders - Chapter 2

In Chapter 2, Ponyboy says, "You take up for your buddies, no matter what they do. When you're a gang, you stick up for the members." Do you agree with this philosophy? Why or why not? From what we know of Ponyboy's gang, should he stick up for their behavior?

The Bookless Library!?!

Now that you have had the chance to read about (with pleasure? with horror?) Cushing Academy's vision of the bookless library, what do you think? There's a term for people who resist the coming technology tide, and it's generally not meant as a compliment: Luddites. Does Cushing have it right? Is this indeed the way to engage students in reading? Is Cushing totally off base? Or, as many students suggested when asked, is there a compromise path that would be best?

Chapter 3 - The Ecstasy of Life

As Buck becomes involved in hunting down rabbits, he feels great joy: "There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise...this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive." Have you ever felt so focused on what you're experiencing that you forget everything else and simply take joy in the moment? Tell us about it!