The Outsiders Dialectical Journal

Grade 7 ELA Dialectical Journal Name: Gloria Parra-Diaz
The Outsiders Chapters: _______________

Directions: Complete this reader response log while reading The Outsiders (both in class and while you read independently). This format will guide you through the reading & thinking process to help develop your ideas and express them on paper so that you can better participate in the discussion board with your team.

Big Idea: Societal structure has the power to promote or limit freedom, choice, and desire.
Essential Questions: How do societal divisions affect communities?
Do social class and wealth affect happiness?
How do cliques and gangs affect our worldview?
What makes up a person’s identity?
What are the limitations

Ch 7 Pg 117
“You can’t win if you wip us. You’ll still be where you were before- at the bottom. And we’ll still be the lucky ones with all the breaks. So it doesn’t do any good, the fighting and the killing. It doesn’t prove a thing. We’ll forget it if you win, or if you don’t. Greasers will still be greasers and Socs will still be Socs.”
The quote is significant by connecting to an Essential question because it describes the difficult situation of the Greases, and the hopelessness of the fighting. Randy has decided to leave town instead of attending the rumble that night, and he explains to Ponyboy why.
Ch 8 Pg 121
“We need Johnny as much as he needed the

Ch 9 Pg 148
“Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold…”
The quote is significant by connecting to an Essential question because in Johnny’s last words he refrences the same Robert Frost poem that Ponyboy repeated outloud when they were sitting on the back porch of the church.
Ch 10 Pg 154
“ Dally didn’t die a hero.”
The quote is significant by connecting to an Essential question because he said that Johnny died like a hero in the fire saving the children, and Dally died like a hoodlum robbing a bank.
Ch 11 Pg
“You’re not going to die if you don’t smoke. But if the bed catches fire you will.”
The quote is significant by connecting to an Essential question because it shows that Darry cares for Ponyboy and Darry is right bexcause he will die if he smokes while lying in bed.
Ch 12 Pg 176
“We’re all we’ve got left. We ought to be able to stick together against everything. If we don’t have eachother, we don’t have anything.”
The quote is significant by connecting to an Essential question because Ponyboy and Darry’s relationship has been strained since their partners died and Darry became responsible for his little