Socratic Seminar Questions

English 7

Text: S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders

Level 1

1. What are the differences between the greasers and the Socs? a. clothing b. transportation c. hairstyles d. reputation in the community e. sides of town (East Side? West Side?) f. music g. families h. What does Cherry conclude is the biggest difference between the greasers and the Socs after her discussion with Ponyboy in Chapter 3? (Hint: It’s not about money.) 2. The greasers are “tight-knit” (Hinton 3). But which greasers does Ponyboy like the LEAST? 3. What does Johnny do in Chapter 2 that is surprising? In Chapter 4? a. Were there any clues that this might happen? 4. Which of the greasers does Ponyboy admire the most? Who does Johnny admire the most? (Chapter 5) a. What does this tell us about these characters?

Remember to back up your answers with textual evidence and page- number citations!

Level 2 1. How are Darry and Dally similar? How are they different? 2. What kind of student is Ponyboy? (Chapters 1-5) What kind of student is Johnny? (Chapter 5) Is one of them “smarter” than the other? Why or why not? 3. Ponyboy says in Chapter 5 that some people are “different.” What does he mean by different? Who does he say he can talk to? 4. In Chapter 3, Cherry says “Things are rough all over… We [Socs] have problems you’ve never dreamed of” (Hinton 38). What might she mean?

Level 3

1. Is Darry a good brother to Ponyboy and Sodapop? Why or why not? 2. Is Ponyboy a good brother to Sodapop and Darry? Why or why not? 3. Is Dally a good friend to the other greasers? Why or why not? 4. Is Cherry a good friend to Ponyboy and Johnny? Why or why not? 5. How does Ponyboy change by the end of the novel?

What can I do in a Seminar?  Propose questions (“Lucia’s and Alan’s debate makes me wonder about…”  Propose answers (“I think I found the answer to Gerry’s question on page…”)  Propose interpretations (“Everyone is talking as those characters are meeting for the first time. But, look, if they already knew each other, and you read the conversation, they don’t sound angry at all. They sound like good friends just teasing…”)  Propose a new way to discuss (“It sounds like we all remember page 5 differently. Let’s just take a moment and go re-read it before I toss the Die of Speaking.”)  Propose connections (“This reminds me of that story we read in December…”)  Show the group outside evidence (“So, last night, I found an interview with this offer on the Internet. I printed out a few copies to pass around. It turns out the author himself was in the same characters are the characters are…”)  Ask someone else to clarify (“Marcia, I don’t understand why you thought that part about the red dress was important. Can you explain why you brought that up?”)  Pause to re-read the text (Short pauses—or even long silences—are a good sign in a Socratic Seminar. People can use this time to review their notes and decide what to say next.)