Outsiders Chapter 10 Discussion

Class discussion rules:
Answer all the questions.
Publish your comments.
Read other students' comments.
Reply at least 2 times to other comments.
     Ex: "I really liked your answer to #2 because I agree" or "I disagree with you answer to number 4 because I think that he was trying to get in trouble."

WHEN YOU ARE DONE, read CHAPTER 11

1. What happens to Johnny?
2. How does Dally react emotionally (sad, happy, frustrated, etc)?
3. Why does Dally care so much about Johnny?
4. Why does Dally rob the store?
5. Why does Dally point an unloaded gun at the cops?
6. What happens to Ponyboy after the rumble?
7. How would you react if your best friend died?
8. What clues did we have before that Dally cared so much about Johnny?
9. What do you think will happen to Ponyboy next?
10. What should Dally have done instead?

Conjunction Practice

Copy and past the sentences in the "Comments" below. Put the commas where they belong.

1. We bought some candy popcorn and a sodapop.

2. I haven't seen that movie but Jorge has.

3. You can watch tv or you can play outside.

4. I don't know the question although I studied it.

5. We can go to lunch play outside and still get to class on time.

6. I don't like running but I do like riding my bike.

7. I don't want to watch tv but I want to play video games.

8. We could play Black Ops or we could play Kinnect.

9. He studied hard yet he still had a difficult time on the test.

10. I would rather be outside so I'll just leave.

Contender Study Questions

 

Chapters 9 and 10

1. How do the police officers treat Alfred in these chapters?

2. How does Alfred try to convince his aunt that boxing is a good idea?

3. Why does Alfred‘s aunt take him to Reverend Price?

4. Who is “Lightning Lou Epp”?

5. Why do Jelly and Pete argue?

6. Why does Alfred decide to go to the clubroom?

7. Would you go to the clubroom if you were Alfred?  What are some of the reasons for and against going?

8. What will happen when Alfred goes to the clubroom?

Chapters 11 and 12

1. Who is Arlene and how do you imagine her to look?

2. How can you tell that James is taking drugs?

3. Why does the party become a “sweet sticky blur” for Alfred? 

4. What message does Alfred forget to give his Aunt Dorothy?  Why?

5. Why do Alfred and the others leap out of the Cadillac?

6. Why does Alfred want to quit boxing–and why does he change his mind?

7. Why do you think Alfred accepts the wine and marijuana?

8. How will Alfred’s first fight go?

Johnny Tremain Close Reading

Report the results from your close reading to the class. You and your partner will select the best examples from your assignment last night. Each partner should contribute one example of the following, for 6 answers total.
1. Symbolism (one from each partner) Explain what the symbol means.
2. Repeated words and details (one from each partner) Explain why it is repeated.
3. Text Ruptures (one from each partner) Explain what you think this is foreshadowing.

Extra credit for responding to other groups' answers.

Outsiders Study Questions

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Ch. 7

1. How is Johnny doing in the hospital? Good or bad?

2. What is a rumble?

3. Who is Randy?

4. Why do you think that it’s important that Randy talks to Pony in this chapter?

5. What is the author trying to say about groups and fighting?

Ch. 8

1. How is Dally doing in the hospital?

2. How does the rumble go? Who wins?

3. Why won’t Cherry go visit Johnny in the hospital?

4. How does Dally react when he finds out what happens to Johnny?

Ch. 9
     1. Summarize this chapter: 

Contender News

Click on the Link
Read the article.
Make a Compare/Contrast chart comparing this newspaper article to "The Contender" in your composition book.
Log in to Utah Write.
Find the assignment called "Contender News."
Write a newspaper article about Alfred learning to box, that is similar to the one you read off of CNN.
Make sure to include the 5 W's- Who is the article about? What did they do? When did this happen? Where did this happen? Why did they do it?

Johnny Tremain News

Click on the link.
Read the article.
Make a Compare/Contrast chart comparing this newspaper article to "Johnny Tremain" in your composition book.
Log in to Utah Write.
Find the assignment called "Boston News."
Write a newspaper article about Johnny learning to ride a horse and deliver the news.
Make sure to include the 5 W's- Who is the article about? What did they do? When did this happen? Where did this happen? Why did they do it?

Outsiders Newspaper Article

Click on the link.
Read the article.
Make a Compare/Contrast chart comparing this newspaper article to "The Outsiders" in your composition book.
Log in to Utah Write.
Find the assignment called "Outsiders News."
Write a newspaper article about Johnny killing Bob the Soc.
Make sure to include the 5 W's- Who is the article about? What did they do? When did this happen? Where did this happen? Why did they do it?

Johnny Tremain Discussion

Answer the following questions in the comments section with your partner, then re-read and respond to at least 2 other comments in the thread.

 

Contender Reading Quiz

1. How do the Epsteins treat Alfred after the robbery?
2. Describe Alfred's first day at the gym training.
3. What word is repeated the most on page 53 and 54?
4. Why is that word (the one from question #3) repeated so many times?
5. Who is Spoon?
6. Why does Alfred keep talking about Joe Louis and Sugar Ray (famous boxers)?

BONUS:
Why does Alfred finally thank Henry at the end of chapter 7?

Extra Credit 1.3

All of the books that we are reading right now are about young people discovering who they are and how they can make a difference.

In The Outsiders, Ponyboy discovers that his identity as a Greaser is not as important as the choices he makes. He becomes a hero to his community when he saves the kids from the fire.
In Johnny Tremain, Johnny has to find meaning in life after a horrible accident deprives him of his talents and abilities as a silversmith. He learns that by serving his community, he can find new meaning and significance in his life.
In The Contender, Alfred learns that his skills in the boxing ring are not nearly as important has his dedication, hard work and effort, and that to be a champion, you have to fight for it. He learns to respect himself after realizing that he can become anything he wants to.

What are you good at? What makes you feel proud of yourself? When do you feel like you're important?
Answer in the comments section below. If you do not wish to sign your name, please sign with your initials and class period (EXAMPLE: CF3)

Johnny Tremain Vocabulary Ch. 1& 2

Ch. 1

p. 8 breeches- pants
p. 9 louse- singular of lice
p. 9 flacid- loose, weak, not strong
p. 9 autocratic- like a dictator
p. 10 brackish- salty
p. 12 formidable- powerful, indimidating
p. 12 hearth- the big fireplace in colonial homes where meals were prepared
p. 12 coarse-grained- common
p. 12 ethereal- light and airy
p. 12 apoplectic- having a stroke
p. 13 innumerable- so many you cannot count them
p. 14 gauge- the thickness of metal

Ch. 2

p. 14 remote- distant
p. 14 deacon- an unpaid member of church clergy (usually in charge of hymns, prayers, etc.)
p. 14 pious- religious
p. 15 ale- weak beer with little or no alcohol
p. 15 gruel- hot cereal (like oatmeal or cream of wheat)
p. 15 genteel- upper class
p. 16 Writ- writing, especially in the Bible
p. 16 expound- explain or teach

The Outsiders Ch. 1 Quiz

1. Who is the Protagonist?
2. What is the setting?
3. Name two of the boys in the "gang"
4. What is the difference between "tough" and "tuff" (you can look in your book for help)
5. Who is Sandy?
6. How are the Greasers and Soc's different?

Answer the questions in the comments section of this blog post.

The Contender Critical Thinking Questions

1. Who is the Protagonist?
2. Who is the Antagonist?
3. What is the Setting?
4. What is the Conflict?
5. Why made Major want to rob the grocery store?
6. How did Alfred react to peer pressure?
7. What themes are in this chapter?
8. What does Civil Rights have to do with America/Provo today?

Post your answers in the "Comments" below.

Johnny Tremain Critical Thinking Questions

1. What factors contributed to the Colonists’ decision to fight for independence?
2. What challenges did they face?
3. In what way was the Revolution a personal decision for Colonists?
4. Why would an “Average Joe” decide to risk his life and freedom to fight for Independence from Britain?
5. Why was Boston so important during the Revolution?
6. List the characters in Chapter 1 of Johnny Tremain and describe them briefly (Ex: Johnny Tremain, Silversmith Apprentice, Protagonist)
7. Pick a topic that you would like to research about the American Revolution, and find a link to a website with information about that topic.
(Ex: The Boston Tea Party  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party)

Answer these questions in the "Comments" below.

Primary/Secondary Sources

Click on the Link.
Browse around the website.
Answer the questions below in the comments section. Label your answer with your initials and period.

1. Describe a primary source you found on the website.
2. Explain how that primary source is different from a secondary source you saw in the video.
3. Why are primary sources better than secondary sources?
4. What was something you learned from this website about 9/11?
5. Who was Rudy Giuliani, and why is he listed on this website?
6. What is Ground Zero?
7. Describe the memorial at Ground Zero. What does it look like?
8. Why do people care so much about remembering the events of 9/11/2001?

The Gentleman of Rio en Medio

Extra Credit Question #2

The past two weeks we have been talking about elements of fictional narrative. To receive extra credit this week, answer one or more of the following:
1. Name a work of fiction in which the Protagonist is *not* a good-guy.
2. Name a work of fiction in which the Antagonist is not necessarily bad.
3. Name a work of fiction in which the Antagonist is not human.
4. Name a work of fiction in which the setting is as important or more important that the Major Characters.
5. Name a work of fiction written in first person.
6. Name a work of fiction with an internal conflict.
7. Name a work of fiction where the Antagonist is nature.
8. Name a work of fiction in which tone is related to the setting (ex: New York = dangerous, exciting).
9. Name a work of fiction that has no resolution.
10. Name a work of fiction that has no Major Characters.

A Day's Wait

Amigo Brothers- by Piri Thomas

 

 

 

Bonus Questions:

1. Why didn't the author reveal who the winner of the fight is?

2. Why do you think this story is set in New York?

3. How does the author establish the tone (what details does he give that set the mood)?

4. The Crowd's attitude changes from round 1 (enthusiastic) to round 3 (quiet). Why?

Reading Quiz Story

 Priscilla and the Wimps

By Richard Peck

Listen, there was a time when you couldn’t even go to the rest room around this school without a pass.  And I’m not talking about those little pink tickets made out by some teacher.  I’m talking about a pass that could cost anywhere up to a buck, sold by Monk Klutter.

Not that Mighty Monk ever touched money, not in public.  The gang he ran, which ran the school for him, was his collection agency.  They were Klutter’s Kobras, a name spelled out in nailheads on six well-known black plastic windbreakers.

Monk’s threads were more…subtle.  A pile-lined suede battle jacket with lizard-skin flaps over tailored Levis and a pair of ostrich-skin boots, brassed-toed and suitable for kicking people around.  One of his Kobras did nothing all day but walk a half step behind Monk, carrying a fitted bag with Monk’s gym shoes, a roll of rest-room passes, a cashbox, and a switchblade that Monk gave himself manicures with at lunch over at the Kobras’ table.

         Speaking of lunch, there were a few cases of advanced malnutrition among the newer kids.  The ones who were a little slow in handing over a cut of their lunch money and were therefore barred from the cafeteria.  Monk ran a tight ship.

         I admit it.  I’m five foot five, and when the Kobras slithered by, with or without Monk, I shrank.  And I admit this, too: I paid up on a regular basis.  And I might add: so would you.

         This school was old Monk’s Garden of Eden.  Unfortunately for him, there was a serpent in it.  The reason Monk didn’t recognize trouble when it was staring him in the face is that the serpent in the Kobra’s Eden was a girl.

         Practically every guy in school could show you his scar.  Fang marks from Kobras, you might say.  And they were all highly visible in the shower room: lumps, lacerations, blue bruises, you name it.  But girls usually got off with a warning.

         Except there was this one girl named Priscilla Roseberry.  Picture a girl named Priscilla Roseberry, and you’ll be light years off.  Priscilla was, hands down, the largest student in our particular institution of learning.  I’m not talking fat, I’m talking big.  Even beautiful, in a bionic way.  Priscilla wasn’t inclined toward organized crime.  Otherwise, she could have put together a gang that would turn Klutter’s Kobras into garter snakes.

         Priscilla was basically a loner except she had one friend.  A little guy named Melvin Detweiler.  You talk about The Odd Couple.  Melvin’s one of the smallest guys above midget status ever seen.  A really nice guy, but, you know—little.  They even had lockers next to each other, in the same bank as mine.  I don’t know what they had going.  I’m not saying this was a romance.  After all, people deserve their privacy.

         Priscilla was sort of above everything, if you’ll pardon a pun.  And very calm, as only the very big can be.  If there was anybody who didn’t notice Klutter’s Kobras, it was Priscilla.

         Until one winter day after school when we were all grabbing our coats out of our lockers.  And hurrying, since Klutter’s Kobras made sweeps of the halls for after-school shakedowns.

         Anyway, up to Melvin’s locker swaggers one of the Kobras.  Never mind his name.  Gang members don’t need names. They’ve got group identity.  He reaches down and grabs little Melvin by the neck and slams his head against his locker door.  The sound of skull against steel rippled all the way down the locker row, speeding the crowds on their way.

         “Okay, let’s see your pass,” snarled the Kobra.

         “A pass for what this time?” Melvin asks, probably still dazed.

         “Let’s call it a pass for very short people,” says the Kobra, “a dwarf tax.”  He wheezes a little Kobra chuckle at his own wittiness.  And already he’s reaching for Melvin’s wallet with the hand that isn’t circling Melvin’s windpipe.  All this time, of course, Melvin and the Kobra are standing in Priscilla’s big shadow.

         She’s taking her time shoving her books into her locker and pulling on a very large-size coat.  Then, quicker than the eye, she brings the side of her enormous hand down in a chop that breaks the Kobra’s hold on Melvin’s throat.  You could hear a pin drop in that hallway.  Nobody’d ever laid a finger on a Kobra, let alone a hand the size of Priscilla’s.

         Then Priscilla, who hardly ever says anything to anybody except to Melvin, says to the Kobra, “Who’s your leader, wimp?”

         This practically blows the Kobra away.  First he’s chopped by a girl, and now she’s acting like she doesn’t know Monk Klutter, the Head Honcho of the World.  He’s so amazed, he tells her.  “Monk Klutter.”

         “Never heard of him,” Priscilla mentions.  “Send him to see me.”  The Kobra just backs away for her like the whole situation is too big for him, which it is.

         Pretty soon Monk himself slides up.  He jerks his head once, and his Kobras slither off down the hall.  He’s going to handle this interesting case personally.  “Who is it around here doesn’t know Monk Klutter?”

         He’s standing inches from Priscilla, but since he’d have to look up at her, he doesn’t.  “Never heard of him,” says Priscilla.

         Monk’s not happy with this answer, but by now he’s spotted Melvin, who’s grown smaller in spite of himself.  Monk breaks his own rule by reaching for Melvin with his own hands.  “Kid,” he says, “you’re going to have to educate your girlfriend.”

         His hands never quite make it to Melvin.  In a move of pure poetry Priscilla has Monk in a hammerlock.  His neck’s popping like gunfire, and his head’s bowed under the immense weight of her forearm.  His suede jacket’s peeling back, showing pile.

         Priscilla’s behind him in another easy motion.  And with a single mighty thrust forward, frog-marches Monk into her own locker.  It’s incredible.  His ostrich-skin boots click once in the air.  And suddenly he’s gone, neatly wedged into the locker, a perfect fit.  Priscilla bangs the door shut, twirls the lock, and strolls out of school.  Melvin goes with her, of course, trotting along below her shoulder.  The last stragglers leave quietly.

         Well, this is where fate, an even bigger force than Priscilla, step in.  It snows all night, a blizzard.  The whole town ices up.  And school closes for a week.