( I haven’t read the whole novel yet so this assignment might not be completed)

1. Is there a lesson you could learn from any of the specific characters? Is
there a potential theme developing in the story? If so, what is it? Yes, from
Sodapop, you can learn that you have to believe in yourself in order to achieve
your goals, so, instead of dropping school, she should have had to believe in
himself. There is also a potential theme developing in the story, such as that
there shouldn’t be distinctions between poor people and rich people because of
their economic dissemblance.

2. What problems are there in the story? Why do those problems exist? The
main problem is that there are two gangs (the Greasers and the Socs), that
don’t get along and fight all the time due to their differences. This problem
exists because, if there weren’t any conflicts in the novels we read, we wouldn’t
like them due to the fact that there wouldn’t be a story. Plus, the problem in this
novel exists because these gangs hate each other and can’t stand being
around the other one.

3. Does the time or place of the story have something to teach us? Yes, the
setting does have something to teach us. Everything in a novel happens for a
reason, and if the writer develops the story in a specific time or place, it is for a
reason. The Outsiders is set in 1965 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and as you read, you
realize that it happens there for a reason: The writer wanted these gang fights
to stop.