The Outsiders — Chapter 11

About This Passage

Pony has to stay in bed for a whole week. He reads, he draws, and he flips through old yearbooks. One day he sees a photo of a boy he sort of recognizes. Then he reads the name and realizes — this is Bob, the Soc who hurt Johnny in the park. Pony has never thought about Bob as a real person before. He stops and looks at the picture for a long time. He starts to wonder what Bob was like. The chapter is about the first time Pony tries to see his enemy as a real person.

Narration Prompt

Tell the story of Chapter 11 in your own words. Talk about Pony in bed for a week, reading and drawing pictures. Talk about him finding Bob's picture in the yearbook and looking at it carefully. Tell about Randy visiting and feeling shy in the doorway. Tell about Pony saying he was the one who killed Bob, and how Pony also says, 'Johnny is not dead.' At the end, tell about Darry calling Pony 'little buddy' for the first time.

Discussion Questions

1. When Pony looks at Bob's photo in the yearbook, he wonders if Bob had a little brother or a big brother. What in the story shows that Pony is trying to see Bob as a real person, not just as an enemy?
2. Pony says, 'Johnny is not dead. Johnny is not dead,' and Darry tells Randy not to talk about it. How can you tell that Pony's heart is still very sore about Johnny?

+ 2 more questions in the complete study guide