25 Discussion Questions for The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (With Analysis) | Chapterly Blog
S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders is one of the most widely read young adult novels ever written, and The Outsiders discussion questions push readers to think seriously about class, loyalty, violence, and what it means to grow up in a world that has already decided who you are. Whether you are in a middle school or high school English class, leading a book club, or revisiting the novel as an adult, these questions will generate real conversation. Published in 1967, the novel was written by Hinton when she was just sixteen years old. It follows Ponyboy Curtis, a fourteen-year-old greaser growing up on the wrong side of town in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The greasers are poor; the Socs (short for Socials) are rich. The two groups hate each other, and the novel traces how this hatred escalates into violence, death, and the loss of innocence. Hinton wrote the novel because she wanted a book that reflected the real lives of the teenagers she knew — not the sanitized versions adults wanted to believe in. These 25 questions are organized by theme. The Outsiders Discussion Questions: Class and Social Division Hinton wrote The Outsiders at sixteen because she saw no fiction that reflected...