THE OUTSIDERS – Plot summary In a small American town two groups of young people the Greasers (poor) and the Socs (rich) often fight each others. Dallas, Ponyboy, and Johnny (Greasers) go into a theater and seat themselves behind two Soc girls, Cherry and Marcia. Dallas starts flirting with the girls and refuses to leave them alone until Johnny tells him to stop. Dallas leaves, and the girls ask Ponyboy and Johnny to sit with them. Later, the boys are walking the girls home when their drunken boyfriends in their car, Bob and Randy, see them. Bob and Randy want to fight, but Cherry stops them. Johnny and Ponyboy go to a vacant lot and fall asleep. When Ponyboy goes home, Darry, his brother, is upset with worry and hits Ponyboy. Ponyboy runs from the house back to the vacant lot and wakes Johnny. They go to a park to cool off. At the park, Ponyboy and Johnny are attacked by Bob, Randy, and their friends. The Socs try to drown Ponyboy in a fountain, but flee after Johnny takes his knife out and kills Bob. Ponyboy and Johnny ask help from Dallas, who gives them a loaded gun, money, and directions to an abandoned church in Windrixville, where they must hide until Dallas comes back. Ponyboy and Johnny pass the time by smoking cigarettes, playing cards, and eating sandwiches. Ponyboy also reads to Johnny Gone with the Wind and a Robert Frost poem .
To fight: se battre Drunken: saouls To hit: frapper To drown: noyer To flee: fuir To kill: tuer
One week later, Dallas comes to visit the boys and takes them to get some hot food. Dallas tells Ponyboy and Johnny that Cherry wants to help them with the police. Johnny says that he and Ponyboy want to go home and turn themselves in, which upsets Dallas. But he accepts to take them back home. Ponyboy and Johnny see smoke from the direction of the abandoned church. They ask Dallas to go back and they see that the church is on fire. When they hear the cries of children trapped inside, Ponyboy and Johnny both run in to rescue them. They get all the children out safely. Ponyboy escapes the inferno, but a roof beam falls on Johnny who is still inside. Dallas immediately goes to rescue Johnny. Dallas, Ponyboy, and Johnny are taken to the hospital. Dallas has minor injuries, and Ponyboy is unhurt, but Johnny is in critical condition with severe burns and a broken back. The next day, Ponyboy is resting at home when two friends come to see him. They show him a newspaper article that calls Ponyboy, Johnny, and Dallas heroes for helping the children in Windrixville, and that Johnny is accused of Bob’s murder. Randy and the other Socs admitted that they attacked them and that Ponyboy and Johnny were only defending themselves. But Bob's death has decided the Socs to have a gang fight, or a "rumble".
Loaded: chargé To turn oneself in: se rendre To resue: sauver To run off: s’enfuir To meet: rencontrer / retrouver
The day of the rumble, Randy tells Ponyboy that he won’t fight because he thinks that nothing will change. He is tired of all the fighting and wants to leave town.
To commit suicide by police =
Dallas goes out of the hospital to join in the rumble. The rumble begins, ending with the Greasers victorious. Dallas and Ponyboy go back to the hospital to tell Johnny about their victory. Johnny is disinterestedand dies. Dallas flees from the room.
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Ponyboy goes back home to tell the rest of the gang that Johnny is dead and that Dallas ran off. The gang is worried about what Dallas might do. They receive a phone call from Dallas, who has attacked a shop and is pursued by the police. He tells the gang to meet him at the vacant lot. The gang goes to the vacant lot to intercept Dallas, but they are too late; Dallas is already surrounded by police officers. He takes out an unloaded gun and commits suicide by police in front of his horrified friends. Days later, Ponyboy is reading Gone With the Wind and finds a letter from Johnny, addressed to him. Johnny's letter explains the phrase "staying gold" in the Frost. He asks Ponyboy to tell Dallas about it.
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THE OUTSIDERS – Plot questionnaire 1. Write the names of the differents characters under the right gang: Ponyboy / Marcia / Bob / Dallas / Cherry / Johnny / Randy / Darry The Socs The Greasers
2. Put the 21 events in the right chronological order: Johnny and Ponyboy take the girl from the cinema back home The church goes on fire Johnny and Ponyboy go to a park Dallas is killed by the police Ponyboy, Johnny and Dallas go to a cinema Johnny and Ponyboy go to a vacant place Johnny and Ponyboy hide in a church The Greasers win the fight Johnny and Ponyboy stop Dallas annoying the girl at the cinema Johnny and Ponyboy are attacked by the Socs in the park Ponyboy goes back home and is hit by his brother Ponyboy, Johnny and Dallas save the children trapped in the burning church Johnny kills a Soc Johnny and Ponyboy want to go to the police Ponyboy and Dallas go out of the hospital but Johnny is badly hurt The Socs ask for a fight with the Greasers Dallas helps Johnny and Ponyboy Dallas annoys a girl at the cinema Johnny dies at the hospital Dallas attacks a shop with an unloaded gun Johnny and Ponyboy are annoyed by the girls’boyfriends A ton avis pourquoi le film se nomme-t-il “The Outsiders” et pourquoi le titre n’a-t-il pas été traduit dans la version française ? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
