The Outsiders
S. E. Hinton

In this coming-of-age novel, Ponyboy Curtis and his friends navigate the escalating conflict between their gang—the Greasers—and members of their rival gang, the upper-class Socs.

Major thematic elements: social classes, especially the gap between rich and poor; codes of honor, relationships between boys and girls, the cycle of violence.

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IB Literature and IB Language and Literature Connections

Place of publication: United States
Language: English
Era: 20th Century
Genre: Fiction
Author: Female

Readers, writers and texts | Time and space | Intertextuality: Connecting texts

Full text, basic summaries, and overviews

The Outsiders | Full Text
This 56-page full text version of The Outsiders isn’t formatted perfectly, but would work in a pinch if a student left their copy of the text elsewhere.
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The Outsiders | Audiobook
We found a couple different audiobook versions of The Outsiders. None are professional audiobooks, but all do a nice job of reading the text. The version by Nora Maxwell includes the text on the screen so students can read along. All three versions have a separate video for each chapter of the text.
The Outsiders Chapter 1 | Nora Maxwell | YouTube
The Outsiders Chapter 1 Audiobook | Tamera Carter | YouTube
Outsiders Chapter 1 | Daniel Roberts | YouTube

The Outsiders | Video Clips | Various Sources

The Outsiders Study Guide | Course Hero
Course Hero’s guide is available in both text and video form, and includes chapter summaries, overview of symbols and themes, and a summary & analysis of the text.
Study Guide on CourseHero.com | Study Guide on YouTube

The Outsiders Study Guide | Spark Notes
This guide includes chapter summaries, character overviews, literary devices, key quotations, and more.
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The Outsiders Study Guide | Cliffs Notes
This guide includes a book and chapter summaries, character analysis, character map, and overview of the book versus the movie adaptation, a glossary of terms, and essay questions for the novel.
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‘The Outsiders’: 40 Years Later | Dale Peck | The New York Times | September 23, 2007
This article reflects on S.E. Hinton, the context of the novel as a work of YA fiction written by a young adult in a time before young adult fiction was an established genre, the intertextuality of the novel, and why the novel continues to appeal to teenagers.
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About the author

S. E. Hinton Is Tired of Talking About ‘The Outsiders.’ No One Else Is | Patrick Sauer | Smithsonian Magazine | January 31, 2023
”The author reflects on her classic 1967 novel, its 1983 adaptation and its legacy today.”
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S. E. Hinton on The Outsiders’ success: ‘It gave me writers block for four years’ | Isabella Biedenharn | EW.com | April 24, 2017
This easy-to-read article celebrates the 50th anniversary of The Outsiders, discusses the back story and process of writing the novel, and the growing fan-base for the novel.
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S. E. Hinton and the YA Debate | Jon Michaud | The New Yorker | October 14, 2014
This article looks at The Outsiders exclusively through the lens of YA fiction and the debate over adults enjoying YA fiction started by Ruth Graham’s article “Against YA” for Slate Magazine.
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Interview with S.E. Hinton | Nathan Bransford | May 14, 2009
Nathan Bransford interviewed S.E. Hinton for his blog; the interview covers discussion of The Outsiders and Hinton’s writing process.
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An Outsider, Out of the Shadows | Dinitia Smith | The New York Times | September 7, 2005
This article blends Hinton’s interview responses into an article that cover a wide-range of topics related to The Outsiders and her writing process.
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