Chapter Twelve

1. What ‘circumstance’ does Ponyboy's teacher refer to? What circumstances does Ponyboy think his teacher is referring to?

The ‘circumstance’ that Ponyboy’s teacher refers to is that if he can finish this one assignment and comes up with a really good semester theme, his teacher wouldn’t make him fail right at the moment. Instead, he’ll pass him with a C grade. The circumstance that Ponyboy thinks his teacher is referring to is that he was just giving him an assignment to making in stop goofing around and start thinking about his marks or else he will have to receive a consequence like this.

2. Why doesn't Ponyboy feel scared when the Socs approach him and he threatens them with a broken bottle (p.170-171)? How is this a dramatic change from the Ponyboy we have seen up until this point?

Ponyboy doesn’t feel scared when the Socs approach him and he threatens him with a broken bottle because he started to turn into the rest of the people in the gang, a real greaser who likes to pick fights, when Ponyboy was never like that and hated fight and never found a reason for them. This is a dramatic change from the Ponyboy that we have seen up until this point because the Ponyboy from the beginning was a smart kid who would get really good grades in all his subjects, was interested in books, and art and things that all the other Greasers didn’t really care for. Now Ponyboy is failing in all of his classes, doesn’t eat much anymore, is very forgetful, Pony used to get A’s in English but now he’s only lucky enough to get a D. He was turning into a ‘hood’. Two-Bit and Steve didn’t want Pony to turn into something that he’s not. He even showed it when he said, “Ponyboy, listen, don’t get tough. You’re not like the rest of us and don’t try to be…”

3. What does Darry mean when he says, "you don't just stop living because you lose someone" (p.173)?

When Darry said “You don’t just stop living because you lose someone” he meant that when you lose someone special to you for example, your best friend. You shouldn’t hate the world or want to kill yourself. You should move on with your life and just remember all the great times you’ve had with them. And just treasure more precious times that you are going to live and meet new people. Even though no one is every going to replace that special person you should still go on with your lives and make new great times and fun memories.

4. How do we know Sandy didn't love Soda as much as he loved her?

We know that Sandy didn’t love Soda as much as he loved her because she didn’t even bother to open the letter that Soda sent her, and Soda loved her so much that he wanted to marry her but she just left him hanging and walked out on him.

5. Explain how Darry and Ponyboy play tug of war with Soda.

Darry and Ponyboy play tug-of-war with Soda because when Darry and Ponyboy fight with each other, Soda doesn’t know whose side he should take because both, Darry and Pony always want Soda to take their own side when soda can’t chose because he’s both of their buddies and doesn’t was to be fighting with the other one a bring them down. He just wants them to stop fighting. If they keep on fighting and Soda takes sides every time, they could end up getting separated and put into different homes because they are all they’ve got. And they don’t want to lose each other.

6. What do we learn was so special about Johnny (p.178)?

What we learned that was so special about Johnny was that he was more than just a buddy to all of them. He listened to more things and problems from more than any of them. He was a guy that would really listen to you, listen and care about what you’re saying. They found that to be a rare thing in a friend.

7. What does Ponyboy end up doing for his English assignment?

For his English assignment, Ponyboy ends up doing what happened since he stepped out of the movie theatre from the beginning of this novel. “When I stepped out into the bright sunlight of the movie house, I only had two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home…”