1a. Why are the outcasts thrown out of Poker Flat?
2a. Whom do the outcasts meet on the road to Sandy Bar? Why are the two young people traveling to Poker Flat?
3a. What does Oakhurst discover has happened in the middle of the night?
4a. Identify the three main groups of people in the story.
5a. Decide whether or not the townspeople of Poker Flat are justified in throwing out some of the community's members.
1b. Why does the narrator say that the townspeople's decision to banish the outcasts is "as lawless and ungovernable as any of the acts that had provoked it"? What makes Oakhurst "at once the strongest and yet the weakest of the outcasts of Poker Flat"?
2b. What do the names of the two young people tell the reader about them? Is the elopement of the young people wise or unwise?
3b. Why does Oakhurst lie to the young people about Uncle Billy's theft? Why might the truth frighten the young people?
4b. What would have happened to the outcasts if they had made it to Sandy Bar? Would they have continued their old lives or refashioned themselves?
5b. Identify at least three stock characters on television sitcoms. Describe the characteristics that make them stock characters.
Sentimentality. Is the sentimentality of "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" found in the exposition (introduction), the complication (high point of the conflict), or the resolution (end of the conflict) of the story? How do the outcasts act sentimentally?
Stereotypical or Stock Character. Make a chart listing the characters in the story and their stereotypes. In the left column, write the names of the outcasts. In the right column, explain what stock characters they embody and their traits. One example has been done for you.
1. An epitaph is an inscription or verse written in commemoration of someone who has died, such as the words written on the playing card left at the grave of Oakhurst. Write an epitaph for someone who has died.
2. Write a character sketch describing each of the characters you plan to include in a modern-day screenplay you are writing. Use stock characters that appear in contemporary fiction, movies, or television. Give both a name and a type to each character, for example, Dirty Harry: tough-guy Police Detective. Then tell what actors you would choose to play the title roles. Imagine that your reader is a Hollywood studio executive.
3. Write a sentimental conclusion to Tom Simson's life after he learns of Piney's death.
Semicolons and Dashes. Rewrite the following sentences, inserting semicolons or dashes where they are needed.
1. The outcasts included Mr. John Oakhurst, gambler, the Duchess and Mother Shipton, ladies of ill repute, and Uncle Billy, thief.
2. Mr. Oakhurst did not drink it interfered with his ability to remain cool, collected, and impassive when playing cards.
3. The Innocent explained why he ran away from Sandy Bar, while Piney a stout, attractive young woman of fifteen emerged from hiding.
4. Music failed to fill entirely the aching void left by insufficient food in the camp, and a new diversion was proposed by Piney storytelling.
5. Mr. Oakhurst accepted Fate however, he was not prepared for such an ignominious end.
Writing a Parody.Use the space below to list stock characters from Westerns. Give each a humorous name, dress, and habits. Create a setting and plot, and brainstorm a list of events that show the conflict being introduced, developed , and resolved. Try to come up with a humorous, surprise ending for your story.
