The Outsiders, Dickens, and Frost

I realized that The Outsiders ties into the works that we have read in class quite a few times. As Connor pointed out in October, the poem "Nothing Gold can Stay" by Robert Frost is referenced a few times in the novel. Ponyboy talks about the poem, and when Johnny tells Pony to "stay golden," he is referring to the poem. The Outsiders also references Great Expectations. In the first chapter, Pony is reading Great Expectations for his homework in English class. He admits that he identifies with Pip: "I was still thinking about it while i was doing my homework that night. I had to read Great Expectations for English, and that kid Pip, he remedied me of us-the way he felt marked lousy because he wasn't a gentleman or anything, and the way that girl kept looking down on him. That happened to me once."
I thought it was interesting that a book (most) of us read a few years ago for summer reading is related to the books/authors that we are reading this year.