The Novel: Holes
Homework Project
Complete the tasks below as we read the book in class. Remember to make sure that
you complete each one in as much detail as you possibly can! Due dates are next to
the title of the activity. LATE work WILL NOT be accepted!!!
Menu
** You may choose 1 appetizer and 1 dessert for this assignment, and everyone will
have the same main course.
Appetizers(Choose One)
Acrostic Poem (Due by Thursday, December 17th):
When Stanley arrives at Camp Green Lake, how would you describe what sort of
character he is? Create an acrostic poem for his full name (Stanley Yelnats), focusing
upon what sort of person he is, what his life was like before he arrived at Camp Green
Lake, and what ‘landed’ him there. You can use adjectives for each letter or a full
sentence. For example:
Silent
Stanley lives with his parents and granddad
T
T
A
A
N
N
L
L
E
E
Y
Y
Camp ID Card (Due by
Thursday, December 17th):
Create Stanley’s Camp
Green Lake ID card,
including the following
details:

His full name

His age and date of
birth

His city of birth

His appearance (e.g. eye colour, hair colour, height, weight etc.)

The crime he has committed

A picture of Stanley
*An example of how you might set out your Camp Green Lake ID card is given.
Extra Credit: Imagine that you’re a ‘prisoner’ at Camp Green Lake and create your own
ID card! (5 points)
Main Course (REQUIRED)
Diary Entries (Due by Monday, January 25th):
Imagine that Kate Barlow kept a diary in the twenty years before she died. Write three
diary entries, each with the following focuses:
Entry 1 (25th May 1899)
This is the day when her heart was broken by what happened to Sam. Talk about:
 How she felt about Sam
 What happened in Green Lake that day e.g. the school being burnt down
Entry 2 (19th June 1915)
This is the day when she robbed Stanley Yelnats I. Talk about:
 What she did and why
 Why she didn’t kill Stanley – why did she rob him and allow him to live?
Entry 3 (13th July 1929)
This is the day she returned to dried up Green Lake and buried the case: Write about:
 Living alone in the cabin and missing Sam and the life they could have had
 Her feelings about all the money she’d stolen – why didn’t she spend it?
Dessert(Choose One)
Rule Book (Due by Monday, December 18th):
Camp Green Lake is a young offenders’ prison and needs rules that the Warden makes
in order to keep everyone under control. Create the Camp Green Lake rule book,
listing the ten most important rules that the boys must stick to, including a picture for
each rule. An example of a rule might be:
1. All holes dug must be five feet deep by five feet wide.
Research Superstitions and Make a List (Due by Monday, December 18th):
In the novel Stanley’s great-great-grandfather, Elya Yelnats, went to America without
fulfilling his promise to Madam Zeroni. As a result, she laid a curse on his family until
the promise was fulfilled. Today, we are still very superstitious, often believing that
some ridiculous things will bring up bad luck. Make a list of at least five superstitions
that still exist today, explaining where each is thought to come from and how the bad
luck can be reversed. You might need to use the Internet to help you. For example:
Superstition
Breaking a mirror
will bring you
seven years of bad
look.
Origin
The idea that a person’s reflection is also a
reflection of their soul, and that by
breaking a mirror their soul is broken, so
that it can’t protect them.
‘Antidote’
Take a piece of the
broken mirror and
touch it against a
tombstone.
Comic Strip (Due by Monday, December 18th):
By now, you should have read the part of the novel where Katharine Barlow, the
schoolteacher at Green Lake in the late 1800s, became a dangerous, robbing outlaw.
Create a comic strip that shows the events leading up to her change in character and
title it ‘Kissin’ Kate Barlow – Teacher Turned Outlaw!’ Make sure you use speech
bubbles to show what the characters in the images are saying to each other, and make
sure that the images are very colourful and attractive!