Hoot
By: Carl Hiaasen
The Big Questions
• What motivates people to be bullies?
What can you do about a bully?
• What are you willing to do to stand up for
something you believe in?
• What environmental issues really concern
you? What can you do to help prevent
the issue?
Burrowing Owls
• Some interesting links:
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habi
tat/wildlife/burrowing_owl.php
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/burrowi
ng_owl/id
Chapter 1 and 2-
• Foreshadowing – Foreshadowing refers to the clues an
author provides to suggest what may happen later in the
story. What might the presence of owls at the construction
site foreshadow?
• Vocabulary • Vault - page 3 - He vaulted over the dog, crashed through a cherry
hedge, and then disappeared from view.
• malicious - page 7 - I'm saying it's not technically vandalism. It's
trespassing and malicious mischief.
• Accost - page 18 - It was the same answer he gave on the school
bus when Dana Matherson accosted him on his first day, and from
then on Roy was "Tex" or "cowgirl" or Roy Rogers-hardt".
**Use context clues to guess the meaning of the word.
Please list the important characters so far in the story. What do you
know about them? What else can you tell me about the exposition
of the story? The introduction, setting, conflict, etc….?
Characters
Write the character's name on the line above the list that best describes the character.
________________________ father works for the government
snowboards
likes to read comic books
family moves a lot
________________________ boy
straw-blond
wiry
nut brown skin
fast runner
no shoes
wore faded Miami Heat basketball jersey and dirty khaki shorts
________________________ police officer
________________________ boy
skateboards
D student
popular in school
goofs around in class
________________________ construction foreman
bald as a beach ball
beefy arms
cranky
________________________ large boy
bully
smokes cigarettes
________________________ girl
tough soccer player
wild blond hair
wears red-framed eyeglasses
Leroy Branitt a.k.a. (also known as) Curly David DelinkoRoy EberhardtDana
MathersonRunning Boy - Mullet FingersGarrettBlond Girl - Beatrice
Chapters 3 and 4
Vocabulary Word of the Day
-leniency - page 28 - Roy thought it was a good opportunity
to renew his plea for leniency.
-culprit - page 40 - He had a hunch that the culprit (or
culprits) intended something more serious than juvenile
pranks.
-errant -Page 49 - Nonetheless, Roy ran with his head down
and one arm upraised for deflection in case another
errant ball came flying in his direction.
Perpetrators - Page 62 - "Because I wanted to catch the
perpetrators," Officer Delinko replies.
Bullying
Chapters 6 - 8
Journal– Write about an
incident of bullying that
happened to you or that
you witnessed. Tell what
happened as a consequence
of this act.
More Vocabulary…. 
Vocabulary Word of the Day
vicinity - A nearby, surrounding, or adjoining region; a
neighborhood; district, area
Page 71 - Like all students, Beatrice the Bear lived in the
vicinity of her school bus stop.
incentive - Something, such as the fear of punishment or
the expectation of reward, that induces action or
motivates effort; enticement, motivation,
encouragement, reason
Page 85 - One incentive to stay home was the weather.
Cliffhanger
• A cliffhanger is a device borrowed from
serialized silent film in which an episode
ends at a moment of great excitement. In
a book it usually appears at the end of a
chapter to encourage the reader to
continue on in the book. What is the
cliffhanger at the end of Chapter Six?
Simile and Plot
Ch’s 4 -6
• What is being compared in the following
simile? “Roy just wanted to blend in
quietly and not be noticed, like a bug on a
riverbank.” Why is it better than saying,
“Roy didn’t want to be noticed”?
• Plot refers to the story events in the order
that they occur. In this story, there are
two parallel plot lines. What are these two
stories?
gird
Vocabulary
Idiom:
gird (up) (one's) loins
To summon up one's inner resources in preparation for action. Page 109 - When
he heard Dana bellow, Roy closed his eyes and girded himself for the worst.
forge - To give form or shape to, especially by means of careful effort
Page 116 - Long before his mother sent him away for the last time, the boy and
his stepsister had forged a quiet alliance.
subterranean - Page 130 - Curly was afraid that the moccasins were lurking
nearby in some secret subterranean den, waiting for darkness before they
slithered out to begin their deadly hunt.
rabies - An acute, infectious, often fatal viral disease of most warm-blooded
animals, especially wolves, cats, and dogs, that attacks the central nervous
system and is transmitted by the bite of infected animals.
Page 149 - "We've got him on I.V. antibiotics and he's doing pretty well," Dr.
Gonzalez said in a low voice, "but unless we find those dogs, he'll need a
series of rabies injections. Those are no fun."
Figurative Language
Carl Hiaason uses figurative language in his writing. Similes are
figures of speech in which two essentially unlike things are
compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as. Some
example of similes in the book Hoot are:
Page 100 - He had quickness and brains on his side, but Dana was
big enough to crush him like a grape.
Page 102 - It was amazing how rapidly schools emptied after the
final bell, as if someone pulled the plug under a giant
whirlpool.
Hiaason also uses idioms. An idiom is an expression or phrase whose
meaning can not be understood by its literal meaning. An example
may be found on page 104 of Hoot. - It was because of him that
the spray-painting fiasco had made the newspaper and gotten
Curly into hot water with Mother Paula's company.
Meaning
get (someone) into hot water be in hot water - if someone is in
hot water, people are angry with them and they are likely to be
punished.
Find other similes and idioms in Chapters 9-10.
Similes
Page 105 - "No offense, but you're nutty as a fruitcake."
Page 108 - The janitorial closet smelled pungently of bleach and cleaning
solvents. Inside, it was almost as black as night.
Page 109 - His arms were pinned to his sides and his legs dangled as limply as a
rag doll's.
Page 109 - He lay there helplessly, like a turtle that had been flipped on its back.
Page 110 - Maybe Mr. Ryan had overheard the sounds of the struggle; he was
plenty strong enough to hoist Dana like a bale of alfalfa.
Page 113 - Roy removed a box of gauze, a roll of white adhesive tape, and a
tube of antibiotic ointment that looked like barbecue sauce.
Page 121 - Roy held the package of meat on his lap, covering it with both arms
like a fullback protecting a football.
Idioms
Page 109 - When he heard Dana bellow, Roy closed his eyes and girded himself
for the worst.
Page 113 - Mrs. Eberhardt fell for the whole yarn.
Chapter 9 -12
• Dramatic Irony – This device is often used
in plays. It refers to a situation in which
one character is unaware of something
that the other characters know. What is
ironic about Mrs. Eberhardt’s conversation
with Officer Delinko when he bring Roy
home?
Chapter 1 -12 Quiz
**Please study your
notes**
• Review Vocabulary – Synonyms,
antonyms, analogies, definitions,
context clues.
• Review the terms we have gone over
so far as literary devices.
• Please review tone, mood, and
author’s style, and different character
types.