Holes
Poetic Devices
Exercise 1
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Decide whether each sentence contains a simile or a metaphor.
What is being compared?
What does each simile or metaphor mean?
1. Stanley Yelnats was as nervous as a cat with a long tail in a room full of
rocking chairs as he rode the bus to Camp Green Lake.
2. Zero was a mole as he dug his five-foot deep hole.
3. X-Ray was misnamed for he was really as blind as a bat.
4. Squid was a wounded animal on the inside even though he taunted Stanley.
5. Magnet fingers were sticky jam as he stole Mr. Sir's sunflower seeds.
6. Caveman smelled like a skunk after days of not bathing.
7. Armpit was as tough as leather when he pushed Stanley to the floor when
Stanley forgot to call him by his nickname.
8. Zigzag had a heart of stone when he would not apologize to Stanley after
hitting him in the head with a shovel.
9. The Warden's nails were deadly weapons after she painted them with
rattlesnake venom.
10. Kate Barlow was as gentle as a lamb, while Kissin' Kate was as tough as nails.
11. Sam's medicinal remedies made from onions were pure gold to the people of
Green Lake.
12. Elya Yelnats' luck was poisoned meat that he passed down for generations to
his family.
13. Madame Zeroni's rage was a curse after Elya broke his promise to carry her
to the top of a mountain.
14. Stanley Yelnats I was as happy as a rat with a gold tooth when he reached
the summit of the thumb shaped mountain.
15. Mr. Sir was meaner than Oscar the Grouch when he quit smoking and started
eating sunflower seeds instead.
16. Mr. Pendanski's mean streak was as sure as death and taxes.
17. Clyde Livingston's foot odour as deadly as a revolver.
18. Derrick Dunne was as mean as a bull approaching a matador.
19. Mrs. Yelnats was as worried as a surrounded bank robber.
Exercise 2
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Decide whether each sentence contains a simile, a metaphor, alliteration, or
personification.
If simile or metaphor, what is being compared?
If personification what object is being personified?
1. The other bodies in the room were little more than bags of flesh and bones,
dumped across broken chairs and couches.
2. Camp Green Lake once danced in the heart of Texas.
3. Trout's feet smelled like dead fish.
4. The dark and dreary days were depressing.
5. Elya fought his way to America after forgetting to fulfill a promise.
6. Mr. Yelnats thought old smelly sneakers were his ticket to success.
7. The rain stopped and the lake said good bye.
8. The trees beckoned the campers to their shade.
9. Clyde Livingston's shoes were as smelly as blue cheese.
10. Katherine kept cold memories in her heart.
11. The hundred years curse was dynamite to Stanley's family.
12. Stanley seldom seemed satisfied.
13. The wind sang its sad tune.
14. Derrick Dunne did dirty deeds.
15. Magnet claimed, "My fingers are like little magnets."
16. Sam ran like the devil with Charles Walker chasing after him.
17. The cameras were windows for the Warden to see into the boys' lives.
18. The nail polish with rattlesnake venom was as lethal as nuclear waste.
19. The onions were miracle drugs.
20. The camp sang when Stanley and Zero were set free.
Exercise 3
1- Write simile, metaphor, personification or alliteration to show which poetic
device is being used in each item.
1. _____________________ Mr. Sir's truck coughed and sputtered as it flew over
the hard desert.
2. _____________________ Zero digs like a gopher.
3. _____________________ Lively leaping lizards live in the hole.
4. _____________________ Rain is heaven to the boys of Camp Green Lake.
5. _____________________ Clyde couldn't keep calling Stanley a coward.
6. _____________________ The teachers never believed that Derrick who was as
small as a peanut could bully Stanley who was as big as a bus.
7. _____________________ Mr. Sir tells Stanley's lawyer to lie low.
8. _____________________ Zero's stomach-ache ate at his insides.
9. _____________________ Harsh conditions eat at the people of Camp Green
Lake.
10. _____________________ A deadly yellow-spotted lizard laid lazily in the sun.
11. _____________________ Zero became as weak as a newborn babe.
12. _____________________ The Mary Lou was a shelter saving Zero from the
deadly heat.
13. _____________________ Zero and Stanley's new friendship lifts Stanley's moral.
14. _____________________ Stanley was a light in the dark.
15. _____________________ Sploosh tasted like sweet nectar from an orchard.
16. _____________________ Hector's mom sang with an angel's voice.
17. _____________________ Mr. Pendanski put plenty of people in their places.
18. _____________________ Drinking dirty water doesn't get Zero down.
19. _____________________ Twitch fidgets like a deer during hunting season.
20. _____________________ Kate Barlow's treasure hides beneath the desert floor.
21. _____________________ Sploosh splatters splendidly down Stanley's throat.
22. _____________________ Stanley's history speaks of broken promises and curses.
23. _____________________ Eating several sacks of sunflower seeds sent Mr. Sir
scurrying to the toilet.
Exercise 4
Write onomatopoeia, hyperbole, or repetition to show which poetic device is
being used in each item.
I'm gonna be a wheel someday.
1. _____________________ I'm gonna be somebody
The boys in Tent D thought Zero had a brain the size
2. _____________________ of a pea, but they were mistaken.
O Sinners, Let's go down
Let's go down, let's go down
O Sinners, Let's go down
3. _____________________ Down in the valley to pray
4. _____________________ Think I'd rather hear my heart not tick.
Stanley carried Zero a thousand miles to the top of
5. _____________________ God's Thumb.
A lizard crawled up on top of the suitcase, opened its
6. _____________________ mouth, stuck out its white tongue, and hissed.
Stanley told the judge a million times he was
7. _____________________ innocent, but he was found guilty anyway.
The shovels clanked, tinkled, and clinked together as
8. _____________________ the boys stored them away.
'Cause I feel just like you
And I cry just like you
But I heal just like you
9. _____________________ And under my skin I'm just like you
The buzzing overhead made Stanley wary that he
10. _____________________ would not find Zero alive.
Stanley was so thirsty by the time he reached Camp
Green Lake that he could drink all 22,333 acres of
11. _____________________ Lake Buchanan.
Don't give up
Never give up
We won't stop givin' all we got
Don't give up
Never give up
12. _____________________ We won't stop givin' all we got