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Holes Reading Activity Guide
Chapters 1-3
Vocabulary
Authenticated: Definition______________________________________________________________
Sentence____________________________________________________________________________
Custody:
Definition______________________________________________________________
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Defective:
Definition______________________________________________________________
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Delirious:
Definition______________________________________________________________
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Delirium:
Definition______________________________________________________________
Sentence____________________________________________________________________________
Questions
1. What is interesting about the name “Camp Green Lake?”
2. Who owns the shade at Camp Green Lake? What does that mean?
3. What options does the judge give Stanley?
4. Why do boys go to Camp Green Lake?
5. Explain the curse from the one-legged gypsy.
6. Why is Stanley Yelnats name so interesting?
7. Why did the Yelnats’ apartment smell of food odor and burning rubber?
8. Do you think it’s true that digging holes can turn a bad person into a good one? Explain.
9. Stanley’s father, an inventor, says, “I learn from failure.” What do you think this means?
10. Explain the irony in the name Camp Green Lake.
Chapters 4-7
Vocabulary
Despicable:
Definition______________________________________________________________
Sentence____________________________________________________________________________
Grotesque:
Definition______________________________________________________________
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Hallucinations: Definition______________________________________________________________
Sentence____________________________________________________________________________
Incarcerated:
Definition______________________________________________________________
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Initiate:
Definition______________________________________________________________
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Questions
1. Explain the daily process of digging.
2. Who is Mr. Pendanski?
3. Why doesn’t Mr. Pendanski like to use nicknames?
4. Why doesn’t Camp Green Lake have fences or guards?
5. Explain what happened that got Stanley sent to Camp Green Lake.
6. What do the boys have to do to get time off from digging holes?
7. Explain the story of Madame Zeroni and Elya Yelnats.
8. Why do the boys call Mr. Pendanski “Mom”? Does this nickname suit him?
9. What does Stanley learn from digging his first hole? Why do you think he feels proud
when his hole is finished?
10. Pretend you are the judge in Stanley's case. Write out a short sentencing report
(maximum two paragraphs) explaining the reasons behind your judgement in the case.
Chapters 8-10
Vocabulary
Jurisdiction:
Definition______________________________________________________________
Sentence____________________________________________________________________________
Legitimate:
Definition______________________________________________________________
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Mirage:
Definition______________________________________________________________
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Paranoid:
Definition______________________________________________________________
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1. How does Stanley almost get in a fight?
2. What does Stanley write to his mother about?
3. Who is Caveman?
4. What does Stanley find after digging his first hole?
5. Explain the yellow-spotted lizards.
6. Why do the boys always line up for water in the same order? What’s the significance to
this order?
Chapters 11-14
Vocabulary
Patent Attorney: Definition______________________________________________________________
Sentence____________________________________________________________________________
Perseverance: Definition______________________________________________________________
Sentence____________________________________________________________________________
Precarious:
Definition______________________________________________________________
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Promissory Note: Definition______________________________________________________________
Sentence____________________________________________________________________________
Questions
1. Where did X-Ray’s nickname come from?
2. How do the boys at camp feel about Zero?
3. Explain what Stanley finds in his hole.
4. How does X-Ray mistreat Stanley?
5. Describe the Warden.
6. Why did X-Ray wait to show the tube to the Warden.
7. Mr. Pendanski tells Stanley: “You messed up your life, and it’s up to you to fix it.” Do
you agree with this?
Chapters 15-17
Vocabulary
Stifling:
Definition______________________________________________________________
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Strenuous:
Definition______________________________________________________________
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Sundial:
Definition______________________________________________________________
Sentence____________________________________________________________________________
1. According to Zigzag, how does the Warden know the boys’ names?
2. Why did Zero not understand the joke in Stanley’s letter?
3. Explain the change in digging.
4. What does Stanley know that the Warden doesn’t?
5. Explain the situation in which Stanley gets hurt.
6. What indications are there that the Warden is getting impatient?
7. Can you think of some reasons why Zero might not be familiar with any nursery rhymes
or the show Sesame Street?
Chapters 18-21
Vocabulary
Tedious:
Definition______________________________________________________________
Sentence____________________________________________________________________________
Ward:
Definition______________________________________________________________
Sentence____________________________________________________________________________
Warden:
Definition______________________________________________________________
Sentence____________________________________________________________________________
Questions
1. Why doesn’t Stanley worry that Zero is looking over his shoulder?
2. How did Magnet get his nickname?
3. Explain what happens with the sunflower seeds.
4. Explain what happens when Mr. Sir takes Stanley to the Warden.
5. What surprised Stanley when he returned to his hole?
6. How was Stanley able to tell that Zero had dug his hole?
7. How did Stanley’s great-grandfather claim to have survived in the desert?
8. Why do you think Stanley continues lying to his mom and dad in his letters?
9. Why do you think Zero finishes Stanley’s hole for him?
Chapters 22-24
Thinking about the setting
• Where does Holes take place?
• Which parts of the setting seem realistic to you? Which ones do not?
• How does the setting influence what happens in the story?
Questions
1. What deal do Stanley and Zero work out?
2. What insight did Stanley have about the tube he found in his hole?
3. Describe Green Lake 110 years ago.
4. How did Mr. Sir respond when asked about his face?
5. Who is Katherine Barlow? Describe her.
6. Describe Trout Walker.
7. Does the portrait the author paints of Green Lake seem realistic? Can you point to any
details that strike you as too good to be true?
Chapters 25-28
Thinking about the characters
• Why is Stanley nicknamed “Caveman”? How does his character change over the course of the book?
• How does Zero’s character change?
• What are the “signatures” of the other characters? What do they tell you about them?
• Do the characters in the past seem as real or complex to you as those in the present? Why or why not?
Questions
1. Describe Sam and Katherine.
2. According to Sam, what could onions cure?
3. Explain how Katherine became Kissin’ Kate Barlow.
4. What is Zero’s real name and why is it significant?
5. Who returned to Green Lake after twenty years? What had happened?
6. When was the last time rain fell on Green Lake?
7. Why don’t the other boys approve of Stanley and Zero’s arrangement? Do you think it is
fair to both boys?
8. Who else has turquoise-studded boots like Kate Barlow’s?
Chapters 29-31
Thinking about the plot
• What are the different stories told in Holes? How do these stories relate to one another?
• What is the relationship of the past to the present in this book?
• What types of holes exist in the story?
Questions
1. What does the lightening reveal to Stanley?
2. Explain how Zero reacted to Mr. Pendanski telling him he was only good for digging
holes.
3. Where does Stanley hope Zero would take refuge?
4. Why does the Warden repeatedly ask Mr. Pendanski if Zero had any family or social
worker who might have taken an interest in him?
5. Why doesn’t Stanley fight back when Zigzag taunts him?
Chapters 32-35
Questions
1. Why was new boy (Brian) given the nickname, Twitch?
2. Explain what happens to allow Stanley to escape.
3. Why did Stanley think he might have to return to camp?
4. Describe what Stanley found while walking across the wasteland.
5. What is different about the most distant holes?
6. Explain Sploosh.
7. When Stanley sees Big Thumb, “[H]e kept walking toward it, although he didn’t know
why.” Why do you think Stanley keeps going?
8. Thinking about Zero, “what worried [Stanley] the most . . . was the fear that it wasn’t too
late.” What does this mean?
Chapters 36-38
Thinking about the themes
• What do you think is the main theme of Holes? What are some other themes in the book?
• What are some of the things—either positive or negative—that have been passed down in your family?
• Have you ever bullied anyone, or been the victim of a bully?
Questions
1. What evidence is there that Barfbag may have purposely stepped on a rattlesnake?
2. According to Zero, how did the boat probably get its name?
3. What scares Stanley most about dying?
4. Explain the gully at the top of the mountain.
5. Why do you think Stanley suddenly calls Zero Hector?
6. What does Stanley learn about himself as they climb the mountain? What does he learn
about Zero?
Chapters 39-42
Questions
1. Explain what Zero confesses to Stanley.
2. Why did Hattie Parker blush when Mrs. Tennyson mentioned that her daughter had
almost died from eating some bad meat?
3. Why does Stanley want to dig one more hole?
4. Why did Zero fill the bottom of their hole with rocks?
5. Explain how the shoes had managed to fall on Stanley’s head at the beginning of the
story.
6. Why do you think Zero chooses this moment to confess about the stolen shoes?
7. Zero says, “If I had just kept those old smelly sneakers, then neither of us would be here
right now.” Do you think he’s right? Is there anything positive about their situation?
Chapters 43-45
Questions
1. Explain Stanley and Zero’s plan.
2. Why do the boys hide in the holes?
3. Why is Zero the one to sneak into camp for food and water?
4. What did Stanley find in his old hole?
5. Who finds Stanley and Zero?
6. Explain what terrifying event happens when the Warden shines the light on Stanley.
7. Why do you think the families lullabies are similar?
8. What do you learn about the Warden in this chapter? How does it influence your feelings
about her?
Chapters 46-48
Questions
1. Why did the Warden ask the counselors to tell the campers they would not be digging
anymore holes ?
2. What does the Warden plan on telling Stanley’s family?
3. What request does Stanley make of Ms. Morengo?
4. Why did Mr. Pendanski hesitate when the Warden ordered him to get Hector Zeroni’s
file?
5. Explain why the suitcase belongs to Stanley.
6. Why don’t the lizards bit Stanley or Zero?
7. Why do you think Zero gives Stanley the thumbs-up sign?
8. The Warden’s name is Walker; who else in the story has the same last name? Why might
this be important?
Chapters 49-50
Questions
1. Describe the new product that Stanley’s father invented.
2. What happens at Camp Green Lake for the first time in over 100 years?
3. How does Ms. Morengo prove Stanley’s innocence? What was in the suitcase?
4. The chapter ends with these words: “. . . and for the first time in over a hundred years, a
drop of rain fell into the empty lake.” Does this seem important to you? Why do you
suppose the author chose to end Part II here?
Paragraph Questions
Holes covers three distinct periods of time. How do times change, what things stay the same
throughout different decades?
How are Stanley and Zero influenced by fate? In what ways do Stanley and Zero act that shapes
their own destiny?
In what ways is Holes like a folk-tale? How do these similarities affect the way a reader
interprets the events in the novel?
What did you like about the story? What did you dislike? How do you rate it?