“Holes”
created by: Louis Sachar
William G. Davis
Genre For “Holes”
adventure, satire
wikipeia.com
Setting for “Holes”
The story is set in late 1990’s in a juvenile
detention center Camp Green Lake, a dried up
lake bed. The flashbacks in the story are of the
town Green Lake 110 years earlier.
Wikianswers.com
Theme: One theme of holes is fate, it was fate that
sent Stanley to Camp Green Lake, he was accused
of stealing shoes that he thought “fell out of the
sky” and were a “sign”. Fate brought him to Camp
Green Lake and so it brought Stanley and Zero
together.
Cliffnotes.com
Theme: A second theme of “Holes” is friendship.
Stanley did not have any friends until he went to
Camp Green Lake and he formed a bond with Zero
and other boys.
Cliffnotes.com
Vocabulary:
1. perseverance: persistent determination.
vocabulary.com
All the heroes displayed great perseverance.
2. gesture: motion of hands or body to emphasize.
vocabulary.com
My mom gave me a thumbs up gesture during the game.
3. expelling: any of several bodily processes by which
substances go out of the body.
Vocabulary.com
My family got a stomach bug and we were expelling our dinner all night.
4. deftly: with dexterity
vocabulary.com
He balanced the spinning ball deftly on his finger.
5. scarcity: a small and inadequate amount
vocabulary.com
There was a scarcity of food after the flood.
6. desolate: providing no shelter.
vocabulary.com
The town was desolate after the hurricane.
7. expanse: a wide scope.
vocabulary.Com
Sam showed me the grassy expanses in the park.
8. excavate: recover through digging
vocabulary.com
They will excavate the mummy next week.
9. perimeter: the boundary line or area immediately
inside the boundary.
Vocabulary.com
The police put tape around the perimeter of the crime scene.
10. juvenile: relating to characteristic of or
appropriate for children.
Vocabulary.com
The rides were made for juveniles and adults.
11. grimace: a contorted facial expression.
vocabulary.com
I had a grimace on my face when I broke my arm.
12. stifling: a forceful prevention, putting down by
power or authority.
Vocabulary.com
The police were stifling the robbers with tear gas.
13. preposterous: inviting ridicule, incongruous.
vocabulary.com
The uniforms for work are preposterous.
14. Forlorn : marked by or showing hopelessness.
Vocabulary.com
The man was forlorn after he got fired from his job.
15. curse: an evil spell intended to harm someone.
Vocabulary.com
The witch put a curse on her enemy.
Author Page, Louis Sachar
Louis Sachar was born in East Meadow, New York on
March 20,1954. He was inspired by J.D. Salinger and
Kurt Vonnegut’s work. Louis Sachar is an American
author of children’s books. He is best known for the
book “Sideways Stories from Wayside School” and
“Holes”, for which he won a National Book Award and
the Newberry Medal.
Wikipedia.com
Iguana
Kingdom:Anmalia,Phylum:Chordate,Class:Sauropsida,
Order:Squamala,Suborder:Iguania,Family:Iguanidae,Genus:
Iguana.
Wikipedia.com
Comparison Chart
Stanley
People accused him of stealing
Clyde Livingston’s shoes.
Overweight and big.
Had a home and a family.
He went to Camp Green Lake a
few weeks after Zero did.
Zero
He actually stole Clyde
Livingston’s shoes.
Light and small.
Was homeless and remembers
his mother.
Zero went to Camp Green Lake
a few weeks before Stanley.
Both were poor and They were
both in group D.”Holes”
Problems and Solutions
Problem , Stanley went to Camp Green Lake. Solution ,
he served his time there. Problem , Zero runs away
from Camp Green Lake and might die of thirst. Solution
, Stanley runs away from Camp Green Lake and found
Zero under the boat “Mary Lou” eating what he called
“Splush”. Problem , Stanley and Zero will die of thirst if
they cannot find water. Solution , They went to “God’s
Thumb” and found food and water. Problem , Stanley
cannot teach Zero how to read because he is always
out of energy after digging. Solution , Zero Digs some of
Stanley’s hole so he can have energy to teach Zero how
to read.
“Holes”
Figurative Language
Simile: “Zero sat as still as a statue.”wikispaces.com
Metaphor: “It was full of clear cool water that sparkled
like a giant emerald in the sun.” google.com/book
Personification: 1. The author describes the rocks that
Stanley finds his salvation as “a thumb”.
2. The author describes the onion as having a
personality. bookrags.com
Irony: The warden made the boys dig to build
character but he had a hidden agenda to find a
treasure.luoissacher.com
WANTED
FOR ROBBERY AND MURDER
“KISSIN” KATE BARLOW
$10,000 REWARD
Flashback Summary
In the first few flashbacks in the story are about Stanley’s great-greatgrandfather. Stanley’s grandfather is in love with the woman of his dreams.
When he asks her father for her hand in marriage her father says he wants a
big heavy pig but a man name Igor can offer that. So Stanley’s grandfather ask
Madam Zeroni to help him. She says that if he brings a pig on top of a
mountain and give it the spring water and sing a special song to it , it will be
bigger than Igor’s pig and he will grow stronger himself. On the day to weigh
the pigs he does not do it and a curse is put on him and he realized that the
girl did not love him and he left for America. The next few flashbacks were
about Kissin Kate Barlow. She is a teacher at Green Lake town. There is a black
man named Sam who sold onions which could cure most sickness. Sam also
had a mule called Mary Lou. Sam fixed the school house for Barlow and
peaches. Barlow falls in love with Sam and kisses him. Someone saw them
kiss and when they were trying to escape Sam was shot and killed and so was
Marry Lou. Trout Walker tracks down Barlow after many years and tells her to
tell him were all here loot is. But Barlow is killed by a yellow spotted lizard. “It
was destiny,he realized.It was his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great
great grandfather.” “Holes” ch.6 p 25
WORKS CITED
Bookrags.com
Cliffnotes.com
Google.com/book
Louissacher.com
Readingmatters.com
Sacher,Louis,”Holes”.Farrar,Straws,and
Giroux.1998.print
Vocabulary.com
Wikianswer.com
Wikipedia.com
Wikispaces.com