holes - literary discussion guide

holes
by louis sachar
literary discussion guide
1. characters

camp green lake, texas

stanley "caveman" yelnats

hector "zero" zeroni
squid (alan)
x-ray (rex)
magnet (jose)
armpit (theodore)
zigzag (ricky)
twitch (brian)
warden (ms. walker)
mr. sir
mr. pendanski (mom)
ms. morengo
texas attorney generaltown of green lake (110 years ago)

katherine "kissin' kate" barlow

sam the onion man
charles "trout" walker
doc hawthorn
the sheriff
mrs. gladys tennyson
rebecca tennyson
hattie parker
linda miller
mary lou the donkey

yelnats clan & misc.

elya yelnat
madame zeroni
myra menke
myra's father
igor barkov
sarah miller
stanley's father
stanley's mother
stanley's great grandfather
clyde livingston
zero's mother

2. conflict
 person vs. self (inner conflicts of feelings & thoughts)

person vs. person (protagonist vs. antagonist)

person vs. society (larger organizations/belief systems of society)

person vs. nature (battling the elements of nature)

3. themes/symbols/literary strategies

flashbacks & foreshadowing - chronological plot order, past & present links
and relationships, cause & effect of actions (including stealing, broken
promises)

coming of age, hero's journey, courage, standing up to bullies, loyalty,

friendship, perseverance,survival skills

redemption & hope, luck vs. hard-luck, the family curse

religious aspects: fate & destiny, god's thumb (big thumb), justice

poverty & homelessness

absent authority figures (and loving parents)

illiteracy, importance of learning

racism & prejudice

4. pre-reading/post-reading activities

social science: jim crow laws & the american south, post civil war rights &
attitudes

geography: rural texas, the desert & desertification

science: weather, topography & rock formations, desert wildlife (reptiles &
amphibians: yellow-spotted lizards, rattlesnakes, tarantulas)

classroom projects: art, letter writing, geography, post civil war history,
civil rights movement, compare & contrast the novel & film, etc.

visit the holes official website for lesson plan ideas:

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/holes/index.html