Holes - lesson 1/ chapters 1, 2 ,3

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

Holes by Louis Sachar

What are your first impressions of the book?

Does the front cover attract you and make you want to read the book or does it put you off? Why?

You are entering Camp Green Lake

The Setting

Read the first chapter of the novel.

Sachar gives his novel a very harsh setting.

How has he managed to do that?

list all the words or phrases that make Camp Green Lake sound hostile ( the word hostile means unfriendly)

How does Sachar create a sense of tension? 

• The fact that there is no camp at Camp Green Lake

openings

Read chapter 2 thoroughly BEFORE answering the questions below.

1. Why are openings important in stories?
2. Has Sachar managed to create an engaing opening in Holes?
3. Now that you know a little more about the setting, can you guess what the main themes of this novel may be?
4. What questions are raised in these chapters which you are interested in finding the answers to?

Find a sentence from chapter 2 which shows we are dealing with an omniscient narrator. Quote the sentence.

Who goes to Camp Green Lake?
What do they do there?

Read chapter 3

After you have read the chapter, complete the quiz questions in the following slides.

Discuss:

Was Stanley Yelnats made to go to Camp Green Lake?

• Why did he choose to go?

Stanley Yelnats = a palindrome.
think of your own palindrome.

Stanley Yelnats 

True or False

Answer the quiz questions

What does Stanley look like?

1. skinny
2. overweight
3. well built
4. normal posture

Why did Stanley's great-great-grandfather have a curse on him?

1. He had annoyed an outlaw, Kate Barlow
2. He had been in a stage coach robbery
3. He had made a fortune in the stock markets
4. He stole a pig from a one legged gypsy

Does Stanley believe in curses and bad luck?

1. Yes
2. no
3. Yes and no

Who did Stanley's family for everything that went wrong?

1. The one legged gypsy
2. The great-great-grandfather
3. The pig
4. Kissin' Kate Barlow

What is unusual about Stanley's name?

1. It was actually his mother's surname
2. It was exactly the same as his grandfathers
3. It was the same spelt backwards or forwards
4. It was really Simon but he preferred to be called Stanley

What did Stanley's father do?

1. He was an inventor
2. He was a singer
3. He was a song writer

Even though Stanley's family had bad luck, how did they act?

1. Resigned
2. Bitter
3. Hopeful
4. Envious of others

Stanley's great-great-grandfather was robbed by an outlaw. Who was it?

1. Jessie James
2. Kissin' Kate Barlow
3. The Sundance kid
4. The book doesn't say

Homework

complete the lesson up lesson

Genres 

• some books have more than one genre

what genre(s) are used in HOLES?