Holes - Literary Discussion Guide

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