PRESENTATION OUTLINE
HOLES
By: Louis Sachar
Presentation By:
Lucas Williams
WHEN:
Most of the story takes place on Green Lake, in Texas. This place is described as it was in the 19th and late 20th centuries. There are also some flashbacks to Latvia in the mid to late19th century.
Stanley Yelnats IV, the main character in the book "Holes", is a good-natured, kind, middle-school student who is ridiculed by classmates because he is overweight. Stanley is hit in the head by a pair of old sneakers that fell out of the sky while walking home from school one day. The police mistakenly arrest him and convict Stanley for stealing the sneakers. Stanley chooses to go to Camp Green Lake in Texas for his sentence. Overweight in the beginning of the story, Stanley gradually loses weight at Camp Green Lake, where he and all of the other boys are expected to dig holes daily.
Vocabulary
"ENVIOUSLY"
characterized by envy; feeling, showing, or resulting from envy
"You're finished?" Stanley asked enviously pg.37
VOCABULARY
"PERSEVERANCE"
steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
"Stanley's father was smart and had a lot of perseverance." pg. 8
VOCABULARY
"DELIRIUM"
a more or less temporary disorder of the mental faculties, as in fevers, disturbances of consciousness, or intoxication, characterized by restlessness, excitement, delusions, hallucinations
"Stanley's been suffering from hallucinations and delirium," explained the Warden.
QUOTE:
“I'm not saying it's going to be easy. Nothing in life is easy. But that's no reason to give up. You'll be surprised what you can accomplish if you set your mind to it. After all, you only have one life, so you should try to make the most of it.” Louis Sachar (pg. 142)
QUOTE:
"If only, if only, the woodpecker sighs, "the bark on the tree was as soft as the skies." While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely, Crying to the moo---oo---oon, "If, only."
Sarah sang the lullaby to Stanley every night. (pg.39)
Quote:
“You're not completely worthless.” Louis Sachar
WHAT:
Camp Green Lake, the warden makes the boys "build character" by spending all day, every day, digging holes: five feet wide and five feet deep. It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the horrible, mean warden is searching for something, and before long Stanley begins his own search—for the truth.
SUMMARY:
At the end of the story, the Yelnats family curse is lifted. Stanley's father finally invents something: a cure for foot odor. While at Camp Green Lake, Stanley has improved his physical strength and his self-confidence and develops a true friend in Hector.
