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Holes
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Stanley gives up any claim to a future day off to keep X-Ray's good opinion. Is that a smart trade, or is he simply giving in?
The tension X-Ray makes his request sound fair and friendly, and Stanley tells himself that being thought a good guy matters more than a day off, yet the chapter opens with Stanley slamming his shovel because it wasn't fair.
Notice what X-Ray asks of Stanley, what Stanley says, and what he tells himself afterward.
Stanley returns to his hole upset that his fossil earned him nothing. X-Ray comes by and asks him to give him anything else he finds. Stanley agrees, then thinks about who leads the group and what the nickname Caveman means. The chapter ends with a daydream of the boys beating up Derrick Dunne.
Start with X-Ray's question, "That's only fair, right?" Ask the student what makes something fair.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: Stanley returns to his hole, X-Ray's request, Stanley's agreement, what he thinks about the group, and the daydream.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes one sentence in the same pattern about something that matters more to them than something else.
Debate Take sides on the big question: is Stanley's trade smart, or is he simply giving in? Each side must use one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why an author might let us hear what a character thinks after he has said very little.
Easier Read X-Ray's request aloud together and talk through discussion questions 1 and 3 only.
On level Talk through all five discussion questions, then have the student write one critical-thinking answer with two pieces of evidence from the chapter.
Harder Ask the student to find one more place where Stanley tells himself a reason that makes his choice easier, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
1. X-Ray asks for anything Stanley finds, and says his own eyesight is bad. What do you make of how X-Ray asks?Character
What it asks It asks the student to read X-Ray from the way he makes his request, and to say whether he sounds honest, clever or both.
He sounds open: he shares something he says no one knows and admits what he cannot do.
No one knows this, but you know why my name’s X-Ray?
I’m too blind to find anything.
He sounds skilled at getting a yes: he asks a question that is hard to answer no, then praises Stanley.
That’s only fair, right?
You’re a good guy, Caveman.
A strong answer X-Ray tells Stanley a secret and says he is too blind to find anything, which makes the request sound like an honest favor. He also ends by asking “That’s only fair, right?” and then calls Stanley a good guy, which is how a person gets a yes. A strong answer says which part it hears louder, points to the words, and does not decide whether X-Ray is telling the truth.
2. Armpit is the biggest and Zigzag the tallest, yet they do what X-Ray asks. Why might they follow him?Inference
What it asks It asks why the biggest boys follow the smallest, using what the chapter shows of how X-Ray talks and where he stands.
He is good with words and talks people round.
Hey, Caveman, let me talk to you a second
That’s only fair, right?
He has been here longest, and the group has settled into following him.
I’ve been here for almost a year.
X-Ray was clearly the leader of the group
A strong answer The chapter says X-Ray was not the biggest or the toughest and that the others seem willing to do whatever he asks. One reason might be that he talks well, as we see when he turns a request into a question of what is fair. Another is that he has been there nearly a year, so following him may be a habit. A strong answer picks a reason and admits the chapter never states one.
3. X-Ray says it would only be fair for him to get a day off before Stanley does. What would make that fair or unfair?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks the student to say what fair means here: time served, or who actually found something.
It is fair: X-Ray has dug much longer and found nothing, so he has waited longest.
why should you get a day off when you’ve only been here a couple of days?
I’ve been here for almost a year. I’ve never found anything.
It is unfair: the day off was for whoever found something, and that boy was Stanley.
It wasn’t fair. Mr. Pendanski had even said his fossil was interesting.
If you find something else, give it to me, okay?
A strong answer X-Ray has a case: he has dug for almost a year and found nothing. But the day off was for finding something, and Stanley is the one who found a fossil, so X-Ray is asking for a reward for something he has not found. A strong answer says which kind of fairness it values, time served or the find, and uses X-Ray's words.
4. Stanley is glad they call him Caveman, and would be glad even of Barf Bag. What do you hear in that?Tone
What it asks It asks the student to hear how much the nickname means to Stanley, and whether that is a good sign or a sad one.
It is relief: after a hard start, he feels he belongs.
He was glad they called him Caveman. It meant they accepted him as a member of the group.
Yet Derrick Dunne would be scared senseless by any of the boys here.
It is a little sad: he would take any name just to be let in.
He would have been glad even if they’d called him Barf Bag.
If he was going to survive at Camp Green Lake
A strong answer The nickname means to Stanley that he is accepted, which is a relief after being the new boy. But the word even shows how low his hopes are: he would have been glad of Barf Bag, a name nobody would pick. A strong answer says whether the voice sounds happy, sad or both, and points to the line.
5. Stanley says only “I guess” to X-Ray, but the author tells us much more of what he thinks. Why might the author share his thoughts?Author's choice
What it asks It asks why the author lets us hear what Stanley thinks after he has spoken, and what that adds to a short answer.
It shows how Stanley talks himself into the answer he gave.
“I guess,” Stanley agreed.
The more he thought about it, the more he was glad that he agreed to let X-Ray have anything he might find.
It shows the gap between what he said and what he was worried about.
Stanley wasn’t sure what to say.
Stanley didn’t want to get on his bad side.
A strong answer Out loud Stanley says only “I guess,” which could mean almost anything. The author then tells us he is unsure what to say, does not want X-Ray angry at him, and later decides he is glad he agreed. Those thoughts show the reasoning behind a short answer. A strong answer says what the thoughts add, and can read them as persuading himself or as showing his worry.
1. Stanley tells himself he does not expect to find anything else. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how sure he can be.
What it asks It asks the student to test Stanley's prediction against what the chapter says about finds and about Stanley's luck.
He can be fairly sure: finds are rare, and he has never been lucky.
I’ve been here for almost a year. I’ve never found anything.
he’d never been what you could call lucky
He cannot be sure: he found something that morning, and the camp leaves room for more.
Mr. Pendanski had even said his fossil was interesting.
There probably wasn’t anything “of interest” out there
A strong answer X-Ray has dug for almost a year and found nothing, and Stanley thinks he is not lucky, so a second find looks unlikely. But Stanley found a fossil that very morning and Mr. Pendanski called it interesting, and the chapter says there probably is nothing, not that there is not. A strong answer picks how sure Stanley can be and backs it with two pieces of evidence.
2. Stanley imagines the boys beating up Derrick Dunne, and the daydream is written in the present tense. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what the daydream does for him.
What it asks It asks what Stanley gets from the daydream: comfort, a plan, or a way to see his place among the boys.
It eases his pain and helps him get through the digging.
It helped him dig his hole and ease his own suffering.
Whatever pain he felt was being felt ten times worse by Derrick.
It shows what he wants most: friends who will stand up for him.
He imagined what it would be like if he became good friends with all of them
“Caveman’s our friend,” says Armpit
A strong answer The chapter says the daydream helps Stanley dig and eases his suffering, since Derrick feels his pain ten times worse. But the daydream is also a picture of friends: Armpit calls him a friend and the boys stand up for him. A strong answer picks one use, backs it with two pieces of evidence, and may note that the present tense makes the scene feel as if it is happening now.
3. The chapter opens with “It wasn’t fair” and ends with Stanley daydreaming. Using two pieces of evidence, explain whether his anger goes away.
What it asks It asks the student to follow Stanley's feeling from the start of the chapter to the end, and decide if it fades or only changes shape.
It fades: he comes to feel glad about what he agreed to.
The more he thought about it, the more he was glad that he agreed to let X-Ray have anything he might find.
He was glad they called him Caveman.
It does not go away: it turns up again in how he digs and in the daydream.
He slammed his shovel into the ground and pried up another piece of earth.
He slammed his blade into the ground, then dumped out another shovelful of dirt.
A strong answer At first Stanley slams his shovel because it is not fair. By the end he says he is glad he agreed and glad they call him Caveman, so his feelings seem to ease. But he still slams his blade into the ground, and his daydream is about hurting Derrick, so the anger may only have moved. A strong answer uses two pieces of evidence and says what a boy's shovel can show that his thoughts do not.