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Holes
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
The Warden's patience runs out, Armpit is jabbed with a pitchfork, and later Zigzag tells the boy his shovel hit to deal with his own dirt. Who is more to blame for how the boys treat each other, the Warden or the boys themselves?
The tension The Warden grows less and less patient and the boys are packed into one big hole under her eye, yet each shovel that swings and each word of blame comes from one of the boys.
Notice what the Warden's growing impatience does in this chapter, and how the boys treat each other under it.
For a week and a half the boys keep digging around X-Ray's hole, and on the fourth day three holes meet in one big hole. The Warden arrives later and leaves earlier, and one morning she jabs Armpit with her pitchfork. That afternoon, with all seven boys in the big hole, Zigzag's shovel catches Stanley in the head. Mr. Sir bandages him and sends him back to work, and Zigzag tells him the dirt is his to dig up.
Start with the line "It was the wrong thing to say." Ask the student what the author wants the reader to expect.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: the holes join, the Warden grows impatient, Squid's answer and Armpit's jab, the afternoon in the big hole, and Zigzag's words to Stanley.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two sentences in the same pattern: a long sentence about a steady action that is interrupted, then a one-word sentence for what happens.
Debate Take sides on the big question: who is more to blame for how the boys treat each other, the Warden or the boys themselves? Each side must use one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why an author might show a powerful person's bad temper and then show the boys turning on one another.
Easier Read the scene with Armpit and the pitchfork 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 a boy or a grown-up passes pressure down to someone else, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
1. Squid says “Nothing,” and the author adds, “It was the wrong thing to say.” Why might the author comment on Squid's answer in such a short sentence?Author's choice
What it asks It asks why the author steps in with a short comment, and what it does to the scene that follows.
It warns the reader that the Warden is about to lash out, so the next moment is felt before it happens.
“Nothing,” said Squid.
It was the wrong thing to say.
It sounds dry and almost funny, which makes the Warden's reaction sound all the more sudden.
“What have you been doing down there?”
It was the wrong thing to say.
A strong answer The Warden asks what the boys have been doing, and Squid says “Nothing,” which she does not want to hear. The author then says it was the wrong thing to say, so the reader knows trouble is coming. The sentence can be heard as a warning or as a dry joke, and a strong answer says what it hears and points to the words around it.
2. The Warden tells Mr. Pendanski, “You’re giving these boys too much water.” Why might she blame the water for a bathroom break and a small hole?Inference
What it asks It asks why the Warden picks water as the cause, and what that shows about how she sees the boys' work.
She thinks less water would make the boys hurry, since the water is what she controls.
“You’re giving these boys too much water,” the Warden told Mr. Pendanski.
At just that moment, Armpit was returning from a bathroom break.
She wants someone to blame for the slow work, and Mr. Pendanski is nearby.
“This is no bigger than it was when I left you yesterday,” she said
the Warden became less and less patient
A strong answer The Warden arrives to find the hole no bigger than the day before, and then Armpit comes back from a bathroom break, so she links the slow work to water. She may think less water means faster digging, or she may need someone to blame. A strong answer picks one and points to her words. It does not say what she is looking for, because the chapter does not say.
3. Mr. Sir bandages Stanley's wound with a piece of his sunflower sack, then says, “It isn’t nap time.” Is that kind, hard, or both?Character
What it asks It asks the student to judge a man who helps and orders in the same breath.
It is kind, since he makes a bandage and tapes the wound.
Mr. Sir made a bandage out of a piece of his sack of sunflower seeds and taped it over Stanley’s wound.
It is hard, since he sends a bleeding boy back to work right away.
Then he told him to get back to work. “It isn’t nap time.”
A strong answer Mr. Sir does help: he makes a bandage and tapes the wound. But he tells Stanley to get back to work at once, with a joke about naptime, so he is hard in the same breath. A strong answer picks kind, hard or both and uses both of his actions.
4. Zigzag says the dirt on Stanley's shovel is Stanley's to dig up. Does he have a point?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks the student to weigh a rule of the hole against the fact that Stanley has just been hurt.
Yes: in a crowded hole each boy's dirt buries another's, and everyone's work is slowed.
“It’s covering up my dirt.”
Stanley was down in the big hole, along with the other six boys.
No: Stanley is bleeding and dizzy, and the shovel that hit him was Zigzag's.
He felt his wet blood and a pretty big gash just below his ear.
Zigzag’s shovel caught him in the side of the head.
A strong answer Zigzag's point is plain: in one big hole one boy's dirt can bury another's work, and he says the dirt is covering up his. But Stanley is bleeding and dizzy, and Zigzag's own shovel hit him, so asking him to fix it right away can seem harsh. The chapter does not say Zigzag meant to hurt him. A strong answer says what makes a rule fair and uses lines from both sides.
5. The chapter ends with Zigzag digging beneath where “Stanley’s dirt” had been. What do you hear in those quotation marks?Tone
What it asks It asks the student to hear what the quotation marks do to two plain words and to say what feeling they carry.
They sound dry and a little mocking, as if a pile of dirt has been given a name and an owner.
where “Stanley’s dirt” had been
They sound weary: the boys have turned a small thing into a rule, and Stanley goes along.
“That’s your dirt,” Zigzag said.
He scooped it up
A strong answer The marks borrow Zigzag's claim that the dirt belongs to Stanley, which makes the phrase sound like a joke about owning a pile of dirt. They can also sound weary, since Stanley scoops it up without a word. A strong answer says which tone it hears and why.
1. The Warden jabs Armpit with her pitchfork after he returns from a bathroom break. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what the jab shows about her.
What it asks It asks the student to read the Warden's character from one sudden act and the words around it.
She lashes out when she is frustrated, and the boys are in her way.
the Warden became less and less patient
The pitchfork left three holes in the front of his shirt, and three tiny spots of blood.
She treats any lapse as a fault, even a bathroom break, and uses sharp words before she uses the pitchfork.
“How nice of you to join us,” she said.
“I had to … you know … go.”
A strong answer The chapter says she has become less and less patient, and the jab leaves three tiny spots of blood, so she may be lashing out from frustration. Before she jabs, she says “How nice of you to join us” to a boy who only had to go to the bathroom, so she may also treat any lapse as a fault. A strong answer picks one reading, uses two pieces of evidence, and does not say what she is looking for.
2. The three holes join into one big hole, and the boys dig later and later. Using two pieces of evidence, explain how the work gets harder for them.
What it asks It asks the student to find the ways the work gets worse for the boys, in space, in time, or both.
It gets more crowded and dangerous, since seven boys share one hole.
Stanley was down in the big hole, along with the other six boys.
Zigzag’s shovel caught him in the side of the head.
It gets longer, since they work well after the other groups have finished.
Meanwhile, the boys continued to dig later and later.
They continued to dig until late afternoon, long after all the other groups had finished for the day.
A strong answer The work gets harder in two ways: the boys share one big hole, where Zigzag's shovel catches Stanley's head, and they dig later and later, long after the other groups have finished. A strong answer uses one piece of evidence for each, or two for the same, and says which makes the work harder to bear.
3. Stanley says nothing to Zigzag and scoops up the dirt. Using two pieces of evidence, explain why he might stay quiet.
What it asks It asks what keeps Stanley from answering back, whether his condition or his judgment.
He is too hurt to argue.
Stanley felt a little dizzy.
He wasn’t sure if he passed out or not.
He knows an argument could bring more trouble, and wants to be left alone.
When Stanley returned to the hole, Zigzag was waiting for him.
He scooped it up
A strong answer Stanley is dizzy and unsure whether he passed out, so he may be too hurt to argue. Zigzag is also waiting for him, so he may know that an argument would bring more trouble. The chapter does not say what Stanley thinks. A strong answer picks a reason, uses two pieces of evidence, and admits what it cannot know.