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Holes
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
The town is proud of the schoolhouse Sam repaired, yet Sam wasn’t allowed in its classes. Does the town’s pride honor Sam, or only make use of him?
The tension The town admires the schoolhouse Sam made new and says it shows how much it values education, while Sam is kept out of the classes held inside it.
Notice what the town says about its schoolhouse, who did the work on it, and who is not allowed inside.
The chapter begins with Doc Hawthorn and Sam, who sells onions and onion cures from a cart pulled by a donkey. Miss Katherine makes a deal with Sam to fix the schoolhouse roof, then asks him to fix the windows, the desk and the door. When the work is done the whole town is proud of the schoolhouse. In the rain Sam kisses Katherine, and Hattie Parker sees them and whispers that God will punish them.
Start with what people say when they stop to admire the schoolhouse. Ask the student who the word we seems to include.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in order: Doc Hawthorn and Sam, the onion cures, the deal over the roof, the other repairs, the town's pride, and the rain.
Imitate the author After copying the passage, the student writes two short sentences in the same pattern: a speaker names something, then says what it shows.
Debate Take sides on the big question: does the town's pride honor Sam, or only make use of him? Each side must use one quote from the chapter.
Purpose Close by asking why an author might make us like Sam and the schoolhouse before showing what the town does not allow.
Easier Read the repair scenes aloud together and talk through discussion questions 2 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 the town's words and its actions do not match, and to add it to a critical-thinking answer.
1. The chapter opens with a long, funny account of Sam and his onions before Miss Katherine appears. Why might the author begin that way?Author's choice
What it asks It asks why the author opens with a light, funny picture of Sam, and what that does for the serious ending.
It lets the reader like Sam and see how much the town trusts him, which makes the ending land harder.
And whenever they were sick, they would go not only to Doc Hawthorn but also to Sam.
Still, nobody ever argued with Sam.
It keeps the tone playful, so the sudden warning at the end is a shock.
Fill the holes with onion paste?
She pointed her quivering finger in their direction and whispered, “God will punish you!”
A strong answer The first pages are full of onions, a donkey and cures, and they show a man the town trusts, since nobody ever argued with Sam. Because the tone is so light, the whisper at the end is a jolt. A strong answer can say the opening builds trust, or builds contrast, and points to a funny line and a serious one.
2. Miss Katherine keeps finding something else for Sam to fix, and is sad when the roof is done. What does that tell you about her?Character
What it asks It asks the student to read Miss Katherine from her repeated requests, and to weigh the schoolhouse's needs against her wish to see Sam.
She wants his company and uses the repairs to get it.
she got to spend another afternoon with him while he fixed the door
She’d run out of things needing to be fixed.
She cares about her schoolroom, and each thing she names is a real problem.
It’s just that the roof leaks in the schoolhouse.
the windows won’t open
A strong answer Each thing she names is real, since the roof leaks and the windows will not open, so she may simply want a better schoolroom. But she is sad when the roof is done and looks for another job, so she may want his company too. A strong answer allows both and points to a line for each.
3. Sam fixes the roof for six jars of spiced peaches, and later fixes the windows for two more. What would make that deal fair or unfair?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks the student to say what fair means in a trade of work for jars, and to weigh how much Sam gives against how much he gets.
It is fair: they agreed to it before any work began.
They made a deal. He agreed to fix the leaky roof in exchange for six jars of spiced peaches.
She gave him two more jars of peaches and Sam fixed the windows.
It is not fair: Sam gives weeks of work and ends up making the whole building new.
It took Sam a week to fix the roof, because he could only work in the afternoons, after school let out and before night classes began.
Onion Sam had turned the old run-down schoolhouse into a well-crafted, freshly painted jewel of a building
A strong answer The deal was agreed: six jars for the roof and two more for the windows. But Sam works only in the afternoons and over many weeks, and by the end the schoolhouse is a jewel of a building, so the jars may look small beside the work. A strong answer says what it counts as fair and uses one fact on each side.
4. People passing by say, “That’s our schoolhouse. It shows how much we value education here in Green Lake.” How might Sam hear those words?Inference
What it asks It asks the student to hear the town's praise from the point of view of the man who rebuilt the schoolhouse and may not enter it as a student.
He might hear pride he can share: he made the building, and the words praise his work.
People passing by would stop and admire it.
a well-crafted, freshly painted jewel of a building that the whole town was proud of
He might hear words that leave him out: he can mend the building but not attend its classes.
Sam wasn’t allowed to attend classes
but they let him fix the building
A strong answer Sam made the building, and the townspeople are proud of it, so he might hear the praise as partly his. But he was not allowed to attend its classes, so he might hear a boast that leaves him out. The chapter does not say how he hears it, and a strong answer says only what he might hear and points to the words.
5. Hattie Parker whispers, “God will punish you!” What do you hear in her voice?Tone
What it asks It asks the student to hear one whispered sentence and decide whether it sounds afraid, certain, cruel, or something else.
She sounds afraid and sure at once, since her finger is quivering and she believes what she says.
She pointed her quivering finger in their direction and whispered, “God will punish you!”
She sounds like a judge in hiding: she watches without being seen and decides it for them.
At that moment, however, Hattie Parker stepped out of the general store.
They didn’t see her, but she saw them.
A strong answer Hattie whispers, which is quieter than a shout but not gentler, and her finger quivers, so she may be afraid as well as angry. She also sees them without being seen, which makes her sound like a judge in hiding. A strong answer picks a tone and points to the finger or the whisper. The chapter does not say whether anyone else hears her.
1. Sam says Mary Lou is almost fifty and that onions could let a person live two hundred years. Using two pieces of evidence, explain why the town goes along with him.
What it asks It asks the student to find the town's reasons for trusting a young man's big claims, from what the chapter says about the people and about Sam.
They take no chances: they use his remedies beside the doctor's.
The folks of Green Lake were afraid to take chances.
They would get regular medicine from Doc Hawthorn and onion concoctions from Sam.
They cannot be sure he is wrong, and nobody wants to argue.
no one could be sure, not even Doc Hawthorn, which of the two treatments had done the trick
Still, nobody ever argued with Sam.
A strong answer One reason is caution: the folks of Green Lake were afraid to take chances, so they used the doctor's medicine and Sam's onions together. The other is doubt that works in his favor, since no one could be sure which treatment had done the trick, and nobody ever argued with him. A strong answer uses two different pieces of evidence and says which reason seems stronger.
2. Miss Katherine is surprised by Sam's interest in poetry. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what that surprise shows.
What it asks It asks the student to see what Katherine's surprise says about what she expected and about what Sam has learned for himself.
It shows she had not looked closely at him before, since a man who sells onions is not the poetry reader she pictured.
She was surprised by his interest in poetry.
she would start to read a poem by Poe or Longfellow, only to hear him finish it for her, from memory
It shows Sam is well read on his own, though he is kept out of the classes.
only to hear him finish it for her, from memory
Sam wasn’t allowed to attend classes
A strong answer Katherine did not expect it, which shows that she had not looked closely at him before. Sam finishes Poe and Longfellow from memory, which shows he has taught himself something the classes would have taught. A strong answer uses two pieces of evidence, says what the surprise shows about each of them, and does not say how Sam learned the poems.
3. Miss Katherine wants to throw her arms around Sam but hugs Mary Lou instead. Using two pieces of evidence, explain what might stop her.
What it asks It asks the student to guess at what holds Katherine back from the chapter's own hints, since the chapter does not say.
Shyness: her feelings are too new and too big to say out loud.
She wanted to throw her arms around him but couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Oh, Sam,” she said. “My heart is breaking.
The town's rules about Sam: she is in the open street, and he is not even allowed in her classes.
Sam wasn’t allowed to attend classes
Sam called, out on the street.
A strong answer The chapter says only that she wanted to and could not bring herself to, so a reader has to guess. It could be shyness, since her heart is breaking and the feeling is new. It could also be the world around them, since they are on the street and Sam is not allowed in her classes. A strong answer uses two pieces of evidence and admits the chapter does not give the reason.