Sunday, February 5, 2012




   Holes is a popular children’s book that has 16 different awards. 
If you are interested, you can follow the link below to reach
author’s answers to some specific questions about the book
and how he  wrote it.

Unknown Words (Analysis)




perseverance (p. 12, l.11):
   my guess:                 ambition
   dictionary meaning: continued effort and determination

eternity (p.30 l.11):
   my guess:                 endlessness
   dictionary meaning: time which never ends or which has no limits

doomed (p.30 l.11):
   my guess:                  to be cursed
   dictionary meaning: certain to suffer
                                 likely to have an unfortunate and inescapable outcome

ointment (p.89 l.8):
     my guess:                  something like medicine
   dictionary meaning: a thick oily substance, usually containing medicine, which is put on the skin where it is sore or where there is an injury, in order to cure it

unbearable (p.103 l.3):
   my guess:              awfully

   dictionary meaning: too painful or unpleasant for you to continue to experience

mirage (p.121 l.18):
   my guess:                 dream
   dictionary meaning: an image, produced by very hot air, of something which seems to be far away but does not really exist

resemble (p.134 l.23):
   my guess:                    to look like
   dictionary meaning: look like or be similar to another person or thing

(to) flake away (p.159 l.47):
   my guess:                  -
   dictionary meaning: fall off in small pieces

 outraged (p.172 l.11):
   my guess:                   shocked
   dictionary meaning: (especially of an unfair action or statement) to cause someone to feel very angry

=)




Whole book is finished! Not disappointed at all. Stanley and Zero both ran away from the camp, Stanley’s family curse is broken. Everything is solved happily. It is also interesting that in the end we learn the real reason of Stanley’s being sent to the camp. We knew that he was not guilty from the beginning, but we did not know how he got to end up in that camp. Now we learned that Stanley is in there just because of Zero. I find Zero’s telling the whole story of Stanley’s taking part in his own crime is very honest of Zero.
Rain at the deserted camp area is another fine happening at the end of the book. I think rain at the desert also symbolizes the problems’ solving for Stanley, Zero and the other kids of the camp. :) 

  Crazy Warden with toxic nail polish, Kate&Sam’s story and Sam’s onion’s miracle, the adventures of Caveman and Zero  on “God’s thumb”... I found all of them really intersting and I think the connection between these diffent events/stories is very successful  .
 As I have said before, “HOLES” is much more enjoyable to read when compared with other obligatory books :)


*199 words

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Zero Runs Away(Development/Prediction)



I’ve just finished the 30th chapter. There is an aggressive character called Zigzag. Stanley and Zero(Hector) gets into a fight with him. That fight causes the authorities of the camp learn about Zero’s helping Stanley by digging his holes for his friend and Stanley’s teaching him to read and write. They make fun of Hector, tell that he is an idiot and have no ability to learn. After Mr.Pedanski says “He is so stupid, he doesn’t even know he is stupid.” Zero grabs a shovel and hits Mr.Pedanski with it. Then he runs away from the camp.
I think this is a turning point, because Stanley will not let Zero be alone and want to do something for him. He will begin to question the logic of the camp. Although other kids are neither seem to be interested nor connected with Zero, they also will be worried about the upcoming events. Stanley can talk to them and convince them to strike against authorities. If they act together, they can overcome the obstacles and find Zero. On the other hand, if the majority of the kids manages to escape, the authorities will gone mad and use yellow spotted lizards against the kids. (There have been quite many references to those lizards’ deathly poison throughout the book. So I think something important is going to happen about them.) The struggle between the kids and the authorities, how they are going to attempt escaping and if they are going to find out about the real purpose of the camp or not will be important issues from now on.

But I believe that there will be a happy ending, because good always wins at the end. I really am very curious about Caveman and Zero’s upcoming adventures.

*268 words