Flashbacks and Foreshadowing

Flashbacks

Flashbacks are an interruption of the story to describe or present an incident that occurred prior to the main time, setting, of the book. Writers use flashbacks to complicate the sense of chronology in the plot to make the experience more interesting. In Holes flashbacks are used to foreshadow events that will take place in the present.

Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is the technique of mentioning something early in the story that will become crucial later in the story. In Holes every time a piece of history is revealed. It foreshadows what will happen in the present day at Camp Green Lake. An example of this when Sam is murder, Kate Barlow kills the sheriff because she must react to her loss. This is followed by the present day event of Zero striking Mr. Pendanski because he can no longer take the taunting and cruelty of Mr. Pendanski.

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Directions:

Tell whether each of the events below is an example of foreshadowing.

1.  ________________ Chapter 1, Page 3
There used to be a town of Green Lake as well. The town shriveled and dried up along with the lake, and the people who lived there.
2.  ________________ Chapter 1, Page 4
Being bitten by a scorpion or even a rattlesnake is not the worst thing that can happen to you. You won't die.
3.  ________________ Chapter 3, Page 6
Stanley Yelnats was the only passenger on the bus, not counting the driver or the guard.
4.  ________________ Chapter 3, Page 8
Supposedly, he had a great-great-grandfather who had stolen a pig from a one-legged Gypsy, and she put a curse on him and all his descendants.
5.  ________________ Chapter 3, Page 9
Not every Stanley Yelnats has been a failure, Stanley's mother often pointed out, whenever Stanley or his father became so discouraged that they actually started to believe in the curse. The first Stanley Yelnats, Stanley's great-grandfather, had made a fortune in the stock market.
6.  ________________ Chapter 3, Page 10
Actually, Stanley had been impressed when he first found out that his great-grandfather was robbed by Kissin' Kate Barlow.
7.  ________________ Chapter 3, Page 11
Stanley felt somewhat dazed as the guard unlocked his handcuffs and led him off the bus.
8.  ________________

Chapter 5, Page 17
"I'm going to help you turn your life around," said his counselor. "But you're going to have to help, too. Can I count on your help?"
9.  ________________ Chapter 6, Page 22
Now, as Stanley lay on his cot, he thought it was kind of funny in a way. Nobody had believed him when he said he was innocent. Now, when he said he stole them, nobody believed him either.

Clyde "Sweet Feet" Livingston was a famous baseball player. . . .  Clyde Livingston testified that they were his sneakers and that he had donated them to help raise money for the homeless shelter. He said he couldn't imagine what kind of horrible person would steal from homeless children.
10.  ________________ Chapter 6, Page 23
Though it was night, the air was still very warm. Armpit was snoring two cots away.

Back at school, a bully named Derrick Dunne used to torment Stanley. . . . On the day Stanley was arrested, Derrick had taken Stanley's notebook and, after a long game of come-and-get-it, finally dropped it in the toilet in the boys' restroom.
11.  ________________ Chapter 6, Page 25
It wasn't destiny, he realized. It was his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather!
12.  ________________ Chapter 7, Page 26
The shovel felt heavy in Stanley's soft, fleshy hands. He tried to jam it into the earth, but the blade banged against the ground and bounced off without making a dent.
13  ________________ Chapter 7, Page 28
The digging got easier after a while. The ground was hardest at the surface, where the sun had baked a crust about eight inches deep. Beneath that, the earth was looser. But by the time Stanley broke past the crust, a blister had formed in the middle of his right thumb, and it hurt to hold the shovel.

Stanley's great-great-grandfather was named Elya Yelnats. He was born in Latvia. When he was fifteen years old he fell in love with Myra Menke.
14.  ________________ Chapter 7, Page 34
The problem was that when the dirt was in the ground, it was compacted. It expanded when it was excavated.
15.  ________________ Chapter 8, Page 41
A lot of people don't believe in curses.

A lot of people don't believe in yellow-spotted lizards either, but if one bites you, it doesn't make a difference whether you believe in it or not.

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Every time that a piece of history is revealed, it foreshadows what will happen in the present day Camp Green Lake.

Choose from above one example of foreshadowing and explain the event it foreshadows at Camp Green Lake.

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---------------Answer Key---------------

  1. foreshadowing (We learn that Camp Green Lake is a dry, barren desert with temperatures around ninety-five degrees in the shade. Out on the lake rattlesnakes, scorpions, and the deadly yellow-spotted lizard live. Later we learn that this is where Stanley is going to be sent as punishment for stealing Clyde Livingston's shoes.)

  2. not foreshadowing

  3. not foreshadowing

  4. foreshadowing (In this flashback, we learn that Stanley's family is cursed. This is why Stanley's father is unable to make any of his inventions work.)

  5. foreshadowing (In this flashback, we learn that Stanley's great-grandfather has earned a lot of money in the stock market. This is the treasure that the Warden is searching for throughout Holes. )

  6. foreshadowing (This flashback explains why the Yelnats no longer have the treasure.)

  7. not foreshadowing

  8. not foreshadowing

  9. foreshadowing (In this flashback, we learn the connection between the shoes Stanley is accused of stealing, and the shoes that belong to the famous baseball player, Clyde Livingston.)

  10. foreshadowing (This incident between Stanley and Derrick is going to later give Stanley an alibi during the stealing of the shoes.)

  11. foreshadowing (Yet another example of the curse.)

  12. not foreshadowing

  13. foreshadowing (Stanley thinks back to the story of his great-great grandfather and explains why the curse was given.)

  14. not foreshadowing

  15. foreshadowing (In this flashback, the author emphases that regardless of whether Stanley's family believes in curses, it is undeniable that they have bad luck. The curse is likened to the lizard's deadly bite. Both are deadly.)