Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Dog Days — Chapter 2

About This Passage

This passage is a small showcase of Kinney's most reliable comic technique: a narrator who is proud of exactly the wrong thing. Watch the structure. Greg names his trick (sentence one), praises himself for it (sentence two), and explains the problem he had to solve to make it work (sentence three) — but never once thinks about WHO IS PAYING for the food. The thing missing from the paragraph is the thing the reader is most aware of. Kinney builds the joke into the architecture of what Greg leaves out.

Narration Prompt

In your own words, tell the story of this chapter. What were the most important moments? What made them important — and how do you know?

Discussion Questions

1. Greg calls his country club scheme 'one of the smoothest plans I have ever come up with.' He says this with pride. The reader can see something Greg cannot — that the plan only works because someone else (Rowley's family) is paying. What does it say about Greg that he does not see the obvious flaw in his own plan? Is he stupid, or is he choosing not to see?
2. Greg never tells a direct lie. He never says 'I am a Jefferson.' He just signs the name and lets people assume. Is this a real loophole — is letting someone believe a wrong thing different from telling them a wrong thing — or is it the same thing in a clever costume?

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide