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Copywork
About This Passage
This passage sits right after the near-fight with the Lump and right before Stanley learns what X-Ray's 'Caveman' warning has actually done for him. Copying it teaches a reader to notice how carefully Sachar tracks Stanley's body — the torn upholstery, the still-radiating heat — while the social scene moves faster than Stanley can follow.
Stanley leaned back against the torn vinyl upholstery. Despite his shower, his body still radiated heat. 'I wasn't trying to start anything,' he said. The last thing he wanted to do after killing hims...
Full copywork activity with handwriting lines available in the complete study guide.
Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell Chapter 9 as Stanley's first evening at camp, moving from his shower through the near-fight with the Lump, the talk with X-Ray and Squid about digging, his letter home, Zero's silent reading, and the nickname he ends up accepting.
Discussion Questions
- The rec room has been renamed the 'WRECK ROOM' by someone who put a sign on the door. Why might the boys choose a new spelling, and what does the change tell us about the gap between what things are called and what they really are at this camp?
- Stanley writes a cheerful letter home in which he says he has 'made some friends' and expects to learn to water-ski on the lake. Examine why Stanley chooses to tell his mother a version of camp that is not true, and consider whether this protective lie is kind, dishonest, or something that is both at once.
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
Writing paper and envelopes, often kept as a set for sending letters.
Item 2
To turn from liquid into invisible vapor, as water does in the sun.
Item 3
The first letters of a person's first and last names, used as a short signature.
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Critical Thinking
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