Hole In My Life

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Part 1, Chapters 1-2

Reading Check

1. Why is Jack Gantos incarcerated?

2. According to Gantos, what is the single goal of a prisoner?

3. What does Gantos want to pursue a career in?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is Jack Gantos’s purpose in reflecting on the image of his face in the opening chapter?

2. What prompts Gantos to pursue thrilling experiences?

Paired Resource

“Embracing the Impact of Personal Experiences on Your Writing”

• This article describes the use of personal experiences in writing.
• This text connects to the memoir’s theme of The Desire for Lived Experience in Order to Write.
• What experience influenced Danielle Wong’s writing process? What surprised her about the way her writing responded to this life event? What advice does the author give to writers who may be reluctant to share personal feelings?

Part 1, Chapters 3-4

Reading Check

1. Whom does the motel owner claim to be a descendant of?

2. Where does Gantos work while living in the motel?

3. What was Gantos’s school building used for before it became a school?

4. Which friend does Gantos have a failed adventure purchasing and selling weed with?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What details does Gantos use to describe his moral decline?

2. What do you think Gantos would describe as his greatest failing in becoming a writer in his early years?

Paired Resource

“Imitation in Literature: Inspiration or Plagiarism?”

• This article describes the use of imitation in literature.
• A theme connected to this article includes The Desire for Lived Experience in Order to Write.
• According to this article, what led to the negative connotation of imitation? How might imitation be beneficial for writing?

“Jack Kerouac”

• This article is a biography of Jack Kerouac and describes some of his famous works.
• Themes connected to this article include The Desire for Lived Experience in Order to Write.
• What traumatic events happened in Kerouac’s early life? When did he first become seriously interested in writing? What is Kerouac’s most famous work, and what served as its inspiration?

Part 2, Chapters 1-2

Reading Check

1. Where does Gantos first meet Rik?

2. What organization asks Gantos to shoot a white man?

3. What “treasure” does Gantos find aboard his ship?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Gantos motivated to leave St. Croix?

2. What does Gantos think of Hamilton’s character?

Part 2, Chapters 3-4

Reading Check

1. What does Gantos trade rum for?

2. Where do Gantos and Hamilton meet with Rik?

3. Where do Gantos, Hamilton, and Rick go to sell drugs? 

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Hamilton throw Gantos’s film and wallet overboard?

2. What does Gantos’s analysis of his fear indicate about him?

Part 3, Chapters 1-2

Reading Check

1. Who calls Gantos insisting he needs to turn himself over to the police?

2. What does Gantos pick at to cope with his stress?

3. Where does Gantos bury the remaining smuggled contraband?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Gantos’s attorney become less confident about Gantos’s likelihood of avoiding major jail time?

2. What admission does Gantos make surrounding his feelings on being arrested for drug smuggling?

Paired Resource

“Drug Smugglers’ Party Days A Prelude to War”

• This article describes the “war on drugs” and the rise of gentlemen smugglers in the 1970s.
• The theme connected to this article is The Desire for Lived Experience in Order to Write.
• What is a “gentleman smuggler?” How is the concept of a gentleman smuggler romanticized? How did many smugglers feel about their involvement in drug crimes? Are there any discrepancies between the article and Gantos’s description of his experience?

Part 3, Chapters 3-4

Reading Check

What is Gantos’s prison sentence?

1. What proves to be damning evidence for Gantos’s conviction?

2. What is the name of the prison Gantos is assigned to?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Gantos given a cell away from the general population, and how does he maintain that privilege?

2. How does Gantos address his fear while he is in prison?

Part 3, Chapters 5-6

Reading Check

1. How many years is Gantos forced to wait before the opportunity of parole?

2. What does Gantos illegally obtain access to?

3. Whom does Gantos visit to improve others’ perception of him in the prison?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Gantos worried about the records that are kept on him during his prison sentence?

2. Why is Gantos concerned about his father and uncle’s behavior while Gantos is in prison?

Paired Resource

“The Numbers Don’t Lie: It’s the Hard Core Doing Hard Time”

• This article describes the reasoning behind violence in prison systems.
• This article is connected to the memoir’s theme of Prison Violence.
• What percent of incarcerated people are considered violent? What factors contribute to violence in prisons?

Part 3, Chapters 7-8

Reading Check

1. What is the name of Gantos’s new caseworker?

2. Where does Gantos go to college to study writing?

3. What does Gantos sell at his new job after leaving prison?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Mr. Casey valuable in assisting Gantos?

2. How does Gantos change his mind about experiences in making stories?

Recommended Next Reads 

The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston

• This memoir combines elements of autobiography and mythology to recount both the childhood of the Chinese-American author and her mother’s upbringing in rural China. This enduring story of intersecting identities draws heavily from Chinese folklore, legend, and myth.
• This text is connected to the memoir’s theme of The Desire for Lived Experience in Order to Write.
• Shared topics include becoming a writer and overcoming adversity.
• The Woman Warrior on SuperSummary

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

• This memoir is about a woman who creates a secret book club while living in Iran.
• This memoir is connected to the theme of The Desire for Lived Experience in Order to Write.
• Shared topics include books as inspiration, morality, and overcoming adversity.
• Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books on SuperSummary