Literature Guide - The Giver
Literature Guide - The Giver
Literature Guide - The Giver
GRADES 48
The Giver
by
Lois Lowry
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Written by Linda Ward Beech
Cover design by Vincent Ceci and Jaime Lucero
Interior design by Robert Dominguez and Jaime Lucero for Grafica, Inc.
Original cover and interior design by Drew Hires
Interior illustrations by Antonio Castro
Photo research by Nia Krikellas
Photo acknowledgments
Cover: From THE GIVER (jacket Cover) by Lois Lowry. Used by permission of Dell Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell
Publishing Group, Inc.
ISBN 0-590-37358-7
Copyright 1997 by Scholastic, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the U.S.A.
Table of Contents
BEFORE READING THE BOOK
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
STUDENT REPRODUCIBLES
Be a Giver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Society of Sameness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Toss a Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Answers for Worksheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
STORY CHARACTERS
Jonas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Main character who becomes new Receiver
Lily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sister of Jonas
Asher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Best friend of Jonas
Father and Mother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Parents of Jonas
Gabriel (Gabe) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A newchild who lives with Jonas family
Katya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fathers sister
The Giver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Old Receiver; most important Elder
Committee of Elders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community leaders
Chief Elder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Head of Elders
Fiona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Friend of Jonas
Benjamin, Thea, Pierre, Madeline, Inger, Isaac . . . . . . . . . . . . Groupmates of Jonas
Larissa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Woman in Hall of Old
Roberto, Edna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . People released from Hall of Old
Phillipa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ashers sister
Bruno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fionas brother
Caleb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Replacement child for boy who drowned
Fritz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Nine; clumsy neighbor
Tanya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An Eleven
Harriet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . New Eleven; number 19
Rosemary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Failed Receiver; The Givers daughter
LITERATURE CONNECTIONS
Other books by Lois Lowry include:
Number the Stars
Anastasia Krupnik; Anastasia at Your Service; Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst
Switcharound
Us and Uncle Fraud
Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye
All About Sam
VOCABULARY
You may wish to draw students attention to the following words before they read
the book. Students might work with partners to create semantic maps showing synonyms for some of the words. For example:
ease
satisfy
soothe
ASSUAGE
comfort
relieve
allay
lighten
calm
You might also encourage students to use words from the vocabulary list when they
answer the questions for discussion in this guide.
intrigued
obsolete
solace
distraught
profound
permeated
ruefully
palpable
scrupulously
tantalizing
luminous
ironic
meticulously
augmented
nurturer
navigational
buoyancy
languid
apprehensive
prestige
lethargy
transgression
retroactive
benign
humiliation
unanimous
requisitioned
murky
admonition
acceleration
exuberant
grotesquely
essential
designate
avert
petulantly
reassuringly
exempted
tabulated
conveyance
sinuous
relinquished
ominous
infringed
pampered
impeded
chastise
anguish
indolence
nondescript
excruciating
quizzically
reprieve
unendurable
carnage
gravitate
treacherously
adherence
crescendo
jaunty
remorse
compel
tentatively
indulgently
chaos
pervaded
podium
ecstatic
GETTING STARTED
You might use one or more of these suggestions to introduce the book to the class:
Ask students what they most enjoy giving to others. What do they like others to
give to them? Then write the title of the book on the chalkboard and ask students to
predict what they think it is about. Have students record their ideas in writing journals to look back upon as they read the book.
Ask students what they had for breakfast today. What are their preferences? Are
they able to make choices about what they eat? Then ask how students decide what
they will wear. (If students wear uniforms, discuss occasions when they do have
choices.) Tell students to note what choices the characters in the book have.
Ask students what their favorite colors are. Have them
name things that are those colors. How do these colors make them feel? Ask students to read to find
The theme
out why color is important to the main character
of balancing t
in the book.
he
values of free
Lastly, read aloud quotes from reviews of
dom and
The Giver. You might use those on the book
security is bea
utifully
cover itself or refer to reviews in publications
presented.
such as Booklist, School Library Journal, or
The Horn Bo
The Horn Book Magazine.
ok Magaz
ine
TEACHER
TIP
WHAT HAPPENS
Jonas and his family share their feelings after the
evening meal. Jonas explains that he is apprehensive about the coming Ceremony of
Twelve when he will be given his
Assignment. The next day his father
brings home a newchild, named Gabriel,
who isnt doing well in the Nurturing
Center. Jonas notices that Gabe has the pale
eyes that he himself doesa rarity in the
community. One morning at the dream-telling
ritual, Jonas admits that he dreamed about wanting to
bathe his friend Fiona. His parents give him pills to control his
Stirrings. At the community Ceremony, newchildren are placed in families and each
succeeding age group is given something newclothing, responsibilities, or possessions. At the Ceremony of Twelve, each of Jonass groupmates gets a lifetime
Assignment such as Birthmother, Fish Hatchery Attendant, Laborer, or Doctor.
However, the Chief Elder skips over Jonas number; he is not called!
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
MATH: What a Day
Point out that everyone in the community is very busy with assignments and rituals
all day long. Challenge students to create a pie graph for Jonas or another character
showing how a 24-hour period is spent. Students should base their graph on information from the story.
SOCIAL STUDIES: Whats Missing?
Discuss with students what they already know about the community. To help students see that people dont have many rights, prompt with questions such as: Do
parents keep their own children? Who decides what work people will do? Can people
say anything they want? Then have students draw up a list of rights or freedoms
that they think are missing from this community. How does this list compare with
students own lives?
THINKING SKILLS: Seeing Ceremonies
Remind students that there is a ceremony for each group from the Ones to the
Twelves in this community. For example, the Ones are given a name and assigned to
a family, while the Nines get bicycles. Have students list what happens at the different ceremonies for each group. For those ceremonies which arent described in the
story, challenge students to make one up. Discuss the purpose of ceremonies and
why they are important. Then ask students to consider the ceremonies in their own
lives. What ceremony do they celebrate each year? (birthday) What religious ceremonies have they celebrated? What ceremonies will they celebrate in the near
future? How do the ceremonies students celebrate differ from those in the book?
CHAPTERS 8 15
WHAT HAPPENS
Jonas is selected to be the next Receiver of Memory, the most honored position in
the community. He receives specialand unusualinstructions and begins to feel
apart from his contemporaries. He is also curious about someone who was given this
position 10 years earlier and failed. Jonas begins training with the old Receiver who
now becomes The Giver. This man has books and memories to share with Jonas.
Through the training, Jonas learns to experience colors, history, animals, and various feelings, things that he and the community have never known. He learns that
memories can be pleasurable or painful. He begins to understand that the people
have no choices. At home, his parents fret about Gabriel, who fails to sleep through
the night. Jonas suggests that Gabe sleep with him, and when the baby wakes at
night, he gives him pleasant memories to help him sleep.
13. Why is The Receiver forbidden to share books or memories with other people?
(Elders dont want them to know more; dont want change.)
14. Do you think The Giver is happy with his life? (Answers will vary. He has
privileges and power, but he seems sad and burdened.)
15. What war does Jonas experience? (The Civil War)
L ITERARY E LEMENTS
16. Foreshadowing: How does the author foreshadow Jonas gift? (Describes the
incident with the apple that changed.)
P ERSONAL R ESPONSE
17. What is your reaction to the instructions Jonas receives?
18. What would it be like to live in a world where you didnt experience color, sunshine, or animals?
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
LANGUAGE ARTS: Be Precise
Remind students that the people in The Giver are taught to use precise language.
Give students an opportunity to exercise this skill with the following activity. Assign
each student a partner. Have the partners sit across the room from one another.
Draw two geometric figures using several shapes of different sizes. Have one set of
partners study one drawing while the other set, across the room, studies the second.
Then ask students to describe the shape they can see in such precise detail that their
partner can draw the shape accurately. Once students have finished their descriptions, have them exchange papers with their partners and try to draw the shapes.
How exact are they? What refinements to the written descriptions are needed?
SCIENCE: Sensory Experiences
Recall with the class how The Giver passes on memories to Jonas. Point out that the
people in the community have been deprived of many sensory experiences such as
color. To determine how important senses are, try this experiment. Blindfold a volunteer and have the rest of the class choose an object in the room. Have the volunteer
try to figure out what the object is without asking any questions that rely on color or
sound.
ART: Colorless Images
Point out that most artists utilize color in their work. However, many artists study tonalities of gray as part of their training. Have students create artworks using only tones of
gray shaded from almost white to almost black. Suggest that students paint pictures of a
scene from the book to show what vision was like for the people in the community.
PHILOSOPHY: Talk About It
The book raises some interesting questions which you might want to explore with
the class. Keep the discussions open-ended to encourage students to think about
these issues. Possible questions might include: Why would people prefer a life of
Sameness? Can you miss something if youve never heard of it? How important are
feelings such as pain and joy to life?
Scholastic Literature Guide: The Giver Scholastic Teaching Resources
CHAPTERS 19 23
WHAT HAPPENS
Jonas continues to receive memories and
experiences from The Giver. He begins
to see that there is risk in feelings
such as love. He stops taking the pills
and feels Stirrings again. When his father
mentions that a twin will be released,
Jonas is curious. He learns what this really
meansdeathfrom The Giver and is ripped
apart. He also learns about The Receiver
before him who failed after just five weeks;
she was The Givers daughter. After her death,
the memories she had came back to the people. Jonas and The Giver realize that
if Jonas leaves the community, he will
leave behind a years worth of memories. The Giver will stay to help people
deal with them, to help them become
caring and human. The two plan
Jonas escape. However, when Jonas
learns that Gabriel has been scheduled
for release the next morning, he
leaves that night, taking the baby
with him. They travel on bike by
night, hiding from the search planes
during the day. The weather turns
cold, they are hungry, and Jonas uses his
memories of warmth to save them as they
flee toward Elsewhere.
10
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
WRITING: Individual Me
Discuss with the class the lack of real personality or individualism in a community
like the one described in The Giver. Point out that in such a society, the community
is more important than the individuals while in other societies, individuals are celebrated above and beyond the community. Follow up by having students write an
essay about what they think is important about being a unique individual.
SOCIAL STUDIES: Painful Memories
Remind students that many of the memories Jonas receives are painful because they
are about war or other disasters in the past. Have students draw up lists of at least
ten events in history that give people pain. Discuss the lists and why the events are
painful.
MUSIC: Hearing Beyond
The Giver speaks of his ability to hear beyond, to understand music. Ask students to
pretend that they are going to share a favorite piece of music with Jonas who will
hear it for the first time. Have them bring in and play for the class the music that
they choose. Ask students to explain why they selected that piece for an introduction to music.
11
12
EVALUATION IDEAS
Ask students to think of sets of rubrics to use in assessing one of the summarizing
projects. For example, a rubric for the dioramas might include these objectives:
Did the student show an accurate portrayal of a dwelling as described in the story?
Did the student include enough details?
Did the student show originality in use of materials?
Did the student demonstrate care in execution?
13
Name: ____________________________________________________
Be a Giver
In the book, the role of The Giver is to transfer memories to Jonas. The Giver
does this by laying his hands on Jonas, but you can share a memory in another wayby writing about it. Use this page to help you get started.
1. Think about the kinds of memories you might share. Here is a list to get you
thinking.
happy
sad
surprising
painful
funny
mysterious
triumphant
inspirational
other
2. Write down at least three possible memories. Circle the one that you like best.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. List some vocabulary words that you might use in describing this memory.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. List some sensory details that you want to include.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Write the first line to introduce your memory.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. Finish your memory on another sheet of paper.
14
Name: ____________________________________________________
Society of Sameness
The community in The Giver has some positive features as well as
some negative ones. Do they balance out? What can you add to the other
side to tip the scale?
Positive Features
Negative Features
order
convenience
predictability
painless
no burdens
no hunger
no decisions
no sad feelings
15
Name: ____________________________________________________
Toss a Memory
You can play this with a partner. Take turns tossing a penny onto the board. Be prepared to tell your
partner about the topic of the section you land on. If you land on a line, toss again.
FAVORITE
PART
SADDEST
PART
GOAL OF
MAIN
CHARACTER
CONFLICT
MOST
EXCITING
PART
SETTING
SOMETHING
I LEARNED
MAIN
CHARACTERS
RESOLUTION
16