Literary Essay Roles and Organizer
Your Name: _________________________________
Group Members: ___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
Leader: _________________________________
Facilitate discussion and division of duties. Keep members focused and use positive ways
to encourage participation from all.
Plus – Write the introduction and conclusion.
Recorder: _________________________________
Keep track of decisions. Complete one group sheet to turn in at the end of the hour.
Plus – Find textual evidence to support Main Point 1 and write that paragraph.
Time Keeper: _________________________________
Keep track of time remaining to accomplish your goal. Help keep all members focused
on their task.
Plus – Find textual evidence to support Main Point 2 and write that paragraph.
Presenter: _________________________________
Read the final draft of the essay to the class.
Plus – Find textual evidence to support Main Point 3 and write that paragraph.
Thesis Statement:
Main Point 1:
Main Point 2:
Durham & Utley | CJH | English 8 and Pre-AP English 8
Main Point 3:
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Possible Essay Topics for The Giver by Lois Lowry
Hero’s Journey: Who is more heroic, Jonas in The Giver or Peter Parker in Spiderman?
As you develop your comparisons, explain The Hero’s Journey and define at least three
of the steps involved.
Wisdom: What is wisdom? How is it gained? Why is it important for individuals and
societies to pay attention to the wisdom gained in the past? Use examples from The
Giver, as well as, examples from life experience or other texts you have read/viewed.
Utopia: Is it possible to create a Utopian Society?
Love: How do memories, whether of joy or of suffering, create love? As you develop
your claim, consider the following: Do Jonas’s parents love him? Are they capable of
love? Why is “love” and inappropriate word in a community that emphasizes “precision
of language?”
The Ending of The Giver: How does the book end? Do Jonas and Gabriel make it safely
to another Elsewhere? Or do they simply die, suffering from hypothermia?
Suffering: What is suffering? How is suffering related to wisdom? To love?
Seeing Beyond: Jonas has the “capacity to see beyond.” How does that impact his hero’s
journey? Compare Jonas with someone else you know who has this capacity.
History: Why is understanding the history (memories) of a society important to it’s
citizens? Make a claim and use evidence from The Giver and from our American culture
to support your claim.
Allusion: The apple in Chapter 3 suggests an allusion to the creation story. We tested that
allusion using a T-chart in our Writer’s Notebooks. What theme is suggested by that
allusion? Did you find further evidence as we continued reading?
Important Theme: What is a possible theme in Lois Lowry’s The Giver? Read through
your inferences, circling and highlighting recurring themes. Choose one. make a claim
about that theme as your thesis statement (e.g. Love is an important theme in The Giver
by Lois Lowry.) Then plan three to four points to that could be developed in separate
paragraphs and supported with textual evidence.
Durham & Utley | CJH | English 8 and Pre-AP English 8
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