Lois Lowry’s The Giver
A Guided Reading
Chapter 1(complete
3 questions)
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1.
The name Jonas comes from the Biblical name Jonah. The story opens with God
instructing Jonah to go east from Israel to Assyria to "cry out" against wickedness in the
city of Nineveh. Jonah, not wanting this task, flees in the opposite direction, by sea. A
storm hits, and the ship's sailors believe that God is punishing Jonah for disobeying his
orders. Jonah volunteers to be thrown overboard. A fish swallows him and spews him out
on land three days later. This time, Jonah obeys God and goes to Nineveh, where his
shouted warnings work: the people repent and are saved.
What would expect from a boy named Jonas, given the Biblical allusion (reference)?
2.
What conclusions can you draw about a society where it is against the rules for a plane to
fly over the community?
3.
Diction means the word choice that an author uses. Lowry uses the word dwelling in the
line, “Jonas had dropped his bike on its side on the path behind his family’s dwelling” (2).
What is the connotation of the word dwelling? What are the connotations of the words
house and home? Why would Lowry use dwelling instead of house or home?
4.
We know that public apologies are required, that there is a standard form for the apology,
and that there is a standard response to it. What conclusions can we draw about this society
so far?
5.
Considering what you have noticed so far about the precision of language in this society,
why is the following quotation ironic?
Neither child knew what the word [animals] meant, exactly, but it was
often used to describe someone uneducated or clumsy, someone who
didn’t fit in. (5)
The Giver Guided Reading
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Chapter 2 (complete 3 questions)
1.
The official birthday of all the children is celebrated in December. What is associated with
this month?
2.
What does it show that parents must submit an application to get a child?
3.
What conclusions can you draw about a society that does not name its babies until they are
officially one?
4.
Gabriel’s name comes from the angel Gabriel in the New Testament. Lowry picked the
name for a particular purpose. Gabriel is an archangel who serves as a prophet. His name
means 'strength of God,' a fitting title for the angel appointed to deliver the words of God.
What would you expect from a baby named Gabriel, given the Biblical allusion (reference)?
5.
Children are put in an Assignment group after the Ceremony of Twelve, based on their
life’s work. What would be the pros and cons of being placed in a group like that at such a
young age?
Chapter 3 (complete 3 questions)
1.
What is different about Jonas’s eyes, Gabriel’s, and those of a female Five that Jonas
knows?
2.
Why is it considered rude to draw attention to differences among people?
3.
What would life be like without mirrors?
4.
After Jonas takes an apple from the recreation area, he apologizes to the Recreation
Director the next day. This is a society based on apology, among other things. What can
you conclude about such a society’s expectations?
5.
What do you think Jonas sees when the apple changes?
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Chapter 4 (complete 3 questions)
1.
Jonas notes that he enjoys the free time to choose his own volunteer hours because so much
of his life is “regulated.” Make a list of what is regulated in his society, and then make a
list of what is regulated in your life.
2.
What do you think of the community’s decision to withhold an Eleven’s Assignment
because his volunteer hours were not done?
3.
In this supposedly perfect society, why would there be a blind person?
4.
What is the tone behind Larissa’s comment, “And of course, all lives are meaningful”?
5.
What happens at the Celebration of Release?
Chapter 5 (complete 3 questions)
1.
The family shares its dreams each morning. What is the purpose in doing this?
2.
Jonas doesn’t dream very much, but one night he dreams about being in the bathing room at
the House of the Old. What is the significance of the dream?
3.
What are Stirrings, how are they treated, why does society want to control them, and what
are the implications of controlling them?
4.
It is not acceptable to talk about things that are different. What are the benefits and
disadvantages of living in such a society?
5.
How does Jonas feel about the Stirrings?
Chapter 6 (complete 3 questions)
1.
What is interdependence? Give an example in modern-day life.
2.
What does a bicycle symbolize?
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3.
Gabriel has been given another year to grow before he is named and assigned to a family
unit. He could have been labeled Inadequate instead. What are the connotations of the
words inadequate and adequate? Describe something that would be considered inadequate
in today’s society.
4.
Why do you think Lowry chose the Biblical name Caleb?
5.
Lowry uses the words chastise and chastisement frequently. What is the connotation of
these words?
6.
What is the denotation of the word transgression? What is the connotation? What kinds of
actions are considered transgressions in Jonas’s society? What would be some
transgression’s in our society?
Chapter 7 (complete 2 questions)
1.
What would it feel like to be known by numbers instead of names?
2.
Who is the Chief Elder, how is he or she chosen, and how often does the position change
hands?
3.
What punishments are used for small children?
4.
What does the emphasis on correct language say about Jonas’s society?
Chapter 8 (complete 3 questions)
1.
Why do you think the Chief Elder waited to reassure both Jonas and the group?
2.
She says, “‘Jonas has not been assigned [. . . . he] has been selected.’” What is the
difference in the connotation of assigned and selected?
3.
What is life like for the Receiver-in-training?
4.
What are the five qualities that a Receiver of Memory must have?
5.
What do you think she means by “‘the Capacity to See Beyond’”?
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6.
Why does the community start chanting his name?
7.
What is the tone—the feeling—as the chapter ends?
Chapter 9 (complete 2 questions)
1. How has the community already started to change its reactions toward Jonas?
2. What are Jonas’s reactions to his new rules?
3. What is the difference in connotation between hungry and starving?
4. What is the paradox in rule #8, and why does it bother him so much?
Chapter 10 (complete 3 questions)
1.
Why does the Attendant stand when Jonas comes in?
2.
What conclusions can you draw about a society where no one locks the door?
3.
Comment on the sentences, “A bed for sleeping. A table for eating. A desk for
studying.” What do these details tell you about Jonas’s society?
4.
What does the Receiver mean by “‘memories of the whole world’”?
5.
What does Jonas mean by the statement, “‘I don’t know what you mean when you say
‘the whole world’ or ‘generations before him.’ I thought there was only us. I thought
there was only now.’”
6.
What does the Receiver mean when he says, “‘And here in this room, all alone, I reexperience them again and again. It is how wisdom comes. And how we shape our
future.’”?
7.
Why would he be weighted with memories?
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Chapter 11 (complete 3 questions)
1. What is happening to Jonas as the old man places his hands on Jonas’s back?
2. What happens to the old man’s memories when he transmits one to Jonas?
3. What has been gained and lost with the advent of Climate Control?
4. What are the connotations of the word Sameness?
5.
What does the old man mean when he says, “‘I have great honor. So will you. But you
will find that that is not the same as power’”?
Chapter 12 (complete all questions)
1.
Why does Lowry have red be the color Jonas first starts to see? Think literally and
figuratively.
2.
What did society give up in its decision to accept Sameness?
Chapter 13 (complete 3 questions)
1.
Why are choices so important to Jonas?
2.
Why is it “‘the choosing that’s important’”?
3.
Jonas tells The Giver, “‘We don’t dare to let people make choices of their own [. . .] We
really have to protect people from wrong choices.’” And when The Giver says that their
way is safer, Jonas replies, “‘Much safer.’” Discuss the meaning and implication of this
attitude.
4.
Why is Jonas getting angry with his friends?
5.
What does Jonas feel after he is given the memory of the elephants?
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6.
What have we learned so far about this society’s attitude toward death?
7.
What has Jonas learned about death by receiving the memory of the elephants?
8.
Comment on The Giver’s statement, “‘It’s just that . . . without the memories it’s all
meaningless.’”
Chapter 14 (complete 3 questions)
1.
Why does The Giver refuse to give Jonas pain medication after the memory of breaking
a leg?
2.
What is Jonas finally truly understanding when he gets home?
3.
Why is it necessary for Jonas to know pain? Give an example.
4.
How did The Giver persuade the Elders not to shoot down the plane?
5.
What function do Jonas and The Giver serve in this society?
6.
Why does one twin have to be released if they are born identical?
Chapter 15 (complete 2 questions)
1.
Why does The Giver decide to transmit the memory of war to Jonas?
2.
What does it show about Jonas that he volunteers to take some of the pain?
3.
Why does The Giver say, “‘Forgive me’”?
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Chapter
Chapter 16 (complete 3 questions)
1.
How does solitude differ from loneliness?
2.
Why is this scene The Giver’s favorite, and why is he so willing to give it to Jonas?
3.
Jonas uses the word family to describe what he sees in the memory. What does this
choice of words show about how he is changing?
4.
Why is the concept of Grandparent a strange one to Jonas?
5.
What do children lose if their grandparents do not play a role in their lives?
6.
What bond is developing between Jonas and Gabe?
7.
Why does Jonas throw his pill away?
Chapter 17 (complete 2 questions)
1.
Why can rules be ignored on holidays?
2.
How has Jonas’s attitude toward the game changed?
3.
What is Asher’s tone when he says, “‘I apologize for not paying you the respect you
deserve’”?
Chapter 18 (complete 2 questions)
1.
Why does The Giver say, “‘It broke my heart, Jonas, to transfer pain to her?’”
2.
Why did Rosemary ask to be released?
3.
What happened to the memories that The Giver transmitted to Rosemary?
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Chapter 19 (complete 2 questions)
1.
Why does The Giver seem to pressure Jonas into watching the newchild’s release?
2.
What is Father’s attitude toward the procedure?
3.
What is Jonas’s reaction to the tape?
4.
Why does The Giver tell Jonas about Rosemary after the tape is over?
Chapter 20 (complete 2 questions)
1.
Why does The Giver say that Fiona is “‘very efficient at her work . . . Feelings are not
part of the life she’s learned.’”
2.
Why does The Giver want to stay behind after Jonas leaves?
3.
What do you understand better now about The Giver’s feelings toward Rosemary earlier
in the book?
Chapter 21 (complete all questions)
1.
What has happened to their plan, and what does Jonas decide to do instead?
Chapter 22 (complete 2 questions)
1.
How is the landscape different from what Jonas knew before?
2.
What does Jonas learn about starving?
3.
What is the tone of the ending of the chapter?
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Chapter 23 (complete 2 questions)
1.
What keeps Jonas going through the snow?
2.
What happens as he comes to the top of the hill? What does Jonas see at the bottom of
the hill?
3.
Who is waiting for Jonas and Gabe at the bottom?
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