This is The Giver Novel Project. Each assignment is listed below. You will
need to sign out a book from class in order to begin. Each day begins with
a journal entry that should be completed in your progressive assignment
packet. Please accompany each journal entry with the book title, day
number and date.
Assignment #1
Journal:
Activity:
Imagine that you could create a perfect
world. How would it be different from the world
you live in right now? How would it be the
same? Give your community a name, a system
of government, and a physical description.
Imagine yourself living there and describe what
an ordinary day would be like. Obtain a piece
of unlined white paper and make a pictorial
representation of your world. You may also use
a computer.
Complete the author info section on the fact
sheet. *
Lois Lowry
Visit this website:
Reading Assignment:
Assignment #2
Read Chapters 1, 2, and 3 for your next class
period. Be ready to discuss.
"It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened." (p. 1)
This is the opening sentence of The Giver. What kind of picture does this produce
Journal: in your mind? What feelings does this sentence create?
is it utopia
differentand
to feel
apprehensive
rather
to feel frightened?
Define theseHow
words:
dystopia.
Write
theirthan
definitions
into your journal.
Use the worksheet Utopian Societies. *
Fill in the chart with information from the websites about the two societies you will
read about.
Activity:
Explore a historical utopia at these web links:
BROOK FARM
BROOK FARM
Explore a future utopia at this web link:
VICTORY CITIES
Illustration by Orville Simpson II
Begin compiling a list of rules which govern the community in which Jonas lives.
You will add to this list as you read The Giver. *
Reading
Assignment:
Read chapters 4, 5, & 6 for your next class, and prepare for discussion.
Assignment #3
Journal:
How would you feel living in a structured society similar to Jonas's?
What are the pros and cons?
Activity:
Use the worksheet "Community Life Schedule".* Enter the ceremonies
and life milestones that occur at each stage as they are revealed in the
book.
Add to your list of rules governing Jonas's community
Assignment #4
Reading
Assignment:
Read chapters 7, 8, &9 for your next class. Prepare for
discussion.
Journal:
Why do you think members of this society must do volunteer work when
they are young? Do you think this is a good idea or a bad idea? Defend
your answer.
Write about any volunteer experiences you have had in your life.
Activity:
Use the Career Assesment worksheet.*
Assess your career interests by taking the survey at this
website: http://www.careerkey.org/english/
Fill in the worksheet as you go through this exercise.
Add to your list of rules governing Jonas's community
Assignment #5
Reading
Assignment:
Read chapters 10, 11, & 12 for your next class. Prepare to
discuss.
Journal:
Transmit one of your most vivid memories. Include all the details of that
day/event. Reflect on the sights, smells, sounds and sensations of that
time.
By visiting this web site you will be exploring the concept of memory as
well as testing out your own memory.
Use the worksheet before going to the web site:*
Memory Exercises Worksheet
Activity:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/memory/index.html
Start a list of the "painful" memories that Jonas receives.
Add to your list of rules governing Jonas's community
Reading Assignment:
Read chapters 13, 14, & 15 for your next class. Prepare to discuss.
Assignment #6
Journal:
Imagine a world without color. What color would you miss the most and
why?
Agree or disagree with this statement and say why:
A world without any pain would be a bad thing.
Study of Color
Activity:
Use the worksheet that will take through this Discovery of Color. *
Add to your list of "painful" memories that Jonas receives.
Add to your list of rules governing Jonas's community
Assignment #7
Reading
Assignment:
Read chapters 16, 17, & 18 for your next class. Prepare to
discuss.
Journal:
The Giver also passes on collective memories of the whole community.
Choose something that has happened in our country in the recent past
and transmit that memory to Jonas with words.
Why have you chosen that event to give him?
What will Jonas learn from it?
Read the acceptance speech Lois Lowry delivered upon receiving her
Newbery Award for The Giver. The speech can be found at this
website: http://www.loislowry.com/pdf/Newbery_Award.pdf
Read to the bottom of page 6 and do the following:

In an open-ended format, write a response to this question:
Identify two experiences in Lois Lowry’s life that made her want
Jonas’s world “familiar, comfortable, and safe”?
Activity:

Answer the following question using a quote from Lowry’s
speech:
What does Lowry say we give up by living in a world where we are all
the same and feel safe?
Add to your list of "painful" memories that Jonas receives.
Add to your list of rules governing Jonas's community
Read the rest of Lowry’s speech after you complete your reading
assignment
Reading
Assignment:
Read chapters 19 - for your next class. Prepare to discuss.
Assignment #8
Journal:
How do you imagine The Giver ends? Would you like to see the ending
more spelled out? Why or why not?
Activity:
Write your own version of Chapter 24 for this book.
Complete the lists you have been adding to.
Complete a book review for The Giver.*
Complete The Giver An Ambiguous End
*Already printed in the progressive assignment packet.
****Progressively work on the Novel Fact Sheet.
****Progressively work on the Euphemism Sheet.
Utopia Representation
Journals (7)
Novel Fact Sheet
Utopian Societies
Rules for Jonas’s Community
Chart of Ceremonies
Elements of the Novel (1-7)
Career Key
Elements of the Novel (8-15)
Memory
Painful Memories for Jonas
Color, Contrast, & Dimension Project
Elements of the Novel (16-23)
Open-Ended Response
Chapter 24 Re-write
The Giver: An Ambiguous End
Book Review
25 Points
10 points each for a total of 70 points
30 Points
25 Points
10 Points
15 Points
15 Points
10 Points
10 Points
10 Points
10 Points
10 Points
15 Points
30 Points
25 Points
10 Points
10 Points
Total Points associated with Progressive Assignment Packet = 270