The Giver Study Guide
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Name:_______________________________ Period: ___________
The Giver Chapters 1-2 PAGES 3-19
Study Questions
1. What did the word “frightened” mean,
according to Jonas?
14. What does their Mother do for a living?
2. What were Jonas and the other children
taught to be careful about?
15. What does their Father do for a living?
16. What does a family unit consist of?
3. How did Jonas decide he felt? What was
causing this feeling?
17. Who is Asher?
4. Predict what it means for someone to get
released.
18. What is the definition of an animal
according to the community?
5. What evening ritual did the family perform
after dinner?
19. What is the purpose of the loudspeaker?
6. What things did you learn about the
community from the discussion during the
ritual telling of feelings?
7. What is different about the way children are
born and infants are cared for in the
community?
8. What were the two occasions when release
was not punishment?
9. What did Father want to do about the
newchild, and why?
20. How do people apologize in the
community?
21. What did December represent in the
community?
22. How many new children are there each
year?
23. Who was the most important elder?
24. Who had the ability to change the rules?
25. How did parents get children?
10. What fascinated Jonas about his father?
26. When are new children given a name?
11. Why was the Ceremony of Twelve so
important?
27. How do the Elders give children the
appropriate assignments?
12. How old is Jonas?
28. What was the most important thing for
children in the community?
13. Who is Lily? How old is she?
The Giver Study Guide
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The Giver Chapters 3-5 PAGES 20-38
Study Questions
1. What was unusual about Jonas and the
9. What two things did the committee consider
newchild?
when giving children their life assignments?
2. Describe the Assignment of Birthmother.
What did Lily’s parents say about it?
3. How did Lily react to the new word hippo?
Why did she react this way?
10. Opinion—Why do you think Birthmothers,
or biological mothers, held such a low status in
the community?
4. What happened to the apple while Jonas was
playing with it?
11. Opinion—Do you think the lives of the
elderly were better or worse than they are in
our society today? Give a good reason for your
opinion.
5. What effect did the pills have on Jonas and
the other people who took them?
12. Why didn’t anyone mention differences in
the community?
6. Describe the Celebration of Release of
Roberto.
13. Describe Asher.
7. Did Larissa know exactly where Roberto or
anyone else went when they were released?
8. What was Jonas’s dream about? What did
his mother and father say about it?
14. Who is Fiona?
15. Why didn’t people brag about
accomplishments?
16. What is the morning ritual?
Chapters 1-5 Literary Devices
1. Hook — How does the hook in The Giver draw you into the novel?
2. Cliffhanger — What is the cliffhanger in Chapter Two?
3. Allusion - The name Jonas is a variation of the name Jonah. In the Bible, the prophet Jonah was
commissioned by the Lord to proclaim judgment upon a sinful city. Why might Lois Lowry have
chosen Jonas as the name of her main character?
In the Bible the angel Gabriel is a divine messenger. What does the choice of this name for the
newchild suggest about Gabe’s importance in the novel?
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The Giver Chapters 6-7 PAGES 39-55
Study Questions
1. What is going on at the beginning of the
8. Nines were given bicycles. What did that
chapter?
represent?
2. Describe the jacket that the Fours, Fives, and
Sixes wore, and the reason it was designed the
way it was. Also describe the jacket the Sevens
wore, and what it symbolized.
3. What happened to the old Caleb?
9. Why had Asher been punished for confusing
the words snack and smack?
10. What set the Ceremony of Twelve apart
from the rest?
11. What Assignment did Asher get? Fiona?
4. Describe the ceremony of loss.
5. How did Fritz’s failures affect everyone?
6. Describe the Ceremony. Tell what happened
at the Naming and the other age levels.
Nines
Elevens
Tens
12. How did were young children disciplined?
13. What did the Chief Elder say to each of the
Twelves after receiving their assignment?
14. What happened when Jonas’s number
should have been called? What did Jonas
think?
7. Describe the matching of the spouses.
The Giver Chapters 8-10 PAGES 56-76
Study Questions
1. What was Jonas’s Assignment? Why was it
important and unusual?
8. What was Jonas prohibited from doing?
2. What was unusual about the bearded Elder?
What is significant about this characteristic?
9. What was he allowed to do that he had not
been allowed to do before?
3. What were the four qualities the Chief Elder
said the Receiver of Memory must have?
10. What is different about the training of the
Receiver compared to the training of others?
4. What happened when Jonas was looking out
at the crowd?
11. Why was the concept of pain beyond Jonas’
comprehension?
5. Did Jonas agree or disagree with the
committee’s choice of him as the new receiver?
What two abilities did he have that made him
worthy?
12. What was the biggest difference in the
Receiver of Memory’s dwelling?
6. What happened the last time a new receiver
had been chosen?
7. From what rules was Jonas exempted?
13. What memories did the Receiver of
Memory say he had to transmit to Jonas?
14. What was the first memory the Receiver
said he would give to Jonas?
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Chapters 6-10 Literary Devices
1. Science fiction novels are a form of fantasy in which the action takes place on another planet, in the
future, or in another dimension. What is the setting for The Giver? Provide evidence from the novel to
support your opinion.
2. A “Utopia” is a perfect world or society while a “Dystopia” is a world that is supposed to be perfect
but turns horribly wrong. On a separate piece of paper, describe your perfect utopia. Describe your
most horrible dystopia.
The Giver Chapters 11-13 PAGES 77- 102
1. What is happening at the beginning of
15.”It seemed as if there were a destination: a
Chapter 11?
something he could not grasp…” What is the
author foreshadowing in this quote?
2. What is the first memory Jonas received?
16. How was school different for Jonas?
3. What happens to the Receiver once he gives
Jonas a memory?
17. What happened as Fiona was leaving
Jonas?
4. How does Jonas feel about this first
memory?
18. What did Jonas see when he looked at the
sled?
5. How did the Receiver get these memories?
19. What does the Giver say is happening to
6. Why don’t they have snow anymore?
Jonas?
20. What did the community used to have
7. Why don’t they have hills anymore?
before Sameness? What did people look like
before Sameness?
8. Why does the Receiver correct Jonas when
he says he has power?
21. What was the next memory Jonas received?
9. What is the second memory?
10. Why does he give Jonas good memories
first?
22. What is Jonas angry about at the beginning
of Chapter 13?
23. What are Jonas and the Giver discussing?
What have the people of the community lost?
11. What is the first painful memory Jonas
receives?
24. How did Jonas try to help Asher?
12. Who does the Receiver become at the end of
Chapter 11?
25. What memory disturbed Jonas in Chapter
13?
13. What didn’t Jonas tell his parents at the
very beginning of Chapter 12?
26. Did the Giver have a spouse? If so, where
are they now? Why was this difficult for the
Giver?
14. What did he dream about?
27. What happened to the memories of the
Receiver 10years ago?
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28. What did Jonas do on days when the Giver
could not train him? Be very specific.
30. Predict what painful memory Jonas will
receive next.
29. Why does Jonas want the Giver to make
him suffer?
The Giver Chapters 14-16 PAGES 103-122
1. Jonas asked what made The Giver suffer.
What memory did The Giver transmit to
11. Why did the Giver apologize?
explain it?
12. How is Jonas feeling at the beginning of
2. Was Jonas able to receive relief-of-pain?
Chapter 16?
3. How was Jonas’ daily training now? (How
did it begin and how did it end?)
4. Jonas asked why he and The Giver had to
hold the memories. What was The Giver’s
answer?
5. Why wasn’t the community allowed to
increase the population?
6. What did Jonas want to do about the
memories and the traditional way of doing
things?
7. What will happen to twins if they are
identical?
8. How did Jonas help Gabriel get to sleep?
9. What was wrong with the Giver at the
beginning of Chapter 15?
10. What was the painful memory?
13. How did the Giver help Jonas?
14. Describe the Giver’s favorite memory that
he gave to Jonas.
15. What did Jonas begin to question?
16. What concept did Jonas learn?
17. Why was the memory “a dangerous way to
live”?
18. What question did Jonas ask his parents
after his session with The Giver? What was
their answer? What was his reaction?
19. What has happened to the word love?
20. What was Jonas’ first lie?
21. At the end of Chapter 16, what was Jonas
wondering about?
Chapters 11-15 Literary Devices
1. Varying Chapter Length - Why do you think Lowry put the memory of war in a separate chapter
instead of making it part of another chapter?
2. Simile - Read the passage below and answer the questions about simile.
He fell with his leg twisted under him, and could hear the crack of bone.... It was as if a hatchet lay
lodged in his leg, slicing through each nerve with a hot blade.
What two things are being compared?
What is the effect of this comparison?
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The Giver Chapters 17 to 19
1. Describe Jonas’s new level of feelings and what caused them.
2. What was Father’s responsibility when twins were born?
3. How did Jonas feel about becoming the new Receiver?
4. What was the name of the Receiver-to-be that was selected ten years before
Jonas?
5. What happened to the Receiver-to-be who was selected before Jonas?
6. What happened to the Community after the incident with the Receiver-to-be?
7. Jonas and The Giver discussed the effects to the Community if Jonas would be lost. What did they
think would happen?
8. Describe the release of the newchild.
9. What did Jonas realize as he watched the tape of the release?
Chapters 17-19 Literary Devices
1. Dramatic Irony - Complete the following exercise on dramatic irony.
Jonas . . . had wondered what lay Elsewhere. Was there someone there, waiting, who would
receive the tiny released twin? Would it grow up Elsewhere, not knowing, ever, that in this
community lived a being who looked exactly the same? For a moment he felt a tiny, fluttering
hope that he knew was quite foolish. He hoped that it would be Larissa, waiting.... Fiona had told
him recently that Larissa had been released at a wonderful ceremony.
What does the reader understand about this statement that Jonas does not?
The Giver Chapters 20 to 23
1. How did Jonas react after he watched the release?
2. What did The Giver tell Jonas he had realized about the memories?
3. Describe The Giver’s ideas on changing things.
4. The Giver offered a very special memory to Jonas. What was it, and what was Jonas’s response to
the offer?
5. Jonas asked The Giver to escape with him. What was The Giver’s reply?
6. What did Jonas do instead of the original escape plan, and why?
7. Describe the escape.
8. Describe the changes in the landscape.
9. What was the strongest fear that Jonas had during this part of the journey?
10. How did the story end?
Chapters 20-23 Literary Devices
Paradox –
Answer the following question based on the example of paradox.
The community did not want change, which is why they created the Receiver of
Memory whose job it was to assure Sameness. Yet The Giver said: “My work will
be finished when I have helped the community to change and become whole.”
Explain the paradox in the sentence above.
Literary Device: Etymologies –
Speakers of English borrow words from other languages, so we have the largest vocabulary of any
language in the world. The history of a word from its origin to its present use is called its etymology.
The bold word in this paragraph from the novel has an interesting etymology:
The Giver Study Guide
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He tried to use the flagging power of his memory to recreate meals, and managed brief, tantalizing
fragments: banquets with huge roasted meats; birthday parties with thick-frosted cakes...
In Greek mythology Tantalus was a wicked king who, as punishment for his crimes, was forced to
stand in deep water with grapes growing overhead. The water receded when he was thirsty, and the
grapes receded when he was hungry.
Look up tantalize in a dictionary. Write its definition below.
How does knowing the history of the word enrich the meaning of this paragraph?