GRADE 7 ELA – UNIT 1
Rationale:
“It is very risky. But each time a child opens a book, he pushes open the gate that separates him from Elsewhere.” - Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry’s The Giver is the story of a young boy who learns that his “utopian” community that is not nearly as
perfect as he believes. Students arriving in 7th grade have a strong foundation in literary and nonfiction reading,
comprehension, and writing. The study of The Giver provides further opportunities to examine literature and other texts
that deal with conformity and issues of it within society. The Common Core Standards for reading require students to
analyze the development of complex characters. This course of study will advance students’ skills in literary analysis, to
prepare them for high school level work. The Giver is a complex text in that it uses sophisticated vocabulary, nuanced
language, and contains multiple levels of meaning. Students will continue to develop their ability to cite evidence from the
novel to support their interpretations of themes and judgments about characters. The Giver is ideal for inspiring
discussion of personal values in light of its themes around conformity, individuality, using fear as motivation, and utopia.
While strengthening their skills in reading, writing, listening, and discussion, students will be reconciling their personal
values with a growing social consciousness, awareness of self, and sense of responsibility.
Performance tasks will require students to:
 Identify literary elements within a text;
 Cite evidence and develop their ideas in writing with examples from the text;
 Compare and contrast within the text;
 State a position and support it with evidence.
Theme:
Conformity vs. Individuality
Unit Text:
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Essential Questions:
 What are the benefits and drawbacks of differences?
 Is utopia attainable? At what cost would it be worth attaining?
 Is blindness to truth preferable to knowledge that is painful?
1
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Planning with the End in Mind
Your Task: In The Giver, by Lois Lowry, Jonas's acquisition of memories has a profound impact on his development. Write an essay in
which you explain how Jonas's role as Receiver of Memory impacts his development and how this development contributes to an overall
theme.
Possible themes include:
*The relationship between individuality and isolation
*The importance of memory and/or history
*The benefits and drawbacks of freedom of choice
RL.7.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RL.7.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis
of relevant content.
a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification,
comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding
comprehension.
b. Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
c. Use appropriate transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
e. Establish and maintain a formal style.
f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.
Benchmark Assessment Tasks Leading Up to Summative Assessment:
1: Your Task: In The Giver, by Lois Lowry, though Jonas's community discourages differences, it becomes clear that Jonas is unique.
Write an essay in which you explain how Jonas differs from others in his society, and how these differences contribute to his feelings of
isolation.
2. Your Task: Jonas and the Giver were both selected and given the role of Receiver of Memories. They received memories of pain,
suffering, war, along with pleasurable memories of color, sunshine, family, music and snow. Write an essay in which you argue whether
the role of a Receiver of Memories is an honor or a burden.
*Instructional Questions throughout this unit are designed to guide students toward successful completion of these tasks.
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Chapters 1-3
Overview: The first three chapters of The Giver introduce students to Jonas and provide a basic understanding of his
family, community, and the rules used to make his community “ideal”. Readers learn of the specific roles within the
community, such as Nurtures, Birthmothers, Recreation Director, Caretakers, as well as how family units are formed.
These chapters are also an opportunity to teach students about genre and point-of-view, discussion techniques & weekly
journal entries, and to explore Essential Questions.
Essential Questions: What are the benefits and drawbacks of differences? Is utopia attainable? At what cost would it
be worth attaining? Is blindness to truth preferable to knowledge that is painful?
Example1: Students first respond to the EQ individually in writing. They will then have an opportunity to revisit their
response before a whole group discussion.
Reader Response Journals:
The Reader Response Journals are a place for students to:
 respond to text in writing
 record personal reactions to text
 generate questions
 dialogue with a peer
 brainstorm and draft for Assessment Tasks
What is close reading?
Close Reading:
Begins with an independent read during which students may or may not use annotation strategies that have been pretaught, based on student readiness. Length or amount of text may be differentiated. An independent reading is followed
by a teacher-led or peer-led read aloud. Discussion questions are revealed to students prior to the read-aloud, so that
students are engaging in a second read with questions in mind.
>>Discussion Supports Writing:
After the read-aloud, students discuss the passage or text within their group and the group generates responses to the
discussion questions. Students then produce written responses to the discussion questions. Discussion questions may
differ from group to group, but always support the written task.
1
Teachers may choose to explore EQs with students through individual or group written opportunities and/or through group discussion. This is one
example.
3
Chapters 1-3
Instructional Questions
 How can an author’s experiences
inspire his / her writing?
 What is conformity?
 Why do people conform?
 What are the benefits and
drawbacks of differences?
 What makes a utopian society
perfect?
 How does an author use word
choice to develop setting and
character?
How do we prepare for a Socratic
Seminar
Learning Activities
 Shared Reading: Students will engage in a shared
reading experience with short biography excerpts of
Lois Lowry. While building understanding of Lois
Lowry’s background, students will also explore the
purpose of multiple readings of a text, as well as begin
to engage in group discussions that support
comprehension.
 Socratic Seminar: After responding to the EQ in
writing, students will then discuss their responses, as
well as the responses of their peers, to the EQ in
groups.
 Think Pair Share: After viewing clips from the movie
version of Fahrenheit 451, students will compare and
contrast the setting with The Giver.
Supplemental Texts / Resources:
 Excerpts from Looking Back by Lois Lowry: 1949, 1972 and 1973
 Utopia Power Point
 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – movie version
 "My Name" - Excerpt from The House on Mango Street
http://www.nlcphs.org/SummerReadings/Freshmen/HouseOnMango.pdf
Standards
RL 7.3 Analyze how particular
elements of a story or drama
interact (e.g., how setting
shapes the characters or plot).
RL 7.4 Determine the meaning
of words and phrases as they
are used in a text, including
figurative and connotative
meanings; …
Vocabulary:
conformity, utopia, setting, mood,
evidence, purpose, inference/infer,
connotation/denotation
Tasks
 Anticipation Guide (pre-reading)
 Compare/contrast settings between The Giver and Fahrenheit 451 (movie)
 Quiz: Chapters 1-3
 Chapter Focus Questions:
 What is the significance of Jonas’s attention to careful, accurate language? (Ch. 1)
 How does Lois Lowry’s use of unusual vocabulary for familiar objects contribute to setting? (Ch. 2)
(e.g., dwelling = house, tunic = shirt)
 In what way are differences treated in the community? (Ch. 3)
 Reader Response Journal: Rules
1. Do rules make life easier, or harder? What are the important rules that affect your life the most?
Why do we have rules, if it is our human right to be free? Think about The Giver, too. Why does the
community have so many rules?
2 What do you think "release" means? Cite evidence from the text to support your response.
Scaffolds / Support
 Paired and group
discussions
 Paired Reading
 Picture Book – The Giver
– Chapters 1-3
4
Chapters 1-3
Textual Evidence in Support of Jonas's Differences and Isolation for Performance Task 1
Jonas was careful about language. Not like his friend, Asher, who talked too fast and mixed things up, scrambling words and
phrases until they were barely recognizable and often very funny.
Almost every citizen in the community had dark eyes. His parents did, and Lily did, and so did all of his group members and friends.
But there were a few exceptions: Jonas himself, and a female Five who he had noticed had the different, lighter eyes. No one
mentioned such things; it was not a rule, but was considered rude to call attention to things that were unsettling or different about
individuals.
Now, seeing the newchild and its expression, he was reminded that the light eyes were not only a rarity but gave the one who had
them a certain look--what was it? Depth, he decided; as if one were looking into the clear water of the river, down to the bottom,
where things might lurk which hadn't been discovered yet. He felt self-conscious, realizing that he, too, had that look.
But suddenly Jonas had noticed, following the path of the apple through the air with his eyes, that the piece of fruit had--well, this
was the part that he couldn't adequately understand--the apple had changed. Just for an instant. It had changed in mid-air, he
remembered. Then it was in his hand, and he looked at it carefully, but it was the same apple. Unchanged.
Suggested Close Reading Passage
"Oh, look!" Lily squealed in delight. "Isn't he cute? Look how tiny he is! And
he has funny eyes like yours, Jonas!" Jonas glared at her. He didn't like it that
she had mentioned his eyes. He waited for his father to chastise Lily. But
Father was busy unstrapping the carrying basket from the back of his bicycle.
Jonas walked over to look.
It was the first thing Jonas noticed as he looked at the newchild peering up
curiously from the basket. The pale eyes.
Almost every citizen in the community had dark eyes. His parents did, and
Lily did, and so did all of his group members and friends. But there were a few
exceptions: Jonas himself, and a female Five who he had noticed had the
different, lighter eyes. No one mentioned such things; it was not a rule, but was
considered rude to call attention to things that were unsettling or different
about individuals. Lily, he decided, would have to learn that soon, or she
would be called in for chastisement because of her insensitive chatter.
Discussion Questions
 Why is calling attention to individual details
rude?
 What does this passage reveal about the
community's attitude toward differences?
 What does this passage reveal about Jonas's
feelings about being different?
5
Chapters 4-6
Overview: In Chapters 4 - 6 readers begin to learn of the dream telling ritual and how the community deals with rise of
emotions within its young members. The reader also learns about the ceremonies that take place each year and the symbolism
of the ceremonies for each age group. Jonas wonders what his assignment will be, having enjoyed volunteering at a
variety of places.
Chapters 4-6
Instructional Questions
 How does conformity influence
society?
 How can being different be terrifying
and empowering at the same time?
 How can an author’s use of symbols
deepen a reader’s understanding of a
text?
 How do our five senses contribute to
memory and individuality?
Learning Activities
 Think Pair Share: Character analysis (including
major vs. minor and static vs. dynamic) – Students
work with a partner to analyze two characters from
the novel – one a dynamic and the other a static
character. Students work together to complete a
character analysis graphic organizer.
 Gallery Walk: Students exhibit and share work via a
gallery walk for feedback and sharing.
 Small Group Discussion: How do our five senses
contribute to memory and individuality?
 RAFT Activity: Students choose individual project
to complete responding to the December Ceremony.
Supplemental Texts / Resources:
Character analysis graphic organizer
Symbols/Community Life Schedule
"Preserving Colombia's native customs and languages" - Newsela article
Tasks
 Character analysis graphic organizer
 Symbols worksheet/Community Life Schedule
 RAFT Activity – December Ceremony
 Quiz – Chapters 4-6
Standards
RL 7.3 Analyze how particular
elements of a story or drama
interact (e.g., how setting
shapes the characters or plot).
SL7.1 Engage effectively in a
range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grade 7
topics, texts, and issues,
building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
Vocabulary:
symbolism, foreshadowing,
character analysis, dynamic,
static (major/minor)
Scaffolds / Support
 T-Charts /Chunk text for students to
read independently with greater
success.
 Provide a focus and text-based
vocabulary for each chunk.
6
 Chapter Focus Questions:
 In what areas of life do the members of the community have free choice,
and in what areas are their lives regulated? (Ch.4)
 Why do the people in the community discuss their dreams each morning? (Ch. 5)
How does the pledge the family has to sign about Gabriel serve as a symbol of
the community’s beliefs? (Ch. 6)
 Picture Book – The Giver – Chapters 4-6
 Character analysis graphic organizer
 Symbols worksheet/Community Life
Schedule
 Reader Response Journal:
1. W h y i s n a k e d n e s s p r o h ib i te d , e xc e p t f o r c e r t a i n i n d iv i d u a l s ?
2. Why are Stirrings treated?
3. O n p a g e 6 1 , Jonas wonders, "How could someone not fit in? The
community was so meticulously ordered, the choices so carefully made." Does
Jonas fit in? What choices has Jonas made? Which choices, made for Jonas,
come into conflict with his personal beliefs? Cite evidence from the novel to
support your answer.
7
Chapters 4-6
Textual Evidence in Support of Jonas's Differences and Isolation for Assessment Task 1
It was against the rules for children or adults to look at another's nakedness; but the rule did not apply to newchildren or the Old.
Jonas was glad. It was a nuisance to keep oneself covered while changing for games, and the required apology if one had by mistake
glimpsed another's body was always awkward. He couldn't see why it was necessary. He liked the feeling of safety here in this warm
and quiet room; he liked the expression of trust on the woman's face as she lay in the water unprotected, exposed, and free.
Pedaling rapidly down the path, Jonas felt oddly proud to have joined those who took the pills. For a moment, though, he
remembered the dream again. The dream had felt pleasurable. Though the feelings were confused, he thought that he had liked
the feelings that his mother had called Stirrings. He remembered that upon waking, he had wanted to feel the Stirrings again. Then,
in the same way that his own dwelling slipped away behind him as he rounded a corner on his bicycle, the dream slipped away
from his thoughts. Very briefly, a little guiltily, he tried to grasp it back. But the feelings had disappeared. The Stirrings were gone.
Suggested Close Reading Passage
Article: "Preserving Colombia's native customs and languages"
Discussion Questions
 As in the Wayuu community, in what ways
does Jonas's community promote "the good
of the community above all else?"
Suggested Protocol:

What is the purpose of dream telling in The
 Students read independently for the gist.
Giver?
 Teacher reads aloud while students underline sentences that remind
 (after Chapter 8): As with the sonodoras in
them of The Giver.
the article, how can the dreams of the Elders
 Students share what they underlined.
determine a person's path?
 Students work in groups to find textual evidence in The Giver that
connects with the article.
8
Chapters 7-9
Overview: In chapters 7-9 Jonas receives his assignment as Receiver of Memory and begins to study the rules associated with this
role. Jonas is astonished to learn that he may lie, and realizes with dismay that his friendships will be affected by his training schedule
and by the secrecy surrounding his role.
Assessment Task 1:
In The Giver, by Lois Lowry, though Jonas's community discourages differences, it becomes clear that Jonas is unique. Write an
essay in which you explain how Jonas differs from others in his society, and how these differences contribute to his feelings of
isolation.
Chapters 7-9
Instructional Questions
 How can being different be terrifying and
empowering at the same time?
 How does an omniscient narrator impact
the telling of a story?
 How can an author’s use of symbols
deepen a readers understanding of a text?
How do you determine bias in a nonfiction
text?
Learning Activities
 Think Pair Share: Students will discuss
the point of view from which the story is
told by looking for clues that lead them to
their response.
 Shared Reading/Jigsaw Reading:
Students will be broken up into small
groups. Longer, more challenging
nonfiction articles on conformity will be
divided among the groups to increase
engagement and comprehension.
 Socratic Seminar: “How can being
different be terrifying and empowering at
the same time?”
Supplemental Texts / Resources:
Blog article: "It's Not Fair! But What is Fairness?"
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/am-i-right/201205/its-not-fair-what-is-fairness
Article: "Vocational High Schools: Career Path or Kiss of Death?"
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/05/02/the-return-of-vocationalhigh-schools-more-options-or-the-kiss-of-death
Tasks:
 Assessment Task 1
 Socratic Seminar
 Quiz Chapters 7-9
Standards
RL 7.1 Cite textual evidence to
support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
SL7.1 Engage effectively in a
range of collaborative discussions
(one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners
on grade 7 topics, texts, and
issues, building on others’ ideas
and expressing their own clearly.
Vocabulary:
point of view, omniscient/limited,
symbols, conflict
(internal/external)
Scaffolds / Support
 T-Charts – Chunking text
 Picture Book – The Giver – Chapter 9
 Partner Reading
9
 Chapter Focus Questions:



How would you characterize the Chief Elder? (Ch. 7)
What is unusual about the Receiver? What might this foreshadow for his place within
the community? (Ch. 8)
Jonas thinks, “Things couldn’t change with Asher” (pg. 66). Is he right? Support your
answer with evidence from the text. (Ch. 9)
 Journal Responses: Sameness/Diversity (Choice)
1. What advantages might “sameness” produce for contemporary societies? In
what ways do your differences make us distinctly human? Is loss of
diversity worthwhile?
2. Each member of society should be assigned an occupation consistent with his
or her individual skills to prevent unemployment, job dissatisfaction, and
inefficiency. Write one paragraph explaining whether you agree or disagree
with this statement.
3. Read the article, "Vocational High Schools: Career Path or Kiss of Death?"
Then, draw a T-chart in your journal. In the left column, record evidence in
support of the claim: Vocational training in high school helps students. In
the right column, record evidence in support of the claim: Vocational
training in high school hurts students. Which claim is supported with more
facts, reasons, and evidence? Is the article biased?
4. Do you think that the Chief Elder understands what a Receiver is? Cite
evidence from the text to support your response.
5. What do you think of Jonas's community? What made people decide to do
things this way? What problems were they seeking to solve? Do you think it
was worth it?
10
Chapters 7-9
Textual Evidence in Support of Jonas's Differences and Isolation for Performance Task 1
Then the Chief Elder moved ahead in her speech. "This is the time," she began, looking directly at them, "when we acknowledge differences. You
Elevens have spent all your years till now learning to fit in, to 52 standardize your behavior, to curb any impulse that might set you apart from the
group. "But today we honor your differences. They have determined your futures."
The Committee of Elders was sitting together in a group; and the Chief Elder's eyes were now on one who sat in the midst but seemed oddly
separate from them. It was a man Jonas had never noticed before, a bearded man with pale eyes.
But when he looked out across the crowd, the sea of faces, the thing happened again. The thing that had happened with the apple. They changed.
He blinked, and it was gone. His shoulders straightened slightly. Briefly he felt a tiny sliver of sureness for the first time. She was still watching
him. They all were. "I think it's true," he told the Chief Elder and the community. "I don't understand it yet. I don't know what it is. But sometimes
I see something. And maybe it's beyond."
Now, for the first time in his twelve years of life, Jonas felt separate, different. He remembered what the Chief Elder had said: that his training
would be alone and apart. But his training had not yet begun and already, upon leaving the Auditorium, he felt the apartness. Holding the folder
she had given him, he made his way through the throng, looking for his family unit and for Asher. People moved aside for him. They watched him.
He thought he could hear whispers.
Suggested Close Reading Passage
From Article: "It's Not Fair! But What is Fairness?"
1. SAMENESS: There is the fairness where everything is equal. So everyone pays the same
price for a theater ticket, whether a child, an adult or a senior citizen. No one has more than
another. Everyone eats or no one does, for example. Logically, then, an infant and an adolescent
will receive the same amount of food. It doesn’t matter that one needs more than the other.
Fairness is finding the average and applying it across the board. This is fairness as equality of
outcome.
2. DESERVEDNESS: In this notion of fairness you get what you deserve. If you work hard, you
succeed and keep all that you earn. Fairness means keeping what you deserve and deserving
nothing if it isn’t earned. The hardest working, most diligent, smartest and most talented should
have more because of their attributes; the lazy, indifferent, stupid and inept deserve to have less.
Fairness is a rational calculation. This is fairness as individual freedom.
3. NEED: The third idea of fairness is that those who have more to give should give a greater
percentage of what they have to help others who are unable to contribute much, if anything at all.
Fairness here takes into account the facts that humans have obligations to one another and the
more one has the more is demanded of that person to contribute to the common good. Fairness
and responsibility are linked. Compassion plays a role in the calculation of fairness. This is
fairness as social justice.
Discussion Questions
 What textual evidence from The Giver
supports the idea of sameness as defined in
the article?
 What are the benefits and potential
drawbacks of each idea of fairness?
 Which definition of fairness most closely
represents a utopian society?
11
It's Not Fair! But What Is Fairness?
Three different ideas of fairness: sameness, deservedness, and need.
Post published by Arthur Dobrin D.S.W. on May 11, 2012 in Am I Right?
Source: http://mimiandeunice.com/2011/09/12/freedom-or-fairness/ Author Nina Paley
Every parent has heard the howl: It’s not fair! And on the political level, Occupy Wall Street and the tea party make the same claim: It’s not
fair. But what does it mean to be fair? What is fairness, after all?
Is it fair that all seniors, regardless of income, get senior discounts? Is it fair that a few spread out in first-class while others sit cramped in
economy seats? Is it fair that additional money be spent on specially designed playground equipment for a few handicapped children?
Here are three different ideas about what we mean by fairness:
1. SAMENESS: There is the fairness where everything is equal. So everyone pays the same price for a theater ticket, whether a child, an adult
or a senior citizen. No one has more than another. Everyone eats or no one does, for example. Logically, then, an infant and an adolescent
will receive the same amount of food. It doesn’t matter that one needs more than the other. Fairness is finding the average and applying it
across the board. This is fairness as equality of outcome.
2. DESERVEDNESS: In this notion of fairness you get what you deserve. If you work hard, you succeed and keep all that you earn. Fairness
means keeping what you deserve and deserving nothing if it isn’t earned. The hardest working, most diligent, smartest and most talented
should have more because of their attributes; the lazy, indifferent, stupid and inept deserve to have less. Fairness is a rational calculation.
This is fairness as individual freedom.
3. NEED: The third idea of fairness is that those who have more to give should give a greater percentage of what they have to help others
who are unable to contribute much, if anything at all. Fairness here takes into account the facts that humans have obligations to one
another and the more one has the more is demanded of that person to contribute to the common good. Fairness and responsibility are
linked. Compassion plays a role in the calculation of fairness. This is fairness as social justice.
The complexities and differences in definitions of fairness are revealed everyday in school systems. Should schools spend the same on every
child, as implied by fairness #1? Or should the budget provide more money and resources for the brightest and most talented, as implied by
fairness #2? Another option, one that increasingly dominates spending in education, is to allocate the greatest resources to children with
the greatest needs (special education), as implied by fairness #3.
So where should public funds be spent? Should schools be concerned with average children, children with the greatest potential, or those
with the greatest need? Arguments can be made for any one of the three approaches to education or for the distribution of any of society’s
goods and services, each using the concept of fairness.
As with many critical ethical values, one approach can’t address all relevant concerns. While mix-and-match may drive some philosophers to
distraction, it is the right mixture, the constant tinkering, that presents the best chance of arriving at better solutions.
Ideologues believe that only their notion of fairness is correct. And it is that intransigence—the assuredness of ideologues who won't admit
the legitimacy of other definitions—that has so polarized politics today in America.
12
Name: _______________________
The Giver
Class: __________
ELA Grade 7 Unit 1
Assessment Task 1
Your Task: In The Giver, by Lois Lowry, though Jonas's community discourages differences, it
becomes clear that Jonas is unique. Write an essay in which you explain how Jonas differs from
others in his society, and how these differences contribute to his feelings of isolation.
In your response, be sure to:




Explain how Jonas differs from others in his community
Explain how Jonas's differences contribute to his feelings of isolation
Use evidence from the novel that most strongly supports your explanation
Follow the conventions of Standard English including spelling, capitalization,
punctuation, and grammar
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14
Chapters 10-12
Overview: In chapters 1 0 - 1 2 Jonas begins to understand his role as Receiver of Memory and the purpose of this role within his
community. He starts to experience memories, most of which are pleasant up to this point. These memories begin to impact Jonas’s
perceptions of the world around him and he begins to question his society.
Assessment Task 2: Jonas and the Giver were both selected and given the role of Receiver of Memories.
They received memories of pain, suffering, war, along with pleasurable memories of color, sunshine, family, music and snow.
Your Task: Write an essay in which you argue whether the role of a Receiver is an honor or a burden
Instructional Questions
How can being different be terrifying and
empowering at the same time?
How does an omniscient narrator impact
the telling of a story?
How can an author’s use of symbols
deepen a readers understanding of a text?
Learning Activities
Think Pair Share: Students will discuss
the point of view from which the story is
told by looking for clues that lead them to
their response.
Shared Reading/Jigsaw Reading:
Students will be broken up into small
groups. Longer, more challenging
nonfiction articles on conformity will be
divided among the groups to increase
engagement and comprehension.
Socratic Seminar: “How can being
different be terrifying and empowering at
the same time?”
Standards
RL 7.1 Cite textual evidence to support
analysis of what the text says explicitly
as well as inferences drawn from the
text.
SL7.1 Engage effectively in a range of
collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with diverse
partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and
issues, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
RL 7.6 Analyze how an author develops
and contrasts the points of view of
different characters or narrators in a
text.
RI 7.9 Analyze how two or more authors
writing about the same topic shape their
presentations of key information by
emphasizing different evidence or
advancing different interpretations of
facts.
15
Chapters 10-12
Supplemental Texts / Resources:
Nonfiction articles: How Div e rs ity
M a ke s u s Sm a r te r - Ka th e r ine
P hillip s .
Being Different- Jason G.
Excerpts from Lois Lowry’s Newberry Acceptance Speech 1994
(Lois Lowry’s Memories)
Tasks:
Assessment Task 2
Socratic Seminar
Quiz Chapters 10-12
Chapter Focus Questions:
Vocabulary:
Point of view, omniscient/limited, symbols,
conflict (internal/external)
Scaffolds / Support
T-Charts – Chunking text
Picture Book – The Giver – Chapters 1 0 12
Partner Reading
How does the Receiver treat Jonas? (Ch. 10)
Which senses are involved in Jonas’s perception of the memories? (Ch. 11)
What discovery is Jonas making about language and communication? (Ch. 12)
Journal Responses: Sameness/Diversity (Choice)
1. Write about Sameness, as it exists in our school or community. Write about the
dress and behaviors of different groups you know of. Think of popular clothing,
haircuts, ways of talking, etc. It sometimes seems like people go through
ceremonies to get the same styles. Are people afraid to be different?
2. What advantages might “sameness” produce for contemporary societies? In
what ways do your differences make us distinctly human? Is loss of diversity
worthwhile?
3. Each member of society should be assigned an occupation consistent with his or
her individual skills to prevent unemployment, job dissatisfaction, and
inefficiency. Write one paragraph explaining whether you agree or disagree with
this statement.
16
Chapters 10-12
Textual Evidence in Support of “Role of Receiver being honor or burden” for Performance Task 2
"Jonas," she said, looking down at him, "I apologize to you in particular. I caused you anguish." "I accept your apology," Jonas replied
shakily. "Please come to the stage now." (Chapter 8)
In a firm, commanding voice she announced, "Jonas has been selected to be our next Receiver of Memory."
He saw their faces; the eyes widened in awe.
"Such a selection is very, very rare," the Chief Elder told the audience. (Chapter 8)
"But the Receiver-in-training cannot be observed, cannot be modified. That is stated quite clearly in the rules. He is to be alone, apart,
while he is prepared by the current Receiver for the job which is the most honored in our community."
Then louder, faster. "JONAS. JONAS. JONAS." With the chant, Jonas knew, the community was accepting him and his new role, giving him
life, the way they had given it to the new child Caleb. His heart swelled with gratitude and pride.
But at the same time he was filled with fear. He did not know what his selection meant. He did not know what he was to become. Or what
would become of him. (Chapter 8).
Now, for the first time in his twelve years of life, Jonas felt separate, different. He remembered what the Chief Elder had said: that his
training would be alone and apart. (Chapter 9).
But his training had not yet begun and already, upon leaving the
Auditorium, he felt the apartness. Holding the folder she had given him, he made his way through the throng, looking for his family unit
and for Asher. People moved aside for him. They watched him. He thought he could hear whispers.
"Right! See you!" Asher called back. Once again, there was just a moment when things weren't quite the same, weren't quite as they had
always been through the long friendship. Perhaps he had imagined it. Things couldn't change, with Asher.
"You've been greatly honored," his mother said. "Your father and I are very proud."
"It's the most important job in the community," Father said.
Mother nodded. "This is different. It's not a job, really. I never thought, never expected--" She paused. "There's only one Receiver."
A silence fell over the room. They looked at each other. Finally his mother, rising from the table, said, "You've been greatly honored, Jonas.
Greatly honored."
She looked up when he entered; then, to his surprise, she stood. It was a small thing, the standing; but no one had ever stood
automatically to acknowledge Jonas's presence before.
"Welcome, Receiver of Memory," she said respectfully.
17
"I have been the Receiver for a long time. A very, very long time. You can see that, can't you?" Jonas nodded. The man was wrinkled, and
his eyes, though piercing in their unusual lightness, seemed tired.
The man smiled. He touched the sagging flesh on his own face with amusement. "I am not, actually, as old as I look," he told Jonas. "This
job has aged me. I know I look as if I should be scheduled for release very soon. But actually I have a good deal of time left.
"You may ask questions. I have so little experience in describing this process. It is forbidden to talk of it."
"So I may neglect to make things as clear as I should." The man chuckled. "My job is important and has enormous honor
He leaned back, resting his head against the back of the upholstered chair. "It's the memories of the whole world," he said
with a sigh. "Before you, before me, before the previous Receiver, and generations before him." Jonas frowned. "The whole world?" he asked.
I received all of those, when I was selected. And here in this room, all alone, I re-experience them again and again. It is how wisdom comes.
And how we shape our future."
He rested for a moment, breathing deeply. "I am so weighted with them," he said.
"It's as if ... " The man paused, seeming to search his mind for the right words of description. "It's like going downhill through deep snow on
a sled," he said, finally. "At first it's exhilarating: the speed; the runners, and you slow, you have to push hard to keep going, and--"
But it would have been impossible, anyway. There was no way to describe to his friends what he had experienced there in the Annex room.
How could you describe a sled without describing a hill and snow; and how could you describe a hill and snow to someone who had never
felt height or wind or that feathery, magical cold? (Chapter12).
"But I want them!" Jonas said angrily. "It isn't fair that nothing has color!"
"Not fair?" The Giver looked at Jonas curiously. "Explain what you mean."
"Well ... "Jonas had to stop and think it through. "If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning
and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one?"
He looked down at himself, at the colorless fabric of his clothing.
"But it's all the same, always." (Chapter 12)
But when the conversation turned to other things, Jonas was left, still, with a feeling of frustration that he didn't understand. He found
that he was often angry, now: irrationally angry at his group mates, that they were satisfied with their lives which had none of the vibrance
his own was taking on. And he was angry at himself, that he could not change that for them.
He could still hear it when he opened his eyes and lay anguished on the bed where he received the memories.
"You'll be able to apply for a spouse, Jonas, if you want to. I'll warn you, though, that it will be difficult. Your living arrangements will have
to be different from those of most family units, because the books are forbidden to citizens. You and I are the only ones with access to the
books."
18
The Giver nodded. "I wasn't permitted to share the books with my spouse, that's correct. And there are other difficulties, too. You remember
the rule that says the new Receiver can't talk about his training?"
The Giver nodded. "Lie down," he said. "It's time, I suppose. I can't shield you forever. You'll have to take it all on eventually.
They have never known pain, he thought. The realization made him feel desperately lonely, and he rubbed his throbbing leg. He eventually
slept. Again and again he dreamed of the anguish and the isolation on the forsaken hill.
Jonas entered the Annex room and realized immediately that it was a day when he would be sent away. The Giver was rigid in his chair, his
face in his hands.
"I'll come back tomorrow, sir," he said quickly. Then he hesitated.
"Unless maybe there's something I can do to help."
The Giver looked up at him, his face contorted with suffering.
"Please," he gasped, "take some of the pain." (Chapter 12)
“Me,” Jonas said in a dejected voice. He was not looking forward to the end of his training. (Chapter 18)
Suggested Close Reading Passages
All of those things were in this spacious room, though each was slightly different
from those in his own dwelling. The fabrics on the upholstered chairs and sofa were
slightly thicker and more luxurious; the table legs were not straight like those at
home, but slender and curved, with a small-carved decoration at the foot. The bed,
in an alcove at the far end of the room, was draped with a splendid cloth
embroidered over its entire surface with intricate
Designs. But the most conspicuous difference was the books. In his own dwelling,
there were the necessary reference volumes that each household contained: a
dictionary, and the thick community volume, which contained descriptions of every
office, factory, building, and committee. And the Book of Rules, of course.
Discussion Questions
 What is the gist of this passage?

 What do lines 2- 7 reveal about the position
held by The Giver?
The books in his own dwelling were the only books that Jonas had ever seen. He
had never known that other books existed. But this room's walls were completely
covered by bookcases, filled, which reached to the ceiling. There must have been
hundreds--perhaps thousands--of books, their titles embossed in shiny letters.
Jonas stared at them. He couldn't imagine what the thousands of pages contained.
Could there be rules beyond the rules that governed the community? Could there
be more descriptions of offices and factories and committees?
19
Close read 2
The Importance of Memory- Paul Barker
http://thoughtcatalog.com/paul-barker/2011/05/the-importance-of-memory/
http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/memory2.htm
1. How does the author feel about the importance
of memories? Use two details from the article
to support your response.
2. NB: For close read, you may use annotation
strategies as found in close read for chapter
15. Adjust as you see fit.
20
Chapters 13 - 15
Overview: In chapters 13 – 15 Jonas receives more memories and begins to learn the importance of color in ones life. He also learns
what pain and death are. He feels compassion for The Giver and others for the first time. Jonas begins to realize that he will forever
be apart from his friends and family because of the memories he has acquired.
Instructional Questions
 Why are memories important?
 Why is history important?
 Does the knowledge of history and
memories lead to wisdom?
 How can knowledge of history affect our
present and future?
Learning Activities
 Close Reading: Students will engage in a close
reading experience with Chapter 15
 Shared Reading/Jigsaw Reading:
Students will be broken up into small groups.
Longer, more challenging nonfiction articles on
the importance of history will be divided among
the groups to increase engagement and
comprehension.
Socratic Seminar: “If we have no history, we have
no future.”
Standards
RL.7.1 Cite textual evidence to
support analysis of what the
text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text
RL 7.2 Determine a theme or
central idea of a text and
analyze its development over
the course of the text; provide
an objective summary of the
text.
RL 7.9 Compare and contrast a
fictional portrayal of a time,
place, or character and a
historical account of the same
period as a means of
understanding how authors of
fiction use or alter history.
Supplemental Texts / Resources
Civil War PowerPoint
Excerpt from: The Journal of Rufus Rowe, Witness to the Battle of Fredericksburg (A Dear America
Series)
Nonfiction reading – “The Importance of History”
Vocabulary:
theme, Civil War language:
rebel, Yank(ee), Confederate,
Union,
21
Chapters 13 - 15
Tasks
 Quiz Chapters 13-15
 Chapter Focus Questions
What does it mean that Jonas’s life is no longer ordinary? (Ch. 13)

How did Jonas feel about giving Gabriel a memory? (Ch. 14)
 How is Jonas now a Giver? (Ch. 14)
What did Jonas learn about warfare? (Ch. 15)
Why did the Giver apologize to Jonas? (Ch. 15)
Scaffolds / Support
 Civil War Power point – to provide background
knowledge to students
 T-Charts – Chunking text.
 Reader Response Journal: Families
1. Parents should have to apply for children to prevent burdening
society with children whose parents are unprepared, unwilling or
unable to care for and nurture productive members of society.
Write one paragraph explaining whether you agree or disagree
with this statement. Be sure to make connections to what is
happening in our present day society.
2. The families in The Giver do not live with (or know about) their
grandparents.
Describe your family make up as compared to the family units in
the book. What are the benefits and/or drawbacks to living with
the older generation?
22
Chapters 13-15
Suggested Close
Reading Passage
Chapter 15
(Pages 149-151)
Discussion Questions
Annotation Strategy:
1st Reading – read independently for the gist
2nd Reading – circle unknown words and phrases that you think have a negative feeling attached to them.
3rd Reading – underline words and phrases and details that help establish setting, or how Jonas feels in the setting.
(Mood)
4th Reading – Highlight the words and phrases that help the author build the imagery of the scene.(visual details)
5th Reading – Make notes in the margin summarizing what occurs in each paragraph
Questions for independent/partner work and discussion
How does the Giver’s posture and expression in paragraphs 1-6 on page 118 foreshadow the mood? (Standard RL
7.3)
In paragraph 7, what words and phrases does the author use to establish mood? (Standard RL 7.3)
How does the setting impact the mood? (RL 7.3)
On page 119, paragraphs 8-11, which words or phrases help the author describe the boy in this memory?
Based on the evidence in paragraphs 8-11, draw some conclusions about the boy in the memory.
What is Jonas experiencing in paragraph 12?
How does the phrase “imploring mouth” tell us what is happening to the boy?
How does Jonas exhibit compassion in this memory? What is the textual evidence for this?
What happens to the boy in paragraph 13? What text detail proves that this happened? Explain.
How is Jonas more distanced from the community now when in paragraph 15 he thinks that he “would welcome
death himself”? How did you come to this conclusion?
In paragraph 17, why do you think the Giver asks for forgiveness?
Do you think Jonas could go back to his old way of life now that he has experienced this anguish? Why or why not?
What information in the text leads you to think this?
23
WRITING:
Describe the setting. (RL 7.3)
In paragraphs 10-11 rewrite the two paragraphs in simpler language paying close attention to the words: carnage,
grotesquely, crimson wetness, the ripped shreds of grass and spurt of blood, drenched, coarse cloth. Reread the
new passage to your partner and discuss how the mood changes when the word choice is different.
The True Journal of
Rufus Rowe….Civil
War
In paragraph 14 on page 119, work in pairs to describe the setting, paying close attention to what the horses are
doing.
After reading Chapter 15, develop Jonas’s definition of warfare based on his experiences in this memory.
Rewrite Chapter 15 using your annotations to sequence the main events in the chapter.
How has Jonas’s mood /outlook of life and his community changed after this experience/memory?
24
Chapters 16-18
Overview: J o n a s l e a r n s t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f l o v e , f a m i l y a n d g r a n d p a r e n t s . H e a l s o r e a l i z e d t h a t h i s f r i e n d s
innocent game is the cruel game of war; for this he gets angry with them.
Instructional Questions
Is the world of the Giver, a utopia or
dystopia?
Learning Activities
Shared Reading/Jigsaw
Reading:
Chunking the text
Is it important to know our
grandparents/extended family?
Group discussions
Standards
SL 7.1a Come to discussions prepared, having read
or researched material under study; explicitly draw
on that preparation by
referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue
to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.
SL.7.1b Follow rules for collegial discussions, track
progress toward specific goals and deadlines, and
define individual roles as needed.
SL.7.1c Pose questions that elicit elaboration and
respond to others’ questions and comments with
relevant observations and ideas that bring the
discussion back on topic as needed.
SL.7.1d Acknowledge new information
expressed by others and, when warranted,
modify their own views.
Supplemental Texts / Resources:
“Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut (extension for more advanced readers)
Vocabulary:
Utopia/dystopia, justifiable
25
Chapters 16-18
Tasks
Tasks
4 Step Response to Quote
Socratic Seminar (Grandparents play no important role in our future)
Chapter Focus Questions
What memory represents the theme that in order to appreciate pleasure, one
must also have pain?
Why does Jonas go back to the Giver? (Ch. 16)
What changes have the memories brought about in Jonas? (Ch. 17)
Contrast The Giver’s feelings for Jonas with Mother’s and Father’s feelings for
Jonas. (Ch. 18)
Supports
Jigsaw/small group reading and
discussion.
What does Jonas mean on pp. 125-126, about the way of life of the people in his
memory?
When Jonas mentions risk on p. 126 what does he mean? Is he really talking
about the fire?
Suggested Close Reading Passage
“Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut (extension for more advanced readers
Chapter 17 pages 163-170
Discussion Questions
1. What type of community is portrayed in this
story? Use text details from the story to
support your response.
2. How is this community similar to Jonas’s?
How is it different?
3. Which character reminds you of Jonas? How?
1st Reading – read independently for the gist
2nd Reading – circle unknown words and phrases that
you think have a negative feeling attached to them.
3rd Reading – underline words and phrases and
details that help establish setting, or how the
character feels in the setting? (Setting affects mood)
4th Reading – Highlight the words and phrases that
help the author build the imagery of the scene.(visual
details)
5th Reading – Make notes in the margin summarizing
what occurs in each paragraph
26
Chapters 19-20
Overview: Jonas learns the truth about release and the community members’ roles in the process. He feels betrayed by his family
and friends and their lack of understanding of what they are doing. Jonas wants to withdraw from his family and the community,
The Giver has a plan to help Jonas and help the community change.
Instructional Questions
Learning Activities
How does the theme of euthanasia
connect to the idea of individuality vs.
conformity?
Is euthanasia ever justifiable?
Is the world of the Giver, a utopia or
dystopia?
 Shared Reading/Jigsaw Reading:
Students will be broken up into
small groups. Longer, more
challenging nonfiction articles on
euthanasia/ mercy killings will be
divided among the groups to increase
engagement and comprehension.
 Socratic Seminar – Should
euthanasia (mercy killings) be
legalized in this country? Is
euthanasia ever justifiable?
Supplemental Texts / Resources:
Nonfiction readings on euthanasia: http://www.euthanasia.com/page6.html
“Maynard’s mourners grieve on social media…”- Ralph Ellis, CNN (optional)
Tasks
Tasks
Summative Task (outline and first draft)
  4 Step Response to Quote
 Socratic Seminar
 Chapter Focus Questions
 What foreshadows the knowledge Jonas receives in this chapter? (Ch. 19)
 Why can Jonas lie easily now? (Ch. 20)
Why does the Giver encourage Jonas to watch the Release?
Standards
SL 7.1a Come to discussions prepared, having
read or researched material under study;
explicitly draw on that preparation by
referring to evidence on the topic, text, or
issue to probe and reflect on ideas under
discussion.
SL.7.1b Follow rules for collegial discussions,
track progress toward specific goals and
deadlines, and define individual roles as
needed.
SL.7.1c Pose questions that elicit elaboration
and respond to others’ questions and
comments with relevant observations and
ideas that bring the discussion back on topic
as needed.
SL.7.1d Acknowledge new information
expressed by others and, when warranted,
modify their own views.
Vocabulary:
Euthanasia, mercy killing, utopia/dystopia,
justifiable
Scaffolds / Support
Jigsaw/small group reading and
discussion.
27
Suggested Close Reading
Passage
Discussion Questions
“California, like so many states, is actively planning everyone’s life for them. Not everyone who gets
California to pay doctors to teach
conceived is allowed to be born. Not everyone who becomes a parent will be encouraged to actually
raise his or her child. The school will do it for them beginning at least by age 3. There is a mandatory
teenagers how to die”
kindergarten-before-first-grade bill also awaiting the Governor’s pleasure, AB 1444 by
outgoing Assemblywoman, Joan Buchanan.
http://www.speroforum.com/a/CJ
CUUIJTXM49/75218-California-to-
California follows the national Nutrition for all legislation and school children are instructed in eating
healthy. The Common Core process Trains students for workforce placement when they graduate.
pay-doctors-to-teach-teenagers-
And, now, we are all to be instructed by professionals in how best to die.
how-to-
Now, it’s not your kids or your neighbors being monitored by government lackeys, its you. Do you
want government bureaucrats planning your after retirement years?”
1. What do these lines reveal about the authors attitude toward/about the subject? Use
details from the article to support your response.
28
Chapters 21 - 23
Overview: In chapters 21 – 23 Jonas has to flee the community before the time he and The Giver had planned on because Jonas
learns that Gabriel is going to be released. The community sends search planes after them and Jonas and Gabriel must hide so they
will not be found. Jonas and Gabriel must struggle through nature and the elements in order to survive. The lack of food and
nourishment finally takes a toll on them and their survival hangs in the balance.
Instructional Questions
Learning Activities
Standards
 What questions did Lois Lowry leave
unanswered at the end of the book?
 What are the possible interpretations
of the end of this book?
 Why would an author leave an
ending open to interpretation?
 Think Pair Share: Students will discuss their
interpretations of the ending of the book, looking at
the evidence from Chapter 23 that supports their
reasoning.
 Guided Reading – “The Moth” by Don Marquis –
Teacher will conduct guided reading of the poem for
the whole group.
 Paired Reading/Small Group Discussion –
Students will work with a partner to look at
comparisons/contrasts of the novel to the poem and
to clips from the movie Pleasantville.
RL 7.1 Cite several pieces of
textual evidence to support
analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences
drawn from the text.
SL 7.2 Analyze the main ideas
and supporting details
presented in diverse media and
formats (e.g., visually,
quantitatively, orally) and
explain how the ideas clarify a
topic, text, or issue under
study.
RL 7.5 Analyze how a drama’s
or poem’s form or structure
(e.g., soliloquy, sonnet)
contributes to its meaning
Supplemental Texts / Resources:
“The Moth” by Don Marquis
Pleasantville – the movie
Vocabulary:
interpretation, ambiguous,
incongruent
29
Tasks
 Unit Test
 Summative Task
Scaffolds / Support
Pleasantville – movie clips
Paired Reading
 Chapter Focus Questions
 How does the description of Jonas’s evening meal with his family contrast with
the description of Jonas’s escape? (Ch. 21)
 What incongruous feeling did Jonas have on pages 171-172? (Ch. 22)
 How does the content of Jonas’s memories change as he approaches the summit
of the hill? (Ch. 23)
Summative Task: In The Giver, by Lois Lowry, Jonas's acquisition of memories has a profound impact on his development. Write an
essay in which you explain how Jonas's role as Receiver of Memory impacts his development and how this development contributes
to an overall theme.
30
Chapters 21-23
Textual Evidence in Support of Jonas's Development and Theme for Summative Essay
Jonas reached the opposite side of the river, stopped briefly, and looked back. The community where his entire life had been lived lay
behind him now, sleeping. At dawn, the orderly, disciplined life he had always known would continue again, without him. The life
where nothing was ever unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The life without color, pain, or past.
All of it was new to him. After a life of Sameness and predictability, he was awed by the surprises that lay beyond each curve of the
road. He slowed the bike again and again to look with wonder at wildflowers, to enjoy the throaty warble of a new bird nearby, or
merely to watch the way wind shifted the leaves in the trees. During his twelve years in the community, he had never felt such simple
moments of exquisite happiness.
But when the memory glimpses subsided, he was left with the gnawing, painful emptiness. Jonas remembered, suddenly and grimly,
the time in his childhood when he had been chastised for misusing a word. The word had been "starving." You have never been
starving, he had been told. You will never be starving. Now he was. If he had stayed in the community, he would not be. It was as
simple as that. Once he had yearned for choice. Then, when he had had a choice, he had made the wrong one: the choice to leave.
And now he was starving.
But if he had stayed ...
His thoughts continued. If he had stayed, he would have starved in other ways. He would have lived a life hungry for feelings, for
color, for love.
But he began, suddenly, to feel happy. He began to recall happy times. He remembered his parents and his sister. He remembered
his friends, Asher and Fiona. He remembered The Giver. Memories of joy flooded through him suddenly.
31
Suggested Close Reading Passage
Using his final strength, and a special knowledge that was deep inside him, Jonas found the
sled that was waiting for them at the top of the hill. Numbly his hands fumbled for the rope.
He settled himself on the sled and hugged Gabe close. The hill was steep but the snow was
powdery and soft, and he knew that this time there would be no ice, no fall, no pain. Inside his
freezing body, his heart surged with hope.
They started down.
Jonas felt himself losing consciousness and with his whole being willed himself to stay upright
atop the sled, clutching Gabriel, keeping him safe. The runners sliced through the snow and
the wind whipped at his face as they sped in a straight line through an incision that seemed to
lead to the final destination, the place that he had always felt was waiting, the Elsewhere that
held their future and their past.
He forced his eyes open as they went downward, downward, sliding, and all at once he could
see lights, and he recognized them now. He knew they were shining through the windows of
rooms, that they were the red, blue, and yellow lights that twinkled from trees in places where
families created and kept memories, where they celebrated love. Downward, downward, faster
and faster. Suddenly he was aware with certainty and joy that below, ahead, they were waiting
for him; and that they were waiting, too, for the baby. For the first time, he heard something
that he knew to be music. He heard people singing.
Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he
heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo.
Discussion Questions
 What happens at the end of
the story? Cite evidence from
the text to support your
interpretation.
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Don Marquis
the lesson of the moth
i was talking to a moth
the other evening
he was trying to break into
an electric light bulb
and fry himself on the wires
why do you fellows
pull this stunt i asked him
because it is the conventional
thing for moths or why
if that had been an uncovered
candle instead of an electric
light bulb you would
now be a small unsightly cinder
have you no sense
plenty of it he answered
but at times we get tired
of using it
we get bored with the routine
and crave beauty
and excitement
fire is beautiful
and we know that if we get
too close it will kill us
but what does that matter
it is better to be happy
for a moment
and be burned up with beauty
than to live a long time
and be bored all the while
so we wad all our life up
into one little roll
and then we shoot the roll
that is what life is for
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
our attitude toward life
is come easy go easy
we are like human beings
used to be before they became
too civilized to enjoy themselves
and before i could argue him
out of his philosophy
he went and immolated himself
on a patent cigar lighter
i do not agree with him
myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity
but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself
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Name: _______________________
ELA Grade 7 Unit 1
The Giver
Class: __________
Summative Essay
Your Task: In The Giver, by Lois Lowry, Jonas's acquisition of memories has a profound impact on
his development. Write an essay in which you explain how Jonas's role as Receiver of Memory
impacts his development and how this development contributes to an overall theme.
Possible themes include:
 The relationship between individuality and isolation
 The importance of memory and/or history
 The benefits and drawbacks of freedom of choice
In your response, be sure to:
 Explain how Jonas's role as Receiver of Memory impacts his development
 Explain how Jonas's development contributes to your chosen theme
 Use evidence from the novel that most strongly supports your explanation
 Follow the conventions of Standard English including spelling, capitalization,
punctuation, and grammar
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