The GiverName______

Reader / Writer Questions Period ____ Date ______

Second Set

Responding to literature as a READER

Choose 5 “as a reader” questions and respond to them in your spiral. Remember that many questions have more than one part. Make sure you respond to all of the parts of the question. Please restate the question in your answer.

  1. Chap. 9, Page 67-8[1]: Consider the failed Receiver. Is it fair to put such a heavy collective burden on the shoulders of an eleven year old?
  2. Chap. 9 & 12, Page 71 & 89: What are the ramifications (consequences) of believing that no one lies, when in fact some people do? How does that affect the society?
  3. Chap. 11, Page 82-4: Explain the symbolism of the sled image.
  4. Chap. 11, Page 84: Do the benefits of sameness outweigh the benefits of variation?
  5. Chap. 11, Page 84: How are honor and power different? How is that difference relevant to this part of the book?
  6. Chap. 10: The narrator describes the Giver’s weariness and sadness. How does these descriptions affect you as a reader?
  7. Chap. 13, Page 102: Books are forbidden. What might books symbolize? Explain.
  8. Chap. 13, Page 103: Why keep the Giver/Receiver around if the community doesn’t use his wisdom, i.e. memories, very often?
  9. Chap. 14, Page 111: Jonas and the Giver are expected to be able to make better decisions for the community based on their memories. Such decisions are called public policy decisions. What have you learned about history or your own experience that could help you make good public policy decisions, i.e. decisions about health care, or education or war?
  10. Chap. 14, Page 113: “ ‘The decision was made long before my time or yours,’ The Giver said, ‘and before the previous Receiver, and –‘ He waited. ‘Back and back and back.’ Jonas repeated the familiar phrase. Sometimes it had seemed humorous to him. Sometimes it had seemed meaningful and important. Now it was ominous. It meant, he knew, that nothing could be changed.” What is frightening and attractive about that?
  11. Chap. 14, Page 114: Why don’t characters question what happens to people in Elsewhere or when they are released? Why don’t they ask why? What stamps out that innate instinct to wonder why?
  12. Chap. 14, Page 115: Why does Jonas volunteer to take care of Gabriel at night? Would you? What does that choice suggest about his growth?
  13. Chap. 16, Page 123: If you had to pass on a favorite memory, what would it be?
  14. Chap. 16, Page 125: Why or why not is extended family important? (Extended family is your grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.)
  15. Chap. 16, Page 127: Jonas asks his parents if they love him. They reprimand him for this question. Is love meaningless in this society? Is it really meaningless? How is love threatening to their community—why might they be afraid of it?
  16. Chap 16, Page 128: Is Jonas doing the right thing by disobeying the community’s order to take the pills to prevent “stirrings?” Explain.
  17. Chap. 17, Page 132 What’s ironic about Lily and Mother’s expressions of anger and sadness in this community that values so-called precise language?
  18. Chapter 17: Are children’s war games (cops and robbers or kill the bad guy video games) healthy? Do they serve an important purpose? Are some games better or worse than others? Explain.
  19. Chap. 17, Page 135: Define inefficacy. Define powerlessness. Do these terms apply to Jonas? Argue both point of views by explaining the reasons why they do apply and why these terms don’t apply. Cite evidence
  20. Chap. 18, Page 140: How does referring to a person by name versus a title affect how you perceive him or her? Think of Rosemary?
  21. Chap. 20, The Giver describes Fiona in this way: “She’s very efficient at her work, your red-haired friend. Feelings are not part of the life she’s learned.” Explain the significance of this statement about feelings.
  22. Chp. 20, Page 154: What memories are so important to you that you shouldn’t forget them. Are they painful? Peaceful? Exciting?
  23. What do you think happened to Jonas and Gabriel? Do they make it to Elsewhere? Is Jonas hallucinating or dead?

Responding to literature as a WRITER

Choose 5 “as a writer” questions and respond to them in your spiral as well. Make sure you respond to all of the parts of the question. Please restate the question in your answer.

  1. Chap. 9, Page 68: Examine the rules of Jonas’s job. What impact do the rules have on you as a reader? Contrast that with the Elders’ explanation of the honor accorded the Receiver of Memory.
  2. Chap. 12, Page 95: Jonas declares that the community shouldn’t have made everything the same. How does the author lead you to agree with Jonas and the Giver?
  3. Chap 13, Pp. 97-99 Safety versus freedom to choose: Why is safety attractive? Why is freedom of choice important? How does the author suggest that choice is far more important that safety?
  4. Chap 13, Page 105: How does Lowry make the reader increasingly uncomfortable with this society without ever criticizing it outright?
  5. Chap. 16, Page 123: What is the Giver’s favorite memory? Why would Lowry choose this memory as that character’s favorite? How does this choice the author made affect readers?
  6. Describe the structure of chapter 16. What impact does this chapter’s setup have on you?
  7. Chap. 19 (page 146): What did you expect release to be? How does Lowry shape the reader’s expectations of what release is like in this chapter and in earlier ones?
  8. Chap. 23: Define ambiguous. Why does the Lois Lowry write an ambiguous ending? What effect does it have on you as a reader?

L. Clark-Burnell, December 2002

[1] Page numbers: The first number is for the paperback edition published by Bantam Doubleday Dell Books in 1994. Chapter number are the same for both the paperback edition and the hardback novel loaned to students by the school and published by McDougal Littell.