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TheGiver

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The Giver

Bibliographic Information

Lois Lowry. (1993). The Giver. Random House.

ISBN 0440237688

Genre: Science Fiction

Recommended Age

12 +

Summary

Jonas is 12 and is given his lifetime job assignment. He is to be the Receiver of all of the memories of his community. The very old Giver will transfer the community's memories to him. Jonas lives in a utopian community where there is no crime, no pain, and no suffering. As he begins to recieve memories from the Giver, he begins to learn what has been lost by his people in order to establish the total and perfect order in which they live. He learns that once there were families held together by love. He learns about many other things and eventually decides that he must change things. Jonas learns that his society got rid of loneliness, suffering, and hate, but also gave up friendship, joy, and love. The end of this book is ambiguous as to the fate of Jonas, but he succeeded in giving memories back to his people.

Instructional Activities

• Compare this novel to its companion novel Gathering Blue . Make a chart to show similarities and differences.

• Most distinctions between men and women were removed in the Giver's society. Still, some traditions remained in place that differentiated by gender. Have students write about why they might have chosen to retain some distinctions.

• After reading the novel, have students write in a journal about the ending. What do they think happened? Why? Does it matter which ending is true?

• Research utopian communities of the 1800s. Most did not survive. Why not? What are the problems in trying to create the "perfect" society?

• Find the science behind the science fiction. Have students report on the technologies that are part of Jonas' community.

• Write out jobs for a community on slips of paper. Ask students to imagine that they will have to work for the rest of their lives at the job that they are given. Pass out the slips of paper and ask the students to write about how they feel about their job assignment. Do you like your job? Would it be better to choose your own job? What would be a fair way of assigning jobs?