The Giver
by Lois Lowry
Name_______________________________
English 8 – Period________
Miss Hugus
The Giver
Reading Assignments
CHAPTERS
PAGE NUMBERS
1-2
1-19
3-5
20-39
6-7
40-58
8-9
59-71
10-11
72-87
12-13
88-107
14-15
108-120
16-17
121-138
18-20
139-162
21-23
163-180
2|Page
Pre-reading Activity
Circle your response to show whether you agree or disagree with each statement.
agree
disagree
1. Memories play an important role in your life and who you are.
agree
disagree
2. Sometimes it is okay to lie.
agree
disagree
3. Life would be better if there were no pain or bad memories.
agree
disagree
4. We don’t really need to study history; we should focus on the future.
agree
disagree
5. Ignorance is bliss.
agree
disagree
6. It is better to be safe than free.
agree
disagree
7. Sometimes there are just too many choices to make, and it would be easier if
someone made the choices for us.
agree
disagree
8. The good of the group is more important than the good of the individual.
3|Page
KEY CONCEPTS
Significance of Character Names
Jonas-
Lily-
Rosemary-
Gabriel-
Utopia/Dystopia
4|Page
Vocabulary-Choose ten words in the novel that are unfamiliar to you.
Look up each word in the dictionary and write the definition and part of speech for how it is used in the
context of the novel. Then use each word in a sentence showing that you understand the meaning.
1. _________________________
POS ____________________
Definition ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Sentence ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________
POS ____________________
Definition ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Sentence ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
3. _________________________
POS ____________________
Definition ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Sentence ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
4. _________________________
POS ____________________
Definition ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Sentence ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
5. _________________________
POS ____________________
Definition ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Sentence ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
5|Page
6. _________________________
POS ____________________
Definition ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Sentence ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
7. _________________________
POS ____________________
Definition ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Sentence ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
8. _________________________
POS ____________________
Definition ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Sentence ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
9. _________________________
POS ____________________
Definition ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Sentence ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
10. _________________________
POS ____________________
Definition ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Sentence ________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
6|Page
Section 1/Chapters 1-5/Pages 1-39
Jonas and His World
Chapters 1 – 2
1. What do you imagine it means when someone is “released”?
2. What are some clues that Jonas’s community is different from the one in which you live?
3. Most people seem to accept that the rule about learning to ride a bicycle is often broken. Why do you
think this is so? Are there similar rules in our society that are routinely “broken”?
4. How is Jonas like or unlike Lily? His father and mother? Asher?
Chapters 3 – 5
1. How would you feel to be watched all the time, the way Jonas is?
2. Do you think it says something about Jonas that he sees the apple change?
3. Jonas’s community has a lot of rules. Do you think that’s a good thing or a bad thing? Why?
4. Why was Jonas slightly embarrassed about telling his dream?
5. How important is sameness in Jonas’s community? How important is it in our community?
7|Page
Section 2/Chapters 6-9/Pages 40-71
Rites and Rituals
Chapters 6 – 7
1. What do you think of how families in Jonas’s community are formed?
2. The Chief Elder says, “Today we honor your differences. They have determined your futures.” Does
the society value difference or sameness? What clues help you decide?
3. Why do you think it’s important to be precise about language in this society? How important is it in
our society?
4. How would you feel if you were in Jonas’s shoes and the Chief Elder skipped right over you when she
was making Assignments?
Chapters 8 – 9
1. What do you think Jonas’s Capacity to See Beyond is?
2. “He was so completely, so thoroughly accustomed to courtesy within the community.” (page 69) How
does the careful use of language affect people’s behavior? Their feelings?
3. How does the author use foreshadowing to create a sense of foreboding and suspense? Why does the
author use so much detail in describing the Ceremonies?
4. Why does Jonas find the final rule in his instructions, “You may lie,” so unsettling?
8|Page
Describing Ages
In Jonas’s community, each age group seems to have specific characteristics that help identify the group.
For each age group below, list the characteristics, changes, or events which take place.
Ones
Eights
Threes
Nines
Fours, Fives, and Sixes
Tens
Sevens
Elevens
Twelves
9|Page
Section 3/Chapters 10-15/Pages 72-120
Memories and Feelings
Chapters 10 – 11
1. What do you think it means to live in a place where no doors are ever locked?
2. Why have memories been eliminated for everyone else?
3. What does The Giver mean when he says that the society “went to Sameness”? (page 84) Is
“Sameness” the absence of difference?
Chapters 12 – 13
1. Imagine a world without color. What color would you miss most?
2. What value, if any, is there to Sameness?
3. Do you agree with Jonas that people have to be protected from wrong choices?
4. As Jonas continues his training, he often finds himself angry with his groupmates and his family.
Why?
Chapters 14 – 15
1. Do you agree that painful memories are made easier when they are shared?
2. Do you think it’s fair that one person in the community – The Receiver – should have to be burdened
and pained by memories so that no one else is?
3. Why do you think The Giver asks Jonas to forgive him?
10 | P a g e
Section 4/Chapters 16-20/Pages 121-162
Questions and Decisions
Chapters 16 – 17
1. Do you think Jonas’s parents love him? Do you think they know what love is?
2. Do you agree with Jonas that things could be different? How?
3. Why didn’t the game of good guys and bad guys that Jonas’s friends play seem harmless to Jonas
anymore? Should Jonas have asked them to stop playing it? Why or why not?
Chapters 18 – 20
1. What do you think of what Jonas’s community calls “release”? Were you surprised at what it was?
2. How do you think this new knowledge will affect Jonas?
3. Jonas knows that if his plan fails, he could be killed. But he believes that if he stays, his life is no
longer worth living. Do you agree?
4. Do you think The Giver should go with Jonas or stay? Why?
11 | P a g e
Section 5/Chapters 21-23/Pages 163-180
escape to freedom
Chapters 21 – 23
1. How does Jonas show that he understands that the meaning of everything is to care about others?
2. Why is the community so desperate to get Jonas back?
3. Although most of the memories have left Jonas, the feelings have not. Why do you think that is?
4. How do you think the story ends?
12 | P a g e