Grade 8 English

The Giver, by Lois Lowry

Ch. 13-23 Response Questions

Did you read? The information is in the order it appears in the story.

1. The first memory of pain Jonas received was a sunburn. What is the second, much worse experience with pain The Giver gives him?

2. What is Jonas’ solution for getting Gabriel to sleep through the night?

3. One day, The Giver is in extreme pain, and Jonas takes some of it from him (Chapter 15). What is the extremely painful memory?

4. What is The Giver’s favorite memory, which he shares with Jonas? What does the family in the memory have that Jonas, in his society, does not?

5. What would happen to his memories if Jonas were to fall into the river and drown, accidentally?

6. What is the real, true definition of “Release”?

7. When The Giver was young, he did not have the gift of “seeing beyond”. He had what gift?

8. What is the plan Jonas and The Giver come up with to release the memories back into the community?

9. What goes wrong with the plan?

10. What happens in the last two chapters, and how does the novel end?

Think about what you’ve read. Write at least five sentences for each one!

1. Somehow, you come upon Jonas’s Community…a group of people living peacefully, no poverty, no suffering, no pain, no war. Should you tell them about pain and war and all those bad things, or not? List the arguments for telling them, then list the arguments for not telling them. Then decide whether you’d tell them or not.

2. EXCEPT for the “Release” of babies and others, describe what you think are the worst parts of the society described in this book.

3. Describe the best parts of the society described in this book.

4. Re-read the last two pages of the book. First, decide…Do Jonas and Gabriel reach Elsewhere? Another Community? Is he hallucinating? Do they just die together in the snow? To you, when you read it, what exactly happens? DEFEND your answer by quoting from and referring to the book. To you, is the ending of this book a happy one or a sad one?

5. In a paragraph, tell what the lessons, themes, and messages are that the author would like us to get from this book.