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Copywork
About This Passage
Selected as the hinge moment where Jonas first carries a forbidden question from the Annex into his family dwelling. The tentative opening, the rehearsed delivery, and the physical flush of embarrassment show Lowry turning a small domestic exchange into the doorway of the novel's moral turn.
"Father? Mother?" Jonas asked tentatively after the evening meal. "I have a question I want to ask you." "What is it, Jonas?" his father asked. He made himself say the words, though he felt flushed wi...
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Discussion Questions
Narration Prompt
Retell Chapter 16 in six to eight sentences. Begin with Jonas sitting alone in his dwelling at the opening, move through the Giver's favorite memory of the family holiday, cover the parents' correction of the word "love," and end with Jonas refusing his pill the next morning.
Discussion Questions
- What does Jonas mean when he tells the Giver that the family in the favorite memory seemed "a little more" something he cannot name? How do you know from the text that the Giver understands exactly what Jonas is reaching for?
- Why does the Giver's favorite memory contain the fire in the hearth and the candles on the table, the very things Jonas then says he can "see why those things were outlawed"? What makes you think Lowry pairs love and fire in the same room on purpose?
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Vocabulary Builder
Item 1
In a hesitant or uncertain way, as though testing whether something is safe to try.
Item 2
An uneasy feeling of self-consciousness caused by saying or doing something that feels exposing.
Item 3
Practiced something privately beforehand so that it can be said or done smoothly when the moment comes.
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Critical Thinking
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