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The Giver
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Snow was given up because it made growing food hard, and hills because they slowed the trucks. Were those good enough reasons to let them go?
The tension The sled ride is “breathless glee,” yet the old man explains its loss in a shrug of practical terms (“It wasn't a practical thing”); within minutes the warm sunshine Jonas is basking in begins to sting and burn.
How Jonas's first three memories (the sled, sunshine, sunburn) give him things his community gave up, and what passing them on costs the old man.
The chapter is Jonas's first afternoon of training. He lies on the bed in the Annex with the old man's hands on his back, afraid at first that he might fall asleep. Then the hands turn cold, and so does the air. Soft, cold flakes land on his face and tongue. One part of him is still on the bed; another sits on a hard, flat thing at the top of a long slope, holding a rope, in a whirl of snow. The words come to him as he needs them: snow, sled, hill, runners. The sled carries him down in “breathless glee,” and at the bottom he pushes it on through the piled snow, not wanting the ride to end. He opens his eyes on the bed, having never moved. Asked how he feels, he says he is surprised. The old man is worn out, and says even “that tiny memory” lightened him a little. Jonas is upset to have taken it, but the man laughs: he has a whole world of rides. Jonas wants to go again and steer, but the man says there is no time just to play. Jonas asks why they have no snow, sleds or hills. The memory is very old, the man says, pulled “from many generations back.” Climate Control ended snow because it limited the growing seasons and unpredictable weather made travel almost impossible at times; hills went because they slowed the trucks and buses. Snow was not practical, so it became obsolete with Sameness. Jonas wishes they had those things “Just now and then.” The old man says he does too, but the choice is not theirs. When Jonas speaks of the man's power, the man corrects him: he has honor, and so will Jonas, but honor is not the same as power. Next the man gives a memory without naming it. Jonas lies in warmth that comes from the sky, finds the word sunshine on his own, and is praised. Jonas says he was told the training would hurt, and it did not. The man says he started with pleasure because of a “previous failure”; it will be painful, but it need not be yet. Jonas says he is brave. Since Jonas asked, the man gives one more memory: the sunshine again, but this time hours seem to pass and his skin stings and burns. The man names it sunburn. Jonas says it hurt a lot but he is glad; it was interesting, and he now understands better what it meant that there would be pain. The man does not answer and sends him home. As Jonas thanks him, the man looks “drained, and a little sad.” Jonas says he does not know what to call him, since Jonas is now The Receiver. The man, sitting back down and “terribly weary,” says, “Call me The Giver.”
Before reading, ask the student to describe something they love doing outdoors so that someone who has never done it could feel it. Read aloud from the opening to “He opened his ordinary eyes, and saw that he was still on the bed, that he had not moved at all.” and stop. Ask what Jonas felt, saw and held on the hill. Read on through the old man's answer about hills, which ends on the one word “Sameness,” and stop. Ask the student to list the reasons the old man gives, without judging them yet. Read on to Jonas's “Before Sameness. Before Climate Control,” and ask how the sunshine felt different from the sled. Then read from “There was a question bothering Jonas.” to the end without stopping, so the last memory and the name come as they do for Jonas. At the end, ask what Jonas knows now that he did not know when he lay down. Do not say what later memories hold, or who chose Sameness: the chapter shows neither.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in three parts. First the sled: the cold hands, the flakes on his tongue, the hill, the ride down and the stop in the piled snow. Then the talk: “Surprised,” the tired old man who feels lighter, the laugh, the reasons for Climate Control, the wish for “now and then,” and honor that is not power. Last the sun: the warm memory with no name given, the question about pain, “I'm brave,” the sunburn, the silence, and the new name. Ask for three or four sentences of the student's own for each part.
Imitate the author After copying, the student writes three or four sentences of their own about doing something they love. Ask for one sentence that opens with an -ing phrase and a comma, like “Comprehending all of those things as he sped downward,” and ends with a colon and a list of what made it good. Ask for one sentence that sets two kinds of time side by side with a semicolon, like “only a minute or two; but his other, memory-receiving self felt hours.” Then ask for one short sentence that turns the feeling, like “His skin began to sting.”
Debate Take sides on the last written question. First make two lists together. What snow and hills cost the town, in the old man's words: snow “limited the agricultural periods,” weather made transportation “almost impossible at times,” and hills slowed the trucks and buses. What Jonas found in them: “the speed, the clear cold air, the total silence, the feeling of balance and excitement and peace,” and sunshine that was “pleasurable and comforting.” Let the student decide which list the sunburn belongs on. One side argues the reasons were good enough. The other argues they were not. Each side gives a reason and a line from the chapter, and answers one from the other side. No one may say who chose Sameness or when, that Jonas turns against his community, or what later memories hold: the chapter shows none of these.
Purpose Close with two choices the writer made. First, the memories of the day run in an order: snow and a sled, then sunshine, then the same sunshine turned to a burn. The first snowflakes are described as “pinpricks? No, because they were soft and without pain.” Ask the student why the writer might begin with something that is almost pain and end with something that is. Then read the last lines. All chapter long the narrator has called him “the old man” or “the man.” Ask why the writer saves the name “The Giver” for the end of this day, after the sunburn and the silence. Leave the question open, as the chapter does.
Easier Read aloud together from “Why don't we have snow, and sleds, and hills?” to “that choice is not ours.” Make two lists: the reasons the old man gives, and what Jonas felt on the ride. Talk through the third discussion question (how a happy memory can be a weight) and the fifth (the sunburn), then answer the last written question aloud.
On level Talk through the five discussion questions in order, then have the student write answers to the two written questions in complete sentences, each with a reason and a line from the chapter.
Harder Ask the student to write the last written question as an argument: a claim, the strongest reason against it, and an answer to that reason. Then read the old man's answer when Jonas asks who had sleds when they were young: “It's a very distant memory,” pulled “from many generations back.” Ask whether something can be lost by people who never knew it, and whether that line changes the answer. The answer must not say who chose Sameness or when: the chapter does not say.
1. Before the ride, Jonas had already heard the words snow and sled from the old man. Did he learn what a sled is from those words, or from the ride?Inference
What it asks It asks the student to look at how Jonas comes to know the things on the hill. On the ride, “No voice made an explanation. The experience explained itself to him.” Sled comes to him “abruptly,” and when he thinks the word “mound,” his “new consciousness told him hill.” But later the old man says, “I gave away snow and sled and downhill and runners by telling them to you in advance,” and for the next memory he names nothing, “because I want to test the receiving.” The student decides where the knowing came from: the man's words, or the ride itself. It takes up one part of the last written question: what Jonas now knows about snow and hills that a list of reasons does not hold. The talk should stay on how Jonas learns; it should not turn into a puzzle about how the memories are passed.
From the old man's words. He had named snow and sled before the ride, so the words were already waiting in Jonas's mind. The ride only matched them to something. The old man seems to think so too: he calls the names a giveaway, and he tests Jonas without them next time.
the thing the old man had spoken of
I gave away snow and sled and downhill and runners by telling them to you in advance.
From the ride. Knowing a word is not the same as knowing the thing. Only the ride showed Jonas the cold, the speed and the slope. The old man had even said “downhill” ahead of time, yet sitting at the top of the slope, Jonas first reaches for “mound”; the right word comes only once he is there.
No voice made an explanation. The experience explained itself to him.
Even as he thought the word "mound," his new consciousness told him hill.
A strong answer A strong response might say the words came from the old man: Jonas sees “the thing the old man had spoken of,” and the man himself says, “I gave away snow and sled and downhill and runners by telling them to you in advance.” Another might say the ride taught him: “No voice made an explanation. The experience explained itself to him.” A careful answer may notice that the man had said “downhill,” yet Jonas first thinks “mound”: the word had been given, but it did not come to him until he sat on the hill.
2. Near the bottom of the hill, Jonas pushes the sled forward because he does not want the ride to end. Why does he say only “Surprised” when the old man asks how he feels?Character
What it asks It asks the student to set two moments of Jonas side by side. As the sled slows, he “pushed with his body, moving it forward, not wanting the exhilarating ride to end.” The narrator has called the ride “breathless glee.” Then he opens his eyes on the bed, and when the old man asks, “How do you feel?” Jonas “tried to answer honestly,” and “after a moment” the word he finds is “Surprised.” A few lines later, when he learns the man no longer has the memory, the joy comes out: “But it was such fun!” The student decides why his first honest word is “Surprised.” It takes up one part of the last written question: what the ride gave Jonas, and how much of it he can yet put into words. The talk should not say what Jonas will feel in later memories.
The surprise is bigger than the fun. He felt the cold, the speed and the snow on his tongue, yet when he opens his eyes his body has never left the bed. That is the first thing he meets, so it is the honest answer.
He opened his ordinary eyes, and saw that he was still on the bed, that he had not moved at all.
Jonas sat up and tried to answer honestly.
Joy was the last thing he expected. Everyone had said the training would be painful, and he was scared. So surprise comes first, and the fun first comes out when he thinks he has taken the ride from the old man.
So I was a little scared. But it didn't hurt at all.
But it was such fun! And now you don't have it anymore!
A strong answer A strong response might say the surprise was bigger than the fun: after the whole ride he “saw that he was still on the bed, that he had not moved at all,” and he “tried to answer honestly.” Another might say joy was the last thing he expected, since he had been told the training would hurt: “So I was a little scared. But it didn't hurt at all.” A careful answer may notice that his delight first comes out when he thinks it is gone from the old man: “But it was such fun! And now you don't have it anymore!”
3. Giving Jonas the ride “lightened” the old man a little. How can a happy memory be a weight to carry?Character
What it asks It asks the student to look at what the first memory cost the old man. He wipes his forehead with his sleeve and says, “It was exhausting.” Then he says that giving even “that tiny memory” lightened him “just a little”: “A little weight off this old body.” Jonas sees only a loss: “I took it from you!” The man laughs; he has “a whole world” of rides. The page explains why the giving was exhausting (the memory came “from many generations back”), but not why losing it made him lighter. The student decides how a memory full of joy can be something heavy to carry. It takes up one part of the last written question: what keeping the delight costs the one who keeps it. The talk should keep the old man's tiredness in view, and not treat the ride as only a pleasant scene.
It is the number, not the joy. One ride is light, but he holds so many that he could give them away “a thousand times.” Carrying that many wears on an old man, and one fewer is a little relief.
I have a whole world of them in my memory.
That's right. A little weight off this old body.
A memory is happy for the one who lives it and heavy for the one who only keeps it. Jonas got the ride; the old man held it long after the snow was gone. Jonas thinks he took a treasure, but the man feels he set down a load.
I took it from you!
I think it lightened me just a little.
A strong answer A strong response might say it is the number that weighs: one ride is small, but “I have a whole world of them in my memory,” and losing one is “A little weight off this old body.” Another might say the ride was happy for Jonas, who lived it, and heavy only for the man, who kept it; when Jonas cries, “I took it from you!” the man feels lighter, not robbed. A careful answer may notice that the man keeps two things apart: the giving was “exhausting” because the memory came “from many generations back,” yet giving it away left him lighter.
4. Jonas thinks the old man has “so much power,” and the old man says he has honor instead. Who is closer to the truth?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks the student to weigh the exchange about honor and power. Jonas wishes they still had snow and hills. The old man says, “So do I,” and then, “But that choice is not ours.” Jonas tries again, “since you have so much power—” and the man corrects him “firmly”: he has “great honor,” and so will Jonas, “But you will find that that is not the same as power.” Yet on this same afternoon the man chooses which memories to give, in what order and how many. The student decides who is closer to the truth: Jonas, who sees power, or the man, who says honor. It takes up one part of the last written question: whether anyone in this room can undo the loss of snow and hills. The talk should not say who chose Sameness or when; the chapter says only that the choice “is not ours.”
The old man. He holds every memory, but he cannot bring back one hill. He wishes for the same things Jonas does, and still he cannot have them. Honor means being trusted, not being able to change things.
But that choice is not ours.
But you will find that that is not the same as power.
Jonas, at least in part. Inside this room, the man decides everything Jonas will feel: what comes first, what comes next, and when to stop. That is a kind of power, even if it cannot change the town.
I started you with memories of pleasure.
Since we've entered into the topic of climate, let me give you something else.
A strong answer A strong response might side with the old man: he wishes for snow too, yet he says, “But that choice is not ours,” and “that is not the same as power.” Another might say Jonas is partly right: the man chooses what Jonas feels and when, saying, “I started you with memories of pleasure,” and, “let me give you something else.” A careful answer may notice that the man says Jonas will have the same honor, “So will you,” so the answer is also about the job Jonas has just begun.
5. The old man tells Jonas the training “need not be painful yet.” So why does he end the day with a memory that burns?Character
What it asks It asks the student to look at a choice that seems to go against the old man's own words. Jonas asks why the training did not hurt. The man sighs, says, “I started you with memories of pleasure,” and then, “it will be painful. But it need not be painful yet.” Jonas answers, “I'm brave. I really am.” The man looks at him “for a moment,” says, “I can see that,” and, “since you asked the question,” gives one more. It begins as the same sunshine Jonas found “pleasurable and comforting.” This time hours seem to pass, his skin stings, and a sharp pain comes when he bends his arm. The student decides why the man, who chose to begin with pleasure, gives Jonas a hurt that same afternoon. It takes up one part of the last written question: that the same weather that gives delight can also hurt. The talk should stay on the sunburn; it should not say what pain may come in later memories, or what the man's “previous failure” was.
Jonas asked for it. He asked why nothing hurt, and then said he was brave. The man takes him at his word and answers the question with something true: a hurt Jonas can get through.
Well, since you asked the question—I think I have enough energy for one more transmission.
it will be painful. But it need not be painful yet.
To show that a good thing can hurt. He does not give Jonas a new, painful memory. He gives the same warm sun Jonas liked, and lets it last until it burns. The hurt grows out of the good thing itself.
then he felt the warmth again, the sunshine again
his other, memory-receiving self felt hours pass in the sun.
A strong answer A strong response might say Jonas asked for it: he asked why nothing hurt and said, “I'm brave. I really am,” and the man gives the memory “since you asked the question.” Another might say he is showing that the gift itself can hurt: the memory starts as “the warmth again, the sunshine again,” and the hurt comes only after Jonas's “memory-receiving self felt hours pass in the sun.” A careful answer may notice that the man looked at Jonas “for a moment” before he chose, as if he were weighing how brave Jonas really is.
1. Jonas says the sunburn was “interesting,” and the old man does not answer. What keeps him quiet?
What it asks It asks the student to read a silence. Jonas says, “It hurt a lot,” but he is glad: “I'm glad you gave it to me. It was interesting. And now I understand better, what it meant, that there would be pain.” Then “The man didn't respond. He sat silently for a second.” He sends Jonas home. When Jonas thanks him for his first day, the man looks “drained, and a little sad,” and he seems “terribly weary.” The student decides what keeps the old man quiet, and writes it with a reason from the chapter. It takes up one part of the last written question: what passing on these memories costs the giver, and whether Jonas yet knows what they hold. The card should not say what later memories hold; the chapter says only “it will be painful.”
He is worn out. He gave three memories in one afternoon, and before the third he had to be sure he had “enough energy” for it. He has nothing left to say, only “Get up, now.”
He seemed terribly weary.
He moved his shoulders around as if to ease away an aching sensation.
Jonas's words make him sad. Jonas calls a hurt “interesting” and thinks he now understands pain. The man, who sighed when Jonas first asked about pain, does not agree, and he does not say so.
I'm glad you gave it to me. It was interesting.
He looked drained, and a little sad.
A strong answer A strong response might say he is too tired to talk: “He seemed terribly weary,” and he “moved his shoulders around as if to ease away an aching sensation.” Another might say Jonas's words make him sad: Jonas says, “I'm glad you gave it to me. It was interesting,” and the man looks “drained, and a little sad.” A careful answer may notice that the man said earlier, “it will be painful,” and that Jonas now thinks he understands “better”; the silence leaves open whether he does.
2. Snow was given up because it made growing food hard, and hills because they slowed the trucks. Were those good enough reasons to let them go?
What it asks This is the last question the student meets, and it gathers the earlier ones. The old man gives real reasons: snow “limited the agricultural periods,” weather made transportation “almost impossible at times,” and hills slowed the trucks and buses. Then he waves his hand “as if a gesture had caused hills to disappear,” and says one word: “Sameness.” Snow “wasn't a practical thing,” so “it became obsolete.” Against those reasons stand the ride's “breathless glee,” Jonas pushing the sled on, “not wanting the exhilarating ride to end,” and the sunshine he found “pleasurable and comforting.” The same afternoon also shows that sunshine can burn. Jonas says only, “I wish we had those things, still. Just now and then,” and the old man says, “So do I.” The student decides whether the reasons were good enough, and defends it. The chapter does not say who chose Sameness or when, and it does not show Jonas turning against his community; no answer may claim either, or say what pain is still to come.
No. The reasons are about growing food and moving goods, and they leave out what the ride was: speed, cold air, silence, balance, excitement and peace. The old man says snow was not “practical,” as if that were the only test. Even he wishes they still had it.
It wasn't a practical thing, so it became obsolete when we went to Sameness.
not wanting the exhilarating ride to end
Yes. Food and travel matter to everyone, every day; a sled ride is a joy for a few minutes. The day ends by showing that the same weather that delights can also hurt. Losing snow and hills means longer growing times and trucks that keep moving.
Snow made growing food difficult, limited the agricultural periods.
His skin began to sting.
A strong answer A strong response takes a position and tests it. A student might argue the reasons were not good enough: snow went because “It wasn't a practical thing,” yet the ride gave Jonas joy so strong that he pushed on, “not wanting the exhilarating ride to end.” Another might argue they were good enough: “Snow made growing food difficult, limited the agricultural periods,” and the day's last memory, where “His skin began to sting,” shows that the sun Jonas loved can also hurt. A careful answer may test Jonas's own middle way, “Just now and then,” against each reason before deciding.