Chapter 12 · The Giver

Copywork

He was left, upon awakening, with the feeling that he wanted, even somehow needed, to reach the something that waited in the distance. The feeling that it was good. That it was welcoming. That it was significant.

The Giver looked startled at the certainty of Jonas's reaction. Then he smiled wryly.

First The Giver looks startled, and then he smiles. What do you think went through his mind in between?

For the educator Two passages: the morning after Jonas's dream, and The Giver's answer to “We shouldn't have!” The first is a whole paragraph; the second is the start of one. In the first passage, the long first sentence sets off two interrupters with a comma on each side: “upon awakening” and “even somehow needed.” Then come three short pieces that are not full sentences. Each one adds a word for the feeling: good, then welcoming, then significant. Each still starts with a capital and ends with a period, so the student copies them as the writer set them down. The second passage is two short sentences, and it holds two vocabulary words, “certainty” and “wryly.” In “Jonas's reaction” the apostrophe and s show that the reaction belongs to Jonas. The first sentence shows The Giver's face; the second opens with “Then,” which marks the turn from one look to the next. The talk prompt asks what went through The Giver's mind between the two looks; the book gives his face, not his thoughts. One student may hear him pleased: Jonas sees what he sees. Another may hear something drier: he remembers how long it took him, and doubts it can be that quick. Either answer can stand if the student points to “startled” or “wryly.” Keep the talk on the two looks: what The Giver says next belongs to the last written question. Do not say what the something in the dream is: the chapter says Jonas “could not grasp what.”

Discussion

Narration Tell back the chapter in order. Start at breakfast, when Jonas's mother asks about his dreams. Stop where The Giver says he will give Jonas a memory of a rainbow.

When his mother asks, “No dreams?” Jonas smiles and nods. Was that nod a lie? Moral reasoning
The book says it was “easy” for Jonas to be still and listen. Do you believe it was easy? Inference
Fiona tells Jonas they use a discipline wand on the Old. How does she feel about that? Character
The Giver jokes that hair like Fiona's must drive the scientists crazy. Would you laugh along with him? Tone

Make a Connection Think of a time you made up your mind right away, and someone older was much slower to decide. What did each of you see that the other did not?

Vocabulary

fretful: "He's so fretful at night." Fussy, restless and hard to calm.
admonition: He was very aware of his own admonition not to discuss his training. A firm warning about what not to do, like the rule on Jonas's sheet.
fleeting: This time it had been Fiona who had undergone that fleeting indescribable change. Lasting only a moment before it is gone.
phenomenon: Then the moment on the stage, when he had looked out and seen the same phenomenon in the faces of the crowd. Something seen to happen, especially something hard to explain.
vibrant: Probably when you saw the faces take on color it wasn't as deep or vibrant as the apple, or your friend's hair. Bright, strong and full of life, as the red of the apple is.
relinquish: We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with differences. Give something up or let it go, often for good.
certainty: The Giver looked startled at the certainty of Jonas's reaction. Being completely sure, with no doubt at all.
wryly: Then he smiled wryly. With dry humor, half amused and half serious.

Critical thinking

Fiona's hair is red, but she cannot see red. Is that a loss for her, if she does not know what she is missing?
Jonas decides in a moment that giving up color was wrong, while it took The Giver “many years.” Is it a good thing that Jonas made up his mind so quickly?