Chapter 18 — Teaching Companion

What it asks It asks the student to hear a laugh that is not a happy one. Jonas points out that he can't request release either: “It was in my rules.” The Giver “laughed harshly” and says the rules were “hammered out” after the failure ten years ago. A little later he adds, “It's in your rules, Jonas. But it wasn't in hers.” At the start of the same talk he has said that he sometimes wishes he could put in a request for his own release, and that he is “not permitted” to until the new Receiver is trained. The student works out what the laugh is aimed at. It takes up one part of the last written question: Rosemary had a choice that Jonas, and The Giver, do not have. Do not say what release is; the chapter says only that she asked for it and that The Giver never saw her again.

One reading

At the rules. They were written only after Rosemary was gone, too late to change anything for her, and now they bind Jonas. The Giver knows a rule cannot undo what happened.

• They hammered out those rules after the failure ten years ago.
• It's in your rules, Jonas. But it wasn't in hers.

Another reading

At his own place. He has just said he sometimes wishes he could ask for release, and he is not allowed to either. The rule Jonas recites so simply is one The Giver lives under, and it was made because of the day he lost Rosemary.

• I wish I could put in a request for it, sometimes. But I'm not permitted to do that until the new Receiver is trained.
• The Giver laughed harshly.

Listen for

• Notices the word “harshly”: this is not a happy laugh.
• Uses “hammered out” or “after the failure ten years ago.”
• Connects the laugh to The Giver's own wish for release, or to Rosemary.
• Does not say what release is.

If stuck

• When were the rules about release made?
• What did The Giver say, a little earlier, about his own release?
• Have you ever laughed at something that was not funny at all?

A strong answer A strong response might say The Giver is laughing at the rules: they were “hammered out” only after the failure, and he tells Jonas, “It's in your rules, Jonas. But it wasn't in hers.” Another might say he is laughing at his own place: he has just said he wishes he could put in a request for release, sometimes, and he is “not permitted.” A careful answer may notice that both readings lead back to Rosemary, whose rules did not stop her.

What it asks It asks the student to hear The Giver stop his story to speak to Jonas. He has just said her name, after he “hesitated painfully.” He reminds Jonas of his favorite memory, which he told Jonas was love: “You can understand, then, that that's what I felt for Rosemary,” he says. “I loved her.” Then: “I feel it for you, too.” Right after, he tells how he had to give her pain, “the way I've had to do it to you.” The student works out why he says this here, before the hardest part of the story. It takes up one part of the last written question: “the failure” was someone The Giver loved, and he is training Jonas the same way. Do not say who Rosemary was to The Giver beyond the love he names.

One reading

So Jonas can measure the loss. The Giver ties it to a memory Jonas has felt himself. His voice fails when he goes on.

• You can understand, then, that that's what I felt for Rosemary,
• His voice faltered and trailed off.

Another reading

Because he fears it could happen again. He gives Jonas pain as he gave it to her, and he loves Jonas as he loved her.

• It was what I had to do, the way I've had to do it to you.
• But she was like you, Jonas.

Listen for

• Notices that The Giver points back to the favorite memory he called love.
• Uses “I feel it for you, too,” and what he says next about giving pain to both of them.
• Does not add facts about Rosemary beyond what this chapter gives.

If stuck

• Which memory does The Giver remind Jonas of, just before he says he loved her?
• What does The Giver say he had to do to Rosemary, and to Jonas?
• Why might someone tell you they love you just before they tell you something hard?

A strong answer A strong response might say The Giver wants Jonas to know how much he lost: “that's what I felt for Rosemary,” and soon “His voice faltered and trailed off.” Another might say he fears losing Jonas the same way: he gave her pain “the way I've had to do it to you,” and he tells Jonas, “But she was like you, Jonas.” A careful answer may notice that the line turns “the failure” into a person The Giver loved.

What it asks It asks the student to picture a change The Giver saw but never names. On her first day Rosemary listened carefully: “Her eyes were very luminous, I remember.” Her first weeks were happy ones: a merry-go-round, a kitten, a picnic. Then he gave her loneliness and loss, starting with a memory of a little one taken from its family, and “She appeared stunned at its end.” He backed off and gave her more little delights. “But everything changed, once she knew about pain. I could see it in her eyes.” The student imagines what was in her eyes after that, and checks it against what she did next: she insisted that he continue and not spare her. It takes up one part of the last written question: what changed in Rosemary between her happy first weeks and her last afternoon. Do not say why she chose release; her reason is never spoken.

One reading

Sorrow. The light he remembers is gone, and the little delights cannot bring it back. By her last afternoon the laughter has gone too.

• She appeared stunned at its end.
• But the times of laughter were gone by then.

Another reading

Something firmer than sorrow. She knows now what the job will cost, and she does not back away. She tells him to keep going and not to spare her.

• But everything changed, once she knew about pain. I could see it in her eyes.
• She insisted that I continue, that I not spare her. She said it was her duty.

Listen for

• Sets the “very luminous” eyes of her first day beside the change he saw later.
• Uses the first hard memory, the little one taken from its family, and the word “stunned.”
• Uses what Rosemary asked for next: that he continue, that he not spare her.
• Does not give a reason for her choice; the chapter never says it.

If stuck

• What were the first memories The Giver gave her?
• What was the first hard memory, and how did she look at its end?
• Can you see in someone's eyes that they have changed?

A strong answer A strong response might say he saw sorrow: she was “stunned” by the first hard memory, and by her last afternoon “the times of laughter were gone.” Another might say he saw something firm: right after, The Giver tells how she “insisted that I continue, that I not spare her,” and called it “her duty.” A careful answer may notice that both can be true at once, and that The Giver says only “everything changed,” leaving the reader to look into her eyes with him.

What it asks It asks the student to test Jonas's verdict against the story he has just heard. Of Rosemary, The Giver says, “I had to, Jonas. It was my job. And she had been chosen.” Minutes later Jonas sees that “it saddened The Giver very deeply,” decides it “didn't seem such a terrible thing, after all,” and is sure he “would never have done it,” because “he had been chosen.” Being chosen did not keep Rosemary. Yet Jonas has carried “a whole year's worth of memories,” and she had five weeks. The student decides whether his certainty holds, and what it rests on. This is the fault line under the last written question. Do not settle that Jonas is wrong or right; keep his verdict beside The Giver's grief.

One reading

His certainty is earned. He has already borne a whole year of memories, and Rosemary had only five weeks, most of them good. He knows what the training costs, and he has kept going.

• He had a whole year's worth of memories now.
• Rosemary had only those five weeks worth, and most of them were good ones.

Another reading

He is leaning on a reason the community gave him, the same one that did not keep Rosemary. He sees The Giver's sorrow and sets it aside.

• I had to, Jonas. It was my job. And she had been chosen.
• It was obvious that it saddened The Giver very deeply. But it didn't seem such a terrible thing, after all.

Listen for

• Finds both lines: The Giver's “And she had been chosen” and Jonas's “he had been chosen.”
• Uses Jonas's year of memories, or Rosemary's five weeks.
• Keeps The Giver's grief in view; does not simply call Jonas cold, or simply right.

If stuck

• What reason does Jonas give himself for never doing what she did?
• What did The Giver say about Rosemary, just before her last afternoon?
• Can a reason that did not hold one person still hold another?

A strong answer A strong response might say Jonas has earned his certainty: he has “a whole year's worth of memories now,” while “Rosemary had only those five weeks worth.” Another might say he leans on a reason that did not keep her, since The Giver said, “And she had been chosen.” A careful answer may notice that Jonas cannot ask for release anyway (“It was in my rules”), so his “never” has not been tested. It may also notice that Rosemary “had begun to seem real” to Jonas only minutes before, and he judges her anyway.

What it asks It asks the student to notice that the writer has The Giver say the same thing twice. Jonas imagines falling into the river like Caleb, runs on with what-ifs, and laughs: “I sound like my sister, Lily.” The Giver looks at him “gravely” and says, “You just stay away from the river, my friend,” because losing Rosemary after five weeks “was a disaster” for the community. He explains, “Memories are forever”: when she was gone, her memories came back to the people and overwhelmed them. Then he goes quiet, thinking, and says, “If you floated off in the river, I suppose I could help the whole community the way I've helped you. It's an interesting concept. I need to think about it some more.” And again: “But stay away from the river.” He laughs a little, “but the laughter was not lighthearted,” and his eyes are “very troubled.” The student decides what has changed for The Giver between the two warnings. It takes up one part of the last written question: what losing a Receiver means, and the thought it plants in The Giver. Do not say The Giver has a plan; he says he needs to think about it.

One reading

Nothing has changed in what he wants. Both times he is afraid of losing Jonas, the way he lost Rosemary. The new thought only shows him more clearly what losing Jonas would mean.

• I don't know what the community would do if they lost you.
• I'm glad you're a good swimmer, Jonas.

Another reading

The second time he is warning himself too. He has just seen that Jonas's memories would go back to the people, and that he might help them through it. The thought troubles him, and the warning puts it away for now.

• It's an interesting concept. I need to think about it some more. Maybe we'll talk about it again sometime. But not now.
• His thoughts seemed to be elsewhere, and his eyes were very troubled.

Listen for

• Finds both warnings and what comes between them.
• Uses “Memories are forever,” or what happened to the people when Rosemary was gone.
• Notices the laugh that “was not lighthearted” and the troubled eyes.
• Does not say The Giver has a plan; he calls it “an interesting concept.”

If stuck

• Why does Jonas laugh at his own river idea?
• What does The Giver say would happen to Jonas's memories if he were lost?
• Can you say the same words twice and mean something new?

A strong answer A strong response might say nothing has changed in what The Giver wants: both times he fears losing Jonas, and he says, “I don't know what the community would do if they lost you.” Another might say the second warning holds a new thought: he has just said he “could help the whole community the way I've helped you,” and then his laugh “was not lighthearted” and his eyes were “very troubled.” A careful answer may notice that the daydream Jonas laughed at is what set The Giver thinking.

What it asks It asks the student to decide, in writing, who failed. Jonas has heard “again and again” about “the previous failure,” and when the story ends he thinks, “So that was the failure.” The word lands on Rosemary. But the chapter lets others share it. The Giver speaks of his “own feeling of failure”: “I was so devastated by my own grief at her loss, and my own feeling of failure, that I didn't even try to help them through it. I was angry, too.” When Rosemary asked, “they had to give it to her,” because her rules did not forbid it. And the people, who had “never experienced that before,” were overwhelmed by the memories that came back. The student names who failed, or argues that no one did, and backs it with lines from the chapter. It takes up one part of the last written question: if her request was not simply a failure, it may be something else. Do not settle whether Rosemary was weak or brave; that is the last question. Do not say what release is.

One reading

The Giver's, by his own account. He gave her the hard memories, and when she was gone he was too full of grief and anger to help the people, who had never felt such things. He is the one who uses the word about himself.

• I was so devastated by my own grief at her loss, and my own feeling of failure, that I didn't even try to help them through it. I was angry, too.
• It broke my heart, Jonas, to transfer pain to her. But it was my job.

Another reading

The community's. Its way of life left the people no way to bear feelings, so five weeks of memories were a disaster. Its rules for Rosemary did not stop her, so new ones were made afterward, for Jonas.

• For a while they overwhelmed the community. All those feelings! They'd never experienced that before.
• They hammered out those rules after the failure ten years ago.

Listen for

• Names who failed, or argues that no one did, and gives a reason.
• Uses The Giver's own words, “my own feeling of failure.”
• Uses what happened to the people when the memories came back.
• Writes in complete sentences, with a reason and a line from the chapter; does not say what release is.

If stuck

• What happened to the people after Rosemary was gone?
• What does The Giver say he did, or did not do, then?
• Can a word like “failure” stick to the wrong person?

A strong answer A strong response might argue it was The Giver's failure, as he himself feels it: he was “so devastated” by grief and anger that he “didn't even try to help them through it.” Another might argue it was the community's: the people had “never experienced that before,” and the rules were only “hammered out” afterward. A student may also argue the word fits Rosemary, since she left after five weeks; a careful answer weighs that against her asking for “more difficult memories” and insisting she not be spared.

What it asks This is the last question the student meets, and it gathers the earlier ones: what The Giver is laughing at when Jonas recites his rules, why he tells Jonas he loves him in the middle of Rosemary's story, what he saw in her eyes once she knew about pain, whether Jonas is right to be so sure he would never have done what she did, what has changed for The Giver by the second river warning, and whose failure “the failure” was. Now the student judges Rosemary's choice itself. Jonas asks, “She wasn't brave enough?” and “The Giver didn't respond to the question.” What he says next is that she insisted he continue and not spare her, and that she said it was her duty. On her last afternoon she stood up “as if she were making a decision,” kissed his cheek, and went straight to the Chief Elder. Jonas, listening, decides he would never have done it. The student decides whether the request was weak or brave and defends it in writing. Do not settle it for them. No answer may say what release is, that Rosemary knew what it would mean, or why exactly she chose it; the chapter never says.

One reading

Weak. She knew the job was her responsibility, and she had been chosen for it. She left after only five weeks, when The Giver needed a successor, and losing her was a disaster for the people.

• She knew that it was her responsibility.
• The community lost Rosemary after five weeks and it was a disaster for them.

Another reading

Brave. She did not run from pain: she asked for harder memories and told The Giver not to spare her. Her last afternoon looks like a decision, not a collapse, and she went straight to the Chief Elder to ask.

• She insisted that I continue, that I not spare her. She said it was her duty.
• She stood up very silently, frowning, as if she were making a decision.

Listen for

• Takes a side and gives a reason from the chapter.
• Uses one moment from her five weeks and one from her last afternoon.
• Weighs The Giver's silence after “She wasn't brave enough?” and what he says next.
• Writes in complete sentences and answers the other side; does not say what release is or why exactly she chose it.

If stuck

• What did Rosemary ask The Giver for, once the hard memories began?
• What did she do on her last afternoon, before she left the room?
• Can a choice be brave and still hurt the people left behind?

A strong answer A strong response takes a position and tests it. A student might argue the choice was weak: she knew “it was her responsibility,” she left after only five weeks, and losing her “was a disaster” for the people. Another might argue it was brave: she asked for more difficult memories, “insisted that I continue, that I not spare her,” and stood up “as if she were making a decision.” A careful answer may notice that The Giver, who trained her and loved her, does not answer Jonas's question, and ask what his silence might hold.