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The Giver
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Jonas asks if Rosemary “wasn’t brave enough,” and The Giver does not answer. Was her choice to ask for release a weak one or a brave one?
The tension The Giver tells the story with pain he can barely speak through, stroking the cheek Rosemary kissed ten years before; Jonas, listening, decides it “didn’t seem such a terrible thing, after all” and that he “would never have done it.”
Listen to how The Giver tells Rosemary's story, where his voice fails, and what Jonas makes of it as he listens.
The next afternoon Jonas asks The Giver whether he ever thinks about release. The Giver says he thinks about his own when he is in a lot of pain, but he is not permitted to ask for it until the new Receiver is trained. Jonas, dejected, says he cannot ask either: it is in his rules. The Giver laughs harshly. Those rules were hammered out after the failure ten years ago. Jonas asks what happened. On the surface, The Giver says, it was simple: a Receiver-to-be was selected, the crowd cheered, and she was puzzled and a little frightened, as Jonas was. Jonas thinks of Fiona and shivers. The Giver calls her remarkable, serene and eager to learn. Jonas asks for her name, which was not to be spoken again, and The Giver, hesitating painfully, says it: Rosemary. Her eyes were luminous. He tells Jonas he loved her, and that he feels it for Jonas too. He gave her happy memories (a merry-go-round, a kitten, a picnic), some just to hear her laugh in a room that had always been silent. Like Jonas, she wanted to experience everything, and she asked for harder memories. He gave her no war and no physical pain, but loneliness and loss: first a little one taken from its family, which left her stunned. Everything changed once she knew about pain; he could see it in her eyes. Jonas suggests she wasn't brave enough, and The Giver does not respond. She insisted he not spare her, saying it was her duty, and he gave her anguish of many kinds. After a hard session, with the laughter gone, she stood up silently, frowning, hugged him and kissed his cheek; The Giver strokes that cheek as he tells it. She went straight to the Chief Elder and asked to be released. It was not against her rules, and they had to give it to her. He never saw her again. Jonas sees how sad The Giver is, but decides it does not seem such a terrible thing, and that he would never have done it: The Giver needed a successor, and he had been chosen. Then he wonders what would happen if he fell into the river like the little Four, Caleb, and laughs that he sounds like Lily. The Giver gravely tells him to stay away from the river. When Rosemary was gone, her memories came back to the people; memories are forever. Her few terrible ones overwhelmed the community, and The Giver, devastated by grief, failure and anger, did not try to help. If Jonas were lost, the people would have all his memories. Jonas says the only way he deals with them is with The Giver's help. The Giver, deep in thought, says that if Jonas floated off in the river, he supposes he could help the whole community the way he has helped Jonas. It is an interesting concept; he needs to think about it, but not now. He tells Jonas again to stay away from the river and laughs a little, with very troubled eyes.
Before reading, ask the student how a story changes when you learn the name of the person in it. Read aloud from the opening to “Her name was Rosemary,” and stop: ask who “the failure” was before this line, and who she is now. Read on to “She wasn't brave enough?” and stop only to ask what has happened to Rosemary so far; whether her choice was weak or brave is the last written question. Then read to the end without stopping, so the river talk comes right after Jonas's verdict, as it does on the page. Do not say what release is, why Rosemary chose it, or that The Giver has a plan: the chapter tells none of these.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in four parts. First the rules: Jonas's question about release, The Giver's wish for his own, “It was in my rules,” and the harsh laugh. Then the name: the story “On the surface,” Jonas asking for her name, and “I loved her.” Then the five weeks: the happy memories, the first hard one, the change in her eyes, Jonas's “She wasn't brave enough?”, her insisting she not be spared, and her last afternoon. Last the river: Jonas's verdict, his daydream about falling in, “Memories are forever,” what happened to the people, and The Giver's troubled thought. Ask for three or four sentences of the student's own for each part.
Imitate the author After copying, the student writes three pieces of their own, built like the first passage, about something hard they once had to do or to watch: a sentence with “couldn't bring myself to,” a sentence that opens with “But,” and a last piece that is only a list of three things, with a comma and “and” before each new one. Then ask for four sentences built like the second passage, about someone leaving a room: open with “But,” set one word such as “frowning” between two commas, use “as if” in the second sentence, and end on a sentence of four or five words.
Debate Take sides on the last written question. First make two lists together. Reasons it was weak: she knew it was “her responsibility”; she had been chosen; she left after only five weeks; The Giver needed a successor; losing her “was a disaster” for the people. Reasons it was brave: she wanted to experience everything and asked for more difficult memories; she “insisted that I continue, that I not spare her”; she said it was her duty; she stood up “as if she were making a decision”; she kissed The Giver's cheek before she went. One side argues each, with a reason and a line from the chapter, and answers one point from the other side. Do not settle it for them. No one may say what release is, that Rosemary knew what it would mean, or why exactly she chose it.
Purpose Close with two choices the writer made. First, The Giver begins the story of her training with two short pieces: “Five weeks. That was all.” The first is not even a full sentence. Ask why the writer might have him begin there, with how short her training was, before the merry-go-round and the kitten. Then the laugh: right after the saddest story in the chapter, Jonas runs on about the river and laughs, “I sound like my sister, Lily.” Ask why the writer might put a light moment there, just before The Giver's most serious thought. Do not say The Giver has a plan; he says he needs to think about it.
Easier Read aloud together from “Her eyes were very luminous, I remember.” to “The Giver needed a successor, and he had been chosen.” Talk through the third discussion question (what The Giver saw in Rosemary's eyes), then the fourth (whether Jonas is right to be so sure he would never have done what she did). Then answer the last written question aloud, starting from what Rosemary asked The Giver for once the hard memories began.
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 set beside it The Giver's own words at the start of the chapter: he thinks about his own release “when I'm in an awful lot of pain,” and sometimes wishes he could ask for it. Ask whether that changes how the student judges Rosemary's request, and why. The answer must not say what release is, that Rosemary knew what it would mean, or why exactly she chose it.
1. When Jonas says, “It was in my rules,” The Giver laughs harshly. What is he laughing at?Inference
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.
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.
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.
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.
2. The Giver says, “I loved her.” Then he adds, “I feel it for you, too.” Why might he tell Jonas this in the middle of Rosemary's story?Character
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.
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.
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.
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.
3. On her first day, Rosemary's eyes were “very luminous.” Once she knew about pain, what do you think The Giver saw in them?Inference
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.
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.
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.
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.
4. Jonas is sure he “would never have done it.” His reason is that he had been chosen. But Rosemary had been chosen too. Is he right to be so sure?Character
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.
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.
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.
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.
5. The Giver tells Jonas to stay away from the river. At the very end of the chapter, he says it again. What has changed for The Giver by then?Author's choice
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.
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.
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.
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.
1. After Rosemary was gone, The Giver was so full of grief that he did not even try to help the people. Whose failure was “the failure”?
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.
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.
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.
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.
2. Jonas asks if Rosemary “wasn’t brave enough,” and The Giver does not answer. Was her choice to ask for release a weak one or a brave one?
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.
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.
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.
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.