Chapter 21

The Giver

Trailblazers · 4th–6th

Copywork

The life where nothing was ever unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The life without color, pain, or past.

But the frequency of the planes diminished. They came less often, and flew, when they did come, less slowly, as if the search had become haphazard and no longer hopeful. Finally there was an entire day and night when they did not come at all.

Read both passages aloud. The first is the life Jonas left behind. The second is the road he is on now. Which one is safer? Who is it safer for?

For the educator Two passages; copy them as shown. The first is what Jonas sees when he looks back from across the river. It is four pieces, and only the first and last begin with “The life”; the middle two begin with “Or” and are a single word after it. None of the four is a full sentence. The writer breaks them apart on purpose, so each one lands on its own. The last piece ends on three things in a row, with a comma before “or.” The second passage ends the chapter and holds two vocabulary words, “diminished” and “haphazard.” Its middle sentence sets one part against another (“less often,” then “less slowly”) and breaks in with “when they did come,” set off by a comma on each side. The last sentence is plain and long, with no commas at all. Have the student read both aloud and hear the short, broken pieces against the long, slowing sentences. The talk prompt has a catch: the first life has no pain and no surprises, yet it is the life where Gabe was to be released in the morning.

Discussion

Narration Tell back the chapter in the order things happened, not the order the book tells them. Start at the evening meal. Stop when a whole day and night pass with no planes.

1. The chapter tells the escape first. Only then does it go back to dinner. How does that change the way you hear the dinner?Author's choice

2. At dinner, Father says, “We certainly gave it our best try, didn't we?” How hard did they really try?Character

3. Jonas counts the rules he has broken: first, second, third. Then comes “And he had taken Gabriel, too.” Why doesn't that one get a number?Inference

4. At dawn, Gabe wants to wrestle and play. Jonas holds him close and says, “Sorry, Gabe.” What is Jonas sorry for?Character

5. Jonas and The Giver planned for the memories to fade as he rode away. Under the planes, Jonas tries hard to hold on to the cold ones. Is he breaking the plan, or saving it?Theme

6. Near the end, the planes come less often and fly faster. The search seems “no longer hopeful.” Why might the searchers be giving up?Inference

Make a Connection Think of a story, or a time you know about, when someone had to act before they felt ready. What did they lean on instead?

Vocabulary

Crossword

1		2	3
			4

	5			6



			7

Across

Across 1. Usual, the kind made every day.
Across 4. Far away from other people and places.
Across 5. People running away so they will not be caught.
Across 7. Done without a plan or order.

Down

Down 1. Judged guilty and given a punishment.
Down 2. Used to something because it has always been that way.
Down 3. Became smaller or less.
Down 6. Worn out and upset from too much strain.

The words in the chapter

customary The family unit was eating together as always: Lily chattering away, Mother and Father making their customary comments (and lies, Jonas knew) about the day.
frazzled They were really frazzled by the time I got to work.
condemned He thought of the rules he had broken so far: enough that if he were caught, now, he would be condemned.
accustomed whether he could comfortably ride the larger bike when he was so accustomed to his own.

fugitives Together the fugitives slept through the first dangerous day.
haphazard They came less often, and flew, when they did come, less slowly, as if the search had become haphazard and no longer hopeful.
diminished But the frequency of the planes diminished.
isolated They were in an isolated place

Critical thinking

1. On the bridge, Jonas feels “no fear.” Days later, the search planes terrify him. What made the difference?

2. Jonas never received the memories of courage, and he wishes for them when the planes come. Is he brave on this journey, or only desperate?