Chapter 23

The Giver

Trailblazers · 4th–6th

Copywork

Jonas felt more and more certain that the destination lay ahead of him, very near now in the night that was approaching. None of his senses confirmed it. He saw nothing ahead except the endless ribbon of road unfolding in twisting narrow curves. He heard no sound ahead.

And it was true. But it was not a grasping of a thin and burdensome recollection; this was different. This was something that he could keep. It was a memory of his own.

Read both passages aloud, and listen to the short sentences. What does Jonas have at the top of the hill that he did not have at the start?

For the educator Two passages; copy them as shown. The first is the chapter's opening, and it holds the vocabulary word “confirmed.” Its first sentence adds a phrase after a comma (“very near now in the night that was approaching”). Its third gives the road a picture: an “endless ribbon” “unfolding in twisting narrow curves.” Its second and fourth sentences are short and plain, and both say what Jonas does not find. The second passage comes at the crest of the hill, and it holds the vocabulary word “burdensome.” Its second sentence joins two complete thoughts with a semicolon. Its last two sentences are short and begin almost alike (“This was,” “It was”). The passage stops before the sled and the lights. That is on purpose: the last written question asks whether to trust what Jonas feels at the end, so the copywork does not reach the ending. The talk prompt has no single answer. In the first passage the short sentences say what Jonas does not have: nothing confirms what he feels, and he hears “no sound ahead.” In the second they say what he has: “something that he could keep,” “a memory of his own.” The memories he grasps at on the hill were hard to hold: “a wisp,” “a tiny scrap,” and he “tried desperately to hold it there.” This one he can simply keep. Some students will notice that the second passage opens with “And it was true,” the writer's own word, where in the first nothing confirmed what Jonas felt. Let them notice it, but do not carry it on to whether to trust Jonas at the end; the last written question asks that. Let the student find the difference; do not hand it over.

Discussion

Narration Tell the chapter back in order. Start where Jonas feels that Elsewhere is near. Stop at the music he thinks he hears behind him.

1. Gabe's eyes are closed, and he gives no answer. Who is Jonas talking to when he says snow is “very beautiful”?Character

2. When the bike stops, Jonas thinks of lying down in the snow, in “the warm comfort of sleep.” Why might the writer make giving up sound so lovely?Author's choice

3. For one second, Jonas wants to keep the sunshine for himself. Does that second make him less of a hero, or more?Moral reasoning

4. At the top, Jonas says he remembers this place, and the book says, “And it was true.” How can he remember a place he has never been?Inference

5. Jonas thinks he hears music behind him too, from the place he left. If it is only an echo, what is it an echo of?Author's choice

Make a Connection Think of a story, or a time in your own life, when someone was sure of something before they could see it. What made them so sure?

Vocabulary

Crossword

1		2
						3
				4

	5		6

			7		8

Across

Across 1. Showed that something was really true.
Across 4. Heavy and hard to carry.
Across 5. Weakly, with very little strength.
Across 7. Covered up so it was hard to see.

Down

Down 2. Not good enough for what is needed.
Down 3. A heavy, sleepy feeling of having no energy.
Down 6. Rose up ahead, big and threatening.
Down 8. The highest point; the very top.

The words in the chapter

confirmed None of his senses confirmed it.
inadequate Gabriel, wrapped in his inadequate blanket, was hunched, shivering, and silent in his little seat.
feebly Gabriel moved feebly against him and whimpered briefly into the silence that surrounded them.
loomed A steep hill loomed ahead.

obscured But now the rapidly deepening snow obscured the narrow road and made the ride impossible.
lethargy Warming himself ever so briefly had shaken away the lethargy and resignation and restored his will to survive.
summit As he approached the summit of the hill at last, something began to happen.
burdensome But it was not a grasping of a thin and burdensome recollection; this was different.

Critical thinking

1. Partway up the hill, Jonas is down to “a tiny scrap of memory.” What gets him the rest of the way up?

2. Jonas is sure that people below are waiting for him and Gabriel. Should the reader trust what he feels at the very end?