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The Giver
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Was Jonas wise to keep what he saw happen to the apple to himself?
The tension In the air the apple "had changed," four times; in his hand it is "the same apple. Unchanged," a "nondescript shade"; and the only answer Jonas gets is a public announcement about taking snacks home that never asks what he saw.
How Jonas handles two puzzling sights, a newchild's light eyes and a changing apple, when his world discourages talk about anything unusual.
The chapter is one evening at home, told from inside Jonas, an Eleven, with a memory from last month folded into the middle. Father brings home the newchild, Gabriel, in a basket. Lily squeals that he has “funny eyes” like Jonas's, and Jonas glares: almost everyone in the community has dark eyes, and it is considered rude, though not a rule, to call attention to what is different. Startled, Jonas decides that light eyes give a look of depth, and he feels self-conscious, knowing he has that look too. Lily says she hopes to be a Birthmother; Mother answers sharply that there is little honor in it, and Father suggests she hope to be a Nurturer. At his desk, Jonas pictures Lily as a Speaker making announcements, and remembers the announcement last month that was aimed at him without his name, after he took an apple home from the recreation area. He apologized, as he believes he deserved to, but the incident itself still bewilders him. During a game of catch with Asher, the apple changed in mid-air, four times, and in his hand it was the same ordinary apple. He tested his eyes, asked Asher, who joked, and laughed along. At home he studied the apple with a magnifying glass, but nothing happened, and he never found words for it at the family's evening sharing of feelings. Now he tries to forget it and study, and the evening goes on as always, different only for the newchild's pale eyes.
Before reading, ask the student about a time they saw something they could not explain, and whether they told anyone. Read aloud to “he, too, had that look.” and stop: ask what Jonas has just learned about himself. Read on to “He was still bewildered by it.” and ask what the student thinks still puzzles him. Read the game of catch slowly, and stop at “Jonas had been completely mystified.” to ask what Jonas should do next. Read to the end, and ask who in the room knows what Jonas is thinking.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in three parts. First the newchild: Lily's remark about his eyes, the custom about mentioning what is different, and the look Jonas calls depth. Then the talk about Birthmothers and Nurturers, and Jonas's joke about Lily as a Speaker. Last, the apple, in the order it happened: the game of catch, the four changes, the eye test and Asher's joke, the apple taken home and studied, the announcement and the apology, and Jonas tonight trying to forget. Ask for three or four sentences of the student's own for each part.
Imitate the author After copying, the student writes three sentences of their own about a time they tried to name something they saw. Ask for one sentence that stops to ask itself a question, the way the first passage pauses at “what was it?”; one sentence that breaks off with a pair of dashes and starts again, like the apple sentence; and one very short sentence on its own, like “Just for an instant.”
Debate Take sides on the last written question. First make two lists together: what Jonas did try (the question to Asher, the eye test, the magnifying glass) and what kept him quiet (no words, an apple that looked ordinary, a town that does not call attention to what is different). One side argues he was wise to keep it to himself; the other argues he was not. Each side gives a reason and a line from the chapter and answers one from the other side. No one may say what the apple turned into; the chapter says only that it “changed.”
Purpose Close with the writer's choice of order. The chapter opens on the newchild's pale eyes, slips the apple story in through a joke about Speakers, and ends on the newchild's “pale, solemn, knowing eyes.” The change in the apple is never described; even the sentence that tells it breaks off. Ask the student why the writer might wrap the apple inside an evening with the newchild, and why the reader is told as little about the apple as Jonas knows. Leave the apple where the chapter leaves it: a real puzzle with no answer yet.
Easier Read aloud together from “It was the first thing Jonas noticed” to “he, too, had that look.” and from “But suddenly Jonas had noticed” to “Jonas had been completely mystified.” Make two lists: what Jonas saw, and what he did about it. Talk through the first discussion question (depth) and the third (the badge), then answer the last written question aloud.
On level Talk through all four discussion questions in order, then have the student write answers to the three 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 the two copywork passages side by side. At the newchild's eyes, Jonas asks himself “what was it?” and lands on “Depth.” At the apple, the sentence breaks off, and all he finds is that the apple “had changed.” Ask why he can name one strange sight and not the other, and whether that changes the student's answer.
1. Jonas decides pale eyes show “Depth,” like clear river water with things hidden at the bottom. Then he sees he has that look too. Is that a good thing for him to find out?Character
What it asks It asks the student to stand inside Jonas at the moment he finds a word for a look and learns it is his own. Mirrors are rare, and Jonas has “simply never bothered to look at himself very often.” The newchild's eyes show him what others may see in him. He calls it “Depth” and pictures clear river water with things at the bottom “which hadn't been discovered yet,” and then he feels “self-conscious” and goes to his desk “pretending not to be interested.” The student decides whether this is a good thing for Jonas to learn about himself. It takes up one part of the last written question: tonight Jonas finds his own word for one strange sight, and he says it to no one. The chapter gives pale eyes no power; they are only a rare look.
A good thing. Clear water you can see to the bottom of is a fine thing to have, and something not yet discovered could be worth finding. Jonas chooses the word himself, and it is a fine word.
he was reminded that the light eyes were not only a rarity but gave the one who had them a certain look
as if one were looking into the clear water of the river, down to the bottom, where things might lurk which hadn't been discovered yet.
A hard thing. Things that “lurk” are hiding. Jonas feels self-conscious and pretends not to care, in a town where it is rude to call attention to what is different. A look of depth is a look people might notice.
He felt self-conscious, realizing that he, too, had that look.
He went to his desk, pretending not to be interested in the newchild.
A strong answer A strong response might call it good news: the water is “clear,” and something not yet discovered could be worth finding. Another might call it hard: things that “lurk” are hiding, and Jonas feels “self-conscious” and pretends not to care. A careful answer may notice that both can be true at once, and that Jonas finds this word for himself on the same evening the chapter shows him unable to find words for the apple.
2. Mother corrects Lily, and Lily gets to give her reasons. An announcement corrected Jonas, and no one spoke of it again. Which way of correcting works better?Theme
What it asks It asks the student to set the chapter's two corrections side by side. When Lily hopes to be a Birthmother, Mother speaks “very sharply,” but then Lily explains what Natasha told her, Mother answers with facts, and Lily changes her mind, “reluctantly.” When Jonas took an apple home, an announcement to “MALE ELEVENS” said snacks are “TO BE EATEN, NOT HOARDED.” It used no name, yet “Everyone had known.” Afterward no one mentioned it, not even Mother and Father, because the announcement “had been sufficient to produce the appropriate remorse.” The student decides which way of correcting works better, and better for what. It takes up one part of the last written question: the announcement is the only answer Jonas ever gets about the apple, and it is about taking a snack, not about what he saw. Keep the talk on the two ways of correcting, not on Birthmother facts.
The announcement works better. It did its job at once: Jonas felt the shame, apologized the next morning, and no one had to say another word. He himself calls it a standard procedure that he deserved.
No one had mentioned it, not even his parents, because the public announcement had been sufficient to produce the appropriate remorse.
He had, of course, disposed of the apple and made his apology to the Recreation Director the next morning, before school.
Mother's way works better. Lily says what she thinks, hears the facts, and changes her own mind. No one asked Jonas anything, so the part that still puzzles him never came up.
"Well, no, I guess not," Lily acknowledged reluctantly.
Jonas thought again about that incident. He was still bewildered by it.
A strong answer A strong response might say the announcement works better: it was “sufficient to produce the appropriate remorse,” Jonas apologized the next morning, and he believes he deserved it. Another might say Mother's way works better: Lily gives her reasons, hears the facts, and changes her mind herself. A careful answer may ask what each way is meant to fix. The announcement stopped Jonas taking snacks home, but because no one talked with him, no one heard what had happened to the apple.
3. After the apple changes, Jonas tests his eyes on the small print of his badge. Which would trouble him more: eyes that are wrong, or eyes that are fine?Character
What it asks It asks the student to stand inside Jonas in the throwing area. The apple changed “in mid-air,” and in his hand it was “the same apple. Unchanged.” It happened four times. He blinked, looked around, read his name “quite clearly,” saw Asher clearly, and had no trouble catching the apple. He was “completely mystified.” The student weighs which result would be harder for Jonas to live with. It takes up one part of the last written question: whether Jonas can trust what he saw enough to tell it. The chapter says only that the apple “changed”; it does not say into what, and the student should not reach for later chapters.
Eyes that are wrong. Then something is wrong with Jonas himself, in a town that fixes what is not up to standards; Asher has to play catch because his coordination is not good enough.
Jonas had blinked, looked around, and then tested his eyesight, squinting at the small print on the identification badge attached to his tunic.
playing catch was a required activity for Asher because it would improve his hand-eye coordination, which was not up to standards.
Eyes that are fine. Then the apple really changed, and nothing explains it. A problem with his eyes would at least be an answer. The test passes, and he is left with no answer at all.
He read his name quite clearly.
Jonas had been completely mystified.
A strong answer A strong response might say wrong eyes would trouble him more, because then the fault is in Jonas, in a town where even Asher's catching must be brought “up to standards.” Another might say fine eyes are worse: he read his name “quite clearly,” so the apple really changed, and he is “completely mystified.” A careful answer may notice that Jonas tests himself before he blames the apple, as if he expects the world to be in order and the mistake to be his.
4. The chapter ends by saying the evening was like all the others. It was “different only” because of the newchild. Was that true for Jonas?Inference
What it asks It asks the student to test the chapter's last sentence against what is going on inside Jonas. The evening “proceeded as all evenings did”: “quiet, reflective, a time for renewal.” It was “different only” for the newchild with his pale eyes. But tonight Jonas was startled by those eyes, learned he has that look too, remembered the announcement, and went back over the apple, still “bewildered” since last month. He shakes his head, “trying to forget the odd incident,” and forces himself to study. The student decides whether the evening was really ordinary for Jonas. It takes up one part of the last written question: from the outside, no one can see what Jonas is keeping to himself.
True, in a way. Jonas has been bewildered since last month, so a puzzled evening is nothing new for him. And he makes himself study as on any night, so the evening stays ordinary because he keeps it that way.
He forced himself to arrange his papers and try to study a little before the evening meal.
The evening proceeded as all evenings did in the family unit, in the dwelling, in the community: quiet, reflective, a time for renewal and preparation for the day to come.
Not true. Tonight the newchild's eyes startled him, he learned something about his own look, and the apple came back to him. Inside, he is working hard not to think about it. The last sentence tells how the evening looked, not how it was for Jonas.
But he had been startled by the newchild's eyes.
he shook his head, trying to forget the odd incident.
A strong answer A strong response might say it was true, in a way: Jonas has been bewildered since last month, and he forces himself to study as on any evening, so he keeps the evening ordinary himself. Another might say it was not: the newchild's eyes “startled” him, and he is “trying to forget the odd incident,” which means it is on his mind. A careful answer may notice that the last sentence tells only what anyone in the room could see. Whatever is different for Jonas stays inside him, where no one can see it.
1. Jonas thinks Lily must learn not to talk about eyes that look different. Is the apple one more thing he has learned not to talk about?
What it asks It asks the student to turn Jonas's own judgment back on him. In this community no one mentions what is “unsettling or different about individuals”; it is “not a rule,” but it is “considered rude.” When Lily calls the newchild's eyes “funny,” Jonas glares and decides she “would have to learn that soon.” The apple was unsettling too, and Jonas has not talked about it. The student weighs whether the custom is part of the reason, and writes a claim with a reason from the chapter. It takes up one part of the last written question: what keeps Jonas quiet, before the last question asks whether keeping quiet was wise. The custom is more than good manners: it also keeps people from talking about the very thing Jonas is noticing.
Yes. Jonas keeps the custom so well that he glares at Lily for breaking it. The apple was unsettling too. When Asher joked, Jonas laughed along instead of asking again.
Jonas glared at her. He didn't like it that she had mentioned his eyes.
So Jonas laughed too, and with his laughter tried to ignore his uneasy conviction that something had happened.
No. The custom is about what is different in people, not in apples. And Jonas did talk about the apple, right away: he called out to Asher and asked. Something other than the custom made him stop.
it was not a rule, but was considered rude to call attention to things that were unsettling or different about individuals.
"Ash?" he had called. "Does anything seem strange to you? About the apple?"
A strong answer A strong response takes a position and backs it with a line. A student might argue yes: Jonas keeps the custom so well that he glares at Lily, and with Asher he laughed along to “ignore his uneasy conviction.” Another might argue no: the custom is about what is different “about individuals,” and Jonas did ask Asher, “Does anything seem strange to you?” A careful answer may notice that the two can work together: he asked once, and when Asher joked he let it drop. A town that never talks about what is unsettling never gives anyone the words for it.
2. Jonas's family shares their feelings every evening. On the night of the apple, he had no words for it, so he let it pass. If someone had asked, what could he have said?
What it asks It asks the student to test whether there were words at all. Jonas's family unit shares “their feelings of the day” each evening, and Jonas thinks he “probably should have brought up his feeling of bewilderment” that night. But he “had not been able to sort out and put words to the source of his confusion.” No one asked: when the announcement came, Mother and Father only glanced at the apple on his desk. He could name the feeling, bewilderment; what he could not name was its source. The student decides how much Jonas could have said if someone had asked, and writes it with a reason. It takes up one part of the last written question: what Jonas had to say, before deciding whether to say it. Neither answer needs Mother and Father to be unkind; the chapter calls the announcement and apology “standard procedures.”
Very little. Jonas does not understand it himself; even the sentence that tells it breaks off. When he studied the apple at home he found nothing to show.
this was the part that he couldn't adequately understand
But he had not been able to sort out and put words to the source of his confusion, so he had let it pass.
Enough to start. He could say plainly what he saw: the apple changed in the air, four times, and looked the same in his hand. Those are simple words, even if he could not explain them.
It had changed in mid-air, he remembered.
It had happened four times.
A strong answer A strong response takes a position and backs it with a line. A student might argue Jonas could have said very little, since it was “the part that he couldn't adequately understand” and the apple at home showed “nothing at all unusual.” Another might argue he could have said enough to begin: it “had changed in mid-air,” and “It had happened four times.” A careful answer may notice that Jonas even had a name for the feeling, bewilderment, which is just what the evening time is for. What he could not name was where it came from, and the family's custom shares feelings, not strange things seen.
3. Four times the apple changed in the air. In his hand it was “the same apple.” Was Jonas wise to keep what he saw happen to the apple to himself?
What it asks This is the last question the student meets, and it gathers the earlier ones. The apple changed “in mid-air” four times, and in Jonas's hand it was “Unchanged,” a “nondescript shade.” He asked Asher once, then laughed along to “ignore his uneasy conviction.” He took the apple home against the rules and studied it with a magnifying glass, “waiting for the thing to happen again.” It did not. The only answer he got was an announcement about snacks. He let the puzzle pass at the family's time for sharing feelings, and tonight he tries to forget it. The student weighs whether keeping it to himself was wise. Notice that he did not keep it wholly to himself: he asked Asher. The chapter says only that the apple “changed”; it does not say what Jonas saw, and the answer should not borrow from later chapters.
Wise. He had no words and nothing to show, since the apple looked ordinary. In a town where it is rude to call attention to what is unsettling, speaking up could have made him seem strange, and he had been corrected in front of everyone.
But there was nothing at all unusual about the apple.
it was not a rule, but was considered rude to call attention to things that were unsettling or different about individuals.
Not wise. Keeping it means carrying it alone. Since last month he has stayed bewildered, and he himself thinks he should have spoken up at the family's evening time, which exists for feelings like this one.
He was still bewildered by it.
He probably should have brought up his feeling of bewilderment that very evening when the family unit had shared their feelings of the day.
A strong answer A strong response takes a position and tests it. A student might argue it was wise: there was “nothing at all unusual about the apple” to show, he had no words, and his town does not call attention to what is unsettling. Another might argue it was not: he is “still bewildered” since last month and he himself thinks he “should have brought up” the feeling. A careful answer may notice that keeping it to himself has not made it go away, since Jonas is still “trying to forget the odd incident,” so the choice may have been safe without being wise.