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The Giver
Trailblazers · 4th–6th
Is the pill helping Jonas, or is it taking something from him?
The tension Jonas liked the feeling and on waking "had wanted to feel the Stirrings again"; minutes later, rounding a corner on his bicycle, the dream "slipped away," and when he tries "a little guiltily" to grasp it back, it is gone.
How the morning dream-telling turns Jonas's private, confusing experience into a named condition with a daily treatment.
The chapter is one morning in Jonas's dwelling and his ride to school. At the morning ritual the family tells their dreams. Lily tells a frightening dream of riding her mother's bicycle against the rules, and they all discuss the warning it gave. Mother tells a dream fragment of being scolded for a rule she did not understand, and they trace it to her feelings about a punishment she gave. Father had no dreams, and they laugh at the idea of the newchild Gabe dreaming. Jonas, who rarely dreams, has had a vivid one: the bathing room at the House of the Old, with only one tub, and Fiona laughing and saying no when he wanted her to get in so he could bathe her. Embarrassed, he tells it all, because a dream must be told in full, and he names its strongest feeling: the wanting. Mother thanks him and glances at Father. Father leaves with Lily, carrying Gabe in his basket, and Mother offers to write a note so Jonas can stay. Alone, she tells him the wanting was his first Stirrings, that it happens to everyone, and that telling the dream was report enough. Jonas fears he will be sent away for treatment, but the treatment is only a pill. He remembers Asher riding back for a forgotten pill, a difference he never asked about. He swallows his first pill; Mother says he must take one every day until he enters the House of the Old, and that it becomes routine. Riding to school, Jonas feels oddly proud to have joined those who take the pills. He remembers that he liked the feeling and wanted it again, but the dream slips away as his home slips out of sight around a corner. He tries, a little guiltily, to grasp it back. The Stirrings are gone.
Before reading, ask the student about a dream they remember, and whether they would tell it to the whole family at breakfast. Read aloud to “the warning that the dream had given.” and stop: ask what the family does with Lily's dream. Read on through Jonas's dream as it is written; it is short and plain, and the chapter turns on it, so do not skip or rush it. Stop at “I could feel the wanting all through me.” and ask why Mother and Father say so little. Read on to “That's enough.” and ask what Mother means. Read Asher's memory and the first pill, and stop at “That's all?” to ask the student the same question. Read to the end slowly, and ask what Jonas has at the start of the ride that he no longer has at the end.
Retell The student tells the chapter back in three parts. First the morning ritual: Lily's dream and its warning, Mother's dream, Father with none, and Jonas's dream told in full, down to the wanting. Then the private talk: the thank-you and the glance, Father leaving with Lily, Mother naming the Stirrings, the fear of being sent away, Asher's forgotten pill, and the first pill. Last, the ride: the pride, the memory of liking the feeling, and the dream slipping away. 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 something that faded or got away from them. Ask for one sentence that compares two things with “in the same way that”, like the first sentence of the second passage; one sentence that opens with two short describing phrases set off by commas, like “Very briefly, a little guiltily,”; and one short sentence of four or five words that ends the paragraph, like “The Stirrings were gone.”
Debate Take sides on the last written question. First make two lists together: what the pill gives Jonas (no trip away, a place among the adults, an end to worry) and what it takes (the feeling he liked and wanted again). One side argues the pill is helping him; the other argues it is taking something from him. Each side gives a reason and a line from the chapter, and answers one from the other side. No one may say the pills dull every feeling or that Jonas will stop taking them; the chapter shows only that the Stirrings went away.
Purpose Close with the writer's choice of frame. The chapter begins with Jonas waking from dreams he “couldn't seem to grasp”, and ends with him trying to “grasp it back”. Read the two copywork passages one after the other, and ask the student why the writer might begin and end with the same word, and what is different about the dream that gets away at the end. Leave the loss as quiet as the chapter leaves it: no one takes the dream by force, and Jonas simply rounds a corner.
Easier Read aloud together from “Pedaling rapidly down the path” to the end. Make two lists: what Jonas feels about the pill as he rides, and what he feels about the dream. Talk through the first discussion question (Lily's dream and Jonas's) and the third (Asher's forgotten pill), then answer the last written question aloud.
On level Talk through all three 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 turn to Mother's dream at the start of the chapter. She takes the pills every morning, yet she dreams of being scolded for a rule she did not understand, and the family traces it to her feelings about a punishment she gave reluctantly. Ask what the pill does not reach in Mother, and whether that changes the student's answer about Jonas.
1. The whole family talks about Lily's dream, but Jonas's dream gets only a thank-you. Which dream did they take more seriously?Inference
What it asks It asks the student to set two dreams side by side. Lily tells a frightening dream of riding her mother's bicycle against the rules, and the whole family listens and discusses “the warning that the dream had given.” Jonas tells his dream, and Mother thanks him “after a moment” and glances at Father. Father takes Lily to school, Mother offers to write a note to Jonas's instructor so he can stay, and then she talks with him alone. The student decides which dream the family took more seriously, and what taking it seriously looked like each time. It takes up one part of the last written question: one dream is talked over by everyone, and the other is handled in private. Mother is warm the whole time; she smiles and laughs, so the talk should not make her cold or secretive.
Lily's. The family talks hers through together and finds a lesson in it. Jonas's dream is something his family had been expecting, and Mother smiles and laughs as she explains it.
They all listened carefully and discussed with Lily the warning that the dream had given.
Father and I have been expecting it to happen to you.
Jonas's. Father leaves with Lily, and Mother keeps Jonas back and offers to write a note so he will not have to apologize. Lily's dream ends with a talk. Jonas's ends with a pill to take every day.
I'll write an apology to your instructor so that you won't have to speak one for being late.
He thought it surprising that they hadn't talked about his dream at length before the thank you.
A strong answer A strong response might say Lily's dream was taken more seriously, because the family talked it through together and drew a warning from it, while Jonas's was something they “have been expecting”. Another might say Jonas's was, because his family made room for a private talk, Mother offered to write to his instructor, and it ended with a pill every day of his adult life. A careful answer may notice that the two dreams are taken seriously in different ways: Lily's is talked over, and Jonas's is handled.
2. Jonas calls his feeling “the wanting”, and Mother calls it “Stirrings”. What changes when the feeling gets that new name?Author's choice
What it asks It asks the student to weigh two names for one feeling. At the table, Jonas finds his own word for the strongest feeling in his dream: “The wanting”, which he could feel “all through me.” Alone with him, Mother gives it another name: “your first Stirrings.” Jonas has heard that word before, in the Book of Rules and from the Speaker, who reminds everyone that Stirrings must be reported so treatment can take place. The student decides whether the new name only labels the feeling, or changes what it is. It takes up one part of the last written question: the moment a feeling of Jonas's own becomes a condition with a treatment. The chapter does not say the name is wrong; Mother uses it to comfort him.
Little changes but the word. Mother names the feeling so Jonas knows it is normal: Mother and Father both had it, and Lily will too. The name tells him he is not strange.
It happened to Father when he was your age.
And it happened to me.
A great deal changes. “The wanting” is Jonas's own word for something he felt. “Stirrings” is a word from the Book of Rules, a thing to report and treat. Even on the ride, Jonas thinks of it as the name his mother gave it.
He remembered that there was a reference to the Stirrings in the Book of Rules, though he didn't remember what it said.
he thought that he had liked the feelings that his mother had called Stirrings.
A strong answer A strong response might say little changes, because Mother names the feeling to show Jonas it is normal: “It happened to Father when he was your age.” Another might say a great deal changes, because “the wanting” was Jonas's own word, and “Stirrings” comes from the Book of Rules, where it must be reported and treated. A careful answer may notice which word the chapter ends with. The last line does not say the wanting was gone. It says, “The Stirrings were gone.”
3. Jonas never asked Asher about the pill he forgot. In Jonas's world, it is rude to ask a friend about being different. Who does staying quiet protect?Moral reasoning
What it asks It asks the student to weigh a polite habit. Once, riding to school with Asher, Jonas heard Asher's father call, “You forgot your pill, Asher!” Asher rode back, and Jonas waited and never asked about it, because it might have fallen into “that uncomfortable category” of being different. In Jonas's world it is “Always better, less rude, to talk about things that were the same.” Only after his own first pill does Jonas say, “Asher takes them,” and Mother nods, unsurprised. The student decides who, or what, the habit of staying quiet protects. It takes up one part of the last written question: the pill belongs to a part of life no one talks about, so Jonas meets it only when it is his turn. The habit is meant kindly, so the talk should not make Asher, Jonas or Mother sly or cold.
Asher. Taking a pill set him apart from Jonas, and a question would have made him feel different in front of a friend. Staying quiet let Asher groan, turn his bike, and ride back without having to explain.
Asher had groaned good-naturedly, turned his bike, and ridden back while Jonas waited.
Always better, less rude, to talk about things that were the same.
The way things are, more than any one person. Because no one talks about the pills, Jonas did not know they were the treatment, and this morning he was afraid he would be sent away. The grown-ups knew all along; Jonas learns only when it is his turn.
Jonas felt miserable.
His mother nodded, unsurprised.
A strong answer A strong response might say staying quiet protects Asher: he could groan “good-naturedly” and ride back without being marked as different. Another might say it protects the way things are: because no one talks about the pills, Jonas felt “miserable” this morning, afraid of being sent away for a treatment that was only a pill. A careful answer may notice when Jonas finally speaks. He says, “Asher takes them,” only after he has swallowed his own. The quiet lifts once he is the same.
1. When Jonas asks if he has to report the Stirrings, Mother says, “You did, in the dream-telling.” Is it fair to count his dream as a report?
What it asks It asks the student to judge how Jonas's feeling was reported. Now and then the Speaker reminds citizens that Stirrings must be reported, but Jonas always ignored that announcement, because he did not understand it. That morning he told his whole dream, even the part that made him uneasy, because he knew it was “necessary to tell all of a dream.” When he asks if he has to report it, Mother laughs: “You did, in the dream-telling. That's enough.” The student decides whether it is fair that the telling counted as a report, then writes a claim with a reason from the chapter. It takes up one part of the last written question: Jonas's feeling reached its treatment through a morning custom. Mother is kind here; the question is about the custom, not about her.
Fair. Jonas knew the rule that a dream must be told in full, and the reminder about Stirrings is announced to everyone. Counting the telling meant he did not have to make a report of his own.
He knew he had to tell it all, that it was not only all right but necessary to tell all of a dream.
A REMINDER THAT STIRRINGS MUST BE REPORTED IN ORDER FOR TREATMENT TO TAKE PLACE.
Not fair. Jonas did not know a dream could be a report. He ignored the announcement because he did not understand it, and he had to ask whether he must report it, after he already had.
He had always ignored that announcement because he didn't understand it and it had never seemed to apply to him in any way.
Do I have to report it?
A strong answer A strong response takes a position and backs it with a line. A student might argue it is fair: Jonas knew it was “necessary to tell all of a dream”, the reminder is announced to everyone, and counting the telling meant he did not have to report it himself. Another might argue it is not fair: he had “always ignored that announcement” because he did not understand it, and he never chose to report anything. A careful answer may notice what this makes of the morning custom: every dream is told to people who know what to listen for, as when Father asks for “the strongest feeling”.
2. Mother tells Jonas the Stirrings happen to everyone. So why does he try “a little guiltily” to grasp the dream back?
What it asks It asks the student to find where Jonas's guilt comes from. Alone with him, Mother calls the wanting his first Stirrings and says, “It happens to everyone.” She never calls the feeling wrong. Yet on the ride, as the dream slips away, “Very briefly, a little guiltily, he tried to grasp it back.” The chapter does not say why he feels guilty. The student decides where the guilt comes from, and writes the answer with a reason from the chapter. It takes up one part of the last written question: how Jonas feels about wanting the feeling back, now that it has a treatment. The talk should stay on Jonas's feeling, not on Fiona, and should not say more about the dream than the chapter does.
From the pill. The feeling now has a treatment, and Jonas has just taken his first pill to stop it. Reaching back for it so soon feels like going against the treatment, even though no one has called the feeling wrong.
That's the treatment for Stirrings.
If you forget, the Stirrings will come back.
Older than the pill. At the table, before anyone named the feeling, he felt embarrassed without knowing why, and he had to force himself to tell the part that made him uneasy. The guilt came with the feeling; the pill did not make it.
For some reason that he didn't understand, he felt slightly embarrassed.
So he forced himself to relate the part that made him uneasy.
A strong answer A strong response takes a position and backs it with a line. A student might argue the guilt comes from the pill: it is “the treatment for Stirrings”, and he has just swallowed his first one, so wanting the feeling back feels like undoing it. Another might argue the guilt is older: at the table he “felt slightly embarrassed” for a reason he did not understand. A careful answer may notice that the guilt is only “a little”, and may ask where Jonas learned it, since no one in the chapter tells him the feeling is bad.
3. Jonas swallows one small pill and asks, “That's all?” Is the pill helping Jonas, or is it taking something from him?
What it asks This is the last question the student meets, and it gathers the earlier ones. Jonas swallows one small pill and asks, “That's all?” Mother says it is, though he must take one every morning of his adult life, and that after a while he won't pay much attention to it. He brightens, and he rides off proud. Then, on the ride, he remembers that he liked the feeling and had wanted it again, and the dream slips away the way his home slips out of sight around a corner. He tries “a little guiltily” to grasp it back, and the Stirrings are gone. The student weighs what the pill gives Jonas against what it takes, and defends the answer. The chapter shows only that the Stirrings went away; it does not say the pills dull every feeling, and it does not say Jonas will stop taking them.
Helping. The pill ends Jonas's fear of being sent away for treatment, and it is simple. It lets him join Mother, Father and his friends, and he is glad.
It's just the pills. You're ready for the pills, that's all.
Jonas brightened.
Taking something. Jonas liked the feeling and wanted it again. The pill took it before he had time to decide what it meant to him, and when he reached for it, it was gone.
He remembered that upon waking, he had wanted to feel the Stirrings again.
But the feelings had disappeared.
A strong answer A strong response takes a position and tests it. A student might argue the pill is helping: it was “just the pills”, Jonas “brightened”, and he rides off proud to be one of the adults. Another might argue it is taking something: he “had wanted to feel the Stirrings again”, and by the corner “the feelings had disappeared.” A careful answer may notice that the chapter lets Jonas feel both: proud, and still reaching “a little guiltily” for the dream. Mother's promise that “you won't even pay much attention to it” may be part of the answer: a loss can be easy not to notice.