The Giver (11)

Nowadays, it seems that every popular book becomes a movie. However, The Giver has not be adapted. Why do you think that might be? Do you think The Giver would make a good film? Why or why not?

The Giver (10)

Consider the following quote from e. e. cummings:

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else--means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight: and never stop fighting."

Reflect on this quote, both in terms of the The Giver and the real world.

The Giver (9)

At one point in his training, Jonas observes that allowing people to have feelings such as love can be a dangerous way to live. Is love dangerous? Consider both the novel and real life as you formulate your answer.

The Giver (8)

In her Newbery Medal acceptance speech for The Giver, Lois Lowry refused to say exactly what happens at the end of the novel. The end of The Giver can be interpreted many different ways...or at least it could have been until Lowry wrote Gathering Blue and The Messenger. Pretend, for a moment, that we are back before she wrote the two companion novels. What is your interpretation of the end of the novel? What support can you find in the text that make you positive that it is the correct interpretation?

The Giver (7)

Safety is something at the forefront of many conversations today in our society. The people in Jonas' community gave up their freedom and individuality to live in a safe environment. Discuss whether or not the community is a safe environment in which to live. How would you define what a safe environment is? Think about our world as well as Jonas's world.

The Giver (6)

If ignorance of the past is a benefit to the citizens of the community, why do you think that the Receiver of Memory exists?

The Giver (5)

Lois Lowry helps create an alternate world by having the community use words in a special way. Though that world stresses what it calls "precision of language," in fact it is built upon language that is not precise but deliberately clouds meaning. What is the danger of such misleading language? Is there anything good about using language in this way?