Example for The Giver
Teacher Question:
If you were given the option, would you live in Jonas’s community? In your answer, use scenes from the story to discuss similarities and differences between real life and Jonas’s life in the story.
If I were given the choice, I would not live in Jonas’s community. While the life that the community chose is free of pain, it is also free of choice. Community members, for example, are not allowed to choose the lives they want to lead. Instead, a committee of elders chooses every person’s job. This is best seen on page forty-three, when Jonas is attending a ceremony in which he will be assigned his job for the future. In this scene, the Chief Elder takes the stage and begins to call all “Twelves” (twelve-year-old children) up one by one. After the Twelve approaches, the Chief Elder introduces the boy or girl, then explains the job he or she will have and why he or she will have it. Real life is more confusing because many people do not know what they want to do with their lives, but at least they have the ability to make the choices themselves.
Also, in Jonas's community, members are required to take medication that prevents them from their feelings. On pages thirty-six and thirty-seven, Jonas explains to his parents that he had strange feelings in a dream the night before. His parents, knowing that this was the beginning of a phase of life called the "Stirrings," are sympathetic toward Jonas, but this does not mean that his feelings are a good thing. In fact, Jonas recalls the announcements made in the community about them: "ATTENTION: A REMINDER THAT STIRRINGS MUST BE REPORTED IN ORDER FOR TREATMENT TO TAKE PLACE" (pg. 38). In real life, we have the choice to feel the way we feel. Our emotions may be hard to experience sometimes, but even these emotions can encourage us to exhibit great acts of kindness toward others.
Finally, members of Jonas's community experience punishment that is more harsh than we experience in real life. On the first page of the story, a "Pilot-in-Training" becomes lost and accidentally flies over the community's residents: "NEEDLESS TO SAY," the announcer states, "HE WILL BE RELEASED" (pg. 1). The narrator explains later what this means, but even in the beginning of the story, it is obvious that it is a very bad thing. Later, too, Jonas's mother--a judge--explains that she is afraid for a person who was caught breaking the rules for the second time: "I feel afraid for him, too," Jonas's mother says. "You know that there's no third chance. The rules say that if there's a third transgression, he simply has to be released." (pg. 10) In real life, harsh punishments are saved for the worst crimes, but in the community, a harsh punishment can be given even for accidents.
If I were given the choice, I would not live in Jonas’s community. While the life that the community chose is free of pain, it is also free of choice. Community members, for example, are not allowed to choose the lives they want to lead. Instead, a committee of elders chooses every person’s job. This is best seen on page forty-three, when Jonas is attending a ceremony in which he will be assigned his job for the future. In this scene, the Chief Elder takes the stage and begins to call all “Twelves” (twelve-year-old children) up one by one. After the Twelve approaches, the Chief Elder introduces the boy or girl, then explains the job he or she will have and why he or she will have it. Real life is more confusing because many people do not know what they want to do with their lives, but at least they have the ability to make the choices themselves.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in Jonas's community, members are required to take medication that prevents them from their feelings. On pages thirty-six and thirty-seven, Jonas explains to his parents that he had strange feelings in a dream the night before. His parents, knowing that this was the beginning of a phase of life called the "Stirrings," are sympathetic toward Jonas, but this does not mean that his feelings are a good thing. In fact, Jonas recalls the announcements made in the community about them: "ATTENTION: A REMINDER THAT STIRRINGS MUST BE REPORTED IN ORDER FOR TREATMENT TO TAKE PLACE" (pg. 38). In real life, we have the choice to feel the way we feel. Our emotions may be hard to experience sometimes, but even these emotions can encourage us to exhibit great acts of kindness toward others.
Finally, members of Jonas's community experience punishment that is more harsh than we experience in real life. On the first page of the story, a "Pilot-in-Training" becomes lost and accidentally flies over the community's residents: "NEEDLESS TO SAY," the announcer states, "HE WILL BE RELEASED" (pg. 1). The narrator explains later what this means, but even in the beginning of the story, it is obvious that it is a very bad thing. Later, too, Jonas's mother--a judge--explains that she is afraid for a person who was caught breaking the rules for the second time: "I feel afraid for him, too," Jonas's mother says. "You know that there's no third chance. The rules say that if there's a third transgression, he simply has to be released." (pg. 10) In real life, harsh punishments are saved for the worst crimes, but in the community, a harsh punishment can be given even for accidents.