The Giver 13

Study Guide Questions for Ch. 13

If you are looking for the beginning of the study for The Giver then you can go HERE for a brief introduction. At the bottom of the introduction you will find the links to each section of the study guide as it becomes available. If you would like to see the growing list of available book studies available for free on this site you can go HERE. Enjoy!

Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Freedom, Death, Grief, Purpose and Meaning, Compassion

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What was now becoming a part of Jonas’ daily life?

2. What did Jonas accidentally refer to Gabriel as?

3. About what did Jonas laugh at the absurdity of?

4. What did Jonas attempt to do “without asking permission from The Giver?”

5. What traumatic memory did Jonas receive from the Giver which made him “weighted with new knowledge?”

6. What had Jonas tried to impart to his Father and Lily? 

7. What did Jonas learn about The Giver when he asked, “don’t you have a spouse?”

8. What did The Giver wish the elders of the Community would do more often?

9. What had happened “when the new receiver failed” the last time the Giver had tried to train someone?

10. According to the Giver, what did Jonas’ “instructors in science and technology” know?

11. According to the story, why would the Giver sometimes send Jonas away without training?

12. Out of a desire to help him, what did Jonas ask the Giver to do? 

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. The Giver said, “It’s the choosing that’s important, isn’t it?” What did he mean by that?

2. Why was Jonas beginning to be “irrationally angry at his groupmates?” What might explain the source of his frustration?

3. The story tells us, “It was extremely rude for one citizen to touch another outside of family units.” What should we infer from this about was completely absent among friends in the Community which is a normal part of friendship?

4. Why was it important to Jonas to try to share his new knowledge with his friends and family?

5. Why could the Giver not share the books with his spouse?

6. Why was Jonas confused when The Giver asked him, “You do understand, don’t you, that this is my life? The memories?” What was the difference between The Giver’s conception of what life is about versus Jonas’ conception?

7. Why would the memories The Giver carries cause him to suffer?

8. Why did the Giver speak so harshly about Jonas’ “instructors in science and technology?” 

9. What did the Giver mean by saying, “without the memories it’s all meaningless?”

10. What should we infer about Jonas’ character by his request at the end of this chapter?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. Jonas began to see color everywhere in his daily life due to his time with the Giver. How might this be an analogy for what a good education does for all of us in our daily lives? In what way does education help us to see the same things we have always seen before but now in a completely different way?

2. Jonas and the Giver discuss the importance of freedom of choice. Why does it matter if we have the ability to choose? If we are amply provided with everything we need (food, clothing, shelter, even companionship) why would it still be important to make choices for ourselves? How much freedom should we be willing to give up in order to gain comfort and security? Explain your answers carefully?

3. In this story spouses are separated and go back to living single lives after their children are grown. Define marriage. What is the purpose of marriage? In what ways might we say that the Community at least partly understands the purpose of a marriage? In what ways does the community fail to understand what a marriage is or should be? 

4. Define the terms “education” and “training.” Making use of the content of this chapter (and any other relevant parts of the book up until now) what distinctions should be made between these two ideas? Is one more important than the other, or are they simply equally important in different ways? Which did Jonas receive before he met the Giver and which had he begun to receive from the Giver? If you could only receive one of these, which one would you choose and why?

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Philippians 4:8-9. How might we relate this notion of contemplating on what is good and worthy to our present reading?

2. Read Deuteronomy 6. This passage talks about teaching rules and commandments to our children. How might we relate this to the story of The Giver? When are rules good to have and when might they go astray?

3. Read Hebrews 11. What does this teach us about the importance of learning about people and events in the past?