Mariam Mohamed Anwar Grade 6-D

1Writing Prompts
Choose one of the following topics and write an essay about it. Your essay should discuss
and analyze the topic you chose with the use of textual evidence:

1. What is the most important theme of The Giver? Why do you think so? Discuss at
least 2 instances where we see this particular theme and how it contributes to the
events of the story.
Consider the following topics as possibilities:
•Individual vs. Society
•Freedom of Choice
•The Value of Emotions

2. Without memories, life is meaningless. Explain what this statement means. Use
evidence from the book to back up your ideas. You should have at least three pieces
of evidence from the book to support your opinion.

3. Discuss how Jonas’ perspective on sameness changes through the novel. Include
incidents that significantly changed Jonas’ perspectives and how he reacted to
“sameness.”

Guidelines:
1. A minimum of 4 paragraphs.
2. Indent your paragraphs.
3. Leave lines.
4. Cite the page number when quoting.
5. Make sure to include an introduction & conclusion.
6. Include a title.
Mariam Mohamed Anwar Grade 6-D

Memories and Life

Memories are parts of our life, there is no true happiness without a memory of pain
or love. The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is about a society where everyone is assigned a specific
job to do and no one is allowed to have feelings or memories of anything. Society is dictated
by a few people in charge and the rest of the people just go about following the rules and
instructions they are given. One of the main themes of the novel is the importance of
memory. The book is so interesting maybe because it is opposite to the lifestyle we know, it
teaches us to be grateful for everything we have. We are so lucky to have memories and
remember amazing and rough times in our lives.
The story tells of a 12 year o d Jonas who lives in a “utopian” society, in which
civilization coexist peacefully, and possess ideal lifestyles where all bad memories are
destroyed to avoid the feeling of pain. Jonas becomes the receiver, someone who receives
good and bad memories, and he is transmitted memories of pain and pleasure from The
Giver and is taught to keep the secret to himself. The author shows one should cherish
memories, whether it be good or bad, as they are all of what is left of the past, and we
should learn from it as to better.
Jonas is a young boy whose personality changes throughout the book. At the
beginning of the story, Jonas’s personality seemed uptight, obedient, and quiet. He is being
raised by people who are very obedient to society and have specific roles they are fulfilling,
so he knows that his time will come to be assigned his role. When he gets chosen to be the
Receiver of Memory, his attitude becomes more mature and less uptight because the
Receiver of Memory is the only person within the society that is allowed to have feelings
and memories. Jonas was skipped over and not assigned a role at the Ceremony of 12
which made him nervous, but then his name came up for that role “He expected to have a
normal job but little did he know his job would change his life forever”.
As Jonas begins to receive memories, he learns about feelings and emotions he has
not felt before. It is interesting because we have felt them before and we don’t know what it
feels like to not feel emotions. If you lived in the community in the book, The Giver, you
would not remember anything from your childhood. At first, Jonas says that “There could
be love” he feels for Gabriel, that is a feeling. When he learns that Gabriel, the young boy
being raised by Jonas’ father, will be released, he feels pain because he has grown to love
him and he knows that when someone is released from society it means likely death for that
person. Another feeling Jonas feels is a change, he wants the young boy’s community to
change, have colors, and especially memories. When Jonas and Gabriel escaped, Jonas
would share good memories with Gabe because he wanted him to experience great feelings.
It’s so important to remember memories. Imagine not remembering any memories
from your life. Jonas has to become responsible to handle all the community memories. He
now experiences joy, happiness, pain, and fear for others. He cares about what happens to
the people closest to him. He feels love for Fiona (a girl he likes), pain when Gabriel has to
get released and amazing memories that he made with The Giver. In the text, Jonas says
Mariam Mohamed Anwar Grade 6-D

“that he feels bad for anyone who feels strange or stupid”. He cares about people’s feelings
and emotions. When Jonas was speaking to The Giver, he states “that memories are
forever, he enjoyed receiving memories because it gave him happiness”. To follow the
previous example, The Giver says that, “without memories life is meaningless; how do you
enjoy life when the good times never stay with you?”
Jonas hates how his society decides to keep memories a secret from everyone. Jonas
says: “The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it.
Memories need to be shared”. Jonas feels that memories, whether it be good or bad, should
be shared with everyone. Furthermore, memories allow the community to gain wisdom
from remembering experiences of the past. As for The Giver, The Giver disagrees with how
the community runs things. He believes that memories should be experienced by everyone
as well, because life is meaningless without memories. The Giver says: “There are so many
things I could tell them; things I wish they would change. But they don’t want change. Life
here is so orderly, so predictable–so painless. It’s what they’ve chosen. It’s just that without
memories, it’s all meaningless. They gave that burden to me”. The Giver is burdened with
the responsibility to not share memories even though that is what he feels the community
deserves. In addition, he believes the community lives a very monotonous life where
nothing ever changes. Everything is meaningless without memories because the community
does not know what it is like to be human without feelings.
Jonas wishes he could go back when everything was innocent and when he had no
burden of pain, but although there was innocence the bad memories were stripped away to
avoid the feeling of pain but also leaves everyone emotionless. But he knows it can never be
the same again because of all the knowledge he gained from memories. He learns that
memoires need to be valued, even the painful ones. Jonas feels that his community can
change and things could be different. He thinks they should live in a world with memories.
Jonas says: “Things could be different. I don’t know how, but there must be some way for
things to be different. There could be colours and everybody would have memories. There
could be love”. Jonas wishes that they could all have memories because everyone would be
able to experience love. Love is one of the most important things in human life. He knows
that there are bad memories, but without them, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the good ones.
Eventually, with his feelings
The Giver is a story based on memories. The book made me realize how grateful I
am for having memories, and the knowledge I have about my town. I feel that because
Jonas could have feelings and memories it made him more knowledgeable about his
community. I also think that because Jonas could help Gabriel and they were able to break
free from this controlling society their lives would be changed forever. I would definitely
recommend this book to others because it is an example of a story where someone has the
courage to break away from the norm to help someone else. To live in a society where
everyone is the same is not challenging people to have the freedom to express themselves or
to share feelings and memories.