The Giver:
Chapter 1-5
Questions
And Answer Key
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The Giver, Chs 1-5 Name_________________
Questions
1. Why might the arrival of a jet be a terrifying experience for the entire community?

2. What do you think might happen to someone who is released from the community?

3. Name one thing you learned about the community from the discussion during the ritual telling
of feelings.

4. What is different about the way children are born and infants are cared for in the community?

5. Why was it so difficult to get rules changed in the community?

6. Why were Gabe’s eyes of such interest to Jonas?

7. How did Lily react to the new word “hippo”? Why did she react this way?

8. Why did Jonas risk the humiliation of public chastisement (being disciplined in front of
people) for taking an apple from the recreation area?

9. What effect did the pills have on Jonas and the other people who took them?

10. Why do you think all adults were required to take them?

11. Why do you think Birthmothers, or biological mothers, held such a low status in the
community?

12. Do you think the lives of the elderly were better or worse than they are in our society today?
Give a good reason for your opinion.

13. What two things did the committee consider when giving children their life assignments?

©  2014  The  English  Teacher’s  Pet  

Literary Devices
1. Allusion - The name Jonas is a variation of the name Jonah. In the Bible, the prophet Jonah
was commissioned by the Lord to proclaim judgment upon a sinful city. Why might Lois Lowry
have chosen Jonas as the name of her main character?

2. Allusion - In the Bible the angel Gabriel is a divine messenger. What does the choice of this
name for the newchild suggest about Gabe’s importance in the novel?  
 
 
 
Vocabulary
adherence

aptitude

enhance

palpable

wheedle

chastisement

petulantly

tabulated

remorse

bewildered
 

©  2014  The  English  Teacher’s  Pet  

The Giver, Chs 1-5 Name___KEY______________
adherence- support, allegiance

aptitude- capability, intelligence

enhance- to improve

palpable- able to feel, see, or hear

wheedle- to persuade or flatter

chastisement- to scold

petulantly- annoyingly, to disturb

tabulated- calculate or sum up

remorse- to feel sorry for, grief

bewildered- confused

Questions
1. Why might the arrival of a jet be a terrifying experience for the entire community? The
community is highly structured so that anything out of the ordinary is frightening. A jet flying
overhead never happens; the pilot was released because of his mistake.

2. What do you think might happen to someone who is released from the community?
Answers may vary. Likely they are killed; some may think exiled.

3. Name one thing you learned about the community from the discussion during the ritual
telling of feelings. Children are assigned to families- one male and one female child. Spouses
are also assigned. People outside the community do visit, but in such a highly-structured manner
that a boy at daycare makes Lily angry for not following the rules.

4. What is different about the way children are born and infants are cared for in the
community? Fifty children are born per year, and infants are cared for by Nurturers away from
families before they are assigned names and families at age one.

5. Why was it so difficult to get rules changed in the community? The community at large is
told where to live, what job to work at, who constitutes their family. Change in the community
would come as a shock to most members, and only a few Elders are in charge that are rarely
seen.

6. Why were Gabe’s eyes of such interest to Jonas? They are light colored, like Jonas’. Most
in the community have dark eyes.

©  2014  The  English  Teacher’s  Pet  

7. How did Lily react to the new word “hippo”? Why did she react this way? Lily nervously
laughs- she has never seen nor heard of a hippo before- there are no animals of any kind in the
community.

8. Why did Jonas risk the humiliation of public chastisement (being disciplined in front of
people) for taking an apple from the recreation area? It would change in appearance at times,
and only he noticed- Asher saw nothing out of the ordinary,

9. What effect did the pills have on Jonas and the other people who took them? They took
away the Stirrings- sexual feelings Jonas was having for Fiona.

10. Why do you think all adults were required to take them? Only Birthmothers are allowed
to create children. Also, a community who lets sexual and romantic feelings rule them face risk
of joy and pain- hardly feelings easy to subdue in a community where structure is key.

11. Why do you think Birthmothers, or biological mothers, held such a low status in the
community? Having a baby is emotional and messy- two things frowned upon in the
community. Unable to keep their own children, they are likely seen as a tool for the community,
and not as humans with likely attachments to their babies.

12. Do you think the lives of the elderly were better or worse than they are in our society
today? Give a good reason for your opinion. Elders are highly respected and cared for in the
community- they have little want as they receive company and care. It would seem it is better to
live in the community at old age. (Some may realize already that release means death, and
sending the old off to death before their time is definitely worse.)

13. What two things did the committee consider when giving children their life
assignments? They consider the child’s interests and skills before placing them.

Literary Devices
1. Allusion - The name Jonas is a variation of the name Jonah. In the Bible, the prophet Jonah
was commissioned by the Lord to proclaim judgment upon a sinful city. Why might Lois Lowry
have chosen Jonas as the name of her main character? Jonas’ assignment will reveal to him the
terrible wrong the Elders have put upon its community- they have taken away all feelings, any
sense of ownership, and have made their humans nothing more than tools for society. Jonas will
likely change the structure of the community later in the book.

2. Allusion - In the Bible the angel Gabriel is a divine messenger. What does the choice of this
name for the newchild suggest about Gabe’s importance in the novel? Gabriel is the start of the
bending/breaking of the community rules that Jonas sees, as his father brings the newchild home
to care for him and has peeked at his name before it was assigned. As Jonas becomes attached to
this new little brother (he stops taking his Stirrings pills), Gabriel will become the catalyst
needed for Jonas to effect change upon the Community later in the book.

©  2014  The  English  Teacher’s  Pet  

  
 
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