The Giver (SparkNotes Literature Guide)

By SparkNotes and Lois Lowry

SparkNotes Literature Guides:
Making the reading experience fun!
 
When a paper is due, and dreaded exams loom, here's the lit-crit help students need to succeed! SparkNotes Literature Guides make studying smarter, better, and faster. They provide chapter-by-chapter analysis; explanations of key themes, motifs, and symbols; a review quiz; and essay topics. Lively and accessible, SparkNotes is perfect for late-night studying and paper writing.
 
Includes:
 • 16 pages devoted to writing a literary essay including: a glossary of literary terms
 • Step-by-step tutoring on how to write a literary essay
 • A feature on how not to plagiarize 

• Language: English
• Publisher: SparkNotes
• Release date: Oct 11, 2007
• ISBN: 9781411493049

Reviews for The Giver (SparkNotes Literature Guide)

[bnbooklady · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This amazing book is a meditation on the dangers of trying to create a perfect world. In its unique way, it is a celebration of differences and a reminder that though our world sometimes brings us pain and difficulty, is also brings us joy and love and music and, most important, freedom.The Giver presents an opportunity to have conversations about why and how the world is the way it is—and why and how it isn’t the way it isn’t—and it is a beautifully written, wonderfully crafted novel that I believe completely deserved the Newbery Medal it was awarded “for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.”Full review at The Book Lady's Blog

[thelittlebookworm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Little BookwormJonas lives in his own Community, where people are assigned everything in their lives from wives to house to jobs, where emotions are dampened by a pill and food is always available, where everything is orderly and rules are to be obeyed without question. At the onset of the book, it seems like an ideal world and Jonas does not question it. Until at his 12th ceremony, he is named the new Receiver of Memories. Once he meets the old man, the Giver, he starts to learn of how things were before the Communities and how even a perfect world contains its own horrors.Amazingly I had never read this Newbery Award winner before. I genuinely liked it. There were parts that I found especially disturbing, like when Jonas finds out what it means to be "released" and the pills they start taking at the onset of puberty. Lowry creates a world here that shows that a "perfect" society comes at a price. I know this is an oft challenged/banned book but I don't think that I would have really understood certain things when I was younger. I think this is one of those books that you see differently as you grow up.I actually listened to this one and Ron Rifkin, the narrator, does an excellent job. He gives Jonas the perfect voice and creates tension when needed. The only thing about the audiobook was the little music accompaniments to the memories. I found those distracting.

[devilwrites · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The premise: ganked from Amazon.com: In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy. With echoes of Brave New World, in this 1994 Newbery Medal winner, Lowry examines the idea that people might freely choose to give up their humanity in order to create a more stable society. Gradually Jonas learns just how costly this ordered and pain-free society can be, and boldly decides he cannot pay the price. My RatingMust Have: fans of dystopia need to spare this book a look. It's short, sweet, and totally not a waste of time, and the elements of the dystopia are fascinating to examine and stew over. Yes, there's a touch of magical realism here, but the story of Jonas is touching and engaging, and worth reading no matter how old or young you are. The ending is poetically ambiguous, allowing the reader to decide for themselves what happens next, and lesser authors could not pull such an ending off. Lois Lowry, however, is not a lesser author, and it works wonderfully.Review style: For the love of everything pure and good, THERE BE SPOILERS!!! Seriously, I talk about pretty much everything important IN DETAIL, so if you want to stay pure, do NOT click the link below, which goes to the full review at my LJ. Because seriously, THERE BE SPOILERS. And not just this book, but two of Lowry's other books that make up this trilogy (yes, it's a trilogy. Did you know this? I sure didn't). At any rate, consider yourself warned. For those of you who don't care about spoilers or have read the book, feel free to click below for the full review (with spoilers). As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)REVIEW: Lois Lowry's THE GIVERHappy Reading!

[therinknite-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

[Cross-posted to Knite Writes]I’m not really sure how much I can say about this children’s classic that people haven’t already heard. Obviously, it’s a pretty clear origin point for many, many later dystopian stories, and its themes are fairly similar to much of today’s dystopian fare. Jonas is a young, impressionable, and hopeful protagonist who quickly grows disillusioned with his society when some ugly truths come to light. The social structure consists of the familiar few, older authority figures who control people through constant, 1984-style observation and rigorous, lifelong conditioning.There’s nothing much in this book that would surprise any reader today, given how popular dystopian has become in the last few years. But I can see how it would have been fairly groundbreaking children’s literature way back in 1993 (when I was, believe it or not, one year old).Really, I can’t complain about anything in this book, although I will admit I didn’t find it that spectacular. The writing style didn’t really grip me, the characters weren’t that interesting (although they weren’t too boring), and the plot was fairly simplistic despite the somewhat heavy-handed thematic overtones.In other words, it was a children’s book through and through. Not something I usually pick up. Not something I would have picked up had it not been hailed as a classic.There isn’t anything wrong with it, per say, given what is is: a didactic children’s story that teaches an important lesson about the nature of sacrifice and the human experience.So I’m firmly on the middle ground with this one. It’s all right, but it’s not something I found particularly compelling or ingenious.

[mhanover10 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is about a community who give up memories that one person keeps for them because the people might not be able to handle them. The Giver is getting old so he must give all the memories to a new person who must keep them for everyone. They don't remember color, sun, pain, courage and many other memories. They are very vanilla people. Jobs, spouses and children are selected for them. Twins born? The heaviest is kept and the other is "released" which everyone thinks they go somewhere else. I saw the movie first and it is a lot like the book yet quite different. The movie is heavier on the friends and the book is about the Giver and the Receiver. It's a very interesting concept. It's sad that people would be happy with such a bland life and controlled life. Love Ron Rifkin reading the book. One of my favorite actors.

[katherine.boykins · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Jonas lives in a perfect world. Family units are perfectly selected, no one has any worry, jobs are assigned, and no one thinks twice about it. That is, until Jonas is selected as the next receiver of memory. As Jonas takes on his roll as the receiver, he begins to question his society. Maybe it is not as perfect as one would think. Troubled by this fact, Jonas decides to change society. This novel is my absolute favorite. Teachers can do so many things with this novel from an author study to comparing and contrasting other dystopian societies. Students could also think about what they would do if they were in Jonas' situation. Since this book has been adapted to a film version, students could also compare and contrast the movie and the book.

[cindywho-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was glad this was short, because I couldn't shake the feeling of something being off. The distopia disguised as utopia was interesting, but the memory transfer idea was never really explained. I think I must have read this years ago, but had forgotten it completely. Not sure if I'll go for the next ones. The audiobook performance was often interrupted by odd electronic music and the reader's voice was unnervingly squeaky when portraying Jonas' voice.

[melsbks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Troubling book. How much would you give up for peace and security? Your ability to choose? Your memories? Your feelings? For a perfect world. Jonah's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war, no fear, no pain.

[jackiejjay · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

About what could happen in the future as far as society or the world being controlled, stripped of choices.

[aspirit-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book might have impressed me if:(1) I hadn't come across the argument that this is "great science fiction", and(2) the author didn't argue with readers about the (obvious) outcome of the end.Basically, I should have read The Giver in childhood, before knowing that I see it differently than its existing fan. This book read to me as a giant metaphor for how marginalized people can see historic threads and layers to the world that's ignored in a mainstream culture.The perspective could have made me feel seen and understood the way my favorite childhood books did. Now I only think of arguments against the labels applied to it.

[mbmackay · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Teen fiction that has become a classic - and also attracted derogatory criticism. I found it to be a good read, and usefully thought provoking.

[bookscantgetenough · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was AMAZING. The society seems so perfect to those living within it but as Jonas started to receive more memories he found that it was completely flawed. I recently read anthem by Ayn Rand and I can see some connections to that book, I don't know if these books are connected to each other.

[howifeelaboutbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As a child I read this book several times, and have kept my worn paperback copy through the countless moves I've made. Thankfully, time had erased the specifics of this story - I remembered the general premise, but not the details, and not the ending. I re-read it now because I just learned this year that the book was part of a loose trilogy, and of course now there has been a new book added to make this a quartet. My mind needed a refresher, so I wanted to start from the beginning.

I had forgotten the intricate details of the world Lowry created for us. I had forgotten how she revealed clues about the civilization's lifestyle slowly; I started out assuming they were like us, with a few minor modifications, then kept having to change the world I imagined and restructure it from scratch. The scenes she paints are vivid and emotional and of course it might be cliché and obvious but there is that undertone of reading about one world and realizing how much you appreciate your world in contrast, the world you were complaining about not long before.

And the ending… as soon as I read it, I remembered loving the ending as a child even as I was wanting to know more, to know what happened, what the author imagined happened, what other readers imagined happened. It made me more excited to read the other books and visit this civilization more as it evolves.

[kemilyh1988 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book and great series! Really thought provoking.

[saudia89 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Re-read this book after 10 years and still great!

[boys8 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was one of my favorite books of all time. It is so fasinating. It takes you to a whole new world. The author really catches your eye and mind by the way she gives so much detail and emotion to this book. I guarntee that once you get started on this book you won't be able to put it back down until you have finished the whole thing. But even when you finish it, you want more.(Spoiler Alert! :P )I don't really want to spoil the book for anyone but if its okay I just want to give you an idea of what its mostly about. Well this book is mainly about a some-what different boy in a world where everything and everybody is the same. Its a "perfect world". Everybody does everything the same and its kind of ruled by the "Elders". This "world" is seperated from the real world. It is in a controlled environment. The wheater is always the same, digital almost. Its weird, no one really knows what a ocean is or how the sun really feels on your skin. They dont even know what rain is or how it sounds. But this special boy is picked for a special task and is reveal all the things in life with memories and thoughts passed down from generation to generation. He is the only one that can know about these things. Then one day a surprise comes, and he makes a big decision in his life. He and someone else become in danger while trying to escape from the "perfect" world and into the real world. What comes next?...What else is there to the "perfect world"?...What am I talking about?...that's for you to find out :P (read the book!)This book is weird, but its fun to read. I started reading this book and I got hooked on it. I didn't want to put it down. I read it in a whole day. From 10:00 am to like 2;oo in the morning. My mother even had to take away the book for a while just to get me to eat and clean. I know it sounds kind of dumb to be like that just for a book, but this book does that to you. No matter what you like to read, I recommend that you read this book because you'll really like it.Another thing, Girls!! (and maybe guys)This book would make you go on a emotional roller-coaster!This book has so much detail and emotion written into it that you'll feel every emotion you can probably think of!But I think thats the best part of it. Thats when you know when a book is a Good Book. When you feel what that character is feeling, then you'll realize it is a Good Book. Well I think i've said enough. I hope who ever reads this review will go and read this book and see for themselves that im not kidding. This book is really good. NO JOKE. If you have a different opinion than mine, then i'm sorry, but thats the way I feel for this book.

[lunacat_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Jonas lives within a future community that is perfect. Each child is happy, each adult seemingly content within their vocation, each family carefully made up of a boy and a girl, and nothing is allowed to disrupt this idyllic life with everything firmly in its place. The only thing Jonas worries about is the Ceremony, when he will turn from an Eleven to a Twelve, and find out what he is going to do with his adult life.What occurs at that Ceremony is something he never expected, that changes his life forever. He is forced to learn to see his seemingly perfect community in an entirely different light, shocking him and leading him to question his place in his world, and what that means for him and others.This was a fantastic YA book, and one that should be put on all teenage reading lists. The details of the community are slowly revealed, and the stunning facts slipped in so you don't realise how disturbing this world really is.The future community is wonderfully realised and completely believable, down to the smallest detail. I drank it up, not wanting to finish the journey but desperate to reach the end. When I did turn the last page, it was with a deep breath as I found myself back in the 'real' world.Fully deserving of its accolades, I think this future dystopian novel would be enjoyed and appreciated by a wide variety of readers, both YA and adult.From page twenty:Father put his bike into its port. Then he picked up the basket and carried it into the house. Lily followed behind, but she glanced back over her shoulder at Jonas and teased, "Maybe he has the same Birthmother as you."Jonas shrugged. He followed them inside. But he had been startled by the newchild's eyes. Mirrors were rare in the community; they weren't forbidden, but there was no real need of them, and Jonas had simply never bothered to look at himself very often even when he found himself in a location where a mirror existed. Now, seeing the newchild and its expression, he was reminded that the light eyes were not only a rarity but gave the one who had them a certain look - what was it? Depth, he decided; as if one were looking into the clear water of the river, down to the bottom, where things might lurk which hadn't been discovered yet. He felt self-conscious, realizing that he, too, had that look.

[noahk_22 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Jonas must run away from his world and his destiny.

[angelarenea-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really liked hearing about the 'sameness' in this book, it reminded me a lot of a Stedford type story (which I guess would be a Utopia of sorts). I also really liked the description of the different ages receiving items/privileges as the grow up. I feel that the whole 12 years old and getting a job thing was a little unrealistic. They made them seem much more mature for 12 year-old kids. I did like that it had a nice depth to it without being pompous or ridiculous. I didn't really get the whole no color thing. I know that they said it was because there was no sun, but if that means no color then Jonas wouldn't be able to see color either. I liked hearing about the different jobs and things, and the rules. The children rule reminded me a lot of China with it's restrictions. It wasn't the best book I've ever read but it wasn't bad. I own the second book in this series and I'll most likely read it (maybe not this month, but at some point). Overall I liked it, and might recommend it to certain people.

[cavernism · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So glad I re-read this. It's good as a kid, amazing as an adult. A practically perfect novel.

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book takes place in the future where everything is the same, no colour, no pain, no snow etc. Memories of music, love, fun are all being held in a person called "The Receiver". Old people, those who do not follow the rules and babies with bad dispositions or twins are "released". Everyone seems happy, they live in family units of parents with 2 children, go to school, ride bikes and get assigned a job when they are older. They do not know any better. Jonas gets his adult assignment when he turns 12 like everyone else and he is chosen to be the new "Receiver". What Jonas learns turns the world as he knows it upside down. A quick read that I enjoyed and do not know why I never read it before. Now to see the movie.

[gloriasidney · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book takes place in the future where everything is the same and memories of pain, music, love, fun, color, and hate are all being held in a person called "The Receiver" When Jonas turns 12 he is assigned the job of the receiver in which he is suppose to keep the memories of the past. The information he gains conflicts with everything that he thinks he knows. This is novel that will challenge readers to think beyond what they know and question why they do the things that they do. This is a book I would share with students who are in the eighth grade or older to talk about themes and symbols. This book is so well written that you will not want to put it down. Reading this book again has been a cherished experience.

[lissylu_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

a very goood book! i suggest it for anyone who love a good science fiction!!!

[ronda73ca · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Interesting tale of a perfect society where PC is the ultimate ideal. Everyone obeys and is perfect and life is predictable and without pain, hunger or want. It is also without emotion, color or music, but the people don't know they are missing these, because they have never heard of them. One person "the receiver" is the sole repository of all these memories and Jonas is picked to become the new receiver as the old one ages and will be retiring. As Jonas becomes aware of emotion he and the old man whom he calls the giver plot to return memory to the people. Utopia meets communism. Lots of symbolism and truths which may go over the heads of middle schoolers, but a great book.My son is in middle school, they are reading now.

[hyzenthlay1537 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book, if read from a truly looking at the surface way would appear something like boy in futuristic society gets memories from an old guy,boy figures out that they kill people there, boy runs away because they were going to kill his adoptive little brother. Now if the book appeared to be just that then you should read this book when you've been around the block a couple more times, for I have some friends who got exactly that from the book they came back to me after reading it saying "How can you even read this? It was so boring I nearly napped off in the middle." But if this book is looked at from a substantially deeper perspective you will find a boy who lives in a society were all even semi-deep emotions are non-existent, then the boy gets a 'assignment' to the giver where real emotions and knowledge are thrust upon him. The only criticism I have on the book (and the reason it has four stars instead of five) is that I found the last few chapters where he's starving in the cold where extremely unpleasant and she should have just cut it off at the point where he gets over the bridge. Overall a marvolously done book with a most fascinating concept.

[mmillet_7 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is an fascinating, almost chilling tale about a boy, Jonas, who is chosen to be his community's new "receiver". Jonas receives memories from "The Giver"; memories that are full or feeling -- pain, love, loss, color, and life -- that are deemed too dangerous for the community to be able to experience. I loved this story. It just comes out of the blue at you and I want to get my hands on the rest of the story becuase I'm not sure I competely understand the ending...

[zommbie1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow. Just wow. It has been a long time since a book stayed with me in this way. It was one of those books that you know has profoundly affected you but you are still not quite sure how. As a Teenager I loved one of Lowry's other books, Number the Stars. It really made me see courage in a different light. This book has affected me in a different way I think. The way the story is built up, the normalcy of it all, to have it changed makes you doubt and question your own perceptions. Lowry manages to make Jonas's feelings into the readers feelings. Although I am not a twelve year old boy I felt like I was feeling everything Jonas was feeling. Which for a book about feelings and memories is not only essential but also amazing. This was one of my banned books and although I can see why some would want it banned I think that it would be devastating! This book has so much to offer both purely stylistically and also as fodder for discussion. It is a book that one should not read and keep in their heart but rather one that should and must be talked about. This is truly an important book!

[awxomeman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of a young boy named Jonas set in a seemingly future utopian society. When Jonas comes of age he is given his job assignment. His job assignment is to be the "Receiver of Memory." He then meets with the person who is to train him in his new job simply named, "The Giver." What follows is Jonas learning about the true nature of his society and what his new place is to be in it should he choose to accept it.This is one of my favorite books of all time. The way the story unfolds really surprised me and the ending is enough to leave you in tears. Tears of joy or tears of sadness I won't say. You'll have to read the book for yourself and find out.This book would be a wonderful to read aloud to your classroom. Older classes may benefit more from reading it on their own though. In a junior high or high school class setting I would have the students write journal entries documenting their thoughts about the major events that happen during the book.

[mrssclass · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A good book about a touch between a boy and a man. When the man touches the boys back he has the feelings of what the man was thinking about when the man touched him. These feelings could range from pain to comfort to warmth to very chilling winds. But when the giver(the man) gives the thoughts to the boy he can never get them back. How much is the giver wiling to give away?

[kellybryan_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This novel is a great representation of how people will give up everything in order to live in a more "perfect" society. They give up their rights and ambitions for something that they think will be better. I like how in the utopian society everything was black and white but when Jonas entered the real world he finally saw color. He had never seen animals or plant and is in complete awe at this "new" world. This is a great way to introduce to children the idea of utopian societies. Nothing can ever be perfect and one should appreciate where they come from.This is a great way to open up and have an in class discussion on the book. You can see what other students point of views are on the topic. Perhaps as a homework assignment each child could create what they view as their own utopia. It would be interesting to see the various ideas.