GET TO KNOW LOIS LOWRY
Lois Lowry is a contemporary American author credited with forty-five children’s books. She was born in 1937 in Honolulu, Hawaii. She completed her degree in English literature from the University of Southern Maine. She did not start writing professionally until she was in her mid-30s. While pursuing her graduate degree, she was introduced to photography which became a passion. She began freelance photography work and was published in Redbook magazine that, in turn, gained her an opportunity for her to write her first story. A Houghton Mifflin editor recognized her talent and suggested that she write a children’s book. Lowry agreed and wrote A Summer to Die that was published in 1977. A Summer to Die was a fictionalized retelling of the early death of her sister and of the effect of loss on a family. Her second novel, Number the Stars, set in a different culture and era that tells of the role that humans play in the lives of other humans. Her arguably most famous novel, The Giver, takes place in a dystopian society based around “Sameness”. Though broader in scope than other books, The Giver also speaks to the same concern of the vital need for humans to be aware of their interdependence, not only with each other, but with the world and its environment.
She has won two Newbery Medals for Number the Stars and The Giver. She was a finalist in 2000, 2004, and 2016 for the biennial international Hans Christian Anderson Award which is the highest recognition available to children’s authors. Lowry is known for writing about difficult subject matters within her works for children. She has written on issues as racism, terminal illness, murder, and the Holocaust among other challenging topics. She also has explored very controversial issues of questioning authority such as The Giver quartet. She has received both praise and criticism for her writings on questioning authority. The Giver has been met with many different reactions from schools in America, some schools use the novel as apart of curriculum while others have prohibited the book in classroom studies.
Originally published in 1993, The Giver has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide as of 2014. In many countries and the United States, it is on many middle school reading lists. Though frequently challenged it has been ranked number eleven on the American Library Association list of the most challenged books in the 1990s. In a 2012 survey based in the United States, The Giver was designated the fourth-best young adult novel of all time. In 2014, a film adaptation was released staring academy award winning actors such as Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges. The movie won two awards and was nominated for six other awards.
INTRODUCTION TO THE GIVER
The Giver is set in a society which first appears as a utopia but is revealed to be a dystopia as the story progresses. The novel follows a 12-year-old boy named Jonas. The society has taken away pain and strife by converting to "Sameness", a plan that has also takes away emotional depth to the lives of the society members. Jonas is selected to receive the position of Receiver of Memory, the person who stores all the past memories of the time before Sameness His job is used when there are times where he must draw upon the wisdom gained from history to aid the community's decision making. Jonas struggles with concepts of all the new emotions and things introduced to him: whether they are inherently good, evil, or in between, and whether it is even possible to have one without the other. The Community lacks any color, memory, climate, or terrain, all in an effort to preserve structure, order, and a true sense of equality beyond personal individuality. As Jonas learns what The Community is lacking, he becomes frustrated and must make an important decision.
I would target this novel for grades six through eight. The genre falls into the Young Adult Literature category followed by dystopian society along with science fiction. The Giver can fulfill standards that focus on analysis and literary devices.
TEACHING CHALLENGE
Inexperience in Analysis
The real difficulty lies within the shock and denial a young, inexperienced reader might feel about the unhappy and shocking situations in the book. Imagine watching the nightly news and reaching total overload when you have heard about the hundredth natural disaster or unnecessary death. You switch to a comedy or pay more attention to the ticker running along at the bottom of the screen or you turn the news off completely. Either way, you do not need any more details. For students who are unaccustomed to the nastiness lying very near the surface in dystopian literature, the need to tune out ugliness means that they might miss some very important concepts: "releasing" means death and taking a little pill means never feeling anything. Students could avoid going in to depth in these topics because they either do not understand the meanings or they do not want to talk about it. There could be a strong connection with students who have younger siblings when Gabriel enters the story and the family unit. Certain situations in the novel could bring up feelings that young students do not know how to deal with so the assistance of a guidance counselor could be useful. Because some students will not understand connections between this fictional world and the world today, there could be very good conversations on making connections and analyzing topics. Keep on the alert for students in high avoidance mode by asking for a summary every now and again. This summary could not only bring up very important conversations about our society today but it could also bring amount some comedic relief.
THEMES AND CONCEPTS
The Importance of the Individual
At the Ceremony of Twelve, the community celebrates the differences between the twelve-year-old children for the first time in their lives. For many children, twelve is an age when they are struggling to carve out a distinct identity for themselves and differentiating themselves from their parents and peers. Students are finding themselves which could lead to acting out in a negative way. If read within the six through eight grades, students will be entering and enduring the challenges of becoming a teenager. Among other things, The Giver is the story of Jonas’s development into an individual, maturing from a child dependent upon his community into a young man with unique abilities, dreams, and desires. The novel can even be seen as an allegory for this process of becoming an adult: twelve-year-old Jonas rejects a society where everyone is the same to follow his own path. The novel encourages readers to celebrate differences instead of disapproving them or pretending they do not exist. People in Jonas’s society ignore his unusual eyes and strange abilities out of politeness, but those unusual qualities end up bringing lasting, positive change to the community. It is vitally important to encourage students to be their true selves even if they stand out, but there also needs to be a push for students to make positive choices. On the negative side, some students could take individualism the wrong way. Students need to be encouraged stand up for positive issues that is good for the community as a whole. Especially in today’s society, there is a focus on the individual. There is a push for embracing differences between people with all different backgrounds. Through this novel student can be encouraged to embrace differences. Creating a lesson plan that involves learning about students different cultures could be a great way to get students more involved.
MEMORIES MATTER ACTIVITY
Memoir writing is a compilation of snapshot memories, like those The Giver shares with Jonas. Snapshot memories are fairly short and very specific. Each memoir is rich in detail and description. Writing a memoir differs from writing an autobiography, in which where you start with the day you were born and tell everything that has happened since then. It also differs from a biography in that the person telling the story of the event is the person who actually experienced it, rather than someone observing the action. Through this assignment, students should be encouraged to be very descriptive. Giving students the guideline of using a certain amount of literary devices could be a great way to follow standards.
http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson13/DescriptiveMemoirProject.pdf
A WORLD WITHOUT PAIN ACTIVITY
In Jonas’ community, members are sheltered from feeling any physical or emotional pain. While this theoretically seems like a peaceful way to live, Jonas soon learns that feeling no pain desensitizes people and doesn’t allow them to appreciate positive emotions. From pain, people are also able to learn from mistakes and avoid making those same mistakes again in the future. This activity brings this idea to the forefront by showing students a real-life example of someone who feels no pain.
Students work in groups to read information about people who feel no physical pain (you could have them research Gabby Gingras or Ashlyn Blocker). As a group, students discuss whether or not they would like to life a life without physical pain and what challenges they might face if they chose yes. Then, they work with their group to brainstorm a list of advantages and disadvantages to living a life free of emotional pain.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/GIVER-ACTIVITY-BUNDLE-930420