1. YHSC | Year 9 English | Week 1 chapters 1-7
The Giver
YHSC | Year 9 English | Week 1 chapters 1-7

2. Independent reading
If you haven’t finished reading The Giver, you MUST read that

3. Learning intentions KNOW
Key features of the first chapter of the novel DO
Some reading of the chapter
Notes & questions
Punctuation practice BE
focused

4. How the novel begins
The opening paragraphs and scene of the novel foreshadows many of its main concerns:
The search for the right word to express something accurately
The representation of a feeling (how the community thinks about and experiences feelings is organised by many regulations, and their impacts on people are diminished or gone)
The memory of a past event and how it used to inform Jonas’ understanding in the present moment
The notion of difference (the plane being shaped differently from what might normally be seen and not behaving in expected ways - an impression is created that there are few deviations from the usual way of things in the community)
Jonas, the protagonist, is alone and facing uncertainty

5. Using inference
Inference - to deduce or conclude something from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements
Jonas’ reaction to the incident indirectly informs readers about the nature of his community (the novel’s setting).
e.g. We know that the citizens don’t show a lot of independent thought, have much ability to deal with and choose responses to things that are out of the ordinary; they are guided by what they are told and don’t seem to have much control in terms of free choice about what they do.
What evidence from the first page or two could we use to show that these inferences are correct?

6. For example:
“Jonas, looking around anxiously, had seen others - adults as well as children - stop what they were doing and wait, confused, for an explanation of the frightening event. Then all of the citizens had been ordered to go into the nearest building and stay there. [...] Instantly, obediently, Jonas had dropped his bike [...] and run indoors and stayed there, alone.” (2)
Looking carefully at specific words within a passage support a reader’s ability to make inferences.

7. Do you consider Jonas’ community a utopia or a dystopia? Why?
Writing to learn

8. Significant concepts introduced in the first chapter Language
In Jonas’ community, choosing the right word for things, particularly feelings, is very important.
Jonas consciously stops himself when not-quite- accurate words come to him and he searches for the right ones. His friend, Asher, however, makes many more mistakes in the way he uses language and readers begin to see the difficulties and consequences he faces as a result.
For example:
“He searched for the right word to describe his own feeling. Jonas was careful about language. Not like his friend, Asher, who talked too fast and mixed things up, scrambling words and phrases until they were barely recognizable and often very funny.” (14)

9. Questions
What descriptive words does Jonas think about to describe his emotion at the beginning of the narrative, and which does he decide best fits his actual feeling?
How old is Jonas and his sister, Lily?
Why might the newchild mentioned by Father at the evening telling of feelings be released?
Find two quotes that show that the Ceremony of Twelve is a significant moment in Jonas’ community.

10. . , ’ “ ; : ... Name each of these punctuation marks.
. , ’ “ ; : ...
Name each of these punctuation marks.
Then for each one, explain when/why it is used in a piece of writing.

11. Answers! full stop - marks the end of a complete sentence
comma - indicates a pause between parts of a sentence
apostrophe - used to show possession or contraction
Inverted commas/quotation marks - indicates the beginning and end of direct speech or a quote
semi-colon - a more pronounced pause within a sentence than a comma
colon - precedes a list
elipsis - used to show an omission, e.g. part of a quote, or something not said (as in trailing off)