The Giver Ch. 8-9

        Chapter Eight begins as Jonas sits, ashamed, at the Ceremony of Twelve.  He has not been given an Assignment.  Instead, he was skipped and all the other children got their Assignments.  Everyone feels confused about this.  Jonas feels humiliation and terror.

        Then, the Chief Elder apologized to Jonas and called him up on stage.  Jonas slowly goes to the stage, and the Chief Elder speaks.  She says, "Jonas has not been assigned- Jonas has been selected."  She explains that Jonas has been selected to be the next Receiver of Memory.  This is the most important job in the community.  Jonas looks at the current Receiver of Memory.  He is a bearded man with pale eyes- eyes just like Jonas.

         The Chief Elder goes on to talk about how important this job is.  It is so difficult that the last person selected to be the Receiver of Memory failed, which was a terrible experience for everyone.  Therefore, the Committee of Elders was very careful about selecting Jonas.  They said that he fit all the requirements for the job of Receiver of Memory- intelligence, integrity, and courage.  He needs courage because the training for this job involves a lot of pain.  In addition, he needs the ability to acquire wisdom.  He also needs to have another quality, called the Capacity to See Beyond.  No one else knows what this means, but Jonas remembers the time when he saw the apple change. He realizes that this might be the Capacity to See Beyond.  The Chief Elder leaves the stage, and everyone cheers for Jonas.  Everyone is very proud of him, and he also feels proud, but he also feels afraid.


          Chapter Nine begins as Jonas leaves the Ceremony.  He already feels different from his new job, like he is apart from everyone else.  His friends move aside from him, watch him, and whisper about him.  Asher is still his best friend, but he seems uncertain about how he should act around Jonas.


         At home, Jonas asks his parents about the last person who was selected to become Receiver of Memory.  He asks, "What was his name?"

         "Her, not his," Jonas' mother replies.  "It was a female.  But we are never to speak the name."  Jonas is shocked!  A name that can never be spoken is the worst punishment that can happen to anyone.

       "What happened to her?"  Jonas asks.  But his parents don't know.  They just say that they never saw her again.

          Later, in his room, Jonas opens the folder that has all the rules for his new job.  There are only eight rules:

             The last rule says, "You may lie."  Jonas is shocked by this rule.  He thought that people never lie!  What if other adults had received this rule?  How can he ever know what the truth is?

Comprehension Questions:
1.  Why did the Chief Elder skip Jonas?
2.  Jonas was not assigned- he was selected.  What does this mean?
3.  What will Jonas' job be?
4.  What are the qualifications for this job?
5.  What rule about his job is very shocking to Jonas?

* THINK- Why might Jonas need to lie for his job?