The Giver Ch. 11-12

         Chapter 11 begins as Jonas starts to receive the memory of snow.  At first, he feels the man's hands on his back, but then he stops to feel the hands and he begins to feel cold.  Suddenly, he is sitting on a hard surface, and he feels the snowflakes falling on him.  Through the snow, he sees the view below him, and realizes he is on a high place- called a hill- that he never experienced before.  He realizes that he is sitting on something called a sled, and then he begins to slide downhill on the sled.  He goes faster and faster, feeling very exhilarated, until he gets to the bottom of the hill and stops.  

          After he finished getting the memory and wakes up in the room, he asks the man some questions.  "Why don't we have snow, and sleds, and hills?" he asks.  The old man answers, "Climate control... it wasn't practical, so we got rid of it when we went to Sameness."  Then, the old man transmits a memory of sunshine, which also doesn't exist anymore due to Climate Control and Sameness.  Finally, Jonas asks about pain, so the old man gives him a memory of sunburn.  

 

           Before he goes home Jonas asks the old man a question.  He says, "I don't know your name.  I thought you were The Receiver, but you say that now I'm The Receiver.  So I don't know what to call you."

          "Call me The Giver," the old man told Jonas.  

          Chapter 12 starts the next day, as Jonas gets ready for school after his first day of training.  Today, everything feels a little different from before.  All his friends at school are talking excitedly about their first day of training, but Jonas is not allowed to talk about his training, so he can only listen.  After school, he rides to training with Fiona again, and she tells him about her training.  Jonas apologizes when she tells him that she waited for him after training last night, but he can't tell her anything about training, so he feels awkard.  Before she goes in for her training, he suddenly sees her hair change- the same way the apple had changed- in a way that he can't describe.  He decides to ask The Giver about the indescribable changes he has seen.  

          When Jonas tells the Giver about the changes he has seen, The Giver asks him a question about the sled memory.  He tells Jonas to remember the sled again, but this time, to look down at the sled.  Jonas remembers the sled and looks down.  The sled has that same indescribable quality as the apple and Fiona's hair!  But the sled doesn't change back, it just stays that way.

    

          Jonas tells this to The Giver, and the Giver explains that Jonas is seeing the color Red.  The apple is red, Fiona's hair is red, and the sled in the memory was red.  But the sled didn't change, because at the time of the memory, the world still had color.  Now, scientists have tried to take away all the color, but a little bit of color still remains.  Most people can't see it, but Jonas has the special ability to see color.  Jonas asks The Giver, "do you see colors?"  The Giver replies that he sees all the colors.  Then, The Giver transmits the memory of a rainbow to Jonas, to help him see all the colors.  

Vocabulary-

snow, hill, sled, downhill, sunburn, climate control, sameness

exhilarated, awkward, apologize, transmit, indescribable, rainbow

Comprehension Questions-

1.  Why doesn't Jonas' community have different kinds of land and weather?

2.  What is Jonas' first memory of pain?

3.  What is the "indescribable quality" that Jonas sees in the apple, Fiona's hair, and the sled?

4.  Why can't people see color in Jonas' world?

5.  What memory does The Giver transmit to Jonas to help him learn about colors?

*Think- Why do you think the old man wants Jonas to call him "The Giver"?