Use this space to continue discussions with your classmates. Respond to previous comments, answer questions, and pose questions of your own.
53 comments:
Anonymous
said...
To: Tori B. From: Sydney J.
I was thinking the same thing about how no one knows animimals. I was thinking that maybe whoever runs the community doesn't want them to know about many things in the outside world. For example, they probably don't know what a car is, or many luxury items we own, like TVs. They probably don't want the people to know about these things because then the people might realize how much they are missing out on. (please respond)
Jonas' name is close to Judas who according to the bible betrayed Jesus, is this coincidence or is it purposeful. The name of the new child that Jonas' family is taking care of is named Gabriel another possible biblical reference. Will Gabriel play a bigger role later on?
Cody asks a really interesting question about names. Authors usually are very careful about the names that they choose, and often the names have meanings that are relevant to the book. It would be interesting if anyone wanted to do a little research into the meanings of the names in this book, especially Jonas and Gabriel.
To: Sydney and Tori From: Jess M I agree with both of you because if they knew what the hidden luxuries of normal people, they might start protesting until they get those things. They might feel left out. I think it would be better if they knew about animals because sometimes an animal is a child's best friend. I don't understand why the people of this society can't have animals or any of the luxuries they don't have.
to: tori and sydney from: Jess m I agree also that they probally don't have the hidden luxuries of the real world because the people living in the society might get very mad. Not having animals might be bad. Sometimes a child's best friend is an animal. If they don't have a best friend, they might go into depression or something and that wouldn't be good at all.
that is a very wierd question(in a good way). you said that you think that jonas will betray jesus, what do you mean? i dont think that jesus is in this book, do you think the giver is jesus?
I think that they are only aloud to have two children because if someone has more then two children it may become khatioc. Some families may not be able to provide for more than two kids and they don't want have to take the kids away and things to get out of control. If the child dies you may get a new child and have a special cermony and it can have the same name as your last one.
The meaning of the name jonas is a Dove. It's origin is Hebrew it also was prophet of the Old Testament. The origin of the name Gabreil also comes from hebrew. It means "God is my might." From the deffintion i think mabey the names in the book are based in religion.
I had a question about how this societies rules are set up. Who or what group of people makes up these rules? Also I was wondering if they were constructed a long time ago. Is there a certain way to amend these rules/laws or is it a simple solution.
To: Sydney J. and Jess M. From: Tori B. I agree with oyu guys but I still find it really wierd that they don't know what an animal is. Maybe there is a reason for it but it isn't normal. (please respond)
So if the "pills" supress wants for akward things, how do the birthmothers get pregnant??? If there are fathers, is that their jobs??? Do birthmothers get STD's??? What if the baby never gets born??? Do they only give birth to two chilren still???
In the Bible, Gabriel is an angel who does God's bidding, so the Gabriel in the book might be really important or different. Both of them (Jonas and Gabriel) have the same eyes, so could that mean something...Jonas is also close to Jesus...kinda... Also, if Jonas is Judas, who would he betray? It might not be an evil betrayal, as it is in the Bible.
That is a good connection. Just like Jonas' name Gabriel's name means something in the bible. Gabriel is an angel who does God's bidding, so will Gabe play a big role later on in the book???
To: Tori From:Jess M I agree with you on that but they have pretty strict rules there if you already havent figured that out. There is probally some silly little rule that says those are wrong to have or something.
From: Jess M While reading chapter 8 i ran across a few quetions. Why would the council choose Jonas? What made him so special? Why would Jonas's assignment cause physical pain? Would'nt that be against the rules?
Now that we know what the Recievor of Memory does and who they are why do you think they are part of the community? If the people who have formed the community have gone this far in making everyone and everything the same to stop any sort of conflict, why leave just one person who knows the truth?
Jeez Cody, going all deep on us. =] That's a really good connection, and I never really thought about that the first time I read the book. You said that the name Jonas is close to the name Judas, who betrayed Jesus. Maybe the Giver could be considered as Jesus because he is the most honored person in the Community. So Jonas might betray the Giver by talking to people about his traing, or by trying to leave the community. I'm sorry if that's not deep enough for you, some of us don't have the mental capacity to be that deep. Ha ha =]
The dream rule has been on my mind. People say that dreams are about that days experience and Jonas can't tell his dreams. Does this mean if he told his dreams others might experience the memories? Are they trying to keep the memories from the community?
I spelled animals wrong on my first one... I put animimals instead...oops. Anyway, I think that maybe they had animals in the community in the past, just like snow, hills, and sleds. Maybe they got rid of them because they caused problems, or maybe even because of allergies. I think because they got rid of them, no one knows about the except for the Giver, just like snow. Also,I think Jonas will find out about all different animals later on in the book.
To:Syndney J From:Caitlen B I agree with you they probley don't know what a car or tv's are. the community is so small though that everyone can get around on bikes. the person who runs the community probly doen't want them to leave the community if they find out about other places and things that they don't have in the community they might leave.
I was asking myself the same guestion. Who makes up the ruel for the communittes? I was also wondering how did this whole city start? Who dicided that sameness would be better than diversity?Who made up the rules to the communitte in the begging? Did everyone want this or was is it just a grop of people? I would also like to know when did they change the way they live? How long ago did the world have differences?
In chapter ten and eleven, I came across many questions. Why was Jonas not allowed to talk about his dreams when he only dreams so often? Is it because he could dream about being the reciever, or is it because all the other recievers couldn' t dream either? I also wondered why he was able to lie. Why is it that he can lie now and why couldn't he before?
If we know now that Jonas is the reciever of memories, than why are the memories only for him? Why can't the reguar citizens just recieve memories like the reciever? What are the elders trying to hide? I think that the elders are trying to protect the community from something on the outside. Something in the past could have compelled the elders to create a society of isolation. Is Jonas's community the only society in the world? Emma M
I was wondering how the giver gives the memories to Jonas. Did you wonder that? I just find it kinda creepy that he can just put his hands on him and everything seems real to Jonas. It's scary. Maybe he has some weird power so he can send things mentaly to people. I don't know.
hey.. yeah thats cool how we have the same questions. I was alos kind of wondering if girls and guys are all allowed to have the same jobs?! it seems as if they are both treated equally, but I havent fully come to the conclusion. Well, ttyl carly.
To: Elena Q. From: Tori B. Maybe they have a scientific way of getting pregnant? Maybe the baby starts out in a petri dish and gets implanted in the mother.( how would you like to come from a dish?) The mothers probably don't have STD's because they probably don't exist. Please respond
To Aly K. From Tori B. That is an interesting question. If a mother had conjoined twins the twins would probably be released because the community needs sameness. Maybe we will find out later in hte book what happens to twins.
To Jess M. and Sydney J. From Tori B. i agree that the community has some wierd rules and that one of them probably says that stirrings are bad and you can't have them. I also agree that they got rid of the animals, bu tI think they got rid of them because they didn;t want people to get attached and then have it die, because then they would have grief and pain. Please respond.
sameness is unfair just like Jonas says. The Giver tells Jonas that samesness was decided long ago to be the existence of people but it was those people who decided that wanted it. I think that if most people were given the joice they would choose differences.
A lot of people have been writing about the pills and the birthmother thing, so I just wanted to clarify a few things. First of all, there are no "birthfathers". Babies are not created in the usual way, but are scientifically implanted into the birthmother. This is never really described, but it is implied because everyone takes the pills to suppress attraction in any way to others. Spouses are chosen for each person, or assigned, and again this is not the kind of marriage that we are used to. The purpose is to simply raise children that have been assigned to the couple. There is no intimacy or the love-centered relationship that we are used to seeing in our society.
I really like this discussion about the names. Jonas, in some cases, means "dove". A dove usually symbolizes peace. Do you think that this is significant? Also, Gabriel was supposed to be the messenger of God, and in some religions is considered to be the angel of death. What do you make of that? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
P.S. The previous one on birthmothers was from me, too. I guess I'm as bad as everyone else at remembering to put my name on things!
I think that Gabriel will have a part in destroying the society that the people are living in. His name is sometimes referred to as the angel of death, and if you remember, he has eyes like Jonas, which implies that he may be the next Reciever of Memory. Perhaps when Jonas trains him, Gab will be so overwhelmed that he will leave, just like the Reciever before Jonas. Then, once he leaves, the memories he had will leave him and go be acessable to everyone, creating mass chaos, just like before. Except this time the Community will not be able to handle the mass amount of memories, and will begin to fall apart. What does everyone else think??
Love, this is the major topic in chapter 16. Jonas tells Gabriel that there could be love. Jonas has already inquired about change but his ideas have been deterred by the giver. His ideas are still there though. This very similar to projects we've done in the past about the power of one person. It is clear that Jonas has the power to make changes but will he use that power?
After reading chapter 16, im really concerned about this whole "love" issue. When Jonas askes him parents if they "love" him, they carefully skirt around giving him a real answer by saying that "love" is not a correct word to use. Instead they say he should ask things like, " do you enjoy me?". This shows that even though his family enjoys and likes Jonas, they don't really have that parent to child love that most family relationships have. No matter how much better it makes the society, imagine going your whole life without ever REALLY being loved.
I think that love is a main topic in chapter 16. The giver tells Jonas that he is sorry, though he doesn't know why. They talk about love and then there was the memory of love for him and he loves it.
I still don't understand the concept of no color. How can everything be just one plain, dull shade?I'm starting to think that there is more to this community than meets the eye. I'm starting to think they may be in some kind of dome, because it doesn't rain, snow, and there is no sunshire. Is that possible? I'm so confuesed.
I think that the names in the book have something to do with the fact that the Giver is highly worshipped and honored almost like jesus, i think that at some point in the book jonas will do domething to either destroy or save the community.
I just think that life would have no point if you could not fall in love and reproduce. Once you grow up and experience the best and the worst, you want to experience it again with another child. You get to see other people experience the mircle of life, and when you get older and are married, done with college, and have a good career then you too want to would like to raise a child
Hola. What I was thinking about the whole name symbolizing thing, is that for me, it doesn't seem very significant. If it does mean something and comes into play as relating to the actual person, then I think that is just a coincidence.
I think that the animals were not known about because they are different. Sameness would deny that. Also allergies to any animals would single out differences. Now my question is if cows don't exist, then they must be vegetarians, right????
hey girl hey. I was just wondering what you think about the whole getting your wife/husband chosen for you thing. What if, just what if there were rebels who didn't take their pills and became attracted to other people. They will definitely want to pursue a relationship right? So do you think they get kicked out after this or get warnings or what?
My dad was reading Revelations (from the bible) and he read a passage where it said, "And from the tribe of Asher..." Asher is Jonas's friend...and the 12 tribes of Israel are all descended from Jacob, Jacob and Esau ...Just random interesting stuff...^_^
To Sydney J. From Tori B. I agree that there is more than meets the eye about the community. I also find it wierd that no one knows about colors. This is really stupid.
I'm also a little confused as to how nobody can see any color. Maybe they fixed all the genetics so that everyone is colorblind, but i'm not sure if that explains why they have darker eyes. Even if it does, why do people like Jonas have lighter eyes? Is it a fluke, or was he "created" like that on perpose. So does that mean he was chosen to be the Reciever of Memory before he was even born??? So many questions, and so few answers...
53 comments:
To: Tori B.
From: Sydney J.
I was thinking the same thing about how no one knows animimals. I was thinking that maybe whoever runs the community doesn't want them to know about many things in the outside world. For example, they probably don't know what a car is, or many luxury items we own, like TVs. They probably don't want the people to know about these things because then the people might realize how much they are missing out on. (please respond)
To: anyone
From: Cody S.
Jonas' name is close to Judas who according to the bible betrayed Jesus, is this coincidence or is it purposeful. The name of the new child that Jonas' family is taking care of is named Gabriel another possible biblical reference. Will Gabriel play a bigger role later on?
From Mrs. Meyers
Cody asks a really interesting question about names. Authors usually are very careful about the names that they choose, and often the names have meanings that are relevant to the book. It would be interesting if anyone wanted to do a little research into the meanings of the names in this book, especially Jonas and Gabriel.
To: Sydney and Tori
From: Jess M
I agree with both of you because if they knew what the hidden luxuries of normal people, they might start protesting until they get those things. They might feel left out. I think it would be better if they knew about animals because sometimes an animal is a child's best friend. I don't understand why the people of this society can't have animals or any of the luxuries they don't have.
to: tori and sydney
from: Jess m
I agree also that they probally don't have the hidden luxuries of the real world because the people living in the society might get very mad. Not having animals might be bad. Sometimes a child's best friend is an animal. If they don't have a best friend, they might go into depression or something and that wouldn't be good at all.
Why can't they have more than two children per family? What if they die? What happens when you get released? Where do you go?
~Megan M.
to:Cody. S
from:Zach. P
that is a very wierd question(in a good way). you said that you think that jonas will betray jesus, what do you mean? i dont think that jesus is in this book, do you think the giver is jesus?
Elena Q
I have one question for you. What was it that the apple did when Jonas was playing catch??? Any ideas??
Also..... what happened to Caleb. I mean he fell in the river, but how did he get to the river in the first place????
To: Megan M.
From: Hannah C.
I think that they are only aloud to have two children because if someone has more then two children it may become khatioc. Some families may not be able to provide for more than two kids and they don't want have to take the kids away and things to get out of control. If the child dies you may get a new child and have a special cermony and it can have the same name as your last one.
To all readers
The meaning of the name jonas is a Dove. It's origin is Hebrew it also was prophet of the Old Testament. The origin of the name Gabreil also comes from hebrew. It means "God is my might."
From the deffintion i think mabey the names in the book are based in religion.
happy reading,
Virginia Doherty
From: Alex B.
To: the class
I had a question about how this societies rules are set up. Who or what group of people makes up these rules? Also I was wondering if they were constructed a long time ago. Is there a certain way to amend these rules/laws or is it a simple solution.
To: Sydney J. and Jess M.
From: Tori B.
I agree with oyu guys but I still find it really wierd that they don't know what an animal is. Maybe there is a reason for it but it isn't normal. (please respond)
Tori B.
WHy are stirrings bad things? For a kid in our society, having a "stirring" is a normal part of growing up.
Elena Q
to people
So if the "pills" supress wants for akward things, how do the birthmothers get pregnant??? If there are fathers, is that their jobs??? Do birthmothers get STD's??? What if the baby never gets born??? Do they only give birth to two chilren still???
To Megan
Two children per unit because of overpopulation. If they die you get newchilren again.
Elena Q
to: everyone
from: Gillette G.
In the Bible, Gabriel is an angel who does God's bidding, so the Gabriel in the book might be really important or different. Both of them (Jonas and Gabriel) have the same eyes, so could that mean something...Jonas is also close to Jesus...kinda... Also, if Jonas is Judas, who would he betray? It might not be an evil betrayal, as it is in the Bible.
To Cody S.
From Aly K.
That is a good connection. Just like Jonas' name Gabriel's name means something in the bible. Gabriel is an angel who does God's bidding, so will Gabe play a big role later on in the book???
To: Tori
From:Jess M
I agree with you on that but they have pretty strict rules there if you already havent figured that out. There is probally some silly little rule that says those are wrong to have or something.
From: Jess M
While reading chapter 8 i ran across a few quetions. Why would the council choose Jonas? What made him so special? Why would Jonas's assignment cause physical pain? Would'nt that be against the rules?
To: Anyone
From: Ellie G.
Now that we know what the Recievor of Memory does and who they are why do you think they are part of the community? If the people who have formed the community have gone this far in making everyone and everything the same to stop any sort of conflict, why leave just one person who knows the truth?
To: Cody
From: Ashley S. =]
Jeez Cody, going all deep on us. =]
That's a really good connection, and I never really thought about that the first time I read the book. You said that the name Jonas is close to the name Judas, who betrayed Jesus. Maybe the Giver could be considered as Jesus because he is the most honored person in the Community. So Jonas might betray the Giver by talking to people about his traing, or by trying to leave the community. I'm sorry if that's not deep enough for you, some of us don't have the mental capacity to be that deep. Ha ha =]
In response to everyone
From: Cody S.
The dream rule has been on my mind. People say that dreams are about that days experience and Jonas can't tell his dreams. Does this mean if he told his dreams others might experience the memories? Are they trying to keep the memories from the community?
To: Tori and Jess
I spelled animals wrong on my first one... I put animimals instead...oops. Anyway, I think that maybe they had animals in the community in the past, just like snow, hills, and sleds. Maybe they got rid of them because they caused problems, or maybe even because of allergies. I think because they got rid of them, no one knows about the except for the Giver, just like snow. Also,I think Jonas will find out about all different animals later on in the book.
To:Syndney J
From:Caitlen B
I agree with you they probley don't know what a car or tv's are. the community is so small though that everyone can get around on bikes. the person who runs the community probly doen't want them to leave the community if they find out about other places and things that they don't have in the community they might leave.
To: Alex some what
from:Carly
I was asking myself the same guestion. Who makes up the ruel for the communittes? I was also wondering how did this whole city start? Who dicided that sameness would be better than diversity?Who made up the rules to the communitte in the begging? Did everyone want this or was is it just a grop of people? I would also like to know when did they change the way they live? How long ago did the world have differences?
To everyone
From Joe G.
In chapter ten and eleven, I came across many questions. Why was Jonas not allowed to talk about his dreams when he only dreams so often? Is it because he could dream about being the reciever, or is it because all the other recievers couldn' t dream either? I also wondered why he was able to lie. Why is it that he can lie now and why couldn't he before?
If we know now that Jonas is the reciever of memories, than why are the memories only for him? Why can't the reguar citizens just recieve memories like the reciever? What are the elders trying to hide? I think that the elders are trying to protect the community from something on the outside. Something in the past could have compelled the elders to create a society of isolation. Is Jonas's community the only society in the world?
Emma M
To: Jess M (or anyone else)
From: Sydney J.
I was wondering how the giver gives the memories to Jonas. Did you wonder that? I just find it kinda creepy that he can just put his hands on him and everything seems real to Jonas. It's scary. Maybe he has some weird power so he can send things mentaly to people. I don't know.
Aly K.
The Giver
I was just thinking about the book last night and am now wondering what would happen if a birthing mother had conjoined twins? Would it be released?
To: Carly R.
From Alex B.
hey.. yeah thats cool how we have the same questions. I was alos kind of wondering if girls and guys are all allowed to have the same jobs?! it seems as if they are both treated equally, but I havent fully come to the conclusion. Well, ttyl carly.
A question for anyone
From Virginia
Jonas's job is obviously more than just sunburns and sledding. What is the actual purpose of the job? How will it benefit people or the community?
To: Elena Q.
From: Tori B.
Maybe they have a scientific way of getting pregnant? Maybe the baby starts out in a petri dish and gets implanted in the mother.( how would you like to come from a dish?) The mothers probably don't have STD's because they probably don't exist. Please respond
To Aly K.
From Tori B.
That is an interesting question. If a mother had conjoined twins the twins would probably be released because the community needs sameness. Maybe we will find out later in hte book what happens to twins.
To Jess M. and Sydney J.
From Tori B.
i agree that the community has some wierd rules and that one of them probably says that stirrings are bad and you can't have them. I also agree that they got rid of the animals, bu tI think they got rid of them because they didn;t want people to get attached and then have it die, because then they would have grief and pain. Please respond.
to anyone
from Cody S.
sameness is unfair just like Jonas says. The Giver tells Jonas that samesness was decided long ago to be the existence of people but it was those people who decided that wanted it. I think that if most people were given the joice they would choose differences.
To: Tori B
Elena Q
That's true, and I would not like being born from a petri dish. Maybe, it's like a shot. Or maybe they do it as we do now....... AKWARD!!!!!!
A lot of people have been writing about the pills and the birthmother thing, so I just wanted to clarify a few things. First of all, there are no "birthfathers". Babies are not created in the usual way, but are scientifically implanted into the birthmother. This is never really described, but it is implied because everyone takes the pills to suppress attraction in any way to others. Spouses are chosen for each person, or assigned, and again this is not the kind of marriage that we are used to. The purpose is to simply raise children that have been assigned to the couple. There is no intimacy or the love-centered relationship that we are used to seeing in our society.
From Mrs. Meyers
I really like this discussion about the names. Jonas, in some cases, means "dove". A dove usually symbolizes peace. Do you think that this is significant? Also, Gabriel was supposed to be the messenger of God, and in some religions is considered to be the angel of death. What do you make of that? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
P.S. The previous one on birthmothers was from me, too. I guess I'm as bad as everyone else at remembering to put my name on things!
To: Mrs. Meyers
From: Ashley S. =]
I think that Gabriel will have a part in destroying the society that the people are living in. His name is sometimes referred to as the angel of death, and if you remember, he has eyes like Jonas, which implies that he may be the next Reciever of Memory. Perhaps when Jonas trains him, Gab will be so overwhelmed that he will leave, just like the Reciever before Jonas. Then, once he leaves, the memories he had will leave him and go be acessable to everyone, creating mass chaos, just like before. Except this time the Community will not be able to handle the mass amount of memories, and will begin to fall apart. What does everyone else think??
to: anyone
From: Cody S.
Love, this is the major topic in chapter 16. Jonas tells Gabriel that there could be love. Jonas has already inquired about change but his ideas have been deterred by the giver. His ideas are still there though. This very similar to projects we've done in the past about the power of one person. It is clear that Jonas has the power to make changes but will he use that power?
To Ashley S. you copy Cat think up your own ideas
To: everyone
From: Ashley s. =]
After reading chapter 16, im really concerned about this whole "love" issue. When Jonas askes him parents if they "love" him, they carefully skirt around giving him a real answer by saying that "love" is not a correct word to use. Instead they say he should ask things like, " do you enjoy me?". This shows that even though his family enjoys and likes Jonas, they don't really have that parent to child love that most family relationships have. No matter how much better it makes the society, imagine going your whole life without ever REALLY being loved.
Joe G.
To anyone.
I think that love is a main topic in chapter 16. The giver tells Jonas that he is sorry, though he doesn't know why. They talk about love and then there was the memory of love for him and he loves it.
To: Anyone
From:Sydney J.
I still don't understand the concept of no color. How can everything be just one plain, dull shade?I'm starting to think that there is more to this community than meets the eye. I'm starting to think they may be in some kind of dome, because it doesn't rain, snow, and there is no sunshire. Is that possible? I'm so confuesed.
Zach.P
I think that the names in the book have something to do with the fact that the Giver is highly worshipped and honored almost like jesus, i think that at some point in the book jonas will do domething to either destroy or save the community.
Zach.P
I agree with Sydney S. about how it is wierd that no one knows about animals. I think that there is no harm in people knowing about animals.
from: Gillette G
to: anyone
I think that Jonas's eye color have something to do with "seeing beyond." Because the Giver has eyes like his, and so does Gabriel.
To: Anyone
From: Hannah C.
I just think that life would have no point if you could not fall in love and reproduce. Once you grow up and experience the best and the worst, you want to experience it again with another child. You get to see other people experience the mircle of life, and when you get older and are married, done with college, and have a good career then you too want to would like to raise a child
From: Alex B.
To: Mrs.Meyers
Hola. What I was thinking about the whole name symbolizing thing, is that for me, it doesn't seem very significant. If it does mean something and comes into play as relating to the actual person, then I think that is just a coincidence.
To: Zach P and Sydney J
From Elena Q
I think that the animals were not known about because they are different. Sameness would deny that. Also allergies to any animals would single out differences. Now my question is if cows don't exist, then they must be vegetarians, right????
From: Alex B.
To: Lianne S.
hey girl hey. I was just wondering what you think about the whole getting your wife/husband chosen for you thing. What if, just what if there were rebels who didn't take their pills and became attracted to other people. They will definitely want to pursue a relationship right? So do you think they get kicked out after this or get warnings or what?
From: Gillette G
To: Everyone
My dad was reading Revelations (from the bible) and he read a passage where it said, "And from the tribe of Asher..." Asher is Jonas's friend...and the 12 tribes of Israel are all descended from Jacob, Jacob and Esau ...Just random interesting stuff...^_^
To Sydney J.
From Tori B.
I agree that there is more than meets the eye about the community. I also find it wierd that no one knows about colors. This is really stupid.
To: Tori B. and Sydney J.
From: Ashley S. =]
I'm also a little confused as to how nobody can see any color. Maybe they fixed all the genetics so that everyone is colorblind, but i'm not sure if that explains why they have darker eyes. Even if it does, why do people like Jonas have lighter eyes? Is it a fluke, or was he "created" like that on perpose. So does that mean he was chosen to be the Reciever of Memory before he was even born??? So many questions, and so few answers...
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