Book Club #4

Chapters 11 – 15

CHAPTER 11

1. What is Jonas’ first memory?

2. What is Jonas’ reaction to the first memory? What about the Giver?

3. What happened to snow?

4. What is Jonas’ second memory?

5. What is Jonas’ third memory?

6. What is Jonas’ title?

CHAPTER 12

1. What is Jonas beginning to see?

2. How does the Giver help him?

3. What happens to color in this community (vs. in memory)?

4. What is Jonas’ opinion of sameness?

CHAPTER 13

1. What causes frustration for Jonas?

2. What is Jonas’ first startling and disturbing memory? What is his reaction?

3. Is the Giver married? Explain about his marriage relationship.

4. Why is a Receiver necessary in the community?

5. What does Jonas wonder about when he’s not with the Giver?

6. Why does the Giver sometimes send him away?

CHAPTER 14

1. What is the first painful memory and what is its effect on Jonas?

2. What do he and the Giver have to hold painful memories?

3. Why can’t everyone have memories, to share?

4. What’s wrong with Gabriel?

5. What happens when twins are born?

6. How does Jonas comfort Gabriel? What does he think of this?

CHAPTER 15

1. What is this memory and what is its result on Jonas?

Additional Questions

1. Why was the transmittal of the memory of snow so exhausting to the old man? What does this reveal about the community?
2. What two lessons did Jonas learn about the sun?
3. Why did the Giver appear a little sad at the end of the first day of training?
4. What do you think is the most severe pain?
5. How did Jonas’s relationship with his parents and friends change after he received his Life Assignment?
6. How did The Giver explain the visual phenomena that Jonas witnessed? What did this reveal about the community?
7. Why did the community give up the ability to see color?
8. Why was it important for the community to have a person who could “see beyond”?
9. Why did Jonas refer to Gabe as his little brother?
10. Why was The Giver bitter about the Council of Elders?
11. What do you think the Giver will transmit to Jonas to give him his first real impression of pain?
12. How was Jonas’s second experience with snow unlike the first?
13. According to The Giver, why did Jonas have to receive and store memories of pain?

Church Picnic

No church picnic is complete without rain, right?

Dima and his brother-in-law cooking shashlyk (shish-kabab) in the rain... with a marinade of pomegranate juice, who knew? Yum.

And then, the sun came out. Here's Dan playing football (uh, soccer) with little Dima and Agape.

The sun came out and we had a good time eating both the pork and chicken! Really delicious. Featured here from l to r: Natasha, Yulia, Irina, Masha (Irina's daughter) and Maxim. Maxim is tried and true. Never missed church or an opportunity to help out on a work day.

The rain returns! Jim and Dima holding up the shelter. Reminds me of the battle when Aaron has to help Moses keep his arms up so that the Israelites are winning the battle.

Waiting out the storm t come back inside after the picnic. It was really a great time of fellowship, even if the rain did try to spoil our day... it didn't work!

Power of a Praying Husband

I really really enjoyed this book by Stormie Omartian. A few disclaimers. She has a really funny name. (not her fault), but it's kinda cheesy sounding. The title of the book is also cheesy.

But it has really helped my prayer life and I've been using it every day in my quiet times for a couple of years. So, I've found the book in Russian and now it's helping to guide my prayer life AND teaching me some Russian.

That's cool.

Book Club #3

Chapters 6-10

CHAPTER 6

1. What happened to Sevens?

2. What wasn’t Gabriel at the Naming?

3. What was the Ceremony of Loss?

4. What else do you learn about release?

5. What happened for Tens and Elevens?

6. How do people get spouses and children?

CHAPTER 7

1. What is Jonas’ number? How are they assigned numbers?

2. What is Asher’s assignment?

3. Page 56, “Thank you for your childhood.” Explain.

4. Why do you think Jonas was skipped?

CHAPTER 8

1. What is the difference between “assigned” and “selected”?

2. What is Jonas selected to do?

3. What attributes does Jonas have that will help him in his assignment?

4. What is this “capacity to see beyond”?

CHAPTER 9

1. In this chapter, Jonas receives his rules. What does he think of each rule?

CHAPTER 10

1. How is Jonas treated by the secretary?

2. What is different at the Receiver’s home? (whole chapter)

3. What is the Giver’s job? What must he give Jonas?

4. Page 78, what does this mean: “I am so weighted with them.”?

Additional Questions

1. What did the family have to do in order for Gabriel to be allowed a second year of Nurturing?
2. What do you think was the difference between release and loss based on the way the community used these words?
3. Nines were given bicycles. What did that signify for them?
4. Why had Asher been punished for confusing the words “snack” and “smack”?
5. What set the Ceremony of Twelve apart from all other age ceremonies?
6. Why did the community make the distinction between “selection” for Receiver of Memory and “Assignment” for all other occupations?
7. What was unusual about the appearance of the bearded Elder? What was significant about this characteristic?
8. Name four qualifications that Jonas had for being the next Receiver of Memory.
9. What did Asher’s hesitation in congratulating Jonas indicate?
10. Which item in the list of duties and responsibilities frightened Jonas? Why did this frighten him?
11. Why was the concept of pain beyond Jonas’s comprehension?
12. What was unique about the Annex?
13. At first, why did Jonas misinterpret the Receiver’s job of transmitting memories of the past?

Book Club #2

Chapters 1 – 5

CHAPTER 1

1. Describe Jonas’ community.

2. Describe Jonas’ family. What do his parents do?

3. Who is Asher?

4. What is the word that Jonas feels? Why?

5. What is “release”?

6. What do they discuss in their ritual of feeling sharing?

7. What is this “Ceremony of 12”?

CHAPTER 2

1. What happens every December?

2. What happens when children become Ones? Nines?

3. Who is the Receiver and how are rules changed? (p. 14)

4. Who is Gabriel and why is Jonas’ father worried about him (ch. 1)?

5. Why is the Ceremony of 12 so important?

6. What things do Jonas’ parents share with him about their memories of their assignments and of their friends’ assignments?

CHAPTER 3

1. What did Jonas notice about the apple?

2. How do all evenings end in the community?

3. What else do you learn about the community from this chapter?

4. What about birthmothers?

CHAPTER 4

1. What happens to Eights?

2. Where does Jonas spend his volunteer hours? What does he do? What do you learn?

3. What happens at release?

CHAPTER 5

1. What was Jonas’ dream?

2. What are stirrings?

3. What does Jonas have to do now that he has had stirrings?

4. Why do you think he has to do that?

Additional Questions:

1. Why might the arrival of a jet be a terrifying experience for the entire community?
2. What do you think might happen to someone who is released from the community?
3. Name one thing you learned about the community from the discussion during the ritual telling of feelings.
4. What is different about the way children are born and infants are cared for in the community?
5. Why was it so difficult to get rules changed in the community?
6. Why were Gabe’s eyes of such interest to Jonas?
7. How did Lily react to the new word “hippo”? Why did she react this way?
8. Why did Jonas risk the humiliation of public chastisement (being disciplined in front of people) for taking an apple from the recreation area?
9. What effect did the pills have on Jonas and the other people who took them?
10. Why do you think all adults were required to take them?
11. Why do you think Birthmothers, or biological mothers, held such a low status in the community?
12. Do you think the lives of the elderly were better or worse than they are in our society today? Give a good reason for your opinion.
13. What two things did the committee consider when giving children their life assignments?

Allusion - The name Jonas is a variation of the name Jonah. In the Bible, the prophet Jonah was commissioned by the Lord to proclaim judgment upon a sinful city. Why might Lois Lowry have chosen Jonas as the name of her main character?

In the Bible the angel Gabriel is a divine messenger. What does the choice of this name for the newchild suggest about Gabe’s importance in the novel?

The Power of Prayer or a hoax...

In Thomas Hale's book, On Being a Missionary, this week's chapter is about prayer and the Holy Spirit. There's a story at the end of the chapter about a missionary who is not attacked by some thieves, because of 'guards,' 26 of them to be exact. At the same moment of the attack, friends from back home are praying, exactly 26 of them.

Here's a similar story.

As I was looking up the text on the internet... lo! and behold! I find a snopes debunking article. I was just a bit surprised to find a website that usually debunks internet spoofs and urban legends (which is really quite useful) actually debunking prayer. The article talks about literary devices and parables and such. I don't usually get on my soap box, or get all high and mighty. But seriously? Prayer is real and it does work and it affects our lives dramatically.

Book Club #1

This week we started our summer English Discussion Club project. Book Club! We've never done a book club before and we're excited to get this project started. It's really cool so far.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community.

When Jonas turns twelve he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now it's time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

We had twelve people for club today and it was a great size for our discussion. These are the questions that we used for this week.

Questions for Discussion

What is Utopia?

Describe your own utopian society.

How would people be organized? into family units?

How would people get their jobs?

What would people eat? etc.

How does religion or spirituality figure into an Utopian society?

A “Utopia” is a perfect world or society while a “Dystopia” is a world that is supposed to be perfect but turns horribly wrong. Describe or draw your perfect utopia. Describe or draw your most horrible dystopia.

What would living in Utopia solve for us today in Russia?