Archive of ‘Humanities’ category
Name: Meadow Humanities
7th Grade The Giver
Missing Knowledge
You might not realize this, but you take for granted all the beauty that you see in your daily life. Imagine a world where all of the beauty has been sucked away and no memory of it remains, this is The Giver by Lois Lowry. When Jonas, a twelve year old boy, get assigned his job for the rest of his life, he is quite surprised when he gets the position as the receiver of memory. He is overwhelmed with his new knowledge about the lost world. He must find a way to show the rest of the community the memories they’re missing out on. This society is a dystopia because everyone is ignorant, except Jonas who is isolated and different because of his knowledge. Everyone is locked away from the world. They’re living a lie.
Jonas’s community is kept ignorant to block out the painful thoughts but ignorance blocks out the beauty too. The Elders don’t want the community to be hurt by the truth, so they stop everyone from knowing anything, including the most wonderful memories. For example, the Elders do not allow the community to feel sunshine just because it can burn them. Jonas, however, experiences the memory of sunshine because he is the next Receiver. “…as he lay basking in the wonderful warmth…His skin began to sting,” (Giver, page 75). The fact that sunshine can come with pain meant, to the Elders, that you shouldn’t experience it at all. This shows that some of the best things in this world are being locked away from the community. The Elders try to keep their citizens safe, but safeness for them only means ignorance. The community should have a choice about their life and what they can feel and see. Safety means that you should have choice and knowledge of the world around you. Jonas’s community should know the world’s past. They should be able to know what they are missing out on. As soon as Jonas gets his first bit of knowledge he wants to share it with everyone. He wants them to see the beauty they are missing.
When Jonas receives his first bit knowledge about the past, his world changes. This knowledge changes Jonas. He gets feelings that tear him apart. The community will never experience all these wonderful things. On page 84 In The Giver, Jonas realises something big. “…he knew it was ordinary no longer, and would never be again.” Having this new sense of knowledge meant he was different. The Elders don’t allow difference, yet the job the Jonas gets selected for forces him to stand out. He knows that no one can have emotions like he has. No one one can understand him. He is all alone and surrounded by a sea of ignorance. The situation that Jonas is in can be looked at in multiple ways. He is the most knowledgeable person in the community. He has great honor and people look to him for advice. But he is alone and isolated. No one knows what he knows. He is different. Jonas shouldn’t be the only one that knows about the past and the only one who has the wisdom to change the world. This knowledge should be shared with the community.
This society is not a utopia because Jonas’s community is locked away from the beauty and history of the world. The community is ignorant and doesn’t understand that they are being controlled by the Elders. In Jonas’s community, ignorance and knowledge is almost like your ranking in the society. If you have knowledge you are honored, but to Jonas it is a burden. It is unfair that Jonas must suffer the knowledge and pain of these memories. In our society and world, you are not kept from the horrors of the truth. If someone dies there is nothing protecting you from the sadness that comes with it. The difference between our society and Jonas’s is that we have each other for support. If your grandma passes away you all have people and relatives supporting you through these hard times. A utopia means that everyone has a choice in their life and are free from the lies that hold us back. Sadly Jonas doesn’t get that freedom.
Name: Meadow Humanities
7th Grade The Giver
Outline for GIVER LITERARY ESSAY
Themes:
Ignorance and Knowledge
Paragraph #1: Introductory Paragraph (GIT)
Grabber Statement (G): You might not realize that you take for granted all the beauty that you see in your daily life. Imagine a world where all of the beauty has been sucked away and no memory of it remains, this is the Giver by Lois Lowry.
Introduce Plot Summary (I): When Jonas get assigned his job for the rest of his life, he is quite surprised when he gets the position as the receiver of memory. He is overwhelmed with his new knowledge about the lost world. He must find a way to show the rest of the community the memories they’re missing out on.
Thesis Statement (T): This society is a dystopia because everyone is ignorant, except Jonas who is isolated and different because of his knowledge. Everyone is locked away from the world. They’re living a lie.
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Paragraph #2: Thematic Analysis
Topic Sentence (T): Jonas’s community is kept ignorant to block out the painful thoughts but ignorance blocks out the beauty too.
Explanatory Sentence (E): The Elders don’t want the community to be hurt by the truth, so they stop everyone from knowing anything, including the most wonderful memories.
Evidence (E): For example, Elders do not allow the community to feel sunshine just because it can burn them. Jonas, however, experiences the memory of sunshine because he is the next Receiver. “…as he lay basking in the wonderful warmth…His skin began to sting,” (page 75). The fact that sunshine can come with pain meant, to the Elders, that you shouldn’t experience it at all.
Analysis (A): This shows that some of the best things in this world are being locked away from the community. The Elders try to keep their citizens safe, but safeness for them only means ignorance. The community should have a choice about their life and what they can feel and see. Safety means that you should have choice and knowledge of the world around you.
Concluding/ Transition (C): Jonas’s community should know the world’s past. They should be able to know what they are missing out on. As soon as Jonas gets his first bit of knowledge he wants to share it with everyone. He wants them to see the beauty they are missing out on.
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Paragraph #3: Thematic Analysis Continued
Topic Sentence (T): When Jonas receives his first bit knowledge about the past, his world changes. Knowledge changes Jonas.
Explanatory Sentence (E): He gets feelings that tear him apart. The community will never experience all these wonderful things.
Evidence (E): On page 84, Jonas realises something big. “…he knew it was ordinary no longer, and would never be again.” Having this new sense of knowledge meant he was different. The Elders don’t allow difference, yet the job the Jonas gets selected for forces him to stand out.
Analysis (A): He knows that no one can have emotions like he has. No one one can understand him. He is all alone and surrounded by a sea of ignorance. The situation that Jonas is in can be looked at in multiple ways. He is the most knowledgeable person in the community. He has great honor and people look to him for advice. But he is alone and isolated. No one knows what he knows. He is different.
Concluding/ Transition (C): Jonas shouldn’t be the only one that knows about the past and the only one who has the wisdom to change the world. This knowledge should be shared with the community.
__________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph #4: Concluding Paragraph (ROC)
Reflection on Thesis (R): This society is not a utopia because Jonas’s community is locked away from the beauty and history of the world. The community is ignorant and doesn’t understand that they are being controlled by the Elders.
Overview of Main Points (O): In Jonas’s community, ignorance and knowledge is almost like your ranking in the society. If you have knowledge you are honored, but to Jonas it is a burden.
Concluding Sentence– Comparisons and Connections (C): It is unfair that Jonas, a 12 year old boy, must suffer the knowledge and pain of memories. In our society and world, you are not kept from the horrors of the truth. If someone dies there is nothing protecting you from the sadness that comes with it. The difference between our society and Jonas’s is that we have each other for support. If your grandma passes away you all have people and relatives supporting you through these hard times. A utopia means that everyone has a choice in their life and are free from the lies that hold us back. Sadly Jonas doesn’t get that freedom.
Themes
Futuristic downfall of new orleans after hurricanes- city killers
Global warming, ocean rises
SURVIVAL!
Everyone works
Bad education
Conflicts
Father’s relationship with nailer p.57
Swanks and shipbreakers
Swanks-rich, live in a different place, mansions, boats, feasts
Shipbreakers- Workers, lower class, shack, scavengers for quota$, No point of living.
Setting
In a dark place
New Orleans in the future
Child labor
Companies run the system
No ruler, king, president
The drowned cities
Symbols
Tattoos/marks-mean who you are and what you stand for
Characters
Nailer- Unknown age(about 15), lucky boy
Nita- Swank, lucky girl,
Richard Lopez- Scariest man on the beach, drug addict, father p.54
Pima- Sweet but tough, 18, black
Sadna- Mother of pima, kindest, mother to nailer
Bapi- boss of light crew, mean
Important/relavant
Different religious ideas
Fates Luck
Scavenge God
Quite dark and gruesome
In 6th grade so far we have worked on our poetry skill. Before poetry was introduced this year, I had already taken a liking to it. It really is an art and I can express a lot of my thoughts through this writing. I worked really hard on my memory poem and I have chosen that one to share in front of all the parents. We have explored many different styles of poetry and all of them are so different from one another. I hope that I continue this subject further in school.
Light shines through the door
Voices chatter loud and clear
The clock ticks by fast
Flowers
Blooming in spring
Making fields colorful
Bringing bright smiles to faces
Summer
Oh Biza
How I miss when I could ride your back and sneak you treats
How I could nuzzle my face into your furr
When I spot a rhodesian ridgeback on the street I think of you
I had such little time with you before death came to your door
The tumor was in your lung and I couldn’t do anything to stop it
We drove up the the vet and said our goodbyes
I didn’t really know what was happening
I was too young to understand
I don’t believe in heaven or afterlife
But I know it was better for you to go in happiness than in pain
I hang in the wind all day long
My pot getting warmer as the sun goes up
I divided the life of two families
I can’t help them
All I can do is listen
The arguments back and forth never stop
They are friends, they were friends
I bring each of them joy when they see my flowers
I bring light to the dark times
The lovely lady waters me
And the man smells me every morning
He comes back late at night and he holds me for support
He can’t stand by himself for he is too tired
One day the lady didn’t come back from work and the man watered me
He cried as he did
Then when the lady came back the hugged
I feel like I brought them together
The arguments stopped and laughter started
I grow old but they keep me alive
It was Martha who saw the lake first.
Even in the middle of a clear day, much of the jungle is dark as a room at dusk.
I shouldn’t have done it.
Rudi had a feeling that something was wrong as soon as he returned from the village.
They’re out there.
I was one of the kids who slipped through the cracks.
The little girl wouldn’t stop crying. I didn’t blame her.
I was completely aware that I was being an idiot, that we needed to get out of there before anyone saw us, but it was like I had eaten spill-your-guts, and words just kept pouring out.
A dream, just a dream was what a piece of my mind told me, but the terror and pain ‘just a dream’ evoked seemed no small thing. Yet I couldn’t escape it.
I never asked for this.
Attempted murder was not how piper liked to start her afternoon.
A girl sits by herself in the ally way.
Despair engulfs her like cancer.
No one’s there to see her cry and scream.
Alone forever and left with sorrow.
Death comes to her door every day,
But she fights it off like a pack of wolves.
Her face is deprived of life
She smells of sewer and human excrement
The people that walk by stare
Not knowing what to do
How can they help?
Life will go on like this for eternity
With different people every time
This will happen until they die.
