Name: Jemma Humanities
7th Grade The Giver
Outline for GIVER LITERARY ESSAY
Themes: obedience, homogeneity
Paragraph #1: Introductory Paragraph (GIT)
Grabber Statement (G):
Imagine a world where there is no difference no pain, no criminals and no sadness. What if you discovered that this was a dystopia, a place of secrets and murder. In The Giver by Lois Lowry you will learn that nothing is ever as it seems.
Introduce Plot Summary (I):
The Giver is a story about a young boy who lives in a world of sameness and respect. When he turns twelve he is “selected” to be the receiver of memory and learns the secrets, pain, and joy of the past. The memory’s influence him to rebel and change not only his life but everyone in the community’s forever.
Thesis Statement (T):
Jonas’s society is a utopia because almost everyone is obedient. But it also is a dystopia because everyone is the same and their is no freedom of choice.
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Paragraph #2: Thematic Analysis
Topic Sentence (T):
In the community homogeneity sustains order.
Explanatory Sentence (E):
They keep everything the same by making lots of rules to make sure that there is no conflict about difference.
Evidence (E):
For example, everyone wears the same clothing, has the same haircut, and the size and gender of people in family units are the same. One example of homogeneity is when the elders insist that all girls must wear hair ribbons. An example of this is on page 26 the book states, ¨ATTENTION. THIS IS A REMINDER TO FEMALES UNDER NINE THAT HAIR RIBBONS ARE TO BE NEATLY TIED AT ALL TIMES,¨ (p.26 ).
Analysis (A):
Everything in the community is the same, and as this example shows, it is important that hairstyle and appearance remain the same. The Elders make sure that no one is set apart from other people so there are no hurt feelings. Everyone is equal so that there is no one upset about what they have. The point of the community is no pain and with difference there would be warfare and pain. Homogeneity is very important in order for the whole community to be successful.
Concluding/ Transition (C): Homogeneity in the community sustains order as does obedience so that everyone follows the rules and creates no conflict.
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Paragraph #3: Thematic Analysis Continued
Topic Sentence (T): In the community obedience is important so that are no rule breakers who create chaos.
Explanatory Sentence (E): Without obedience people could do whatever they want and the community would have no point. The community stands for no pain and with disobedience people would feel lots of pain.
Evidence (E): For example when Jonas took an apple from the recreation area the speaker said “ATTENTION. THIS IS A REMINDER TO MALE ELEVENS THAT OBJECTS ARE NOT TO BE REMOVED FROM THE RECREATION, AREA AND THAT SNACKS ARE TO BE EATEN NOT HOARDED.” (p.27)
Analysis (A):
That’s the reason the speaker was created. It was made to watch the people of the community so that they could monitor the people being disobedient. That way when people were breaking the rules they can call them out on it. Then they can change what they are doing and be more obedient.
Concluding/ Transition (C):
The community needs to be obedient so that they can’t create chaos. The way the community is designed makes sure that their is no pain or chaos. So they need obedience to keep the community that way.
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Paragraph #4: Concluding Paragraph (ROC)
Reflection on Thesis (R):
Jonas’s community is a place of sameness and order and because of the elders objective of no letting people have freedom of choice and control people’s every move it is a dystopia.
Overview of Main Points (O):
Homogeneity obedience is what makes the community so ignorant and painless. No one’s ever mentally hurt by what they have and who they are. Because everyone has it so no one can be mean or brag. Then everyone is obedient so their is no physical pain because no one tries to hurt or kill anyone, but in our world these things are what make us, us. It makes us unique, and the elders taking that from the people in the community is wrong.
Concluding Sentence– Comparisons and Connections (C):
This community is a place of manipulation and ignorance the elders objective is to make sure that their is no conflict but in doing so there’s more problems. Homogeneity and obedience is what they live by, but since when was it so bad to be different?