Introduction to The Giver

1
Introduction to The Giver

• You wont like the ending. ?

2
The Giver

• Author Lois Lowry (1937 - )
• Born in Honolulu, Hawaii
• Moved around quite a bit (New York,
  Pennsylvania,
  Japan)
• Now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts
• American author of childrens literature
• Married at the age of 19 / had four children
• Started by working in photography and journalism
• First novel, A Summer to Die, was published in
  1977.
• Inspired by the death of her older sister
• Has published more than 30 novels since
• Known for writing about controversial and/or
  complex issues.
• Has resulted in both praise and criticism

3
The Giver

• Novel background
• Published in 1993
• Genre science fiction (takes place in a very
  different time and
  place
• Explores the issue of a Utopia vs.
  a Dystopia
• Won the 1994 Newbery Medal and has sold
  more than
  5.3 million copies
• In Australia, Canada, and the U.S., it is
  typically part of a middle school required
  reading list.
• Has been placed on the American Library
  Associations list of most challenged books of
  the 1990s.
• Has been banned in many schools, while used every
  year as part of the curriculum in others.
• Due to violence / release aka euthanasia /
  stirrings aka increased hormone production in
  the body

4
Introduction Writing

• Imagine if you could create a perfect world. How
  would it be different than the world you live in
  right now? How would it be the same? Imagine
  yourself living there what would a typical day
  be like?
• Due today