Characters & Jobs
100: What is Jonas worried about at the start of the book?
Answer: The Ceremony of Twelve in December.
100: What do family members do every evening at home?
Answer: They share their feelings.
100: What is the Ceremony where children get their life jobs?
Answer: The Ceremony of Twelve.
100: What strange event makes the community go inside their homes in Chapter 1?
Answer: A plane flies over the community.
100: What is a “comfort object”?
Answer: A soft toy for young children to help them feel safe.
200: What is Jonas’s father’s job?
Answer: He is a Nurturer.
200: What do people do every morning after they wake up?
Answer: They tell their dreams.
200: Who decides each person’s Assignment?
Answer: The Committee of Elders.
200: Where does Jonas volunteer before the Ceremony?
Answer: At the House of the Old.
200: What is special about Jonas’s eyes compared to most people?
Answer: His eyes are pale.
300: What is Jonas’s mother’s job?
Answer: She works at the Department of Justice.
300: What rule stops people from saying things that are not exact?
Answer: The rule about “precision of language.”
300: Why does Gabriel (the newchild) not go to a family unit at the Ceremony?
Answer: He is not ready; he gets another year of Nurturing.
300: What does Jonas notice about the apple when he plays catch with Asher?
Answer: It changes in a way he cannot explain (he “sees beyond”—the color red).
300: What does “release” usually mean in the community?
Answer: Being sent away from the community (treated as a positive, ceremonial event).
400: What is Asher’s Assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve?
Answer: Assistant Director of Recreation.
400: When do children receive a bicycle?
Answer: At the Ceremony of Nine.
400: What happens to Jonas during the Ceremony of Twelve that makes everyone nervous?
Answer: His number is skipped; he is not called on time.
400: After his dream about Fiona, what new daily rule does Jonas get?
Answer: He must take a pill for the Stirrings every day.
400: What is the “House of the Old”?
Answer: A place where older people live and are cared for; volunteers help there.
500: Why is Jonas selected as Receiver of Memory? Name two qualities the Chief Elder mentions.
Answer: He has qualities like intelligence, integrity, courage, wisdom (to be gained), and the Capacity to See Beyond. (Any two are OK.)
500: After Jonas becomes Receiver, what are the special rules that are different from those of other people? It is enough if you mention 2.
Answer: Examples: He may ask any question (exempt from rudeness rule); he may not apply for release; he cannot take medicine for training pain; he may not discuss his training; he may lie.
500: What are two things the Chief Elder says about the Receiver’s role that make it special or rare?
Answer: It requires great honor and responsibility; the previous selection failed; only one Receiver exists; it requires specific qualities (e.g., Seeing Beyond).
500: What paper does Jonas receive in Chapter 9, and why is it important?
Answer: His Receiver rules; it changes what he can and cannot do (e.g., he may ask any question, must not talk about training, cannot apply for release, cannot take pain medication for training pain, may lie).
500: What does “Capacity to See Beyond” mean for Jonas in these chapters?
Answer: He notices changes others do not. Like the apple changing (seeing the color red).