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Lois Lowry
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From: Anne C Oelke <acoelke>
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 1997 09:33:56 -0600
Thank you Ginny for posting the excerpt from Lois Lowry's address. I was fortunate to hear that speech, and was initially surprised by the controversy she related about The Giver. My personal reaction to The Giver was that here we had the work that would stand beside (or replace) 1984. I immediately envisioned classes of students in Gr. 8 or so reading, analyzing, debating about this book. Upon reflection, I decided that any work that has high impact inevitably becomes controversial--perhaps a reflection of human nature when our thought processes are challenged.
I also recall from that speech (correct me please Ginny if I'm attributing this to the wrong source) that Lois commented that often adults see The Giver as pessimistic, and younger people see it as optimistic.
Again, this surprised me. This is the value of discussing and reading about books, whether in classes, conferences, or an e-mail forum such as this. We hear other points of view so that our own thought processes are stimulated. I was one with the Trappist Monks. I continue to reflect on the Christian metaphors I found within The Giver. Yet a reading teacher in our middle school feels that the work is so pessimistic and students just don't like it. Perhaps our personal reactions have a great deal more to do with our background, our personal experiences, our previous interaction with other intellectually stimulating works. I've already mentioned 1984, and I also felt that my acquaintance with the Narnia series, as well as a Christian background may have helped to set up my personal reactions to The Giver. Perhaps even more important is that fact that I tend to be an optimist in most things. Thus I see optimism at the end of The Giver.
What about others? Optimism or Pessimism?
Anne Oelke | "Some days are like that, acoelke at peoples.net | even in Australia!" Cambria-Friesland School Dst. | Judith Viorst in _Alexander Cambria, WI | & the Terrible, Horrible,
| No Good, Very Bad Day_.
Received on Sat 01 Feb 1997 09:33:56 AM CST
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 1997 09:33:56 -0600
Thank you Ginny for posting the excerpt from Lois Lowry's address. I was fortunate to hear that speech, and was initially surprised by the controversy she related about The Giver. My personal reaction to The Giver was that here we had the work that would stand beside (or replace) 1984. I immediately envisioned classes of students in Gr. 8 or so reading, analyzing, debating about this book. Upon reflection, I decided that any work that has high impact inevitably becomes controversial--perhaps a reflection of human nature when our thought processes are challenged.
I also recall from that speech (correct me please Ginny if I'm attributing this to the wrong source) that Lois commented that often adults see The Giver as pessimistic, and younger people see it as optimistic.
Again, this surprised me. This is the value of discussing and reading about books, whether in classes, conferences, or an e-mail forum such as this. We hear other points of view so that our own thought processes are stimulated. I was one with the Trappist Monks. I continue to reflect on the Christian metaphors I found within The Giver. Yet a reading teacher in our middle school feels that the work is so pessimistic and students just don't like it. Perhaps our personal reactions have a great deal more to do with our background, our personal experiences, our previous interaction with other intellectually stimulating works. I've already mentioned 1984, and I also felt that my acquaintance with the Narnia series, as well as a Christian background may have helped to set up my personal reactions to The Giver. Perhaps even more important is that fact that I tend to be an optimist in most things. Thus I see optimism at the end of The Giver.
What about others? Optimism or Pessimism?
Anne Oelke | "Some days are like that, acoelke at peoples.net | even in Australia!" Cambria-Friesland School Dst. | Judith Viorst in _Alexander Cambria, WI | & the Terrible, Horrible,
| No Good, Very Bad Day_.
Received on Sat 01 Feb 1997 09:33:56 AM CST
