Chapter 12 Practice Quiz — The Giver
by Lois Lowry — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 12
What does Jonas dream about at the beginning of Chapter 12?
Jonas dreams about sledding down the snowy hill, the same memory The Giver transmitted to him during his first training session.
What happens to the sled memory when Jonas wakes up?
The memory fades as Jonas becomes fully awake, despite his efforts to hold onto it.
What significant decision does Jonas make at breakfast in Chapter 12?
Jonas decides to stop taking his daily pill for the Stirrings, the medication that suppresses emotional and physical desires.
Does Jonas tell anyone about stopping his Stirrings pill?
No, Jonas keeps his decision a secret from his family and the community.
What does Jonas notice about Fiona's hair?
Jonas sees the same fleeting, mysterious change in Fiona's hair that he had previously noticed in an apple and in the audience at the Ceremony of Twelve.
Instead of transmitting a new memory, what does The Giver ask Jonas to do?
The Giver asks Jonas to recall the sled memory on his own, proving that the memory now belongs to Jonas.
What does Jonas notice about the sled when he recalls the memory?
Jonas notices that the sled has the same mysterious quality (color) that he had been seeing in other objects and people.
What is the first color Jonas learns to identify?
Red. The Giver explains that Jonas is beginning to see the color red.
What three things did Jonas notice as red before Chapter 12's revelation?
The apple, Fiona's hair, and the sled — all appeared to change or flicker because Jonas was beginning to perceive their red color.
Why was color eliminated from the community?
Color was eliminated as part of Sameness, the community's choice to remove all differences in exchange for control and predictability.
What did the community gain and lose by choosing Sameness?
They gained control over many aspects of life and eliminated conflict, but they lost color, sunshine, differences, individuality, and meaningful personal choice.
How does Jonas react when he learns the community gave up color?
Jonas reacts with immediate anger and indignation, declaring that people should never have given up those things.
What surprises The Giver about Jonas's reaction to learning about color?
The Giver is surprised by the speed and intensity of Jonas's anger, noting that it took The Giver himself many years to reach the same conclusion about Sameness.
What memory does The Giver transmit to Jonas at the end of Chapter 12?
The Giver transmits a memory of a rainbow.
What does the rainbow symbolize in Chapter 12?
The rainbow symbolizes the full spectrum of color, beauty, and natural diversity — everything the community sacrificed when it chose Sameness.
Who was Rosemary in relation to Jonas's role?
Rosemary was the failed Receiver of Memory who came before Jonas. The Giver mentions she could also see all colors.
Why is Jonas's decision to stop his pill significant?
It is his first deliberate act of rebellion against the community's rules, showing that his training is already changing how he thinks about conformity and control.
What literary device does Lowry use by withholding the word 'color' until The Giver names it?
Lowry uses dramatic irony and controlled revelation — both the reader and Jonas arrive at understanding together, mirroring Jonas's process of discovery.
How does the motif of red connect earlier chapters to Chapter 12?
The mysterious changes Jonas noticed in the apple (Chapter 3) and the audience at the Ceremony (Chapter 8) are finally explained as his emerging ability to see the color red.
What central tension does Chapter 12 deepen?
The tension between safety and freedom — the community chose safety and control through Sameness, but sacrificed beauty, individuality, and choice.