“Wisdom begins in wonder”

My student Lana thus began her paper on Lois Lowry’s fable, The Giver, with that choice quotation by Confucius. There are many wonderful things about Lana’s paper, not least of which is that she had struggled with the notion of ‘wondering’ throughout much of the year. I urged Lana to become a historian who “gives in” to a sense of wonder, but she had trouble seeing the purpose of that in a course that seemed (to her) to require only memorization.

I assigned this Newberry Award-winning novel as a summative achievement in our World History course, and asked my 9th graders to write a paper unlike any assignment they had had in a history course. The novel traces the journey of a young man named Jonas as he comes of age and uncovers certain truths about his society (I am going to be purposefully vague about the synopsis of this book in the hopes that you might read this absorbing tale if you have not already discovered its beauties!). I asked my students to compare what Jonas had learned to what they had learned in their first year at KA. I reminded them of the elements I prize in an A paper: evaluation, connection and reflection. Just so you know how to get an A from me, that means, I want you to evaluate the most pungent passages in the book (based on criteria you create and explain), connect to something we have studied in history, and offer reflection that reveals your own voice and insight. We had practiced these skills all year, and I looked forward to how this open-ended question would come off in my scholars’ hands.

During my 12-hour flight home to the United States on Tuesday I re-read their papers (due on June 11) and enjoyed, again, the wondering and wisdom they demonstrated. I thought you might enjoy some of the moments I most enjoyed.


Leen: Just like Jonas, I was living in a normal life country that I called home. [Oman] I thought I knew what my life would like look like for the next four years….However, there was an unexpected change and I had to pack up to a new country and new friends and a new life….In the start of my experience, I was trying to be someone I am not, I was trying to impress others and be someone that I never could be. However, as my experience began to show me who I really was, I knew that I should show everyone around me the truth of myself and show them the truth of my world and my life. Just like Jonas, I needed to show everyone the truth.

Omar M: Jonas and I are alike because both of us are daydreamers, we have many passages where Jonas talks to himself wandering about a recent event that happened to him. I do the same thing in class and when I read a book, I spend half my time thinking about a key word or phrase. This habit is good because you can think about something deeply and bad because you might miss another important thing….Jonas is isolated in his world just like Nelson Mandela and Gandhi in jail because they had the truth, after Jonas was assigned as a receiver, he was forced to get insulated from the world because he knows a lot that can make people revolt on the government just like Nelson Mandela and Gandhi. Therefore knowledge is not always easy.

Farah: Just like Jonas, at school here, we can never learn enough new material….At KA we learn equality, we learn that no matter how different our backgrounds were, we are all working together in the hope of achieving something great for our own community over the upcoming years….”Frightened was the way we had felt a year ago [page 1]” and walking into classes the first day of school this year is just like becoming a 12. You get this strange feeling of apprehension as many doors open up in front of us expecting us to enter, welcoming us to acknowledge what awaits at the other side. Jonas experienced things he had never known, and I myself experienced boarding for the first time....Mostly, Jonas felt love, one of the deep memories he experienced, where a family was seated joyfully together. At KA’s “family unit” not a day passes by without people feeling this love and this sensation of one family….Jonas leaves his community with the knowledge given him by the Giver’s memories in order to make a change. We leave KA this year with the knowledge no other might have, receiving wisdom from our own givers, knowing we will make a difference, holding the key to our future, and hungry for even more experiences.

Omar D: I would like to compare The Giver to the “anatomy of a revolution,” an anatomy of change, as Crane Brinton talked about….People read about philosophers Montesquieu and Condorcet in the coffeehouses which is in the book the place where like Jonas receives his memories….The image of Jonas going out from the community and giving all the memories to the people is like the image of Newton coming to the world and enlightening it, “Let Newton be, and all was light….”Reading this book changed my point of view to the world. I now see myself as Jonas….At my ceremony of 14 I was selected to go to the world’s version of the Annex (the place where the Giver and Jonas meet to share the memories—KA) and there I learned the memories of the world.

Karim H: Jonas and the Giver were the ones to awaken the community, exactly like how America had awakened Japan in 1853….I began to look at colors like something that can be lost, and not be taken for granted, there was some pain in some memories, there was a phrase that Mr. John told us of his friend who said, “real learning keeps the pain awake.” There were memories of love and during the year I learned to love other people and make new friends….[Karim compared the Five Guiding Principles of KA with the traits that Jonas needed in the book.] We need courage for many things at KA. Especially to stand up in front of other people and say something. This helps in learning, we need courage to achieve love of learning, because it needs courage to give a speech and deal with exams and assignments.

Yazan: The story of The Giver was written in 1993, the year I came to life. In this community, the writer tells us that “rules were very hard to change,” just like Gandhi when he wanted colored people in South Africa to be equal to white people in South Africa. He reached his goal after a long period of suffering by using satyagraha which is a resistance of civil disobedience….In the book there is a line: “there will be changes.” This reminds me of August 5, 2007 when my parents told me I should go to KA. I didn’t want to be separated from my friends, but my parents told me I had to think of my own benefit and my own future. My father said, “You might be lucky enough to be accepted and it is your birthday, remember?” [Yazan remembers the line that Howard Zinn insists on hope, and in his paper Yazan compares hope to Jonas’ younger brother Gabe. Yazan writes that Howard “Zinn would insist on Gabe.”] Jonas wanted change, he believed in himself, he had great expectations and a desire for change which pulled him more to have a major change, what is called a revolution. His Majesty King Abdullah II is hoping to succeed in the peace process of Palestine, but he is trying to make sure that everyone is pleased and no one is offended, having preternatural expectations for the strive of peace.

Lana: “Wisdom begins in wonder.” By Confucius. Wisdom is not an easy thing to gain. Wonder is not an easy thing to do. But you can never gain knowledge is you don’t wonder. The whole time I was reading The Giver¸ I was wondering. At first I did not understand what was going on. I was wondering, wondering, wondering. Again this magic word WONDER that wisdom spins around kept repeating in my head until I understood the whole thing. If you are not thinking about your world, about the fact that it might need changes, you won’t get what wisdom means….I am reminded about the first day at KA when I kept repeating the same phrase to all the teachers which is I CAN’T! I never knew what I could do until I tried this great experience here at KA. I think the word that best describes Jonas and I is persistence.

Qusai: This year we wanted to be better historians and be able to analyze facts and determine in what way we can use them. In addition, we concentrated on standing in different historical eras to see, feel, experience what it would be to be a witness on very important historical events….Jonas’ “capacity to see beyond” is similar to The Treason of Images that was made by Rene Magritte in 1928 that showed how people should be able to see beyond the reality, beyond the limits of the human imagination, to have a clearer vision of the hidden goal in a journey, or to avoid the art of illusions that our eyes deliver to our minds to feel the satisfaction.

Mohammad: Jonas was confused. He was confused the same way I was on the beginning of the school year when Dr. Eric and Dr. Meera started talking about the principles of the school and when Mr. John started talking about the artworks from 20,000 years ago. I was confused because it is a new thing that I not used to so it is the same feeling that Jonas felt.

Rashed: This is the first book I have ever read in my entire life. And I actually liked it. It is a story about a boy named Jonas who was like me in the beginning of the year, a small flower, but as he grew older and his wisdom grew with him, he blossomed. [Rashed describes Jonas in several ways.] Jonas was enlightened by these memories and he began to question authority, just like Martin Luther who started a whole new aspect of religion because he questioned the authority of the Pope.

Faris: Jonas and I both love our bicycles. We can’t wait to get to them.

I will share another dozen students’ work with you in a day or two…