The Perfect Society!
A WebQuest on The Giver: A Novel by Lois Lowry
Introduction
Lois Lowry wrote a novel about a community that seems to function
perfectly. The Giver appears to describe a perfect society. What
makes this community flawless? How has this society managed to keep
things organized and under perfect control? It seems that man has
finally found the ideal way to live until one member of the
community starts to uncover flaws. You have been assigned by the
elders of the community to investigate why Jonas, a promising young
man chose to leave the community. What made this gifted individual,
chosen to be the next Giver rebel against the norms? What went
wrong? What flaws did he reveal in this seemingly perfect
community?
Task
The Team will uncover what Jonas found impossible to live with and
fix the flaws in the community.
The committee will keep track of all the information they disclose
from observations and interviews in a journal:
http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.committeejournal.htm
The members will present their findings and suggestions on a big
screen for the whole community to view in the main auditorium. This
will be done by either PowerPoint, video or play.
Process
The following guidelines will help you and your team:
1. Organize yourselves in teams of four. Find out about team
organization and work on the following page: http://www.nelliemuller.com/Task_and_group_work.htm
2. Make sure everyone on the team has read The Giver by Lois Lowry.
You should refer to the story as you work on the project.
3. Read the Task and divide your work among the team members. Each
member will interview another member of the community and find out
what happened to Jonas. This can be his parents, sister, friends,
The Giver or any other member of the community you feel would offer
relevant clues as to what happened.
4. Write your individual reports and add them to the committee's
journal:
http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.committeejournal.htm
5. Each member will be evaluated for both team
http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.evaluationofthecommitteesreport.htm
and individual work:
http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.individualreports.htm
6. Edit your written observations and the results of your
interviews as a team. Check the team evaluation rubrics:
http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.evaluationofthecommitteesreport.htm
to find out how you will be graded for team work.
7. Plan your presentation http://www.nelliemuller.com/Oral_Presentation.htm
8. You are encouraged to present your work in a creative way. You
can use visual aids and other multimedia techniques like video,
audio or PowerPoint presentations.
9. Make sure that each member of the committee is ready to present
one aspect of the findings. Check the team evaluation rubric for
your presentation:
http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.presentation.htm
10. The grade is out of 100: 25 points for the individual work, 25
for the team presentation and 50 points for the team collaborative
writing report.
11. Do not hesitate to ask questions throughout the project. Your
teacher and I will be available. Please use the following page to
send questions to me: http://www.nelliemuller.com/Write_nelliemuller.htm
Resources
Utopia: A perfect society
Utopia by Thomas Moore:
http://www.d-holliday.com/tmore/utopia.htm
Definition and other material on the subject of utopia:
http://users.erols.com/jonwill/utopialist.htm
Utopian Studies:
http://www.utoronto.ca/utopia/links.html
PowerPoint assistance:
http://www.powerpointbackgrounds.com/powerpointlinks.htm
http://www.bcschools.net/staff/PowerPointHelp.htm
Journal guides:
http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.committeejournal.htm
Graphics:
http://www.bellsnwhistles.com/
Evaluation
Your grade will based on the following criteria:
1. Individual interview and report of one of the members of the
community (25 points).
2. Team final written report of the committee's findings (50
points).
http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.evaluationofthecommitteesreport.htm
3. The team presentation of the committee's final conclusion (25
points).
http://www.nelliemuller.com/Theperfectsociety.presentation.htm
Conclusion
How perfect was the society in The Giver? Did Jonas do the right
thing by leaving his community?
