The+Giver+by+Lien+Mai


 * Lois Lowry **


 * Date of Birth: ** March 20, 1937
 * Place of Birth: ** Hawaii
 * Places lived: ** Maine
 * Gender: ** Female
 * Ethnicity: ** White American
 * Education: ** Brown University, University of Southern Maine
 * Profession: ** Writer, Novelist
 * Works Written: ** El Mensajero/The Messenger, Crow Call, Shining On, The Willoughbys, Stay!, Reading on a Roll, The Silent Boy, Le Passeur, The Road Ahead, US and Uncle Fraud, Here in Kennebunkport, Stay Keeper's Story, Taking Care of Terrific, (Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye), Looking Back: A Book of Memories (autobiography), A Summer to Die, Autumn Street, Messenger, Gossamer, Gathering Blue, The Giver, Number the Stars, and others...
 * Series Written (or Contributed to): ** Anastasia Krupnik, Sam Krupnik, J. P. Tate, Gooney Bird
 * Films Written: ** The Giver
 * Awards Won: ** 1990 Newbery Medal for Number the Stars, 1990 National Jewish Book Award for Children's Literature for Number the Stars, 1991 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award, 1994 Newbery Medal for The Giver, 1994 Regina Medal, 1994 Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers' Literature

Lois Lowry (born Lois Ann Hammersberg) is an American author of children's literature. She began her career as a photographer and a freelance journalist during the early 1970s. Her work as a journalist drew the attention of Houghton Mifflin and they encouraged her to write her first children's book, A Summer to Die, which was published in 1977 (when Lowry was 40 years old). She has since written more than 30 books for children and published an autobiography. Two of her works have been awarded the prestigious Newbery Medal: Number the Stars in 1990 (written in 1989), and The Giver in 1994 (written in 1993).
 * About Lois Lowry as an Author **

As an author, Lowry is known for writing about difficult subject matters within her works for children. She has explored such complex issues as racism, terminal illness, murder, and the Holocaust among other challenging topics. She has also explored very controversial issues of questioning authority such as in The Giver Trilogy. Her writing on such matters has brought her both praise and criticism. In particular, her work The Giver has been met with a diversity of reactions from schools in America, some of which have adopted her book as a part of the mandatory curriculum, while others have prohibited the book's inclusion in classroom studies.


 * Why do we need to make choices? Wouldn't it be better if someone else choose for you?**

I think that we need to make choices in order to suit to our thoughts. We are never alike with each other and so we choose to do everything differently. If we were to all choose to be the same, we will have feelings of discomfort and arguments. Everyone will not agree entirely of other people's choices. I would really dislike the idea of everyone being the same because I myself isn't the always the same either. My thoughts and feelings changes all the time. It's unpredictable, happy in one second to really sad the next. I definitely do not like to be ordered around. I'm pretty stubborn so even if I do something submissively, it's unlikely that I would try to do it with the BEST of my efforts. And the choices that people made for me might not always be the best. No one knows completely how another will think, so it's best that a person make their choices for themselves, since usually they're the ones who know themselves best.

**What is society?**


 * Dictionary Definition:** a body of individuals living as members of a community; community


 * My definition:** Society is a group of people who work together to make up the living community in any area in any size.

I would try to create my society to be as normal and fair as possible. They can be their normal selves in their own beliefs, but if there are any disputes because of their differences, I will try to talk them into compromising into a solution. **(What if they don't listen? - Rochelle Bauer) (Then I'll come up with as many solutions as I can until they do. Or if anyone else's idea can make make stop arguing, so be it. - Lien)** The government will not have any political parties, because that will just divide them into parts. **(YAY COMMUNISM IS COMING BACK!) (I didn't really realize that this is communism, though I have heard of it many times. - Lien)** Everyone need everybody else in order to make up a society. They can choose to do anything, as long as it does not harm the community. They should treat each other in a good way. I don't think it's that bad to break the rules once in a while, but I think nobody should murder for crimes. In the book The Giver, his society have very strict rules and even ceremonies. They were not allowed to have feelings, freedom to the outside, and the liberty to choose for their own good. My society won't be that strict. Anyone with any diversity can choose to live in their own lifestyle. It's simple but actually not at the same time. **(CHECK OUT THE BOOK UTOPIA. ALSO LOOK INTO THE COMMUNISM: THE IDEA BEHIND IS THE SAME, NO PARTIES, EVERYONE IS EQUAL - AT THE BOTTOM :) - CRIME IS PUNISH VERY HARSH, PEOPLE HAS EVERYTHING!, EVERYTHING! IS GIVEN FOR FREE BY THE GOVERNMENT ETC. HOWEVER THIS REGIME IS DESTROYED BY THEIR PEOPLE. SO SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH IT. ON THE OTHER HAND CHINA IS STILL DOING VERY GOOD. WHAT MAKES RUSSIA FALL BUT CHINA SURVIVE AND BE THE GIANT TODAY WITH THE SAME REGIME?) (Don't get the question... - Lien) (In other words why don't being equal don't work sometimes? China is a very good example of being "communist" and still surviving where as the others are not like USSR, East Germany, etc.) (I don't know about Communism... only that my mom read about it all the time. (-.-) - Lien)**
 * Create a society of your own. What would it be like?**

Today's society isn't very fair. **(DEFINE FAIRNESS, LIFE IT SELF IS NOT FAIR OR IS IT FATE?) (Read on to find out why I said life is not very fair today. I know it was never fair before but we can always improve ourself. - Lien)** We still treat each other harshly even though there are little good things here and there. We pretty much argue a lot, not wanting to give in completely to the other's idea, but why not just go along and try to tolerate other people's character? I'm not perfect for saying this, because I do sometimes treat others badly, but that's just because of influence and habit **(Someone who looks good at life will think good about it. And who thinks good about life will enjoy his life.) (That's basically what I was saying. - Lien)** As long as we try not to mess with each other, our habit of messing with other people might eventually slow down and come to a stop. That won't happen until all of us one by one does it, but then that's pretty much impossible. Everyone have negative traits to them, but I think the saying, "Look out for the others before yourself." is a good quote. If we could just put our own needs behind others, I think most of our problems would dissolve. That's what I wanted in my society. Today's society isn't exactly like what I dream up of. We do interact with each other pretty well, but overall it's usually arguments and disputes, especially in our government and the other governments in the world right now. We also still have problems with races (or that's what I heard from Ms. Cremean) **(TRUE)** Most races are still being treated with discrimination.
 * Compare and contrast your society to today's.**


 * (A QUESTION FOR YOU: HOW FREE AND YOU IN THIS FREE WORLD?) (Do you mean: How free ARE you in this free world? - Lien) (Yes.-Tan)**
 * (I THINK that we're free of our natural rights, the rights that we're born with. But sometimes people choose to abuse those rights. That's what making it no longer a free decision. - Lien)**