• The Ceremony of Twelve starts with an introduction by the Chief Elder explaining how the ceremony is different than most community functions because it acknowledges differences.

The Ceremony of Twelve starts with an introduction explaining how it is different than most community functions because it acknowledges differences.

Sameness is incredibly important to Jonas’s community.  Every aspect of their society is designed to get everyone to think and act the same.  The people are even genetically designed to look the same.  They have the same skin, eye, and hair color for the most part.

Everyone in the community progresses in age at the same rate.  All children born in a year “age” on the same day.  They are not born on the same day, but they share a common birthday in December.  The ceremonies in December advance them socially into the next age group.  Each ceremony involves a gift of some kind, anything from a name to a bicycle or a haircut.

Even in a community like this, people have to have different roles.  The community closely watches children as they near the age of twelve to determine their personality traits, their intelligence, and their predispositions to certain occupations. 

The ceremony begins with a speech given by the Chief Elder.

The speech was much the same each year: recollection of the time of childhood and the period of preparation, the coming responsibilities of adult life, the profound importance of Assignment, the seriousness of training to come. (Ch. 7)

The Chief Elder points out that this is the one time a year when differences are acknowledged.  This is because each person is called out and their history described, and then their assignment is announced. 

Before the individual speeches are given, the Chief Elder describes the group as a whole, pointing out its makeup by singling out personalities without naming the people yet.

She began to describe this year's group and its variety of personalities, though she singled no one out by name. She mentioned that there was one who had singular skills at caretaking, another who loved newchildren, one with unusual scientific aptitude, and a fourth for whom physical labor was an obvious pleasure. (Ch. 7)

The Chief Elder describes each child one by one and then gives the person the assignment.  She ends each individual speech by thanking the new Twelve for his or her childhood.  Jonas’s parents tell him that most people do not find their assignment a surprise, but Jonas has no specific skills that make him stand out, or so he thinks, so he does not know what his will be.

From Lois Lowry's The Giver, how does the Ceremony of Twelve start?

The Ceremony of Twelve is the last ceremony to be held on the second day of the two-day holiday. The children who participate in this ceremony are all very excited and anxious to find out what assignments they will be given. First, all of the twelves sit in chronological order by birth in the front seats. Jonas's number is nineteen, which means that he was the nineteenth child born during his birth year. His friend Asher's number is four, and Fiona was number eighteen. When the Chief Elder comes out, he or she gives a speech about childhood and how these children have completed this part of their lives.

Then, the Chief Elder reminds everyone about how important Assignments are to their community. Everyone has a duty to contribute to the community in order for everything to run smoothly. The training that the twelves will start soon is important as well, and should be taken seriously. The Chief Elder then says something that is only significant to twelves:

"This is the time . . . when we acknowledge differences. You Elevens have spent all your years till now learning to fit in, to standardize your behavior, to curb any impulse that might set you apart from the group . . . But today we honor your differences. They have determined your futures" (63).

Finally, the Chief Elder cites specific differences between this year's group, thanks the other elders and the selection committee, and then proceeds with handing out each child's assignments. Once a child receives his or her assignment, the Chief Elder says, "Thank you for your childhood" (71). The child then receives a packet of information for their new assignment and he or she sits down until the ceremony is over.

From Lois Lowry's The Giver, how does the Ceremony of Twelve start?

In Chapter 7 we see the beginning of the Ceremony of Twelve. The new twelves swap places with the new elevens, and then an initial speech is given by the Chief Elder. This speech is described as being pretty much the same each year, touching on:

recollection of the time of childhood and the period of preparation, the coming responsibilities of adult life, the profound importance of Assignment, the seriousness of training to come.

After this speech the Chief Elder goes on to say that what happens as part of this ceremony is an acknowledgement of differences. She then describes the group in general. Then the Assignments begin.