The rumor is that if you do not complete your volunteer hours you do not get an assignment.
All children in Jonas’s community are required to complete volunteer hours between the ages of eight and twelve. At the age of twelve, they are given an assignment. The assignment is partially based on the volunteer hours, and also observations and conversations with the child’s teachers. The Elders are trying to determine who is best for what...
The rumor is that if you do not complete your volunteer hours you do not get an assignment.
All children in Jonas’s community are required to complete volunteer hours between the ages of eight and twelve. At the age of twelve, they are given an assignment. The assignment is partially based on the volunteer hours, and also observations and conversations with the child’s teachers. The Elders are trying to determine who is best for what job.
Once, long ago, it was whispered among the children, an Eleven had arrived at the Ceremony of Twelve only to hear a public announcement that he had not completed the required number of volunteer hours and would not, therefore, be given his Assignment. (Ch. 4)
As the rumor goes, this child was given extra time and then quietly given his assignment with no fanfare. It was a shame that followed him his entire life. Not only did he not get a prestigious assignment, but he also got no recognition for it.
Since the Ceremony of Twelve is so important, there are other rumors about it too. Children fret over what assignment they will get, and whether they will like it or not. There is no appeal. The decision is final.
"I heard about a guy who was absolutely certain he was going to be assigned Engineer," Asher muttered as they ate, "and instead they gave him Sanitation Laborer. He went out the next day, jumped into the river, swam across, and joined the next community he came to. Nobody ever saw him again." (Ch. 6)
This is an old rumor that gets recycled with each generation. It demonstrates how nervous the Elevens are about the assignments. Jonas, for one, has no idea what he will get. He has scattered his volunteer hours everywhere and has no special interests or abilities. This is actually in his favor for being chosen as Receiver of Memory, because he has to know about the community as a whole.
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