Connections

     While reading Divergent I realized that there were many connections I could make to the world, text, and self.

     The first connection I want to make is text-to-self. I can really connect with Four because Four's fear or biggest challenge is heights. When this was revealed to us, I could connect with the way Four was feeling because I have a fear of heights. Even though he was afraid of heights he still kept climbing up with the help of Tris. I could also relate because I have a fear of heights, but with the help of friends and family I will climb heights and face my fears. All I need is a little push and I will conquer my fears.

     The next connection is text-to-text. The book I feel is very similar to Divergent is Hunger Games. This is I think is because of the fact that both of these books are Sci-Fi novels set in a dystopian society. Not only are the settings similar but the characters Tris and Katniss are very similar because they both don't stop until they achieve their goal which I love about them. To see a more detailed post about this click below.

Hunger Games vs. Divergent

     The last connection is text-to-world. There are so many different people in this world. There are people that speak different languages, different religions, different culture and many people are trying to find where they belong. Take our school for example on the first day of school we are trying to figure out where to sit at lunch and who to hang out with. This is regular people making choices in which group they should be part of and who to associate with. This is similar to when Tris has to make a choice which faction she wants to be part of and who she wants to associate with. 

     Can you think of anymore text-to-world connections?

I spoiled it for myself

     I couldn't resist any longer. I told myself that I wouldn't watch the Divergent movie until I was done reading the book, but I watched it. Now that I have watched the movie, when I think of Tris and Four I think of the actors that played them in the movie. Before I watched the movie I had a vision of what Tris and Four would look like and it was different from what they were portrayed like in the movie. Now, when I'm reading my book I can only think of the actors in the position and can not remember how I envisioned them.

     Not only did I have a different picture of the characters, I also had a different picture of the whole society. What I mean by that is the way they portrayed the society. For Example when they were describing the dauntless pit, I envisioned something completely different, but now with the movie it came across differently. Even though I envisioned mostly everything differently, the one thing I did imagine correctly was Eric. When I envisioned him I thought he would have a lot of tattoos and piercing and that he was really mean. I was absolutely correct and the movie portrayed him the same way.

     Now that I think about it the good thing about film adaptations is that they give you a new perspective to think about things, that maybe you haven't thought about while reading. Have you ever spoiled a book for yourself by watching the movie before reading the book?

Changes in Four

      Four is one of the main character in the book Divergent. We are introduced to him when Tris joins the Dauntless faction and we learn that he is one of the trainers. He has played an important part in Tris life as we start getting to know him.

       Four in the beginning was very strict and rude at times. we didn't know a lot about Four expect for the fact that he was a trainer and it also seemed that Eric the other dauntless was the head of the training program, so Four would usually just be in the back and listen to Eric and help when needed. Other than this we really don't learn anything else about him so he was very closed off and not very social. Even though he seemed strict we do get a glimpse of kindness and caring when he was trying to help Tris get higher in the ranking system and he was giving Tris tips on how to attack the opponent.

       We soon start to see a change in Four, and we learn he has started to develop slight feelings toward Tris. He then starts to treat Tris like a friend rather than an initiate. We start to see Four open up to Tris more and we then find out that he is afraid of heights and we soon get revealed that he is also Divergent. We then see a relationship forming between Tris and Four when they both tell each other the truth about them being Divergent. Four opened up the most to Tris when he revealed who his father is and how he was abused as a child.

       These are the changes I have noticed. Tell me if you can find anymore.

Factions

 In Divergent the society is split up into different groups called factions. There are 5 different factions

 Dauntless 

Abnegation

Candor

Amity

 Erudite

Dauntless: This is for the people who are really brave. I wish I could be part of this faction because I am not the bravest and being in the dauntless makes you feel brave, and gives you strength and confidence which I wish I could have. I am scared of heights and jumping from a moving train and jumping off a cliff would not be my forte. I think ti would also be cool to feel that you have a lot of strength and power just by being brave and believing in yourself.

Abnegation: This is for the selfless and they don't take anything for granted and basically live to help others. I would like to think I am selfless and I love helping others especially those who are less fortunate than me. Tris was born into this faction, but she never felt at home and helping others did not come naturally to her. I love to help others and feel I would be able to fit in the best here.

Candor: This is for  the people who are really honest. I am really honest and try not to lie, but I would not want to be honest with everyone. Its not that I'm not being honest, but I would not want people to find out how I truly feel about them, it would just be hard. I will be truly honest, I am honest with my parents, but I do lie and everyone lies.  I would not be able to be part of this faction.

Amity: This is for the peaceful people. The people that belong to this faction basically have no care in the world they are always happy and at peace. They also not aware of all the bad things going on around them. I would love to peaceful at all times, but if your peaceful all the time than your not human. There has to be things that bother you or make it hard to be peaceful. I would love to be in this faction but I worry to much that this would not be possible.

Erudite: This is for the people who are really smart and intelligent. I feel it would be hard to be part of this faction because everyone has a different subject or topic they are better at. Also I feel that there would be a lot of competition between this group to see who is the most intelligent which could cause a lot of problems. It would be an honor to be part of this faction because you are known as the intelligent, but it also comes with a lot of responsibility to live up to the expectations of the faction.

Divergent: This is the faction Tris and Four are classified as this. Divergent are people that don't fit in or belong to just one of the factions they show characteristics of  multiple or all of the factions, making them unique and a threat to the society. I think I would be a divergent because I show some characteristics of all of them and don't fit into one faction perfectly.

What faction would you choose to be part of? 

Hunger Games vs Divergent

       I love both Hunger Games and Divergent! I have really enjoyed the story of both of them but I couldn't help but realize the similarities between the two books. I love both of them and think they are unique in many ways, but I also think that they are similar in some ways.

The evident similarities that I have noticed is that  they both take place in dystopian society so both of the stories take place in the future. Also both of their societies are split up, in Divergent they are split up by factions and whatever faction you are they have specific roles they have to complete. Tris is part of Dauntless which is known for bravery and courage. In Hunger Games it is split by districts and each district is known for something else for example Katniss Everdeen is from District 12 which is the poorest of the districts and is known for its coal mining. Both the books use similar imagery for their book covers for Hunger Games there is a flaming Mockingjay and for Divergent there is a flaming Divergent Logo. The most important of all both the books center around a female heroine. In Divergent Tris is the female lead trying to defeat the society and battling with the fact that she is Divergent and the story revolves around her as a dauntless and hiding the fact she is Divergent. In Hunger Games Katniss Everdeen is the female lead who volunteers as tribute in order to save her sister and the story revolved around her in the Hunger Games and how she survived. I have also noticed similarities between Tris and Katniss in specific.

       One way that Tris and Katniss are similar is because they both are very strong-willed and persistent to achieve what they intended to achieve. This is shown with Katniss because when she was fighting in the Hunger Games and her friend Rue dies she was upset but that didn't stop her from giving her best in the Hunger Games.  She never lets anything get her down. Tris is strong willed because she was determined to be able to do what the other people in dauntless do and she never gave up and she kept trying. Another reason why Katniss and Tris are similar is because they both are bold. Katniss was bold because when it was her turn to show the game makers her skills and they kept ignoring her then she just shot an arrow at the apple to get their attention. Tris is bold because when everyone else was scared to jump off the roof she was the first jumper proving how brave she was. "First Jumper-Tris!" (Roth 60). Now comes the really obvious one, you guys have probably already noticed-they look so similar in the picture above. They both have their hair up and they both have determination in their eyes to accomplish their tasks.

       These are some things I found similar between Hunger Games and Divergent, and also Katniss and Tris. Can you find anymore?

About the Author

     I am enjoying reading Divergent by Veronica Roth, so I've decided to do a little bit of research about who Veronica Roth is and I will be sharing my findings with you.

     Veronica Roth was born August 19, 1988 and she grew up in Barrington, Illinois a small suburb of Chicago. Veronica attended Minnesota's Carleton College for one year, but then decided to transfer to Northwestern University. Roth recently graduated from Northwestern University prestigious writing program. Veronica actually wrote the book we all know as Divergent while she was still  a student. She often chose to work on her story that would become Divergent, rather than doing her homework. Literary agent Joanna Stampfel-Volpe recognized a potential in Roth, and signed her to a contract securing a publishing deal with HarperCollins. To my surprise at the age of 22 her book Divergent became a bestselling book. Soon her second book Insurgent came out giving her an okay for the Divergent movie. She is currently a full-time writer living near Chicago. Other than writing Roth also enjoys cooking, psychology, biology, theology, fashion, contemporary art, poetry.

     As you can see Roth is all rounded and loves writing books so we hope to see other books
from her soon. Are you looking forward to other books written by Veronica Roth?

Divergent?

     So I have recently started reading Divergent by Veronica Roth. I am not that far into the book but I wanted to make a prediction on why the author chose to title this book divergent.

     I found the definition of divergent and it came up as tending to be different or develop in different directions. I think this is a good choice for the title because Beatrice or Tris is different than the other people in her society because she isn't just one faction like the others, instead she is a mixture of many factions making her different than the other people in her society. Also the obvious fact that the people that don't belong in one faction are called divergent and since Tris is many factions she was a divergent making it a appropriate title.

     I am really enjoying this book, it's so suspenseful making you want to keep reading to figure out what happens next in the book. I am also really curious to find out what faction she ends up choosing since she has to pick a faction in the choosing ceremony the next day. Will someone will find out that she is Divergent?

     I don't want any spoilers, but what did you think about this book?