Divergent Compare & Contrast

Madysen Kouba

Ms. Fordahl

English 10

April 3 2014

Divergent Compare & Contrast

In the book Divergent by Veronica Roth, there are five factions in a futuristic dystopian city that was previously Chicago. Abnegation is a faction full of selfless people, Amity is full of kind people, Candor is full of truthful people, Dauntless is full of brave people, and Erudite is full of intelligent people. The main character is Beatrice (Tris) Prior, played by Shailene Woodley. She lives in Abnegation along with her mother, played by Ashley Judd, father, played by Tony Goldwyn, and brother, Caleb, played by Ansel Elgort. Caleb and Tris are both sixteen, and when the children in this city turn sixteen, they take an Aptitude Test, giving them an idea of what faction they should choose to live in. When Beatrice takes the test, she gets inconclusive results, making her Divergent, which is very dangerous to be. At the Choosing Ceremony the next day, she leaves her Abnegation life and chooses Dauntless. During initiation, she changes her name to Tris, and she meet other initiates. Christina, played by Zoe Kravitz, Will, played by Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Peter, played by Miles Teller, Molly, played by Amy Newbold, Al, played by Christian Madsen, and Edward, played by Ben Lamb. When the initiates get to the compound the all meet their instructor, Four, played by Theo James, and Eric, a Dauntless leader, played by Jai Courtney. The initiates learned that they would go through training in order to become a Dauntless member, and if they didn’t get a certain rank at the end of each stage of training, they would be cut and become factionless. During the two weeks that Tris is in training, Erudite is releasing negative reports about Abnegation, saying that Tris and Caleb’s father beat them, making them leave the faction. Tris and Four then later find out that Erudite is planning a war against Abnegation by manipulating the Dauntless into killing Abnegation leaders. Tris and Four are not affected by the manipulation serum, and they try to stop Jeanine Matthews, the one behind it all. They stop the manipulation and run away along with Caleb, Andrew, and Marcus.

     Some similarities between the book and the movie were the characters. All of the main characters were credited and acted just as they did in the book. The Dauntless initiation was also very on point with the book, the train, jumping onto the roof, jumping into the pit, and the training methods. Another similarity was the Pit in the Dauntless compound, and how Eric made Christina hang over the railing of the chasm. One last thing that really stood out to me was how Four and Tris climbed up the Ferris wheel during the game of Capture the Flag. The movie really captured the essence of Four, ignoring his fear of heights just to make sure if anything happened to Tris, she was safe. It also really captured Tris's emotions and feelings for Four. 

     One big difference between the book and movie was when Tris and Molly fought in training. When Tris and Molly fought in the book, Tris beat the living day lights out of Molly, pushing Molly down in the rankings. But, in the book, Molly beat Tris. This, to me, showed that Tris never overcame her weakness. It shows she never came out of her shell and never evolved into the strong girl she was in the book. It just showed she barely scraped the bottom of the barrel in the rankings by losing to Molly. 

     Speaking of rankings, in the book, at the end of training, Tris was ranked first out of everyone. This showed that later on, she will have enemies and people who dislike her because of her skill. In the movie, Tris is ranked almost last. This completely eliminates the idea that the others think she isn't vulnerable like it did in the book. It doesn't create the controversy needed to make the rest of Tris's story interesting.

     In conclusion, I liked the book ten times more than I liked the movie. The movie didn't capture what Roth showed in the book. There were scenes that were completely switched around in the movie, important things weren't shown, and things that weren't even in the book were added to the storyline. I believe the movie would've been excellent to someone who hadn't read the books, but since I read the book, the differences in the movie completely ruined it for me. Of course, the only thing that wasn't ruined for me was Theo James as Four. I mean, come on. Look at him. 

#6 "Beauty is Fickle and Fleeting"

In "The Great Gatsby", money and looks are what gets most people by. Back then, people who were poor and unattractive were overlooked, while rich and beautiful people got whatever they wanted, and were treated like royalty. The 1920's was all glitz and glam, and it seemed like everyone was trying to get away from reality by drinking and partying. In the lesson "Beauty is Fickle and Fleeting", it teaches that though someone may be beautiful and have a light appearance, deep down they could very well be just as awful as they are beautiful.

In "The Great Gatsby", Daisy Buchanan is very beautiful and girly, but in the end, her true colors show when she gives no interest in Gatsby's death. Gatsby is madly in love with her, but only because she says things he wants to hear and does things he wants her to do. Before Gatsby went to war, he fell in love with the young, beautiful, and single Daisy Fay. Daisy loved Gatsby, and it possibly could have been for his personality, but it seemed like it was mostly because he was handsome and in uniform. She had no idea he was penniless until right before he left. Daisy eventually got tired of waiting, and ended up marrying Tom Buchanan. And, again, maybe she loved him a little bit, but I believe it was because Tom had money. That, to me, shows Daisy as a gold digger with poor character. She's too restless to settle and wait, and all she wants is to live a luxurious life. 

After five years of war, Gatsby returned to America and made a fortune. He never forgot about Daisy, and ended up buying a luxurious home right across the bay from her. He threw extravagant parties hoping that one day, she would hear about them and end up wandering in just to be the little social butterfly she is. Gatsby obsessed over the thought of Daisy coming back to him, and when she finally did, he was so entranced by her that he paid little attention to anything else. But, the problem was that Gatsby was in love with  the Daisy he met five years ago, and sadly, that Daisy is long gone. The new Daisy, Daisy Buchanan, was not only married, but seemed to only care about her reputation. She may have loved Gatsby, but not enough to make her seem unwell to others. For instance, when Gatsby died, she didn't attend the funeral, send flowers, call, or write to pay respect. She disappeared with Tom and their daughter, Pammy. 

So, in conclusion, Daisy's beauty was what got Gatsby in the first place, not her personality. She's sweet and amusing and has a light tone about everything, but when it comes to serious times and decisions, she's distant and cold. It's sad, how much Gatsby did for her, how much effort he put into getting her back, and she ends up forgetting about him anyway. Although, Gatsby has no one to blame but himself for his predicament. After all, he's the one who fell for Daisy's facade, and not her personality. If you really want to love someone, you need to get to know whats on the inside, not just on the surface. 

Reviewing a Book Reviewer

I followed the blog  http://blbooks.blogspot.com, with the name of 'Becky's Book Reviews'. After reading her reviews on numerous books, I think its safe to say that Becky is a great book reviewer. I read three of her reviews, Paperboy, Heaven is Paved with Oreos, and Fortunately, the Milk, and the way she spoke about them was very influential. She was very opinionated about the books she read, and she used powerful words to describe them. The only thing I'd have to critique on her is that she is too repetitive. In the Fortunately, the Milk review, she said "I loved..." a lot. Also, in the Paperboy review, she uses "I think..." a lot, as well. But, other than those things, I think she is a great blogger and book reviewer.

Harrison Bergeron: Story vs. Movie

Harrison Bergeron: Story vs. Movie

Both the movie and the story of Harrison Bergeron had many similarities, yet also many differences. Most of the movie had the same details as the story. The news reporter had a stutter, Harrison escaped from prison, broke into the dance studio, and danced with a ballerina, and Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, kills both of them on live television. The characters, setting, and general idea were also the exact same, but it would be pointless to make a movie based on a story without the actual stories general plot. 

There were actually quite a few differences in the story. When Hazel tells her husband George that she would make a good Handicapper General, George, in the story, tells her, "Just as good as anyone", but in the movie, he just tells her "Yeah, you would." Also, instead of birdshot bags padlocked around their waists and necks, they just have steel weights tied around their arms, chests, and legs. In the story, the news reporter broadcasted directly from the dance theater and had a ballerina take over for him, due to his excessive stuttering. In the movie, they were in a news station, and another news reporter came in and did the story for the stuttering reporter. 

When Harrison broke into the theater, he threatened everyone in the theater with a bomb, or so they all thought. The so-called 'bomb' was actually a device to bring back the live broadcast, since he knew the cameramen would turn it off. When the Handicapper General came in and shot Harrison and the ballerina, everyone in the theater and watching on television saw her, and that's exactly what Harrison wanted. So, in the story, it was Hazel who saw Harrison get killed while George went to get a beer, but in the movie, George saw Harrison get killed while Hazel was doing the dishes. 

English 10 Speech: Harrison Bergeron

Madysen Kouba

Ms. Fordahl

English 10

November 20 2013

Harrison Bergeron Speech

        All of our lives, we’re told that being different is okay, and not everything is fair. But, what if, one day, everyone was equal? Equally pretty or handsome, equally strong, equally athletic, and equally talented. No one would fight, no one would compete, and no one would be judged on their abilities. In the short story Harrison Bergeron, the author Kurt Vonnegut Jr. gives us an idea of how nice it would be to have no competition among ourselves, but, on the flipside, how boring and dull life would be without it.

        Life without competition; it sounds really great, and really boring at the same time. As stated in the story, “They [everyone] were equal in every which way.” Of course, if someone was average looking and not athletic, having no competition would seem great. Those people wouldn't have to worry about being judged by others ‘superior’ to them, worry about their appearance, or be made fun of. For once, they would feel equal, and equality is something for which today's government works hard to achieve. In the story, George tells his wife Hazel “Pretty soon we’d be right back to the dark ages again, with everyone competing against everybody else.”  But, what about those who are extremely competitive, who thrive on the thrill of competing? If we didn't have competition, we wouldn't feel the need to work hard for something we truly wanted. 

        Equality is something for which almost everyone strives. But, complete equality for all is just not possible. In Harrison Bergeron, the citizens of the society think that life is equal and fair, but if you really think about it, it’s not. Harrison, the extremely handsome and gifted son of Hazel and George, is handicapped very heavily and in prison for trying to rebel against the government. When someone is born with great talents and beauty, why is it okay for the Handicapper General in the story to handicap that person? The government wants everything and everyone equal and fair, but they don’t realize that keeping gifted people from showing their full potentials is not fair.

The Handicapper General is meant to be one of the highest figures of authority, someone to be loved but also feared. So, when you think about it, how cruel is it to handicap these people, young and old? Screaming headpieces in their ears, ugly masks to set off their beauty, and heavy bags of birdshot to weigh them down. It sounds like torture, but these people are so clueless and well behaved that they think nothing of it. “I’m used to it now, its like its a part of me,” George tells Hazel about his birdshot weights.
Everything is a competition, with people wanting to be better at everything else, and when someone is really good at something, they can get cocky and greedy. So, I can see why the government in the story wants to handicap people and make them equal, so there is no competition or disagreements. Life is one big beauty pageant, with everyone picking at your body, the way you speak, the way you look, and seeing if your talents are actually worthwhile and interesting. Sure, some days it would be nice to not have to compete with others for something, but unless Vonnegut’s story comes true, it won’t ever happen. The only way it will happen is if people stop caring about what people do and think, and just worry about themselves. Besides, competition makes life interesting, challenging us to try our best and be the best we can be, and nothing is better than pushing yourself to be the best.