I chose to do my author study on Veronica Roth because I recently saw the movie Divergent, which is based on a book that she wrote. This is actually the book I'm reading by her because I wanted to get a better understanding of some of the things I was confused about while watching the movie. Along with that reason, I wanted to see how much of the story was left out of the movie. Since our class has to read more than one book by our selected authors, I thought choosing Veronica was a good idea because Divergent is part of a series that I could read.
From seeing the movie, and now reading the book, I've come up with a few questions I'd ask her. The first question would be where she came up with the idea for the book. To go along with that, I'm wondering where she came up with the idea of the factions. I'd want to know where the names of each faction came from and the ideals of each came from. Finally, I'd like to know which faction she would have picked and why. Since it's her own book, I'd be curious to see if she ever thought about it.
A character from the book I'm reading, "Divergent", that has caught my attention is Peter. He is one of the main antagonists of the main character of the book, Tris. Just like Tris, he is a transfer into the Dauntless faction except he is originally from the Candor Faction. Being Candor means that he speaks his mind and tells the truth, which makes him come off as a jerk. He has dark hair, is tall, and has an athletic build. He is among the elite in the Dauntless transfers, a group of snobby and mean teens who think they are better than everyone else. Tris is always being picked on by him, even though she does nothing to him. Peter would do anything to be top of his class, including stabbing another faction member in the eye, all because of the fact that the other member was first in the standings. All around, Peter is a cruel man who doesn't care about anyone but himself.
ReplyDeleteI don't connect to this character at all because we are nothing alike. He is a total jerk who is relentless which is almost the complete opposite of how I am. The reason he is important to the book is because he is the main antagonist to Tris. He always puts down Tris, which I think motivates her to do better in training. She wants to prove that she isn't as weak as he thinks she is.
A character in the book "Divergent" that I feel like I have a connection is Al. He is part of the Dauntless faction, the army, but he doesn't fit into the role of being Dauntless. Al doesn't like to hurt people, so when ever he has to fight in training he doesn't hit the other person. I don't like to harm other people either so I feel a connection with him that he is more on the soft side and cares about how people feel just like I do. When Al does hurt other people he can't forgive himself for it, just like me. He originally was fighting other people until he hurt another kid, which he was supposed to do, which caused him to stop hitting people. He also was persuaded into trying to kill Tris with two other guys. However, he wound up running away but he got scared when things got serious. Al couldn't live with what he had done even though he realized it was a mistake and so he committed suicide. I feel another connection with him here because I usually get really upset when I hurt one of my close friends. I wouldn't go to the extent of killing myself, but I would hate myself for awhile just like he did.
ReplyDeleteVeronica Roth uses a writing style that is directed for teenage readers. She doesn't use a lot of detail most of the time, but when it's needed she uses it. Her writing is not too complex that would make it targeted towards adult readers, but it's not so simple that would be boring for a teen to read. Part of the reason I believe that she writes like this because of the fact that the main character is from Abnegation. Abnegation is the selfless faction and very simplistic. Her writing reflects this because she keeps things simple but also keeps the writer interested. Also, the main character is innocent for the most part so the writing reflects this. Her style of writing also makes me feel bad for the main character, which I feel like she's trying to make happen. She gets picked on and is confused which the writing easily conveys. I personally feel that the more simplistic an author writes, the easier it is to show emotion and convey a point.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to decide on what I'm going to create for my visual for this project. I have yet to fully decide on my what my working question is going to be, I might even mix a few questions together. I think that I'm going to make some sort of visual aid that will incorporate five different questions and answers, one for each faction that is part of the "Divergent" series. I am currently leaning towards creating a poster and splitting it into 5 sections, each section is going to be themed like one of the five factions.
ReplyDeleteI think that this visual will be the best because it fits one of the main ideas of the book, the five factions. The factions are important because they each have different morals, do different things, and wear different things. I currently have three questions that I could answer, so I would need two more to be able to do this idea. The questions wouldn't only be about the factions, but about the factions, the characters and the author herself. The added benefit about doing 5 questions is I have more to talk about and I'll be able to give more detail about the series and the author.
By looking back at the author study project, it was overall a good and fairly easy project. The way it is done is very different from most reading projects, which I liked. Instead of only having to read one book we had to read two which helped me develop as a reader because it forced me to read more. It also caused me to read more in a shorter amount of time which is going to be beneficial for college. It also helps me to get to learn an author because I read multiple books by the same person so I learned their style and goal of their writing. This project will help me out a lot more than other author studies I have done.
ReplyDeleteThe project itself is a lot different than other author studies. Instead of just searching the author's background and some basic info, we had to go in depth in our research to find specific answers. This made it a little bit more difficult for the research but easier for the visual aid because not a lot was required for it. It also forces us to communicate with others because sometimes that's needed to find out the answers required. An example would be contacting the author directly to find out what is needed to know. The whole project seems to be focused on preparing us for college with managing time, researching and communicating.