Divergent-Compare/Contrast

Divergent by Veronica Roth was a novel our sophomore English class read together. We also watched the movie Divergent in theaters. The story takes place in a futuristic dystopic society in the city of Chicago. The city is sort of run down and the people haven't really fixed it up but yet they have advanced technology. The city is closed off from the rest of the world with a large fence. The people are divided into five factions-Abnegation, Candor, Amity, Erudite, and Dauntless based on what each person is like. The main characters in Divergent are Beatrice Prior(Tris)-Shailene Woodley, Four-Theo James, Eric-Jai Courtney, Christina-Zoe Kravitz, Peter-Miles Teller, Jeanine Mathews-Kate Winslet, Tori-Maggie Q, Caleb Prior- Ansel Elgort and Marcus- Ray Stevenson. The basic plot is about Tris trying to fit into her new faction of Dauntless. She Most of the story takes place during Tris' initiation as she is has the struggle of other initiates, her Dauntless instructors, and hiding the fact that she is divergent which is a bad thing to be in this world.

Whenever someone makes a move based off a book there are going to be many similarities. Some of the similarities between the book and movie I liked was in both the book and movie was when Tris stood in front of a target as Four threw knifes at her to show her bravery as she defended Al during their training. I also liked how the movie added the when the initiates played Capture the Flag and went zip lining from the top of the building just like in the book. When Peter read the Erudite article about rumors of Tris' family and the Abnegation faction, it helped show in the movie that Peter was a jerk to Tris.

There were also some big differences that were not showed in the movie from the book. One big difference was when Tris and Four went into Four's fear landscape. In the book as they went through Tris was the one helping four get through his fears like telling him to calm down or just get it over with. In the movie Four was telling Tris to think like a Dauntless to find a way to get out of the situation. I liked the way the book did that scene because they didn't make the girl vulnerable, it was guy. she was comforting him.

Another difference between the movie and the book was that in the movie when Tris and Molly fought during training for the first time the movie had the result of Molly beating Tris. But in the book Tris pretty much kicks the crap out of Molly because of Tris' rage toward Molly. I think for the story as a whole it was better for Tris to beat Molly to show that she is learning to be Dauntless and show her strength.

 Personally I liked the overall story and plot of Divergent, but if I were to chosen either the book or movie I would have to chose the book. The book contains so many more details of the story and describes the emotions of the characters rather than using their facial expressions like in movies. I do have to say though I might have to go see the movie again because yeah...uhhh Shailene Woodley is a real hottie!                    

The Great Gatsby Lesson Learned

Eric Gilbertson
Ms. Fordahl
English 10
February 18, 2014

2. Money can't buy you love (or friends).

In both the book and movie of The Great Gatsby, one of the life lessons displayed  really spoke to me. The lesson was that money cannot buy you love or friends. The story was that this guy named Gatsby was a bootlegger to obtain his great fortune. He used his money to buy a big house to impress his young love. He hosted big parties at his house to get her to come, but in the end he never got the girl or made any friends from hosting these parties. 

I think this life lesson is very true. Gatsby tried to win the heart of this girl by buying this big house right across the bay and tried to get her to come to one of his parties. Parties with people he didn't even know! When he did impress her, he had to hide the fact that he got rich off of illegally selling alcohol, and when she learned of it she was mad at him. Then he ended up dying without her love and no friends.

I can sort of relate to this lesson because I have learned and seen this happen before. I've seen many rich kids before and I know a lot about their lives. They think the can buy their way into friendships but the friends use them for their money (which means they aren't really your friends at all). I've also seen that sometimes this rich person doesn't really have a good social personality so they are in a way socially awkward. They try to make friends by showing off but their money is talking instead of them. The same thing applies for love. This women that this rich guy loves maybe only loves him for his fortune and really could have a relationship with someone else or she learns he doesn't really have an as great personality as she thought and dump him.

So that's what life lesson really spoke to me in The Great Gatsby.