Divergent Book vs. Movie

           These past couple weeks in English class, we read the book Divergent, by Veronica Roth. After we finished the book, we went to see the movie in theaters. Divergent is about a girl named Beatrice, who lives futuristic version of Chicago. In this world, everyone is divided into groups called factions. There are five factions, each for a different personality type. Everyone fits into a faction, except Beatrice. She is Divergent. To be divergent is to be unable to fit into one faction. They can't be controlled. Beatrice (Tris) threatens the whole set up of her community, and the leaders will get rid of her if they find out. Throughout the book and movie, she tries to keep her Divergence a secret. As the story progresses, her secret gets harder and harder to keep, especially when she falls for her new mentor, Four. In the movie, Tris is played by Shailene Woodley, and Four is played by Theo James. Those are the two main characters. In this paper I will describe the similarities and differences between the book and movie.

         For the most part, the movie and book were pretty similar. The movie had the setting from the book spot on, in my opinion. The city was sort of run down, with the giant fence around it. They also did a really good job with the Abnegation and Dauntless compound. Tris chose Dauntless, and had to jump on the train. Also, all of the training simulations were the same. It was weird, because the movie had all the right information, but the we learned it in a different order than we did in the book.
         There were a lot of similarities between the movie and book, but there were also a lot of differences. One major difference I noticed between them is the part when Eric kicked Tris out of training. In the book, Peter beat up Tris really bad in a fight. Tris had to stay in the infirmary a couple of days, but then she got out and went with the other initiates to play capture the flag. But in the movie, after Peter beat up Tris, Tris's friends came into the infirmary and told her that she was kicked out of training by Eric. But, being Tris, she didn't listen. She let herself out of the infirmary and went to play capture the flag anyway.
        Also, another major difference was the scene in the ending of the movie, with Four and Tris in the computer room. In the book, Four was the only one up in the computer room. So once Tris got in the room, all she had to do was break Four out of his simulation and take the computer's information. But in the movie, there were a lot of other people up in the room working with the computers too, not just Four. So, Tris had to sneak back past a lot of people to get to Four and break him out of the simulation. Tris gets caught, leading to a big action scene where Tris and Four are battling all the bad guys. They beat them all up and destroy all the evidence, instead of taking it.
        In conclusion, I really liked both the book and the movie. The movie directors did a good job of fitting all the main points from the book into the movie. Some details weren't the exact same, but that is ok because then it probably would have been even longer than it already was. Overall, I liked the book better. Don't get me wrong, Theo James is great to look at, but I think the book had more details and developed the story plot better than the movie did.

           

7. Unbridled passion isn't always a good thing

Unbridled passion isn't always a good thing

There is a strong line between what you want to do and what you should do. In the 1920’s, this line was often blurred. Whether is was the right thing to do or not, people did what was convenient for themselves at the time. There are some great examples of this in “The Great Gatsby”. Some great examples of this are the affairs of Tom with Myrtle, and Daisy with Gatsby.

In the Great Gatsby, there are many examples of why you should always think before you act. For example, Tom and Myrtle have an affair. Tom is trying to reach the high he had when he was playing football. Myrtle is dissatisfied with her marriage to a poor man. Neither of them stop to think of the consequences of their decisions, who they could hurt along the way. They only think of themselves. Myrtle’s husband, George, eventually finds out about this affair. George is so hurt and desperate to gain his wife’s love back, he locks Myrtle in the bedroom. Myrtle is so desperate to get away, so caught up in herself, that she runs at the first sight of Tom, hoping for a rescue. This then leads to her death.

Another example of selfish thinking is the affair between Gatsby and Daisy. Jay Gatsby and Daisy fell in love before Gatsby got shipped off to war. After Gatsby leaves for war, Daisy waits for him, but then falls for in love with a new man, Tom Buchannan. After five years, Gatsby and Daisy finally meet again. They fall in love again, and Daisy plans to leave Tom. They never stopped to think of the consequences of their actions, or how this might make Tom feel. Daisy is distraught over her confrontation with Tom, leading to her hitting Myrtle with his car. This then leads to Gatsby’s death.

In the 1920’s everyone assumed there was no consequence for their actions. They disregarded anyone elses feelings, and only did what convenient at the time. These characters are great examples of why you need to think of the consequences before you act.

        A blog I found that I really like and enjoy reading is called Anna Reads. This girl, Anna, is in her upper teens and she reviews books. It sounds like your typical book review blog, but I like it. I like it because she is funny, relateable, and she reviews books that I would actually be interested in. She knows how to get you interested in a book. She also keeps an open mind, and doesn't put down a book she doesn't like. She will encourage you to read it, even if its not her favorite.  http://www.annareads.com/ 

Harrison Burgeron comparison

          There were many similarities and differences between the video version and short story version of "Harrison Burgeron". One similarity between the short story and the video was the ballerina. The ballerina rebels with Harrison in both versions, and is also murdered with him. Also, in the beginning of the video, the narrator reads off the first paragraph of the short story.
       The major difference between the short story and the video was the whole business with the bomb. In the video, Harrison says that he has created a "bomb" and has a supposed "detonator" that he will use if everyone does not cooperate. This bomb is fake, and is used to distract the HG men and give Harrison a little more time. Harrison presses the detonator, and this device makes the video broadcast come back on the TV, letting the whole country see him get shot on stage. He does this so he can show everyone that there is hope for their country, and to shos them what it would be like to be free, if only for a couple minutes.

Harrison Burgeron

Everyone always wants to have what someone else has. We ask ourselves, “Why can’t I be as skinny as her? Why can’t I be as smart as him?” But quite honestly, what would the world be like if we were all the same? If we couldn’t express ourselves? In Harrison Burgeron, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. writes a story about what he thinks the world would be like with everyone equal, showing that it would take away our ability to grow, our individuality, and our freedom.

In the beginning of the story “Harrison Burgeron”, the author writes, “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law, they were equal in every which way.” It also mentions that “Nobody was smarter, quicker, or stronger than anybody else.” If everyone was completely equal, our country would go nowhere. We would never develop new technologies, create new pieces of art, or build amazing new buildings. It would be taking away the diversity that America is known for.

Also, the story mentions a ballerina. She was exceptionally beautiful, but she has to wear a hideous mask to hide it. Henry is exceptionally smart, but he has to wear an earpiece to keep him from using too much of his brain. Harrison is over 7 feet tall, and very strong. He has to wear enormous weights to keep him from unfairly using his muscles. These people have qualities that make them who they are, that define them. Is it really fair to take that away?

Lastly, making everyone equal would take away our freedom. It would take away our ability to think for ourselves and speak for ourselves, such as Henry and Hazel It would take away the freedom this country has spent so long fighting for.

In “Harrison Burgeron”, Kurt Vonnegut expresses his views of what the world would be like if everyone was equal. In the story, the government takes away thier ability to evolve, thier individuality, and thier freedom.  The world cannot evolve and grow without these things, making us realize that being ourselves isn’t such a bad thing.