Blog Reflection

Click hereto view my best blog post.

The post I chose as my best post was the character post. In the rubric it says, "The student analyzes in detail how complex characters develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme." I believe that I did all of those things and I even added quotes to support my findings. As for the first task, explaining how complex characters develop over the course of a text, I explained that in the beginning of the novel she was Abnegation and had to make a huge choice in her life to leave her family and become Dauntless. That choice made her even more brave and it made her want to try new things. The next task was to show how characters interact with other characters. I said, "In this book people only really interact with the people in their faction. Unless your family is in another faction, then you can visit them on the visiting day. Most families don't go to visit the member of their family who switched factions because they feel that they were betrayed." I showed that people only talk to the people "of their kind", even their own family members wouldn't talk to them if they switched factions. Finally, the last task was to show how the character advances the plot or develops the theme. I stated, "Her action ties into the theme, 'sometimes you make choices and sometimes choices make you', because this choice will change her life forever. She will have to move away and act according to her faction." That shows how her action to switch factions will effect her whole life and it also shows the theme of this novel. 

Over all I thoroughly enjoyed English 1A. I am more of a science and math person but this trimester got me into English as well. As for goals for the next trimesters reading, I would like to read more books and continue to blog because that helps me process the book. As for writing, I would like to continue to work on my grammar and I would like to write more creative writing pieces. Areas for improvement in reading are reading more books and choosing a little more challenging books. I love anything that makes you think. Areas for improvement in writing is definitely grammar.

New update on the Mysterious Dog Disease

In my blog before, the scientists had no idea what this disease was and only a few dogs had died from it. Now they know some symptoms and sadly a lot more dogs have died! Scientists have found out that the symptoms are very similar to those of the flu! Also dogs are having trouble barking. All they can do is cry. They won't eat and they have a lot of abdominal pain. They are also saying that the dogs are getting sick from their owners. A lot of the dogs that got the disease had a sick owner! This is very scary! I mean they still don't have that much information about it and they aren't completely sure of the way that the disease is transmitted! But be careful and don't take your dog to dog parks and if you are sick try not to give it to your dog! 

Divergent Analysis Post

Beatrice and the other new people who chose Dauntless as their faction are doing little tests to see if they are "man" enough to be in that faction. Beatrice can already pick out which people are going to be factionless. All of these tests are making her nervous because they are dangerous. But isn't that the point of being Dauntless, that you are brave? On page 53, it states,"' They're jumping off!' I lift my head. My neck aches. I have been curled up with my back against the wall for at least a half hour, listening to the roaring wind and watching the city smear past us. I sit forward. The train has slowed down in the past few minutes, and I see that the who shouted is right: Dauntless in the cars ahead of us are jumping out as the train passes a rooftop. The tracks are seven stories up. The idea of leaping out of a moving train onto a rooftop, knowing there is a gap between the edge of the roof and the the edge of the track, makes me want to throw up." That excerpt shows that she was nervous and a little scared to do what the Dauntless do everyday. She does end up jumping off the train and she is fine. I believe that as she figures out how the Dauntless do what they do everyday, everything will become easier for her. She was just inducted into the Dauntless faction so she is just starting to do all of the risky things that they do.

Divergent Question Post

Divergent is becoming one of my favorite books! I love how it brings all of these questions into my mind making me want to read more. Will her father come and visit her? Will she ever see her brother again? Is she ready for this big of a change? I mean she choose Dauntless so I guess she isn't afraid at all. Now that I have read more of the book, if I had to choose a faction I think I would choose Dauntless also. I have made a lot of choices in my life so far and I am ready for anything that is thrown at me. I think that Beatrice is the same way. I wonder, will she fall in love with someone in her faction? Or will it be with someone in a different faction? She seems like more of a rebellious girl.  If it is a different faction could they get in trouble?

Divergent Character Post

In Divergent, Beatrice is the main character. She had just taken the test to figure out which faction she would be in and it turns out that she could be in multiple. That is very rare to be "divergent". Now she is forced to choose which faction she thinks that she would fit best in. It is the day where she has to go up on stage in front of the whole society and choose her faction. So far I believe that Beatrice is a dynamic character because she has changed so much. She started out as Abnegation (selfless) and she ended up choosing Dauntless (brave). She has chosen a life away from her family and her father isn't too happy about that. It makes you interested to read more because you want to know if her mom will come and visit her. Will her father come too? Her action ties into the theme, " sometimes you make choices and sometimes choices make you", because this choice will change her life forever. She will have to move away and act according to her faction. In this book people only really interact with the people in their faction. Unless your family is in another faction, then you can visit them on the visiting day. Most families don't go to visit the member of their family who switched factions because they feel that they were betrayed.

Divergent Book Recommendation

Divergent by Veronica Roth is a book about a society where when you turn 16 you must take a test to determine your faction. There are five factions Abnegation (selfless), Candor (honest), Amity (peaceful), Erudite (intelligent), & Dauntless (brave). Beatrice (main character) took the test to determine her faction and her results were inconclusive! " ' Typically, each stage of the simulation eliminates one or more of the factions, but in your case, only two have been ruled out' "(Roth 22-23). She was told that she was rare, that no one was ever "Divergent". Now she is forced to choose what faction she will live in since you should only have on result in the first place. What faction would you choose? I wouldn't even know where to begin when choosing a faction. I believe there are many pros and cons for all five of the factions. Over all so far I would give this book a 10! It is fantastic!

Tone and Mood Post for Divergent

In Divergent, Beatrice has just finished taking her test to find out what faction she is in. There is no way to study for this test. You just go in and do your best. The tones throughout this section of text are anxious, nervous and confused. Before her test even started she was nervous, " Clumsily I sit in the chair and reclined, putting my head on the headrest. .... I shiver, and goosebumps appear on my arms. .... She stands behind me. I squeeze the armrests so tightly the redness pulls away from my knuckles" (Roth 12-13). Then, after the tests, when she heard that her results were inconclusive, she was very anxious and confused. That rarely ever happens. You never really see anyone that is "Divergent". She is also afraid of what people will think of her. Now she must choose which faction she wants to be in because you can't be in more than one. For example. it says, " ' Beatrice, your results are inconclusive,' she says. ' Typically, each stage of the simulation eliminates one or more of the factions, but in your case, only two have been ruled out.' I stare at her. ' Two?' I ask. My throat is so tight it's hard to talk. ... '...Divergence is extremely dangerous. You understand?' I don't understand- how could inconclusive test results be dangerous?- but I still nod" (Roth 20,21 & 23). The mood of this passage is also anxious as I explained above. It could also be overwhelmed because of all of the information she is receiving. I mean she has no idea what to do about her situation.
In my book so far there hasn't really been a moment where Beatrice has swayed anyone or vise verse. When she takes the tests, depending on how she answers, determines her faction. In her situation she showed that she could be put in multiple factions so her actions swayed the test results. As she was taking the test she was calm, serious and honest so the test results were correct about her. The only reason she thought that is was weird was because it was so rare for it to happen.