Post #7: Book 4 Reflection

From the perspective of Tris right after stopping Nita from stealing the Death serum in Allegiant by Veronica Roth.

Dear Tobias,

I’m writing this from inside the hospital. I don’t know where you are or when I’ll see you again, so I need to tell you what has happened. Now before you start worrying, it was just a bullet graze across my forehead. I’m fine. Except, I’m mad at you. When you took me to see Nita the first time, I didn’t trust her. I’ve always relied on my instincts, and they are usually right. You had just found out that the factions were a result of a genetic defect that the government was trying to fix, but as a Divergent I was ‘genetically pure’. Your emotions were all over the place. So, I can understand why you were confused. But we have to fight on the same side. I can’t fight Nita all on my own. We have an opportunity to stop her from starting a war of the ‘genetically damaged’ against the ‘genetically pure’. You have to believe me that she is evil. While Nita sent you to the control room to unhook the security system, her team went to the warehouse to steal the death serum. Her intention was to kill as many people as possible. I had to shoot her in the hip to stop her.

I’m not telling you this to brag that I was right or tell you about my heroic act. I’m just trying to help you see right from wrong. Ever since we left the faction system and explored outside of the walls, our world has been turned upside down. We found out that the life that we knew was just a collection of genetic mistakes. Genetic damage doesn’t make us evil or any lesser of a person than the genetically pure that live in the outside world. Jeanine Matthews was evil. She was manipulative and selfish in wanting to be in charge of the entire city. I’ve done wrong things, but I’m not evil. I was talking to my brother Caleb earlier (yes, even though I despise him) and I just remembered something my mom used to tell us. She said, “Everyone has a little evil inside of us. The first step to loving someone else is to recognize the evil in ourselves, so we can forgive them.” Nita and Jeanine didn’t have to act on the evil inside of them, but they did. We have to realize that they need help just like everyone does. That’s why good has to fight evil. And good has to win.

I just found Christina in a waiting room. She told me you were arrested. When you read this letter, I want you to know what I’m thinking throughout this whole experience. We promised to be honest to each other. Once you find about Nita, I know you will regret how you worked with her. I’m already ready to forgive you for that. But our mistakes still have consequences. You promised Zeke that you would take care of Uriah. Uriah is one of my last friends still alive. He’s unconscious because of one of the explosives they set off as diversions. They aren’t sure if he is going to wake up. I’m going to forgive you, but I’m mad at you. We could have stopped Nita together, but you chose to work with her. You let a little more evil slip into this world.

I hope to find you soon, so we can talk about this. My stiches are done. I guess I can leave this place now to go find you.

See you soon,
Tris

Post #9: Book 2 Trailer

Post #8: Book Talk

Post #6: Book 3 Listicle

Five positives of the society in The Giver that are actually flaws

Every dystopian novel is an expression from the author of what the world might look like after its destruction. Like Divergent and Hunger Games, the fairness and control that the government is trying to maintain is in fact an exaggeration what life might be like; The Giver is no exception. Despite the utopia that the character's attempt to create, nothing can achieve this perfection.

1. Politeness is the law

If someone comes across as rude, there is a customary apology and response that everyone in the town uses.  The main character Jonas is given memories by The Giver, so he is the only one that knows honest emotions. During a fight, Jonas’ best friend, Asher grumbles, “I apologize for not paying you the respect you deserve” (Lowry 134). To which Jonas (who knows that Asher could never understand how true emotions feels) wearily says, “I accept your apology, Asher” (Lowry 135).

2. All children are educated in the exact same way

Equal education sounds incredible. All children are given the same chance and environment to learn and grow. However, a world without options for education results in everyone learning to think in the exact same way. Examples from The Giver include: every child goes to the same daycare, every child goes to the same school, as the children grow up they will go through the ceremony of One, Two, Three etc., during each ceremony an age signifying gift is given to them like front-buttoning coats or a bicycle, and finally they graduate from the ceremony of twelve to be put in a chosen job training. Since every child has the exact same process there is no further opportunities to learn through a specific learning style or going away to a college to think differently.

3. Everyone is placed into a job that they will likely succeed at

Playing to everyone’s strengths is the goal of job placement. However, there are many negatives to this system. A person may be placed into a job they hate. A certain percentage of the population always is down casted to be a Laborer. The job is given to a child at twelve where most people don’t have a clear idea of their interests or identities. For example, the most important job of being the Receiver of all memories of the past was given to a girl that couldn’t handle the pressure of her role and left the society.

4. Everything is safe

Meaning there are rules for everything. Accidental deaths are very low in the society in The Giver, but at what cost to its inhabitants? Childhood is very structured, and there no opportunity for children to experience pain or suffering. These experiences are necessary to being human. Everything is safe to the point that if a twin infant is born with a slightly lower weight, the smaller baby is immediately released (killed) in order to ensure the very best quality of life (Lowry 149).

5. The Old are sent to a facility that gives them the care that they need

The best care for the elderly, but if a person becomes unstable they are immediately released. Almost as bad as premature death is that the Old are not living in the same area as the rest of society. All of their wisdom and knowledge is trapped inside the facility they live in with only their caretakers to listen to them. A society without knowing about grandparents (Lowry 124) allows for history and mistakes to repeat themselves especially because most of the histories only exist in the mind of The Giver who is only allowed to share it with the receiver.

Bottom line:

Everything seems good with control. But, as most communist nations could testify, a life of control is not really living as a human. Humans need free will, room to be creative, and the ability to make mistake and learn from them. The society in The Giver may produce momentary peace, but it is far from perfection.

Work Cited

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. Print.

 

Post #5: Non-fiction

To be considered a work of non-fiction, a book has to be 100% true. Well, unless there are plot holes in a memoir, then the author can fill in some of the details. So, maybe 90%. Also, dialogue can’t be remembered word for word. So, 85% is close enough to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I mean there was no way for Susannah Cahalan, author of Brain of Fire to remember exact conversations when her insane month living a medical mystery involved psychosis and extreme paranoia.

So, really non-fiction needs to be as true as possible (within the author’s power). Main characters, key plot pieces, and relative timeline of a story should be reflected accurately in the work. All other liberties the author chooses to take must be at least addressed in an author’s note or preface to the book. It seems wrong to mislead your readers if that isn’t what actually happened. Non-fiction is essentially a trust exercise between the author and reader. The reader expects the real story. The author wants to give the reader a good story. Both sides have positives.

The intended genre for a book really needs to be clear. To David Shields: sorry, not sorry. For non-fiction, the author needs to give mostly facts with roughly 15% half-truths. It’s basically all true. Pretty much. I mean everyone is human. Anything claiming to be “based on a true story” can be a lot more lax on the facts. As long as some aspects of the story resembles the original plot. It’s not non-fiction but it isn’t completely made up. Presenting a story is very different from teaching a history lesson. An example would be The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Creative non-fiction is just a genre made up by authors who don’t want to admit how much they made up: Truman Capote we are looking at you.

Readers deserve to know what they are getting themselves into. Reading is an emotional investment. As long as the author make the genre clear or explains changes facts, I guess it’s ok. Besides isn't all truth relative?

Post #4: Book Adaptation

Insurgent by Veronica Roth is currently in the process of being turned into a movie following the success of the first book in the series Divergent. With a March 2015 release date, little to none is probably still being changed. But by some miracle, let's say I was made the director of Insurgent. Here are the 5 things that I would have to decide on:

1. I probably wouldn't be allowed to use all 525 pages worth of plot. So, I would have to decide what needs to stay. At the heart of the book is the story of Tris trying to stop the faction of Erudite's takeover. There are many aspects that go into that fight including whether the Dauntless will have an alliance with Candor, the involvement and uprising of the factionless, and how much the Erudite can control the minds of the other factions through simulations. Also, and perhaps the most important, the role of Tris and the other Divergents in fighting for freedom against the Erudite. The key relationships are the romance between Tris and Tobias and the brother-sister bond between Tris and Caleb.

2.So despite a pretty involved plot, the things I would cut are the descriptions of the down times at the Candor faction and the trips that Tris takes to spy on the Erudite compound. Also, I think the death of Marlene shouldn't be included because it takes a long time to set up that scene with the simulation and the reactions of all of the characters. Also, some of the drama between Tris and Tobias drags on because you know that they are going to stay be each other no matter what.

3. A special aspect of the entire series is that the character (if they are not divergent) are put under simulations where they have no grasp on what is reality and what isn't. I think this is difficult to portray. In the movie, I think the entire setting should change when the perspective is through a character under the simulation but when the camera focuses back on Tris her view is of what is real. When the Erudite is trying to put Tris under the simulation, the edges of the camera shot should be blurry to emphasize that she knows that it is not reality.

4. I would add flashbacks of the first movie of Tris remembering certain character's deaths. For instance the death of Will and her parents is mentioned over and over in the book. For a movie, it would make more sense to show the death of those characters instead of just referencing them.

5. Finally, the casting. This really is what makes or breaks the movie. If the image in your head matches the characters on the screen. I think the actors chosen for Divergent and used again in Insurgent should stay the same. The characterizations were fairly consistent with the book.

Post #3: Book 1 Project Fan Experience

The Experience

The fan based experience would be a scavenger hunt tour throughout the town of Trout, Idaho to recreate some of the experiences Ben Wolf had in the book. Since the town the book is based on is fictitious, the fans would be led to start in an actual small town in Idaho and there would be clear postings for the scavenger tour areas and tasks to complete at each area. Players in the scavenger hunt are given 2 hours to find and complete all clues.

Locations along the scavenger hunt include: Running trail, football field, therapist’s office, Dallas Suzuki’s house, Trout High Civics Class, Malcolm X Street, and a Cemetery

The final clue leads fans to a Ben Wolf's grave and instructions to add to the bucket list tree. The tree would have ribbons tied to the branches and people would write things they want to do before they die on the ribbons to honor Ben with his inspiration to accomplish great things.

Deadline Connection

                The story of Deadline by Chris Crutcher is as much about getting to know the character of a terminally ill high school senior as it is getting to know his hometown. The scavenger hunt allows fans to live a day in the life of Ben Wolf. Most people don’t know how it feels to have an expiration date on their life. So, the time limit connects to the novel because people want to enjoy the experiences they have at each station, but they also know that they have to hurry to experience as much of his life as they can. As Ben stated, “I have maybe twelve months to fall in love, marry, make smart investments, grow old, and die” (Crutcher 24). The locations along the scavenger hunt all correspond to the novel. For example, Ben ran cross country and spent a lot of time on a running trail to process thoughts. So, the fan might have to run a sample length of trail to experience this. One of the major conflicts in the book is Ben arguing with his teacher Mr. Lambeer about wanting to do a project about changing a street name. He ends his arguing in the principal office that he will do the Malcolm X project even if he fails. Ben says about his project, “’I’m doing it because I decided at the beginning of this year that I wanted the most out of my education’ ” (Crutcher 225). A major point in the scavenger hunt will be in the school the fans have to yell something that they have always wanted to do but had fear to say it. Another example is that was Ben’s life time goal to get a street named after Malcolm X to try to get his town to be more open-minded to the controversial hero Ben respected. In the scavenger hunt there would be an actual street sign with a fake petition to add to Ben’s cause. In Ben’s letter that he wrote to be read at his funeral, he writes “‘I’m hoping my death will cause enough guilt that you will name a street Malcolm X Avenue. Do it’ ” (Crutcher 313). The other stops along the scavenger hunt correspond to Ben’s final year as he is forced to visit a therapist by his doctor, becomes a part of the football team, and is able to land the girl of his dreams: Dallas Suzuki.  Each part of the books plot is incorporated on the scavenger hunt.

Why Make a Fan Experience?

                The scavenger hunt will let fans connect with the story more because they can go through Ben’s experiences and sympathize with his lack of time to make each event memorable. There could be a broader audience for this book because people will want to read the book if they could eventually travel throughout the book’s town. It makes the reading experience more interactive and adventurous. The fans can relive the themes of the book over and over while inviting friends to go through the story with them. It could become more common for people to recreate fictional towns. So, Deadline could attract attention by being one of the first attractions to be a near full scale.