James’ Letter Essay #6 Divergent

2/25/16

I recently finished reading the book Divergent, a 487 page book that will keep you on the edge of your seat as you read. This novel was written by Veronica Roth who has won GoodReads Choice awards best Science Fiction book three years in a row with Divergent, Insurgent (the next book in the series) and Allegiant (the third book of the series. Roth is a well know writer as you can tell and wrote Divergent while in college which not many great writers can do.
The reason why I chose this book is because I have heard many great things about it and I never got around to reading it. I also had a feeling I would like it because many say it has resemblance of The Hunger Games which was another great book I liked. In ILA we were choosing books from the genre of dystopian literature so I thought that I might as well read it now since I hadn’t already.
Tris is approaching her adulthood where she will have to choose a faction that she will spend the rest of her life pursuing. Before people choose in this futuristic world you must take a simulation exam to show where you would best fit. When Tris enters her examination she thinks she will just be like everyone else but that is the opposite of what she gets. Upon her testing Tris’ proctor to her simulation finds that she is a Divergent hence the name. This means that she doesn’t really belong to any one faction and could qualify for all of them. After when she attends the choosing ceremony she makes the decision to go to dauntless because of her attraction to have to no fear mentality. Making this decision she now must try to stay as much under the radar as possible because every divergent that is found is killed. Nobody is really on to her until the dauntless again start to test to find out people’s fears so they can conquer them. And of course Tris having her divergent ability can find a way out of them. Since she puts up record score in this people start to get on to her. Infact, one person now knows for sure and that is four another fellow divergent person. But, now they must work together to overcome the odds of death and fight for their survival to save not only themselves but every other faction.
I really liked how the author expressed how the fact of being divergent gives you advantages and it all just came together well on how the government wanted to come after Tris and Four for having that ability. Even at times when you wonder how Tris can perform very hard task it all comes back to her ability of being different from everyone else.
I don’t understand why the author made the setting of the story just in futuristic Chicago because it makes the reader wonder what the rest of the world is like or if Chicago is the only place left in the world. To me it just doesn’t make sense why it’s all packed into one city.
The genre of this book is definitely science fiction because it takes place in the future and although the world could possibly come to this chaos one day it is still very fictional.
In this passage Tris finally realizes how she feels about Four and finally has someone that she can trust. This is good for Tris because now she has someone like her to fall back to.
“I have something I need to tell you,” he says. I run my fingers along the tendons in his hands and look back at him. “I might be in love with you.” He smiles a little. “I’m waiting until I’m sure to tell you, though.”
“That’s sensible of you,” I say, smiling too. “We should find some paper so you can make a list or a chart or something.”
I feel his laughter against my side, his nose sliding along my jaw, his lips pressing my ear.
“Maybe I’m already sure,” he says, “and I just don’t want to frighten you.”
I laugh a little. “Then you should know better.”
“Fine,” he says. “Then I love you.” (372)
I like how the author includes emotion into her writing through dialogue. She makes it seem like you are in the same room as the characters while reading. By doing this it makes the reader more interested and more excited for what comes next. If I were to rate this book it would be a nine out of ten due to its suspense and just an overall interesting topic.

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6 thoughts on “James’ Letter Essay #6 Divergent

  1. Dear James,

    I really enjoyed reading your letter essay because I liked your quoted passage very much. I also liked how you described the book and characters very well and how you gave good information on the author and the book. Great job James

    From,
    James

  2. James, I think you had many grammar errors. For example, “Upon her testing Tris’ proctor to her simulation finds that she is a Divergent hence the name.”

  3. James,

    I liked your letter essay. I haven’t read Divergent yet but I could tell that you really liked it. I liked the quoted passage you used in your essay, I thought it fit well with your summary. Nice job –

    Michael Farnen

  4. dear james,
    i have read this book and i think you have portraid it very well. i agree with you about the quoted passage and i also enjoyed that general area of the book which was sort of sentimental. your letter essay was very detailed and accurate.

    sincerely- crigen (aka christian thomas hiden)

  5. Dear James,
    I have attempted to read this book before and did not enjoy it, but your essay urges me to give it another try. Your essay had plenty of detail and your quoted passage was very elaborate. The summary you gave brought out all of the positive aspects of the book. Overall I thought you wrote a wonderful essay.

    Sincerely,
    David

  6. James,

    I thought your letter essay was very well done. I have not read Divergent and i’m not sure if i ever will. I have heard mixed reviews. Some say they couldn’t finish it because it was so bad but others really liked it. Your essay had a lot of good detail and you did a good job of explaining the book in your summary. Good job

    -Brett H

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