Syntax

This story uses uses a wide variety of syntax. In syntax specifically it uses long sentences that just make up a whole paragraph and then it goes to some telegraphic and short sentences. This is best seen when it says "As soon as I lift my eyes to scan the buildings, I know where we're going: the empty Hancock building, a black village with crisscrossed girders, the tallest building north of the bridge.   But what are we going to do? Climb it?" (Roth, 215). This shows how the author keeps the reader interest by adding a few short. telegraphic sentences to keep the reader interested and engaged. Not only are these sentences short and telegraphic though, they are rhetorical questions which keeps the readers mind thinking of ideas.

Conflict

I think one of the main conflicts in this story is person v. self. This relates to Tris v. herself because she struggles embracing the Dauntless and constantly has thoughts of Abnegation. 

I think the conflict could also be person v. society because she also struggles with her test results of being Divergent and not drawing attention. This is seen on page 186 & 187 when Tris's mother says "But you have to be very careful during the next stage of initiation, Beatrice. Stay in the middle of the pack, no matter what you do. Don't draw attention to yourself. Do you understand?" (Roth, 186-187). This shows how her mother wants to stay out of the attention and just be average so people don't easily figure out she's divergent by drawing attention and causing more observation on herself.

Future Predictions

So far in my story Tris has become a main target for Eric because not only did she change from Abnegation to Dauntless but she has stood up to him a few times. Along with that she has been very much accepted in the Dauntless because she has embraced the change better than they would've expected-not only for being an Abnegation but since the first night when she was the first to jump on the net. Even though she is being accepted I think that someone will turn on her because she is doing so well. I don't have an idea of who it could be because they all seem so welcoming of her. Another prediction I have is she could get injured which could cause some conflict with testing. So they might have to decide to hold back her testing or leave her factionless because she has gotten kicked out.

Most Important Line in the Chapter

I think that the most important line in chapter 8 is when Tris thinks "I open my eyes and for the first time state openly at my own reflection. My heart rate picks up as I do, like I'm breaking the rules and will be scolded for it. It will be difficult to break the habits of thinking Abngenation instilled in me, like tugging a single thread from a complex work of embroidery"(Roth, 87). I think that this is the most important line in the chapter because it shows how Tris is willing to make change to herself even though she has had these thoughts hammered into her throughout her whole life. This is a big change to her lifestyle going from quiet and selfless to loud and daring. This simple act of looking at herself shows the first step of getting over being part of the Abnegation belief of being equal and selfless because she is now allowing herself to be concerned about her appearance. I think this is will be an important but subtle part of the transition of Tris in the story.

Why Did I Start Reading Divergent?

The book I chose to start reading for my english reading book is Divergent by Veronica Roth. I chose to start reading this book because I have heard many good things about from many people such as teachers, friends, etc. who say that is a definite must read. I was also interested because of the movie coming out soon and I wanted to see if the book would be as good because the movie previews for this looked exciting. I like how she gets right into the point of view of the main character. She also adds really well-written implicit details allowing the reader to better understand the thought process of characters. This is best shown when the author writes "When I look at the Abnegation lifestyle as an outsider, I think it's beautiful. When I watch my family move in harmony; when we go to dinner parties and everyone cleans up afterwards without having to be asked; when I see Caleb help strangers carry their groceries, I fall in love with this life all over again.Its only when I try to live it myself that I have trouble. It never feels genuine"(Roth, 24). I think that this book will get more interesting because I have only read the first 38 pages and I already am drawn into it.

Krista Ramsey Introduction Activity

The article I chose by Krista Ramsey talks about the advantages of preschool to young kids. I think the best quote in this article was "Did your child benefit from preschool? Would he have done just as well at a caregiver's house? Would your daughter have made the transition to kindergarten as easily without it? Would your grandson have read as quickly had he not gone? Could your niece have developed the same social skills at home?" I think this helps the reader think about the point the author wants to get across about the benefits of preschool. Some diction noticed in this quote was instead of using a word like nanny or babysitter the word caregiver was used. I think that this gave it a more general idea. There was also the use of syntax when she used repetition and rhetorical question. I think that this added to the reader thinking about how much preschool could benefit there child without directly answering the question. I think Ramsey's writing style is journalistic because its to the point and intended for a specific audience. This is shown when she says "Perhaps we should save our extreme skepticism for things – expensive things – like corporate welfare or armed conflict and trust our instincts and personal experiences when it comes to preschool." I think three questions I would ask this writer if I could would be where do you go to get inspiration for your articles?, what kind of previous experience do you have for writing about these kind of things?, and how would you describe your own writing style?

Final Blog Reflecion

I think one of my best blog posts was my third one which was on The Fault in our Stars. This post is just describing the characters that were introduced in the first chapter and it described their back stories. I think this post best shows my blogging abilities because it shows my ability to describe characters and their situations without giving out too much information to ruin the book for other readers. It also shows my ability to analyze quotes and their meaning as well as how they help support the story and development of characters. Overall I think this is my best post because it is all of my best blogging summed up in one post.

The thing I struggled with most in this whole experience would be keeping up with my blog because I would just forget about blogging for the week so when it was time to blog in school i would be behind. I overcame this struggle by setting a time to blog, maybe after 20 pages or so to catch up to everyone else in class. I think I did best with having a different topic I blogged about every time. For example maybe one week I would blog about the most important sentence so far in the book and another week it would be about the different characters that have developed in the story. I also struggled with keeping up with the detail of my blog post because mine were lacking in information. I didn't fix this completely but the detail of my blog post have definitely improved with more information to provide the reader with . Overall I think that I have come far as a blogger with keeping up with how often I blog and how detailed these blog post are.