Taylor Donohue
English 10
Miss Fordahl
April 3, 2014
In Divergent, by Veronica Roth, futuristic, run down Chicago and it's people are divided into 5 different factions, or groups, to try to solve the problems as to why society fell. The factions are, Abnegation for selflessness, Candor for honesty, Dauntless for bravery, Amity for peacefulness, and Erudite for intelligence. Once the children of each faction turn 16 years old, they have a test to determine which faction they belong to, and then a ceremony in which they choose the faction they would like to be in. Beatrice Prior, played by Shailene Woodley, the main character and the narrator of the story, is one of the many new 16 year old young adults on the verge of starting a new life, either staying with her family and being Abnegation, or leaving her family behind and joining a different faction. Torn as to what she should do, Beatrice hopes the test will point her in the right direction, but is only confused further when she discovers that she is anything but ordinary. Beatrice is told she is Divergent, meaning she doesn't belong to just one faction, and that she must never tell another soul of her secret, because its dangerous. Later Beatrice leaves her home in Abnegation for Dauntless, a whole different ball park. Once she reaches the Dauntless area, she meets a new, handsome face by the name of Four, Played by Theo James, who just happens to be one of her instructors. Throughout the book, Beatrice learns what it it really means to be divergent, and why its so dangerous. It is truly a great story, with lots of thrills, excitement, and of course some romance.
The book compared to the movie had a bunch of differences, but also a large amount of similarities. Two of the similarities are the devastatingly sweet love interest between Four and Beatrice, and another being the many different characters, and their relationships with Beatrice. I personally love a nice, sweet romance between the main character in a story, and a handsome stranger. I mean come on, who doesn't? Beatrice and Four start out as instructor, and initiate, but it soon grows into something much more. What about some differences between the movie and the book?
In the book everything was so planned out and descriptive, I can imagine how hard it would be to put that on a TV screen, but just some of the things they cut or changed, made the movie very different from the book. One of those things was the fear landscape during the final test. When Beatrice was trying to swat the birds away with a burning branch? Yeah, didn't happen in the book. In the book Beatrice had a gun and was randomly shooting in the air, attempting to kill, if not scare away the many crows. When she finally did scare them away, a random post came out of the blue and Beatrice was tied to it, trapping her in the fire. Yes, she did have a fear of being burned alive, but it was originally by Peter, another Dauntless initiate. Whats another thing that was changed?
Another thing that was changed was the Visiting Day part, where the families of the initiates visit them at their new faction. That part in the book was when Beatrice's mother visited her, and when Beatrice finds out that her mother was originally Dauntless, and her mother tells her about what Divergence is. Visiting day didn't happen at all in the movie! They had to completely change that part. I have to say, that part made me a little disappointed.
Overall, both the movie and the book, Divergent, were really good, but in their own ways. I did enjoy the movie, but personally the book will always be my favorite. That's my opinion on the matter, why don't you pick up the book, watch the movie, and form your own, you won't be wasting you time!
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Miss Fordahl
When Daisy and Gatsby were first in love, Gatsby wanted nothing but to marry her, but did she want to marry him? No. No she didn't, because he didn't have a big enough wallet for her. I mean, I get it, women back then didn't make money to support themselves, they didn't have many rights. So, Daisy just wanted to make sure she was always taken care of. After Gatsby left, Daisy couldn't wait any longer for him to come back and get rich. Daisy needed to marry a nice, wealthy man, and have children like any young lady usually would have back then. I don't think Daisy really loved Tom the way she loved Gatsby. The way Gatsby looked and loved Daisy is how every girl wants to be looked at and loved. Do I think they were in love? Yes I do. Is the money Gatsby acquired for Daisy the cause of this love? No, I don't think so.
In the end Gatsby died with his friend Nick, his father, and only a few other people present at the funeral. So, did any of those other hundreds of people that went to his lavish parties show up to attend his funeral? Did they actually care about Gatsby? No, no they didn't go to his funeral, or even cared about Gatsby. That however, is mostly my opinion, if you haven't already, read the book and think about it. You won't be wasting you time when you read The Great Gatsby, because it is truly a great book.
~Taylor Donohue
Taylor Donohue
English 10
February 14, 2014
2. Money Can't Buy You Love (Or Friends)
In the movie and book of, The Great Gatsby, a person learns many life lessons associated with the story and its characters,such as, 'Money can't buy you love, or friends. In this short entry, I'm going to put my opinion on that statement, and why I think that it is a very true fact indeed.
Money can buy you things that make you happy, but in my opinion money can't buy you happiness or relationships. Just because a person can go and get rich and famous, doesn't mean anyone really cares about them. I mean, would you really care enough to break down in tears when a very famous singer or actress dies? I wouldn't,when a death happens its always sad, but I'm not going to ball my eyes out over someone I don't necessarily know.
In my personal opinion Gatsby only wanted to impress everybody, especially Daisy, with is lavish parties and over the top house and bank account. In the end however, the people only used him for his things, they didn't appreciate and respect him, they didn't even show up for the man's funeral! I can't even imagine not having close friends and family that you could tell anything to. I guess that Gatsby had Nick as a good friend, but there was still secrets untold to Nick about Gatsby, when Gatsby died.
Money can buy you things that make you happy, but in my opinion money can't buy you happiness or relationships. Just because a person can go and get rich and famous, doesn't mean anyone really cares about them. I mean, would you really care enough to break down in tears when a very famous singer or actress dies? I wouldn't,when a death happens its always sad, but I'm not going to ball my eyes out over someone I don't necessarily know.
In my personal opinion Gatsby only wanted to impress everybody, especially Daisy, with is lavish parties and over the top house and bank account. In the end however, the people only used him for his things, they didn't appreciate and respect him, they didn't even show up for the man's funeral! I can't even imagine not having close friends and family that you could tell anything to. I guess that Gatsby had Nick as a good friend, but there was still secrets untold to Nick about Gatsby, when Gatsby died.
When Daisy and Gatsby were first in love, Gatsby wanted nothing but to marry her, but did she want to marry him? No. No she didn't, because he didn't have a big enough wallet for her. I mean, I get it, women back then didn't make money to support themselves, they didn't have many rights. So, Daisy just wanted to make sure she was always taken care of. After Gatsby left, Daisy couldn't wait any longer for him to come back and get rich. Daisy needed to marry a nice, wealthy man, and have children like any young lady usually would have back then. I don't think Daisy really loved Tom the way she loved Gatsby. The way Gatsby looked and loved Daisy is how every girl wants to be looked at and loved. Do I think they were in love? Yes I do. Is the money Gatsby acquired for Daisy the cause of this love? No, I don't think so.
In the end Gatsby died with his friend Nick, his father, and only a few other people present at the funeral. So, did any of those other hundreds of people that went to his lavish parties show up to attend his funeral? Did they actually care about Gatsby? No, no they didn't go to his funeral, or even cared about Gatsby. That however, is mostly my opinion, if you haven't already, read the book and think about it. You won't be wasting you time when you read The Great Gatsby, because it is truly a great book.
~Taylor Donohue
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Reviewed Blog~http://misclisa.blogspot.com/
The blog I reviewed was by this younger woman named Lisa who enjoys literature a lot. Her blog is even 'Lisa Loves Literature'. In her blog she reviews books that she liked, loved and even didn't like. Lisa Posts reviews on books I wouldn't mind reading, and would actually be interested in. I think that a person could really relate to her reviews. http://misclisa.blogspot.com/
Movie VS Book~ Harrison Bergeron
As an English class we had read and watched Harrison Bergeron, by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. In comparison to me, the book was better because it was in Mr. Vonnegut's words. Whereas, the movie was in the director's vision, and in his perspective. Don't get me wrong, the movie was very good, it just wasn't how I think Kurt Vonnegut Jr. wanted us to see it. Not to mention that the director added a scene into the movie that wasn't in the book.
In the book Harrison broke out of prison, went to the auditorium, and basically took over the place by himself. In the movie Harrison stormed in said their was a bomb under the stage and if anyone moved he was going to blow the whole auditorium up. Later the police found the "bomb", disabled it, and went to take Harrison down. However, in Harrison's plot, the bomb was fake, and knowing that the live TV crew would put the broadcast off air, he planted a device that would turn it back on air, so that everyone would see his demise and want to do something about it. Later the Handicap General made almost everyone forget about Harrison being shot by her.
So in conclusion, my personal perspective is that the book was better because it added more character to the story and plot then he movie did.
In the book Harrison broke out of prison, went to the auditorium, and basically took over the place by himself. In the movie Harrison stormed in said their was a bomb under the stage and if anyone moved he was going to blow the whole auditorium up. Later the police found the "bomb", disabled it, and went to take Harrison down. However, in Harrison's plot, the bomb was fake, and knowing that the live TV crew would put the broadcast off air, he planted a device that would turn it back on air, so that everyone would see his demise and want to do something about it. Later the Handicap General made almost everyone forget about Harrison being shot by her.
So in conclusion, my personal perspective is that the book was better because it added more character to the story and plot then he movie did.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Taylor Donohue~ Speech~ Harrison Bergeron
Taylor Donohue
Miss Fordahl
English 10
November 20, 2013
Harrison Bergeron
I’m Taylor Donohue and in this speech i'm going to be describing what I think the underlying message is in Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.. I'm going to go over why it may be a good thing, bad thing, and how society is because of it. Thank you in advance for your time.
People were born to be individuals. That is why we have the words ‘special’ and ‘talented’. Every single person has some sort of special little thing about them. If i were to go down the rows of desks in our classroom and ask what each person’s special talent is, i would most likely get answers from most of the people in here. Some people might say something like, “I don't know,” or “I don't have one,” but they probably haven’t found there's yet. I didn't find mine until about 5th or 6th grade, when i won a drawing contest and my grandparents immediately thought that i was some long lost descendant of Michael Angelo or something. So, as a result my grandma signed my up for art camp, and i ended up loving the program and both the performing and creative arts that were included into it. After that experience I realized who i am as a person and i what i now and most likely always will love to do. I ask everyone in this room to please think about what their lives would be like when everyone around them act the same, feel the same, even think the same as everyone else. No single person stands out. That would be boring and sad if a person couldn't be the person they were meant to be. That's what the underlying message in this short story is; society is changing us to be something we aren't, just to fit in. At least, that's what i got out of the story. However, what if a person had an overwhelming character, and attracted the wrong attention because of it?
A young man,Harrison Bergeron,was constantly handicapped because he was extremely special, he was even thrown in jail for wanting to go against the flow and be himself. Harrison also wanted everyone around him to be who they were meant to be too, all he wanted was for the world to be as it was meant to be. To me, it was almost like he was being bullied because he didn't blend in with everyone else. A person might have a very bright character, and that might attract a bully. A bully is someone who picks on someone else because they feel inferior to the victim they are bullying. Such as the classic tale, nerd being bullied by the all popular but not so bright jock, the jock feels inferior to the nerd because the nerd is a lot smarter than the jock. So, just because the nerd was being himself, he got picked on. People might think about how maybe its a good thing to blend in. For some people it is, and that's fine. They might feel more comfortable on the side lines anyway. If a person wants to stand out however they should be able to do it without the fear of being made fun of because of it. In my words, go be yourself because its your life.
Whenever i see an individual being themselves i almost want to smile, i don't though because i don't want them to be freaked out. Like, “jeez why is she smiling at me,” or, “she’s creepy”. Anyway, when i see a person being brave enough to go out in the world and be themselves it gives me hope that one day we can all be like that. I am not saying i’m the most confident with who i am, all i'm trying to explain is that even though you yourself might not be confident, who cares? Just live your life as you were meant too. Fitting in with everyone else just because it might be easier is wrong, and you're wasting your life trying to be something you're not.
People were born to be individuals. Sometimes blending in might be a good thing because of the overwhelming sense or fitting in, being comfortable with being on the sidelines, and maybe that person is being bullied. However, many people decide to go ahead and be themselves, because they are comfortable with that. My opinion is that you should go and do what you were born to be in life. Society wants us to fit in with everyone else, wants to take the words ‘special’ and ‘talented’, away from us. Thank you for your time and for letting me express what i think our dear author was trying to say in the story, and my opinion in the matter.
Work Cited:
1. "Facts About Bullying." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.stopbullying.gov/kids/facts/>.
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