Module 8 - Divergent

Summary
Beatrice lives in a world, were society is divided into 5 factions.  At the age of 16, each person must choose which faction to join. This means leaving the faction where one grew up. They are separated from their parents, family, and everything that they love. Before the choice is made a test is given to determine which faction would be best for them or ideal for them based on their aptitude. During her test Beatrice, gets unusual results that confuse the person giving the test. The person tells Beatrice not to talk about the results to anyone. The day has come where the factions are announced, and Beatrice chooses to leave her family for the chance of adventure. Beatrice new lifestyle is tough. She changes her name in the new faction to Tris. Her new faction has a tough initiation which includes fist fighting.  Fist fighting is in opposition to how she grew up.  As she learns more about her new faction, she also experiences new dangers. 

Impressions The plot twists were creative.  I was more interested in this book than the last two books in the Hunger Games series.  There characters had lots of depth and the writing was engaging. The pace and action of the book kept me interested.

Reviews  Cliques writ large take over in the first of a projected dystopian trilogy. The remnant population of post-apocalyptic Chicago intended to cure civilization's failures by structuring society into five "factions," each dedicated to inculcating a specific virtue. When Tris, secretly a forbidden "Divergent," has to choose her official faction in her 16th year, she rejects her selfless Abnegation upbringing for the Dauntless, admiring their reckless bravery. But the vicious initiation process reveals that her new tribe has fallen from its original ideals, and that same rot seems to be spreading... Aside from the preposterous premise, this gritty, paranoid world is built with careful details and intriguing scope. The plot clips along at an addictive pace, with steady jolts of brutal violence and swoony romance. Despite the constant assurance that Tris is courageous, clever and kind, her own first-person narration displays a blank personality. No matter; all the "good" characters adore her and the "bad" are spiteful and jealous. Fans snared by the ratcheting suspense will be unable to resist speculating on their own factional allegiance; a few may go on to ponder the questions of loyalty and identity beneath the façade of thrilling adventure. Guaranteed to fly off the shelves. (Science fiction. 14 & up)

Divergent. (2011). Kirkus Reviews, LXXIX(8) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/915751557?accountid=7113

Set in the future, this is a book that will keep readers reading. Chicago has been divided into five factions. When students are 16, they can choose to move to another faction that they feel is more suited to their personalities. Tris is alarmed to learn that it isn't really clear which faction she is best suited for, and she is told that she might be a "divergent," which is bad and dangerous. Most of the book's action is focused on Tris's initiation exercises which are brutal and full of rancor and danger. To fail the initiation is to be condemned to the underclass and have no future at all. The action centers around a dystopian city that has lost its path to good, and the tasks and fears that must be overcome are creative and believable. This is one of the better books of its type.

Foraker, B. (2011). Divergent. Library Media Connection, 30(3), 78.

Suggestions
Divergent would be a good book to compare the different cultures to the various factions in the book.  How the beliefs of one race, culture, or religion affect the mentality of the members of the population within that group. 

Students could also create their own faction with their own rules.  What is the primary belief and why?  What rules would they set up?

References

Roth, V. (2011). Divergent. New York: Katherine Tegen Books.

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