LITERATURE ANALYSIS- INSURGENT by Veronica Roth

Part 1

What drew you to this book? What did you expect and/or hope to experience through reading it? 

     I read this book because the first one was really good. I expected some answers. I had so many questions after reading the first one. Are they going outside the gates? What's going to happen to the Divergent, the Dauntless, and the Abnegation? What's going to happen to Jeanine? Luckily, most of the questions were answered. I also hoped to see many adventures between Tris and her friends.

What kept you reading past the first ten pages?
     Like I said, the first book was really good and I wanted some answers. I was also very interested in it because the book is very detailed and action-packed.


Describe your reading habits. 
     I read the first book during summer so it took me about three or four days. Insurgent took me about a week because I was busy with school. I read the first half slowly during the school week. Friday night I finished the book. During that weekend I finished the third book. I read books pretty fast if I am truly interested in it.

Part 2

Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read, and explain how the narrative fulfills the author's purpose.

      Since everything that Tris has ever known is destroyed, she, her boyfriend, and her friends have to try to live their lives trying to fix everything that has broken. Even though the Erudite are after her because of it, she must embrace her divergence to solve problems and help the citizens of the closed off Chicago. 

Succinctly describe the theme of the novel.

     The theme that is displayed throughout this book is to be brave and to take risks. If Tris never took risks nothing would've ever gotten solved. Her faction, the Dauntless, were known for being brave. When she joined the Dauntless, the initiation brought the brave out of her. Throughout the series, everyone took big chances and a lot was resolved.

Describe the author's tone.
     The author's tone in this book is curious. She makes Tris very curious, making her and the readers wanting to find out more.
"I wonder how I seem to them. They must see someone I don't see. Someone capable and strong. Someone I can't be; someone I can be." pg 256
"Lying on the floor all around me are Dauntless soldiers with their eyes closed. I frown as I look Uriah up and down- he doesn't seem to be bleeding. I see no wound near his vital organs, which means he isn't dead. So what knocked him unconscious?" pg 178
"'What happened?' Whatever it is, it can't be good. 'Your execution has been scheduled for tomorrow morning at eight o'clock.' 'My execution? But she... she hasn't developed the right simulation yet; she couldn't possibly...'" pg 378

Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/ techniques you observed that strengthened your understanding of the author's purpose, the text's theme and/or your sense of the tone. 

1. Paradox: "Someone I can't be; someone I can be."
2. Personification: “We both have war inside us. Sometimes it keeps us alive. Sometimes it threatens to destroy us.”
3. Simile: "The liquid is pink-red, like strawberries"
4. Hyperbole: "Just the thought of saying the words out loud makes me feel so heavy I could break through the floorboards"
5. Simile: "By the time I reach the eighteenth floor, my legs feel like they have turned to liquid."
6. Hyperbole: "'Yeah. She's a big scary Divergent, and she's going to make your head explode with only the powers of her brain."
7. Metaphor: "Caleb doesn't know that Tobias wears his excellence all the time in his own nickname."
8. Hyperbole: "The roar of hundreds of conversations all around me."
9. Simile: "I feel something in my throat, like a ball of wax, so thick I can barely swallow, barely breathe."
10. Simile "His eyes shift over my face, and he squints, as if weighing and measuring me."

Part 3

Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization. What is your last impression of the character?

     Indirect- From what I read, people react to Tris in bad and good ways. Some people see her as the enemy and try to kill her. From this, we know that Tris makes mistakes. We also see that people praise her. People see her as brave and risk taking. 

     Direct- The author states that she puts other people before herself because she is Abnegation-Born. We also see that she is brave because she chose to be Dauntless. She says that Dauntless has turned her brave.

Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character? How?

     Since the author chose to make her book in the main character's point of view, the syntax does not change. We see things as Tris sees them. Although when people speak, the diction changes. Since there are people from different factions, they have different ways of speaking. For example the Erudite speak smartly, with information in everything they say.

Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or Round?

     The main character definitely a dynamic character. In the beginning of the series, she starts as a girl who barely took chances, who barely had any curiosity, and always put other before herself. Towards the end she's a girl who has seen it all, who's witnessed death and took many chances that saved people's lives. 

 After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character? 

     I felt like I have made new friends after reading the book. I feel like I know everyone in the story personally. Seeing the thoughts of Tris made it feel like I was with her during this journey. 

     "I look at her. I have spent the past few months afraid of the word "Divergent," terrified that anyone would discover what I am."

Thoughts like these make me understand how much she has developed and makes me understand her.