Book Project #1

IDEA:

In order to promote Veronica Roth's book, Divergent, I have created a short quiz, mocking the Aptitude Test featured in the book. In essence, the story is set in a future version of Chicago where the city is divided into five factions: Amity, Candor, Erudite, Abnegation, and Dauntless. Each faction is intended to uphold a different aspect of humanity in order to keep the city at peace. While you are born into whatever faction your parents belong to, when you turn sixteen, you must take an Aptitude Test which predicts what faction you are best suited for based on your personality. After taking the test and receiving your results, you are provided with the opportunity to either remain with your family in your original faction or leave them behind and join a new faction. The mock Aptitude Test is designed to be featured in magazines such as Tiger Beat, Seventeen, Teen Vogue, or any other magazines that typically include quizzes in this format.

WHY:

Not only is the Aptitude Test one of the major elements of the book, but it also serves as the basis for the entire story. Beatrice Prior, the main character of the story, spends the first part of the book struggling to decide where she belongs. While she is born Abnegation, she feels as though she is not “selfless enough” to be considered Abnegation (Roth 378). This insecurity leads Beatrice to question whether Abnegation is truly the right faction for her or if, perhaps, she might be better suited somewhere else. For the majority of her life she had always admired the Dauntless for their “ordinary acts of bravery” and “courage” but up until the Aptitude Test, she had never considered changing factions in that changing factions would mean leaving behind all she had ever known, including her family (Roth 213). When it comes time for the choosing ceremony, however, Beatrice makes the decision to trade in her life of selflessness and service and instead join the Dauntless, taking on a life of danger, risk, and adventure. No longer is she “Tris, the selfless” who always put the needs of others before her own (Roth 487). Instead, she evolves into a whole new person, becoming the bold, daring Tris who fights to the end, not stopping for anyone or anything. If it weren't for the Aptitude Test, none of this would have happened and the story wouldn't have gone anywhere. The test is the ground from which the story is built and therefore, it is one of the most important, if not the most important parts of the book. For this reason, it would be the perfect marketing tool in bringing in fans and potential readers which is why I have decided to recreate the test through a quiz.

The mock Aptitude Test will include six different questions, each with five possible answers. The questions will ask things regarding your individual personality, your life values, your daily attire, your future career, etc. Each of these questions relate to the Aptitude Test in that they all address the important aspects that go into choosing a faction. Each answer for the questions corresponds to a different faction and based on whichever letter answer is most often chosen, fans and readers are able to determine which faction they would be a part of. If they choose mostly A’s, they are Erudite. If they choose mostly B’s, they are Amity. If they choose mostly C’s, they are Dauntless. If they choose mostly D’s, they are Abnegation. And if they choose mostly E’s, they are Candor.

By recreating the test through a magazine quiz, fans and potential readers are able to really emerge themselves in the novel and feel as though they are one of the characters in the story. Not only do they get the opportunity to have a full-out fan experience, but they are also able to better relate to the characters making their relationship with the book that much stronger.

Blog #2: What is a Book?

What is a book?

In my mind, a book is a gift. What that gift is and how that gift will be used, however, is up to the reader. The interpretations and the connections that the reader makes within the book determine what exactly that gift becomes. It could become a gift of knowledge as the words on the page spew bits of information into the reader’s mind as they read. It could become a gift of companionship as the characters throughout the book gradually become more than just characters, but friends. It could become a gift of comfort as the simple act of reading brings the reader joy, peace, and serenity. A book could become a gift of anything: of life, of death, of happiness, of sorrow- it all depends on the readers themselves and how they see not only the words on the page but also the deeper meanings found within them.

As for the debate between the “e-book” and the “actual book”, I tend to lean more towards the side of the actual book. While I agree with Victor LaValle in that some people may tend to over exaggerate the aspects of a book, there is some importance, be it slim or not, to the physicality a book offers. Being able to turn the page of a book and visualize the accumulation of pages as you near closer and closer to the end is far more satisfactory than simply sliding your finger across a screen only to see the same sight you saw before, the only difference being the page number in the bottom corner. There is no gratification, no real “award” to reading an e-book. Maybe it’s just me, but in my mind, there is no greater sense of accomplishment than physically turning the very last page of a book. The surge of triumph and success that rushes through your body as you realize you have read an entire book, cover to cover, page to page- that is something that you simply cannot get from reading an e-book.

I don’t know what is to come for the book world, whether the apocalyptic “death” of the book is truly as near as most believe it to be. What I do know, however, is that even if the world becomes full of Kindles and Nooks and what not, I will always value the physical book over the e-book and the many gifts it has to offer.