Darkness Too Visible Response

     The article, "Darkness Too Visible," by Megan Cox Gurdon is about how young adult books are too dark and inappropriate for teenagers. The beginning of the article is about Amy Freeman and how she was looking for a book for her daughter but, found all these 'dark' books. Then MCG, Megan Cox Gurdon, talks about ‘dark’ books and how they affect teenagers and what we, the people, can do to help. MCG ends with a counter claim to throw us off. Megan Cox Gurdon is trying to sway readers into thinking about banned books and how the ‘darkness’ in them affects YA’s.

     The author, Megan Cox Gurden, uses different crafts to support and elaborate on her opinion. For example, in the beginning of the article the author uses a narrative about Amy Freeman to show all the horrifying topics YA books hold. Although the author shows Amy Freeman’s perspective about YA books, she did not include Ms. Freeman’s 13 year old daughter’s perspective. The author compares the older generation to the younger generation instead of asking young adults about their opinions on books. MCG also uses repetition of the word ‘dark’ to make readers feel like YA topics are terrible, horrifying topics that even adults cannot read.

     In conclusion, I don’t agree with MCG’s opinion about YA books. One reason why is because YA books can show the struggles average teens face but with a different spin. Another reason is YA books not only show a problem with their world it shows problems with the real world. For example, in Harry Potter, Harry’s world struggles with classism like our world struggles with racism. YA books also show us how to overcome problems in many different ways and shows us what can happen in the real world. These are only some reasons why I disagree with Megan Cox Gurdon.

 

Divergent And Insurgent by Veronica Roth *Spoilers!*

Jaylene Miranda

806

“My conclusion,’ she explains, ‘is that you display equal aptitude for Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite. People who get these kind of result are… Divergent.” For Tris and other Divergents being different is dangerous, and dangerous people may do things they don’t necessarily like. The Book Divergent by Veronica Roth is about 16 year old Beatrice, Tris, and the struggles she faces as a divergent transferring factions. Insurgent, the second installment of the Divergent Trilogy, by Veronica Roth is about Tris and how she gets dragged into war against Jeanine Mathews, Erudite, and the dauntless traitors who work with her. In both stories emotions fly high and all over the place. I think Veronica Roth is trying to show how emotions can takeover and make somebody do something they won’t typically do.

            In Divergent, when Tris and her mother were about to slip away from the dauntless under simulation Tris’ mother, Edith Prior, gets shot by a Dauntless soldier to let her daughter find freedom. In the text, Tris states, “They killed my mother. I point my gun into the alley and fire blindly… Just one set of footsteps now.” (445) Tris is usually described as a small, shy girl who is innocent and shows no real emotion but, in this part of the book Tris’ rage overcame her actions. Tris could’ve knocked the Dauntless out because they had no control over their actions but, because she was filled with rage and pain, she killed them all, even her best friend, Will, so they could feel her mother’s pain. This informs readers of Tris' fury at losing her mother and how she distributed it to her mother’s murderers. It also shows how Tris did something she will later regret but, because she was furious she did it anyway.

            In Insurgent, after entering Jeanine’s private laboratory, Tris sees Tori standing over a broken Jeanine threatening to kill her. After grappling Tris says, “I hear her murmur her brother’s name – George Wu—and then I watch the knife go in again. And Jeanine’s eyes turn to glass.” This is important because in Divergent Tori is described as a placid, tranquil woman who doesn’t show emotion but, in Jeanine’s lab Tori had a wild look in her eyes and fell into an enraged state instead of her usual persona. Tori let her displeasure for Jeanine take over and killed her brother’s murderer before getting the information that can change the factions. This shows that Tori didn’t listen to her rational side and just let her emotions do the work for her.

            In conclusion, Veronica Roth showed how emotions can takeover someone and force them to do unthinkable things. People can learn how to control their emotions and think rationally after reading this book. This book can show you the one of many things that can happen if you lose the battle of will between your emotions and yourself. This book also shows that people have to think fast to get something and use emotions to fuel their determination but, people shouldn't let their emotions tell them what to do.