Les Miserables Preface

PREFACE
       So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilization of earth, and adding the element of human fate to divine destiny; so long as the three great problems of the century---the degradation of man through pauperism, the corruption of woman through hunger, the crippling of children through lack of light—are unsolved; so long as social asphyxia is possible in any part of the world;—in other words, and with a still wider significance, so long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of the nature of Les Misérables cannot fail to be of use.

This passage painted a picture of all the different things the main characters go through throughout the course of this book. It gives a glimpse to what will unfold throughout the book. It states that one of the main problems of society is the degradation of man through pauperism, I agree with this, even as it applies to today's terms. A main thing in society if your social class or how much money you have. And if you don't have much, people look down on you and judge you, not bothering to look at the actual situation. By listing this as an issue, Les Mis makes one think about it, and how their actions and thoughts may be affecting others.

MY PREFACE
So long as there shall exist, by the terrors of society, uncorruptible governments eroded away by selfishness, horrors created amongst people who have known nothing but, and the sacrifice of people for unjust causes; so long as these three great problems of society--the dissolution of hunger through others indulgence, the manipulation of citizens through propaganda, and the labeling of man through social class--are left unresolved; so long as corruption of society is possible in any part of the world; in other words, and with a still wider significance, so long as ignorance and corruption exist on earth, books of the nature of the hunger games cannot fail to be of use.

Bok Project Option: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Character Options
1. Personality Profile for Tris: “ISTP” aka “Introvert Sensor Thinker and Perceiver” or “The Crafter”

Basic Summary: The novel I am doing a report on is called “Divergent” by Veronica Roth. The book tells the story of Tris, a girl trying to decide her future. Whether to stay in her own “faction”, which would be Abnegation or to join a different one such as Amity, Candor, Erudite, or Dauntless. Each of the Faction have a quality the promote because they think the lack of hat quality is what caused the world to fall apart. Abnegation promotes selflessness, Candor promotes honestly, Erudite promotes knowledge, Amity promotes kindness, and Dauntless promote Bravery. She ends up choosing Dauntless, and has to get used to the completely different atmosphere.

Description of Tris according to the Myers Briggs test includes:

Strengths
Good at getting themselves out of jams (as the main character, this is one of her best quality, she narrowly dodges multiple situations. For example, she gets in trouble for leaving the dauntless compound and going to the erudite one. She weasels her way out of the situation by convincing Eric, one of her manipulative supervisors, the she just ran away because she was embarrassed over being rejected. In multiple situations, she convinces others by her actions that she is not a threat, making them underestimate her.)
Skeptical and analytical (can be toward the other factions)
Natural non-conformists (doesn’t conform to the Dauntless way of society completely, but it is partially because she is divergent, or a person who could belong to more than one faction.)
Typically tough-minded (has to be to be dauntless)
Adventurous risk-takers (again, it’s a dauntless thing. She actually, during initiation, was the first person to jump into the then unknown)
May show strong marks towards ingenuity (yes)

Weaknesses
Rarely plans things out (she just goes wherever the situation takes her, she doesn’t have time to plan when she is propelled into action)
Can be very blunt and insensitive (not necessarily)
Disdain for hypersensitivity in others ( almost immediately dislikes Albert for crying over being homesick at night (all the initiates sleep in barracks), but mostly because it makes her feel homesick too)
May not take aspects of life as seriously as others would like (in some cases, takes being divergent seriously, but doesn’t always take Four’s advice as seriously as she should, and ends up frustrating him)
Others may read them as being indifferent (not really, she has to be tough though)
Not typically in touch with their emotions (yes, mostly just confused about her feelings towards Four (though to the reader it is obvious that he likes her), her family when she finds out all the things they have hidden from her, and her indecisiveness between her old faction and her new one)

Tris is an introvert, even though she has many friends she has to be alone sometimes. Especially with all the weight of secrets she is carrying around on her shoulders. At one part she says “I sit in a hallway I don’t recognize. I walked here because I needed to get away from the dormitory” She does this multiple times throughout the novel. Tris is more of a sensor than intuitive, though it is almost a tie. She gets distinct feelings about things, more than actually knowing things. Tris, if she is to survive as a Dauntless initiate, she must be be thinker. She has to be able to know what to do in tough situations and act on it. She must be able to perceive other’s emotions. For example, violence is prevalent among the initiates, especially Drew and Peter, who have set their eyes on bringing down Tris, who's scores threaten theirs. She has to be able to tell when their violent tendencies are starting to emerge so she can quickly make herself seem as if she isn’t  threat by seemingly submitting to them.

Dense Question: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Text: What besides the science book inspired William to create the windmill? Was it for personal benefit or to help other people?

William first got the idea to make a windmill by looking at science books in the library. Though if this was his only motivation, I doubt he would have gone through with it. William thought ahead about how a windmill could positively affect his family and community. This was his ultimate inspiration. If he could do something to help his family in the harsh times they were going through he would, and he did by making the windmill. Yet, the windmill got a lot more attention than William could have ever thought. Even after he became famous for making his windmill, he still aspired to help his community by building many other things such as a well for clean drinking water without having to travel miles. William's family was his main inspiration, he built his windmill for others benefit, not his own.


Other Literature: In Anthem, was Equality motivated through himself or the need to help others? Compare Equality's motives to William's motives.
One main theme of Anthem is ego, so it makes sense that Equality's motivation to create light was mostly for himself. There was one point where he decided he wanted to share it with the rest of the world, but when that chance was denied, he quickly drew it back in and kept it as close to him as possible. This is very different from William, who, when his ideas about his windmill were denied, he worked even harder to finish it and prove them wrong. Though William was not living in a society with as harsh rules as Equality was, he still pushed his idea. That showed dedication, and his motivation to help his people. Equality's escape from his society without even looking back and taking his light with him showed that in the end, the light was for himself.


Reader: Describe a situation when you have been motivated by your own needs or others needs to create something. Why were you motivated this way? Was it a good thing?

When I was younger I would always create plays. I would come up with characters and a story and get my sister to join in as well. I used to think I would become a famous actress one day, so it was important for me to act as much as I could. The motivation of making my dream come true made me do more and more with theater. I loved creating scripts, and even putting on shows with my dolls. Most of the time it is good to be motivated, unless you are motivated for the wrong reasons. My creation of the many different plays were beneficial to me because that inspired me to become even more involved in theater, even though I don’t believe I will become a famous actress anymore.