Divergent Poems

The characters in Divergent and Insurgent, two suspenseful books by Veronica Roth, seemed very unique to me; it felt like they had a special story to beautifully narrate. Therefore, I created a set of poems describing each character's flaws and personalities in interesting ways. In the book Divergent, there is a test which determines what faction would be the best for you to live in. It is very rare to be Divergent, in which you get multiple faction results. With that said, below are my poems. Go deep inside these characters, and get an insight of their passion, struggles, and experiences.   

Tris

The factions determine our personality,

I am Divergent, one with multiple personalities,

To calm me, my mind tells me that I am special,

However, when I am faced in the genuine world, why am I placed in danger?


Al, one of my friends, tries to kill me because I have great scores in training,

Four then comes to help me overcome my hatred,

I know Al is guilty, sad, and depressed,

I do not know that he shares such a strong bond with me that he just killed himself and his spirit.


 My heart stays in selfless Abnegation, with my family, my friends,

but my mind goes to Dauntless, where I am brave from within,

When Erudite controls Dauntless, my mom and dad die to sacrifice me,

When Erudite controls Dauntless, my foolish brother Caleb also betrays me, leaving me to almost die

in absolute darkness. 

The evil leader of Erudite simulates us, the Dauntless, so that she can control,

I am not controlled, as I am Divergent,

This is a great thing perhaps,

But I am guilty, as I kill my Dauntless friend Will for me to survive.

Four

When I was young, I got constantly abused by my father,

Now, I am looked up by everyone as a strong and brave Dauntless man,

Even though I am so respected,

I am not ignorant; my abusive dad is still a fear in my heart today.


I do not seek power,

Power is something useless and full of no worth,

That is the perfect reason why I am not a Dauntless leader,

Although, I am brave and strong; I do not find arrogance a test in in skill and perfection.


I am utterly surprised to find an Abnegation to be the first one to jump of the ledge,

The ledge to decide a person's intelligence and courage,

I then ask her name,

And it changes from Beatrice to Tris.


I never think that I will have to loose Tris in the eyes of the evil Erudite,

We both are Divergent, the name Erudite leader Jeanine repeats over and over in her sleep,

I have no hope that I will survive,

But there is an instinct in me that determined Tris would certainly survive.

Jeanine Matthews

I am evil and yet I am proud,

I am an evil one who seeks for only knowledge,

Every citizen sees me kill and kill the Abnegation,

However, I am no killer; I only want fascination.


I capture Tris and Four: The Fascinating Divergents,

The laugh of finally knowing, seeking, and pondering bellows up inside of me,

And when they struggle in pain,

I joyfully cry in vain.


I control my pawns slow and slow,

First the brave Dauntless,

Their authority and power bring all the other factions in my control,

Therefore, why would sadness ever devour my life?


Humans have guilt after doing bad sins,

However, I have no guilt, as my followers give me so much respect,

They give me the courage to move on and on,

And that is why I do not kill them.


Soon I will be so strong,

My devotees will all bow down to me,

Oh, the future sounds so good and evil,

Where I am absolutely not struggling.

Peter

I hate people who are above me, excel my talents,

When I see Edward in 1st place for training,

The feeling of victory, action, and the ability to kill fill my body with bliss,

That night he never comes back, and oh, am I so in peace and rest.


My plan to kill Tris is so planned, so sure of,

The perfect Add-on is that Tris will be died by a person residing in her heart,

Her strong yet unskilled friend Al,

At the end, my plan fails; Four saves her and a dread overwhelms me.


I, a Dauntless traitor, only save Tris for one reason,

It may seem innocent and weak, but it is not,

I look at life as a system of giving and getting,

I am indebted to Tris in so many ways.


My mind revolves only a couple of things,

Which is violence and victory,

When mixed together they are so sweet,

My mind refreshes with happiness immediately.

Christina

My former faction was Candor,

I see things plain, simple, and clear,

Life has no emotion,

Only people we hold dear.


Tris just kills my Will,

With no thought on how I, her closest friend, would feel,

That too, she kills her own dear friend,

This is the only time I feel spiritual.


However, as friends, we can't stay mad for long,

No matter how small or big the things that we have done,

I forgive Tris at the end,

but Will will never leave my heart.


Dauntless makes me strong beautifully,

I can never forgot how it changes me,

From the courage, strength, and power,

to the emotion, passion, and well-being.



Hope you enjoyed these poems and that you are moved by these characters.

Which character do you think that you are attached to?


Citation for Image:

~labri71. Http://th08.deviantart.net/. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Aug. 2013. <http://th08.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/032/2/f/divergent_character_sheet_by_iabri71-d4odcac.jpg>.

We Must Live a Day

Days may be filled with excitement, new experiences, dreams, and people that change our lives in beautiful ways. However, days should teach us, as we will then become the best person that we can possibly be... Next to each quality that teaches us how to live a day, I added the factions in Veronica Roth's Divergent book trilogy. I just realized after writing each paragraph that these traits match the factions perfectly. The factions are set in a futuristic society in which at the age of 16, each citizen chooses the faction in which they want to live in.
Abnegation: The Selfless
Dauntless: The Brave
Amity: The Peaceful
Candor: The Honest
Erudite: The Intelligent

Be Selfless-Abnegation
We must live a day in which we strongly believe that GOD is in each and every one of our hearts,
we will then learn to think that no one is better or worse than us,
our world would not be filled with arrogant minds,
instead it will be full of happiness and joy.

Be Strong-Dauntless
We must live a day with strength and courage,
thinking about no one but only our own will,
people around us will be strong and brave,
and fight just like a deadly hurricane.

Be Peaceful- Amity
We must live a day in which we are at peace,
the world around us will slowly revolve,
however we must be absorbed in our own minds,
with peace with both ourselves and the people we love.

Be Truthful: Candor
We must live a day with practical truth,
forgetting the unnecessary things that people think of us,
our life must be clear,
so that we can peek through the clean windows that are near.

Be Intelligent:Erudite
We must live a day with grabbing knowledge,
not academically but with philosophy,
we will learn the lessons of faith and kindness,
so that we can give others a key to the door of intelligence.


From left to right: Abnegation, Dauntless, Erudite, Amity, Candor.

Hope you enjoyed these poems greatly, and that you learned five personalities that when are merged into one, create a well-rounded person. Hopefully, these factions will genuinely help people to live a day in the future..(wink, wink)

If the factions were a reality, what faction do you think would be the best for you to live in:Abnegation, Dauntless, Erudite, Amity, or Candor?

Citation for Image:

Http://api.ning.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Aug. 2013. <http://api.ning.com/files/gbCwImToiNpp-tdDPcKlh1e5*ANHk5dx139EDntuNcGq9Egu2Z4aH4fAMutsCsYBuu2iuMjtjN0XNljrqPQCHa4xUSeCd1BU/468210_435257646501143_151780294848881_1633668_1222300630_o.jpg>.

A Tour of Udaipur

Just yesterday early morning, I came back from a sleeping train, in which I had an extremely peaceful sleep. Everything in this good night sleep was perfect, except my dream about middle school. And it was filled with BAD neverending worries. Anyways, we were were coming back from Udaipur (also known as the City of Lakes), a scenic city in the state of Rajasthan, India. As our family is a family full of excitement and talk, we reached to a train station before the one that we intended to go to. Thankfully, this station was located in Udaipur, our destination, and the drive to the hotel only took about five minutes. We thought that this trip would be ordinary and somewhat spectacular; what we didn't know was that we entered a city that would stay in our memories forever and ever.

That very day, our large family of nine explored Udaipur's major places, including Monsoons Palace, City Palace, Pichola Lake, and Jag Mandir. We comfortably sat in a Tempo Traveller. Our first stop was Monsoon Palace, a beautiful palace which belonged to Maharana Udai Singh. His original palace and home was City Palace. However, as Monsoon Palace had beautiful, lush green sceneries, the raja went there during monsoon season, when it was most beautiful.                                                                  

                                                                                           

A message to the visitors about the Raja's graciousness. 

A beautiful view with wet green plains and sloping
mountains. 

A birdhouse peeking out from the view, telling me
         that the beautiful scenery is genuinely
                               a reality. 

                   

Our second stop was to Shilpgram, a traditional Rajasthani town. Immediately, when I spotted a camel, I had a sudden wash of urge to ride it. My wish was fulfilled, as I got an opportunity to ride on Prabhu's (the man taking care of it told us the camel's name) big body. After that, almost all the members of my enthusiastic family (I am not really enthusiastic) (I admit it, I a serious and I should talk and laugh), including me, got dressed in traditional Rajasthani costumes. We all had a sort of crop, and photos of us were taken by the photographer who dressed us. I was having metal plastic bangles in my hand, a colorful dress, and jewelry. My granddad was wearing a turban, a men's costume, and holding a sword; he looked the best of all.

          Prabhu! I personally find him looking like a curious camel. 

                                       Rajasthani girls dancing in a traditional dress. Then, after exploring Shilpgram Village, we headed down for lunch at around 2:00 P.M. Man, was the place so crowded! We went to the wrong "restaurant" that we intended to go to. Instead, we ended up in an overly crowded snack shop. However, the good thing was that I got to eat four of my favorite Indian sweet, made of only milk, sugar, and cashew. ;D After devouring snacks, my family and I reached City Palace, the original home of Maharana Udai Singh, as mentioned earlier. There was a museum tour; therefore, I learned numerous amounts of information regarding Maharana Udai Singh and his wife Rani such as their belongings and wars fought in their kingdom. City palace had many beautiful and intricate windows, similar to the ones in Islamic art. Lying in the river bordering the mansion, Lake Pichola, their laid a beautiful white palace called Jag Niwas, also owned by Maharana. I got amazing shots, as it was on an island in a beautiful lake. 

                      Parts of the large structure in City Palace.

Observe the windows carefully. They have extremely         well-handcrafted and skilled designs.

                                           

The white palace on cool Lake Pichola.

We then went boat riding at Pichola Lake; the cool water soothed my senses sensationally. During the ride, we took a stop at Jag Mandir, which included beautiful gardens. Udaipur's natural features really stand out from other cities in India. India is well-known for its copious amounts of pollution, but Udaipur is at least a little maintained by preserving its landforms and sceneries. The government is most probably encouraged by its picturesque and vivid beauty.  

                                            Amazing and unbelievable view from Jag Mandir.

For the night, we stayed at a hotel called Padmini Palace, and in comparison to other Indian hotels, this was the best. However, the bathroom was VERY dirty, and I was not a bit surprised... The very next day, we went to Mount Abu, a mountainous region near Udaipur. The ride in the car was 8 hours going and coming; I didn't realize how long it was because I was deeply sleeping with my mouth open. Mount Abu wasn't as interesting as Udaipur but the Jain temple Ranakpur was a highlight from the rest. It was beautiful decorated and carved with marble stone, The ceilings were intricately designed with domes, and the temple was filled with images of Adinath, the traditional founder of Jainism. The beautiful temple is dedicated to him. Because of Jain beliefs, photography was prohibited;consequently, I was unable to take any pictures. That very day, we left for Noida at 6:15 in the sleeping train, having a wonderful night's rest.

My trip to Udaipur was fantastic. The ability for me to treasure nature's beauty may have changed me as a person, by God's grace. I have so many memories, and right now it feels so good to type it on my blog, to share it with everyone. This was by far one of my best trips; I enjoyed views, took photos, gained interesting knowledge, and most importantly, I spent time with family. If you ever visit India, be sure to check out Udaipur, and the gifts it offer as a city.     

The Fault in Our Stars

In many book reviews of the emotional and beautiful book, The Fault in our Stars by John Green, the writer writes that he/she cried. This is very likely because the novel itself was a realistic, heart-wrenching story of 16-year-old Hazel, dying of cancer, narrating her story meeting a surviving cancer patient, Augustus. As a slightly sensitive person, I was wondering why I didn't cry, when lots of others did, awed of a beautiful story full of hope, death, realization, love, and surviving the death of a loved one. Instead of giving me an emotional story to devour, this book inspired me to survive darkness, love even when in sickness, and be powerful. The Fault in Our Stars was just beautiful, filled with questions arising in mind, the decisions whether to allow people to love you, because when you die, it will cause them great pain. Because of being such a mature young adult story, I was struggling on if I should read The Fault in Our Stars. However, now I have no regrets. With vivid details in his writing, from the staring of strangers to the description of Hazel's oxygen tubes and equipment, Green captured the attention and incredible awe in my mind. He says that he wrote this book after meeting a teen cancer patient, and his detail, powerfulness, and effectiveness to the novel clearly shows so. 

The Fault in Our Stars, an sensitive yet moving book by John Green, is about thyroid cancer-dying patient Hazel, who joins a youth support made for patients each going through a difficult disease. There, she meets Augustus Waters and they both have an instant connection immediately. However, she is determined not to love him; Hazel calls herself a grenade, and when she dies, she doesn't want to cause anyone loss and suffering. They become best friends; Augustus and Hazel both share a deep love for literature. Quotes from poets and Shakespeare were often included, causing me to love and enjoy both characters immensely. In fact, the book title, The Fault in Our Stars, comes from Julius Caesar: "The Fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but ourselves that we are underlings." Hazels always had a great urge to meet author Peter Van Houten, and Augustus makes her wish come true by using his one cancer wish to take her to Amsterdam. However, in Amsterdam, Augustus reveals a painful secret, one that leaves a scar and a remembrance in Hazel's heart forever.

As mentioned earlier, both the main characters, Hazel and Augustus captured my heart with their beautiful love for literature. They both had a connection with reading and writing, ever since they both reading An Imperial Affliction, a fictional book by their favorite author Peter Van Houten. Additionally, Hazel's mom and dad shared an unbreakable bond with their only daughter: "Even when you die, I will still be your mom, Hazel, how could I stop loving you?" This supported, soothed, and encouraged Hazel ever since she got diagnosed with cancer. The Fault In Our Stars has many metaphors, which I found beautiful and full of deep meaning. For instance, Augustus always put cigarettes in his mouth during the story, but he never smoked them. He quotes,"I put the dying thing in my mouth, but I never let it kill me." This means that no matter how much struggle or despair, you must stay strong, powerful, and fight bravely. Metaphors are a lovely way to understand life philosophically, and John Green mixed in the best for his outstanding novel.

The Fault in Our Stars is an astounding bestseller, filled with incredible life lessons that shape us as well-rounded people. I would obviously give it 5 stars, as it showered me with gifts of hope, loss, suffering, death, life, strength, courage, and most importantly, love.

Happy Reading! :)

Citation for Image:

"The Fault In Our Stars." Http://upload.wikimedia.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Aug. 2013. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a9/The_Fault_in_Our_Stars.jpg/200px-The_Fault_in_Our_Stars.jpg>.

Proud to Be An American..

Yesterday, I had a simple and friendly discussion with my relative discussing a sudden topic of a question of racism in the U.S.A. Even though this topic is serious, it later on built up to be a question of philosophy and inner thinking. I would kindly say that I learned a lot from my own words. At the topic of racism, she presented me with an article in the news about a group of  Americans writing on a Sikh temple's walls. Her statement was accurate; however, my own words were streaming out of my mouth, not because I was mad, but because I had pride for my nation, The United States of America. I felt very happy and relieved afterwards because it was the first time I told a few people my own thoughts for more than five minutes.

After my relative told me about this issue, I replied saying that each and every country has its good pros and horrible yet important issues. Clearing my mind's wishes to tell everyone my thoughts, I then described the women rights issue in the Middle East, the Muslim-Indian problem in India, and child abuse in China. Moreover, I covered a topic of people, simply just people. Some groups of people in the past and even in the present are horrifyingly cruel, but most people in every single country share their love and true affection in beautiful unique ways. For example, when my art teacher assigns us projects relating of every religion, she describes them all so beautifully, complimenting their beliefs or customs. However, I encountered a mean woman in a July 4th parade, celebrating the United States' independence. She told my dad to get out of the way, calling us rude and shouting. It was difficult to ignore her at first, but then thinking positively, I told myself to treasure the wonderful people God allows us to meet as well as getting through the cruel ones. The fact of having both kind and terrible people is what makes a nation a nation, a United nation. America is not called "America"; it is called The United States of America. =)

My relative was curious about discrimination during the Civil War, when African Americans were slaves in mainly Southern America. I told her that there were non-African protesters against slavery, including Abraham Lincoln, Bishop Asbury, Mary Lloyd, and William Legge. Additionally, the past remains the past, and every day our country improves as an independent nation. Yes, people did cruel things including mistreating Jews and putting the nations Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia in labor camps, but now we have equality in people and this will still improve in future generations.

Racism is an illusion. If we think about it, it will surely happen and affect our minds. However, ultimately people are people and God created them in this universe to have both love and meaning, not to discriminate others. As every country has  its unique trait, the United States is a country open to people from around the globe, everlasting from the year it got independent, 1776.

                                         

(This song was playing in my mind while I was writing 

this post.... hehe. enjoy)

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