Rules & Order: Do you Follow?

Dear Students,

This week I finished listening to The Maze Runner, and still continuing to read Flora & Ulysses. I did like the Maze Runner, but not enough to want to finish the trilogy.  I can see how this type of novel would be a good fit for many upper elementary readers looking for a challenge. 

I was particularly interested in looking at The Maze Runner in regards to particular themes.  I did some research and found this list @ http://www.shmoop.com/the-maze-runner/themes.html which includes the following themes: 

• Manipulation
• Memory
• Rules & Order
• Fear
• Identity
• Sacrifice
• Justice & Judgment
• Freedom & Confinement

Looking at this list from a teacher’s perspective, this novel could raise some interesting book club discussions.  I’ll discuss one theme within this list, Rules & Order.

I’m very much a rule follower, and I can honestly say I follow rules primarily out of fear—fear I will get caught, fear I will be judged, fear I will set a bad example.  In this novel, I think about the boy’s and their constant adherence to the rules.  The rules kept the glade functioning, but it was Thomas who first broke the major rule (never enter the Maze at night).  My question I ponder is, Was it the system of rules that helped the children find their way out of the maze or was it Thomas’s rule breaking tendencies that allowed the escape?  At first thought, I would say Thomas.  He was the trigger and the one who first questioned the rules.  However, without the rules of the runners to map the day’s route, the code would not have been discovered.  This leads to a larger essential question one could use with students, Are rules meant to be broken? – That could lead to a heated debate and tap into students’ higher order thinking skills for sure!  Of course my mind was constantly making connections to other texts such as my recent novel, Divergent and a classic favorite The Giver.

Overall, I would recommend this book for you to read.  It’s suspenseful and taps into one’s curiosity.  I’m moving out of Science Fiction books this week and reading a realistic fiction book, which is actually my favorite genre. 

Until next week,

Dr. K.

Diverged . . .

Dear Students,

Well, I started the week off strong with reading Divergent, but have diverged (ha!) some since midweek due to a few work deadlines.  I am rereading Wonder with my 9-year-old daughter, and I have managed to tackle two Junie B. Jones books with my 6-year-old daughter, although Junie’s terrible grammar always drives me crazy . . .am I the only one? 

OK-back to Divergent.  The plot is intensifying and her Divergent nature is becoming Tris’sa “achilles heel” so to speak.  She has taken to the leader, Four, and now knows his deepest fears, along with his history.  This week we have examined loyalty, friendship, and trust, all greatly impacted by the competitive nature of the faction. 

 I was glad to see Tris’s mom attend the family visit.  I figured, based on her dad’s reaction at the choosing ceremony, he wouldn’t be able to face his Dauntless daughter, but the mother has become quite an intriguing character.  She has a past Tris is starting to unravel. 

Tris is transforming.  She is becoming stronger and more aggressive.  I personally can’t imagine turning to violence to solve life’s problems, but violence has become a necessity for her survival.  And then there is the chasm, which defined is a “deep cleft in the earth's surface; gorge.” The chasm is filled with sharp rocks, running waters, and embodies fear.   It seems the chasm is representative of a fine line between bravery and stupidity.  It is at the chasm where we see threats, murder, suicide, friendship, and love.  I anticipate the chasm continuing to be a central focal point of this story. 

Until next week!

Divergent

Although it’s been a challenge this week with the flu bug circulating my household, I’ve secured at least 15 minute each day for reading—I’ve carried the novel, Divergent, in my purse "mom bag" and found “stolen time” at the doctor’s office, in the car, and turning off my computer at night before bed to read.  It’s been refreshing to take my mind off life, especially work, to dive into Beatrice’s dystopian Chicago society.  

Her society is divided into five factions.  There is the Candor (honest souls), Abnegation (her former selfless self), Amity (peacemakers), Erudite (academics), and the Dauntless (her new self, the brave).  On her 16th birthday, she, and her classmates, must either decide to remain in their current faction, or devote her life to a new faction.  Beatrice, or Tris as she renames herself, in a last minute call, decides to test the waters of the Dauntless by letting her blood drop into new waters. 

Talk about an identity crisis!  I see my current self, my past, and my future within each faction.  The life I currently live (Erudite), my obsession with rule following (Candor), and the life I live only through others (Dauntless).  I see myself in Beatrice as she comes of age in this novel--moving away from home to test new waters.   Really, it’s the life of a typical teen isn’t it?   A constant flurry of emotions and life-changing decisions.  

            Tris realizes during the initiation that not all members will make the cut—but I know she will thrive.  She is already thriving in her new environment and showing confidence and strength, which are character traits I’m sure will continue to develop throughout the novel.  Her future, which seems uncertain at this point, will unfold during this novel, and I’m glad I’ve jumped on the train along with Tris. 

This book is well written, and the escape to my teenage years is a much-needed break! 

Till next week,

Dr. Kingsley