Task Statement

You have been asked to interview one of the characters from the novel Divergent. Your
task is to examine how your chosen character is affected by the key theme/s within the
novel.

o Your questions and responses should consider your character’s experiences, the
events of the novel and the way the character is shaped by your theme.

o You are to develop your own questions as an interviewer and respond to these as if
though you were the character.

o Your questions and answers should demonstrate your understanding of the themes
and characters within Divergent.

An example question is:

Tori, you discovered that Tris was divergent, yet you chose to keep this a secret. Why did you
risk your life for someone you barely know?
- Possible character responses to this question could include ideas such as:
o Fear for Tris’ safety
o The need to protect others
 Her brother suffered for his divergence – she did not want to see
others have the same experience
o Disagrees with the system of factions
o Use this quote to support the creation of response:
 “No.” Tori kneels next to the chair now and places her arms on the
armrest. Our faces are inches apart. “This is different. I don’t mean
you shouldn’t share them now; I mean you should never share them
with anyone, ever, no matter what happens. Divergence is extremely
dangerous. You understand?”

Characters to choose from:

- Tris
- Four
- Eric
- Caleb
Task Overview
By the end of ILT in Week 10 (THURSDAY), you need to submit your completed
TRANSCRIPT that includes your interview questions and character responses.

Interview Transcript: 700-900 words

Make sure you are checking in with your teacher during your classes to check
your understanding for this task.

Your teachers are aware that there may be less ILT time due to the Easter
Liturgy. This has already been taken into consideration and whilst you have 9
lessons of ILT to complete this, there have been 8 lessons structured for you.

Stages for Completion:

1. What is an interview?
2. Understanding your character
3. Understanding the themes
4. Developing Questions
5. Writing transcript of interview (2 lessons)
6. Editing and refining
1. What is an interview?
a. The following video explains how to conduct an interview. Answer the questions
and fill in the blanks below whilst watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYJwqqKRyHA&ab_channel=MigratoryBirds

Question:
What is an interview?

Fill in the blanks:

Step 1: Research
Find all the information you might need about the character you are going to interview or
the topic you want to discuss. If the interview is about an actress, you may want to search
for their biography, watch listen, read news or portraits that had been written about
them. If you are going to interview someone about a specific topic or event, you have to
research information about the subject or event.

Step 2: Find the right person

Trying to find the person, may mean trying to __them. A journalists most powerful
weapon is their __________.

Step 3: Getting ready for the interview

Keep in mind the aim of the ______________ and prepare a ________ of the basic
questions. Some tips to prepare your questions. Think of what the ____________ would
like to know. ____________ should be neutral. Avoid too long or ________ questions. Be
clear! Avoid yes or no questions. Avoid ____________ questions with obvious answers.
Ask for ____________.

Step 4: The interview

First of all ____________ yourself and say who you are working for. During the interview
there are some things you should remember. Your ____________ of questions is there to
help but so are you. Be concentrated and ____________ to their answers. If they mention
something interesting you can add some extra questions on the spot.

Step 5: Transcription
Transcription is taking the recording of the interview and putting it into _________ words.
You just listen to the recorded interview and literally write it down.

Step 6: Write and edit

When you have the whole interview written in front of you, the text alone will lead you
on how to handle it. For example, if the interview is ___________ you can write this in a
form of story-telling so that the text can be enriched and interesting. Most interviews are
in a Q&A form. Remember though, that you have to write a nice and informative
_____________.

Step 7: Publish
When the interview is published it is a good idea to send it to the interviewee.
 b. Research and write down the definitions for the following type of questions:
i. Open: questions that have great opportunity to get an in depth
complicated answer
ii. Closed: generally yes or no questions that can be shut down or can be
closed down.
iii. Follow up: questions that cab either be closed or open but also allow
for another question to come in it’s place.

c. The following clip is an example of an interview. Identify the style of questions

being asked and write an example from the interview of the following:
i. Open: what have you the idea for the series?
ii. Closed: how do you explain how the connection between the books and
the readers?
iii. Follow up: are you a fan of this genre?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM9Dgw4tGrY&ab_channel=ScreenSlam

d. Look at the transcript of an interview on MOODLE

i. What do you notice about the way it is structured?
It was hard to find closed questions as closed questions are generally
avoided as they are not good for interviews.
ii. How many questions are being asked and what style of questions can you
see?
The two styles of questions that are being asked are open and follow up,
the interview starts with an open question then a follow up and that just
continues over the course of the interview
iii. How long are the responses?
About 20-30 seconds
iv. Who is the subject of the interview?
The construction the divergent series
v. What do they do?
Look at how Veronica made divergent
vi. How do they feel about the topic of the interview?
They feel as if its an environment to get a lot of information of Veronica
2. Understanding your character
a. Choose TWO of the characters
from the list below and connect THEMES
them to themes that you think 1. Identity, Choice, and Divergence
they address. 2. Strength, Selfishness, and Selflessness
i. Tris 3. Competition, Groups, and Rivalries
ii. Four 4. Fear, Bravery, and Maturity
iii. Caleb
iv. Eric

b. Explain how your chosen characters fit these themes and where we might see
that in the novel four is a strong character as he is able to keep his emotions in
check, maturity as he knows how stay in control and handle situations. Tris shows
choice as she was a divergent and had to choose between factions.

c. Choose ONE character and create a profile for them. In this profile include the
following information:
i. Name
Four/Tobias
ii. Faction (original and current)
Abnegation-dauntless
iii. Physical description
Tall, strong,
iv. Friendships and relationships
Odd relationship with eric, you can assume that four and eric went into
initiation together.
v. Description about their personality
Mysterious, brave,
vi. What you like and dislike about them
I like four as he is the picture of masculinity, something the most recent
generation is beginning to eliminate
.
 3. Understanding the themes
a. Using your breakdown of your character and the themes that they represent,
complete the table below.

What does this How does your Evidence from What does this What does this
theme mean? character the text that tell you about tell you about
Character:fou demonstrate shows this. your character? the story?
r this? Use specific
examples and
page numbers

How the person “I want to be

Identity, grows/changes By slowly giving brave, and That for has a
Choice, and in to his selfless, and mix of different That the story
Divergence emotions as the smart, and kind values helps four turn
story develops and honest.” into a new
character.
t
This theme could He That four isn’t this tells us that
Strength,
be a demonstrates “I ignore my just faking being something
Selfishness,
representation this through fear” strong, happened to
and
of courage masculine traits four
Selflessness
such as mystery
and dominance.
“According to That four can
This theme could He shows this Dauntless work with his That during I the
show the through his rules” rivals if past Eric and
Competition,
separation passive rivalry necessary (the Four had some
Groups, and “one of you
between people with Eric and way he works form of fight
Rivalries could also
how he is apart with Eric
of a group concede.”
himself
“Becoming It tells us that
Could show a Four does this fearless isn’t the Four is a great something
disregard for throughout the point. That’s example of a happened to
feelings (doing book he always impossible. It’s mature four that gave
Fear, Bravery, something no does what’s learning how to responsible him the ability
and Maturity matter how you necessary not control your leader to disregard the
feel) what he wants fears, and how way he feels
to be free from
it" chapter 18
page 239

b. Respond: What theme do you think best applies to your character and why?
Fear, bravery and maturity applies best to four as rather than not being scared of
anything he is mature about it. He does this by ignoring his fears for the better of
him and those around him.
4. Developing Questions
a. Using your understanding of the novel, create the questions for the following
responses.

Create a question that will result in the given answer.

(Remember a question must commence with a capital letter and end with a question mark).

Example:
Q What are the two factions that Tris and Caleb defected to after leaving
Abnegation?
A They went to Dauntless and Erudite

Q Good morning Beatrice how are you today?

A “Tris. My name’s Tris”

Q What was the scariest part about your arrival to the dauntless faction?
A Jumping off the train.

Q Who volunteered to take Al’s place?

A Tris volunteered to take his place.

b. What type of questions are these? Open or closed?

c. Re-write these questions to be more open-ended.
i. closed
ii. Closed
iii. Open (for detail)
iv. Closed
1. Why did tris and caleb choose two different factions?
2. Good morning Tris how are you? what have you done today?
3. What was the scariest part about your arrival in the dauntless
faction? Can you explain why it was so scary?
4. Who volunteered to take Al’s place and why would they?

d. Based off your understanding of your chosen character and

the themes they relate to, create your INTERVIEW questions.
You want to aim for 3-5 questions that will allow you to delve
 into your character and that help to showcase your
understanding of the themes.

See1 the example provided earlier for guidance.

5. Writing your transcript (2 lessons)

Take the next two lessons to create your transcript. Use your questions from the last activity
to guide you.

Your responses need to show your understanding of both the character and the theme/s
from the novel.

Remember: your responses need to be written in the voice of your character. This means
you need to respond as if though you were the character.

Word length: 700-900 words.

Interviewer: Good evening, everybody. Today, we are have Four, one of the most prominent
members of the dauntless faction with us. Four, it's a pleasure to have you here with us
today.

Four: Thank you for having me.

Interviewer: So, Four, you've been through a lot in your life, and many people look up to you
as an example of courage, determination, and strength. Can you tell us a little about how
you gained these qualities over time?

Four: Well, I guess it goes back to my childhood, growing up in the Abnegation faction,
where selflessness was everything. My parents taught me the importance of standing up for
what's right, even if it's not the popular thing to do. But I had a bit of a streak where I wasn’t
very interested in rule following, and I felt trapped by the Abnegation life, which is why I left
to join Dauntless.

Interviewer: Dauntless is known for its bravery and fearlessness. How did you adapt to this
way of life?

Four: It wasn't easy. The initiation process was hard, and I had to face some of my biggest
fears. But I knew that if I could beat them, I would come out stronger on the other side. I
learned to push through the pain and keep going, even when it seemed impossible. And I
discovered freedom in Dauntless, a type of freedom that I had never experienced before.

Interviewer: You became a leader in Dauntless, which is quite an achievement. What kind of
challenges did you face in this role, and how did you handle them?
Four: Being a leader meant that I had to set an example for everyone else. I had to be
fearless even when I was scared, and I had to be willing to make tough decisions for the
good of the group. One of the biggest challenges I faced was dealing with Eric, who was
another leader in our faction. He was ruthless and power-hungry, and he didn't care about
anyone but himself. I had to figure out a way to work with him while still staying true to my
own values, and it was difficult to stick to my values and cooperate well with Eric.

Interviewer: So, in the initiation stages, we heard that you seemed very interested with Tris.
Can you tell us a bit about that?

Four: Yeah, I guess you could say I was surprised by her. She was unlike anyone I had ever
met before. I think what got me the most was her fearlessness. She wasn't afraid to stand
up for herself, even when it seemed like everyone was against her. And that's not something
you see every day.

Interviewer: Can you name a specific moment where you realized you were taken by her?

Four: I think it was during the first stage of the initiation process, when we had to jump off
the roof into the Dauntless compound. Tris was the first one to jump, and I remember
watching her standing there, staring down at the ground below. I could see the fear in her
eyes, but she didn't let it stop her. She took a deep breath and jumped without hesitation.
And that's when I started to see her in a different light.

Interviewer: Did you ever feel like your fascination with Tris was a distraction during the
initiation stages?

Four: I wouldn't say it was a distraction, but it definitely made things more complicated. As
an instructor, I had to maintain a certain level of professionalism, and I didn't want my
feelings towards Tris to interfere with my duties. But at the same time, I couldn't help but
feel drawn to her, and that made it difficult to keep my distance.

Interviewer: How did your fascination with Tris impact your relationship with the other
initiates?

Four: I think it made me a bit more distant from them. I didn't want to show favouritism
towards Tris or make it seem like I was playing favourites. So, I tried to treat everyone
equally. But I think they could sense that I had a special interest in Tris, and that might have
affected their perception of me.

Interviewer: Lastly, do you feel like your fascination with Tris was warranted?

Four: Absolutely. Tris is an incredible person, and I feel lucky to have gotten the chance to
get to know her. She's strong, brave, and compassionate, and I think she has the potential to
do great things in the world. So, yeah, my fascination with her was definitely warranted.
6. Editing and refining your transcript

This lesson your focus is on editing and refining your interview transcript.

Tasks to complete:

¨ Proofreading for spelling and grammatical errors

¨ Checking the structure of the interview matches the structure of interviews you have
watched and read
¨ Checking you have written in character voice (does it sound like your chosen
character?)
¨ Checking your work against the rubric. Have you completed all of the components?
What would you grade your work at?
¨ Completing the peer feedback form with someone in your class/ILT space

Use the folder on MOODLE to help guide in the process.