The Hunger Games - In class assignment 1

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The Hunger Games—In-Class Assignment 1

Literary analysis

Question 1

What do we learn about life in District 12 from Katniss’ point of view? How does Suzanne Collins show that this society is unfair or oppressive? Use at least two examples from the book to support your answer.

Question 1

We can split this question into three points that we need to answer:

1. What do we learn about life in District 12 from Katniss’ point of view? 

2. How does Suzanne Collins show that this society is unfair or oppressive? 

3. Use at least two examples from the book to support your answer.

1. What do we learn about life in District 12 from Katniss’ point of view? 

We learn many things:

• Most people are very poor—there isn't enough food, people live in very small and ramshackle houses, people can't afford any luxuries, ...
• People have to live in a restricted area; they aren't allowed on the other side of the fence.
• There is a big military presence in the district—the peacekeepers.
• She is forced to take care of her family by hunting for food in the woods because her father died in a tragic mining accident. The mines are spoken of as unsafe, ...

What did you notice about life in District 12?

1. What do we learn about life in District 12 from Katniss’ point of view? 

But which ones do we talk about? You can choose any of the points—or other points that we talked about—but it's nice if you can tie in your answer to the second question.

2. How does Suzanne Collins show that this society is unfair or oppressive? 

Again, many answers are possible! For example,

• People don't have any choice but to participate in the Hunger Games; their names can be drawn, their family members could be forced to play as a tribute, they have to watch the games, ...
• People can add their names multiple times to the draw for the Hunger Games in exchange for food, making poor people more likely to have to participate in the Hunger Games
• People are forced to live on very little, even when the people in the capitol have a lot, ...

2. How does Suzanne Collins show that this society is unfair or oppressive? 

A good example to tie your answers to the first and second part together would be like this:

• The people are very poor—describe how you see that they are poor.
• The people can add their names multiple times to the draw for the Hunger Games in exchange for food, making poor people more likely to have to participate in the Hunger Games

3. Add examples from the book:

• The people are very poor—describe how you see that they are poor.
• The people can add their names multiple times to the draw for the Hunger Games in exchange for food, making poor people more likely to have to participate in the Hunger Games. This is unfair to them, and it is one of the ways S.C. shows us that society is unfair in the Hunger Games.
• About Buttercup, the cat: "I think he still remembers how I tried to drown him in a bucket when Prim brought him home. Scrawny kitten, belly swollen with worms, crawling with fleas. The last thing I needed was another mouth to feed."

3. Add examples from the book:

•  "You can opt to add your name more times in exchange for tesserae. Each tessera is worth a meager year’s supply of grain and oil for one person. You may do this for each of your family members as well. So, at the age of twelve, I had my name entered four times." 

Question 2

In these chapters, we first hear about the “Hunger Games” as a public event. Why do you think people in the Capitol enjoy watching the Games? What message might the author be sending about violence as entertainment?

Question 2

Again, our question can be split into two points:

1. Why do you think people in the Capitol enjoy watching the Games? 
2. What message might the author be sending about violence as entertainment?

Why do you think people in the capitol enjoy watching something as violent as the Hunger Games?

1. Why do you think people in the Capitol enjoy watching the Games? 

There are multiple things you can think of for this question:

• People in the capitol see it as an event to look forward to, like how we look forward to a sports match or a concert.
• People in the capitol don't see the people in the districts as people like them. They are different; they are almost equal to animals, or maybe actors in a film. You see this in the way they treat the tributes before the games—like royalty and also like something both less and more than human. They see them as "heroes" while they had no choice but to participate.

2. What message might the author be sending about violence as entertainment?

There are multiple things you can think of for this question:

• If the people in the capitol don't see the tributes as real people, then any violence that happens to them isn't seen as a bad thing.
• We see similar things on our news every day: people suffering, people dying, ... We become almost "numb" to the violence we see, because there is so much of it.
• We see violent entertainment every day as well; think of violent movies and series, violent sports that get televised, violence in music, ...

What violent entertainment can you think of that we don't really think twice about?

Question 3

When Peeta is chosen as a tribute, Katniss feels conflicted — she remembers moments of kindness, but also sees him as an enemy now. What do these feelings tell us about human emotions in difficult situations? Can you think of a time (real or fictional) where kindness and competition clash in a similar way?

Question 3

We can also split up this question into two parts:

1. What do these feelings tell us about human emotions in difficult situations? 
2. Can you think of a time (real or fictional) where kindness and competition clash in a similar way?

1. What do these feelings tell us about human emotions in difficult situations? 

It tells us a couple of things:

• Both feelings can exist at the same time; Katniss can feel that she wants Peeta to live, because he is kind. She can also feel that she wants him to die, because if he lives, she will die and leave her sister Prim behind.
• Threat of dying can cause us to change and act differently than we would in a situation where our lives aren't at stake.
• We can even see this in normal competition.

2. Can you think of a time (real or fictional) where kindness and competition clash in a similar way?

Give a personal example:

• If a family is starving because of war or famine, a brother and sister may both want to eat more than the other because they are hungry. They also don't want their sibling to die from starvation or be hungry.
• Both things can be true at the same time. Feelings don't exist in a vacuum; they are complex and layered.