Book Talk 1

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Description of Test:
            The Hunger Games is a fictional story.  It is a dystopian, post-apocalyptic setting.  North America was divided into 13 districts and there was a large civil war rebelling against the Capital; District 13 was lost in the civil war.  The districts are controlled by “the Capital.”  The districts each have their own “part” they play in the survival of North America; each district oversees different resources that are used in the Capital.  The farther away from the Capital the district is, the more impoverished the people.  In District 12, where the hero, Katniss Everdeen lives, they are in-charge of mining.  The Capital hosts an annual “Hunger Games” to control the districts; the Hunger Games are used as a reminder of the pain from the civil war and to enforce the idea that the Capital will always win.  At the age of 12, one’s name is added once to the reaping jar; once one turns 18, their name is put in 7 times.  A person can put their name in the jar additionally as an exchange for food and supplies.  The Capital glorifies the Hunger Games by televising it and rewarding the victors with money and housing.  They choose 24 tributes throughout the districts; these tributes consist of one young male and one young female from each district through the process of the Reaping.  There is only one victor out of the 24 tributes each year.  Through unforeseen circumstances, Katniss and another community member, Peeta, become District 12’s tributes.  Their fight through the Hunger Games is an imperfect heroes journey.

Rational:
            I would use this text in a 6th-8th grade classroom setting.  It is an easy read.  This text is a great way to start introducing the concepts that are part of a hero’s journey that will be analyzed in high school through reading The Odyssey.  The Hunger Games is also a pop culture book, allowing students to create connections to the text.

Teaching Ideas:
·         Outline a simplified hero’s journey
·         Mock Reaping: student’s chosen as tribute will to do the work for each group (district)
·         Point of view/Introduction to film and text comparisons

Obstacles:
·         Students: bored with text because they have already seen/read it.  Death of other tributes, those close in age, could be a highly emotional topic.
·         Parents: violence, violence involving children, war, attempted suicide
·         Admin: Violence, modern, rebellion

Other:

             The text is part of a trilogy.  Students could be encouraged to keep reading the rest of the trilogy.  There is more warfare in the other two books.

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