HUNGER+GAMES

(google images) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

__ About the Author __

Suzanne Collins was born on August 10, 1962. She was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Her father, who was in the U.S. Air Force, was a Vietnam Veteran. As a young child, she moved a lot because of her father's job. As a teenager, she went to Carver high school and the Alabama School of Fine Arts. She attended Indiana University graduating with a double major in Drama and Telecommunication. She started her career as a writer for small children television shows. She is currently an American writer and novelist best known for her best selling series The Underland Chronicles and The Hunger Games trilogy. She now resides in a small village called Sandy Hook in Newtown, Connecticut.



Suzanne's website: http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/bio.htm

__ Setting Of The Hunger Games __

District 12 is the designated mining area for the fictional country of Panem. It is a poor area where almost every man in the area is a miner. Because District 12 is a poor District, unlike the controlling capitol who has everything new and they are technology savvy. District 12 fears the Hunger Games every year but the capitol gets great delight out of the fighting and amusement for them.

__ Summary __


 * In Panem, a fictional country, every year kids are selected to fight in the Hunger Games in a reminder of how the capitol holds the power. This all happens because many years ago another District, District 13, revolted against the capitol. There are now 12 districts in Panem which all are confined to their areas, and a lot are poor. Since they are poor and need more food, they increase their chances of getting picked to get a little bit more food for their families. The Hunger Games are a fight to the death so not everyone take the chance.


 * Katniss Everdeen is a 16 year old female who takes care of her family, younger sister Prim and mother, after her father died in a mining accident. Now she hunts with a bow and arrow and traps outside of District limit which is illegal. She cares very much for her family and doesn't want to see her sister hurt in any way.

__ Hunger Games Preview __

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMGRhAEn6K0

__ Characters __

=== Katniss Everdeen- She is the protagonist of the series. She is from District 12 and she volunteers as tribute for the Hunger Games. Katniss and Peeta were the last people in the games, after threatening suicide, they Game makers declared them both victors, because they were from the same district ===

=== Peeta Mellark- He is the male tribute from District 12, he participated in the 74th and 75th Hunger Games. He is the son of the district's baker. He declared his love for Katniss publicly. He lost his left leg in the Games. ===

=== Gale Hawthorne- He is 18 years old from District 12, he is Katniss's best friend and hunting partner. They met when Katniss is out hunting for her family after her fathers' death.He has skills in hunting and with a bow and arrow. Katniss claims he catches the attention of all the girls in the District. ===

=== Haymitch Abernathy- He was the victor of the 50th Hunger Games, 24 years prior to the book. He formed an alliance with Maysilee Donner, who was the original owner of Katniss's mocking jay pin. He became an alcoholic and spent the next 24 years drunk. Since he was the only surviving victor, he was forced to mentor the tributes. He proves to be of great help after Katniss confronts him about his alcoholism. ===

=== Primrose Everdeen- Or simply Prim, she is Katniss's younger sister. She is 12 at the time of the Games. She was one of the tributes picked for the Games but didn't go because her sister, Katniss, took her place. She is described as thoughtful and sweet, and is an expert at healing being taught by her mother. ===

=== Rue- She is the female tribute from District 11. She is 12 and depicted as having "bright, dark eyes." District 11 is specialized in agriculture, she is an expert in climbing trees and capable of jumping from tree to tree. ===

Cato- He is the male tribute from District 2. He is called a career tribute because he has been training for the Games his entire life. He has a short temper and is a fierce fighter.
__ Round and Flat Characters __

__ Genre __

Dystopian Fiction / Realistic Fiction

__ Quotes __

"District 12. Where you can starve to death in safety (Collins 6)." -Katniss Everdeen

This quote was important to the story because it explained the lifestyle they lived in District 12 (Katniss' Home). The lifestyle they had was very difficult, it was fairly safe due to the fact that every district was protected by the government, but it also showed that the government didn't really care about the people in her district because they are poor and starving.

"As long as you can find yourself, you will never starve (Collins 52)." -Mr. Everdeen

This quote explains that Mr. Everdeen believes that as long as you are true to yourself and really try to survive and find your own personal skill set then you will have no problem surviving in the district.

"You’ve got about as much charm as a dead slug (Collins 117)." -Haymitch This quote from Haymitch is basically saying that charm and personality is very important because if you are an outgoing person people will be more likely to take your side.



__ Themes __

__ Differences between the rich and poor: __ The Capitol has the other Districts compete in the Hunger Games but they don't send representatives. The Capitol is described as being very upscale and technical. Katniss has to hunt for food because there isn't enough food obtainable in District 12 for her to get so she has to hunt illegally outside of the District limits.

__Fire__: When Peeta and Katniss are first showed to all of Panem their costumes majestically catch on fire. Therefore Katniss is called the girl on fire. All of Panem remembers the two tributes from District 12 because they stood out and made a huge impression on the whole country when no one knew who they were. 

  __ Conflict __

The conflict taking place in The Hunger Games is person versus person. President Snow rules over Panem and is the one who keeps Panem in control by keeping the tradition of the Hunger Games going. It is also person versus person because all of the tributes fight each other to the death.

Literary Definitions

__//**Hyperbole**//__- An exaggeration or overstatement that no one will believe it's true.

Ex: "Attendance is mandatory unless you are on death's door (Collins 16)."

**__//Metaphor//__**- A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison.

Ex: The rules say that each tribute can wear something that reminds them of their district.You could say that Katniss is the Mockingjay because she is representing District 12 in the Hunger Games. Even though she is wearing the pin on herself, she is a reminder to the people of District 12.

__//**Symbol**//__- Anything that stands for something else.

Ex: The Mockingjay Pin, Katniss wears the pin in the Hunger Games to represent District 12. Each on of the tributes can wear something that will remind them of their respected District, which is a symbol

__//**Motif**//__- A conspicuous recurring element, such as a type of incident, a device, a reference, or verbal formula, which appears frequently in works of literature.

Ex: There are many motifs in the Hunger Games such as, fire, defiance and hunting. Fire represents Katniss because when Cinna had to design a dress for Katniss she put flames all over the dress, as a symbol for Katniss. Defiance is a motif in the book and an example of this is that Gale and Katniss hunt, which is illegal, so they are defying the Capitol. Hunting is another motif. Katniss doesn't hunt for fun or for sport, she hunts for food in order to survive. This also corresponds with defiance because hunting is illegal. 

__ Connections to Real Life __ The Hunger Games compares to American Politics and society. You have your common people at the bottom, then the rich, then mayors and politicians and then the Capitol with the Game makers calling the shots. It's similar to the American system because its goes lower class, middle class, upper class, politicians then the government with a President. We don’t have anything like the Hunger Games and the United States isn't a dystopia but our society is generally the same.

__ Bad Lip Reading __

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjGk_jU6t5A