Academic questions for teens regarding the Hunger Games series

Cafe Society
1

I’m interested in how teens perceive Katniss and the rest of the text. Why do they wish to read about a place that is so harsh on many different levels? If anyone is interested:

Questions about the Hunger Games

1.) Being a young adult (YA), do you feel constraints? If so, from where do they stem (i.e. parents, government, etc…)

2.) Do you believe that reading is a form of escapism? If so, what draws you to escape from this world into the violent one of Panem?

3.) Unarguably, Katniss struggles throughout the entire series to survive. Do you find yourself feeling stressed by her situation? Do you feel as if you share in her struggle?

4.) Do you think Katniss fits into society’s constraints of what it is to be a girl? Or does she somehow escape them? (examples: Is her ability to hunt masculine? Is her refusal to wear the makeup and dresses like the other girls a shun of her gender?)

5.) Do you like Katniss? Why or why not?

6.) How do you feel about Katniss’ rebellion? Do you feel that she’s a savior of Panem by leading the charge for freedom from the Capitol? Or does her quest do more harm than good?

7.) When Peeta and Katniss visit District 11, Peeta makes a speech offering “a month of tribute winnings” so the people will not starve. Knowing the consequences, how does this make you feel about Peeta? (is he kind? crazy? not thinking? smart? giving?)

2

I like how you typed up your homework for us, with extra lines inserted between questions as if we were going to just write in the spaces on our monitors :smiley:

3

Yeah that was pretty LOLZ.

We don’t do your homework, kiddo.

Read the book. It’s pretty good.

5

Wow, nice try.

I will say my son, a seventh grader, read all three books and loved them.

So maybe you should, you know, actually read them.

6

Jeez, what a bunch of party poopers! I’ll play -

One of the things I loved about The Hunger Games trilogy was how it took major themes from ‘The Lottery’, ‘The Running Man’ and ‘The Most Dangerous Game’.

  1. Name the authors.

  2. Describe at least six minor characters from those three stories, and compare them to characters in ‘The Hunger Games’.

  3. In your opinion, is Suzanne Collins being derivative or creative?

7

It’s interesting to me that such a poorly written book is so popular for assigned reading in schools right now. Just getting kids to read in the first place must be quite a challenge. I guess they’re aiming for entertainment value rather than actual educational value.

8

When is this due?
mmm

9

I have not seen a true homework question on the Dope for awhile. I think “not doing homework” is/was in our rules at one point.

Oh, and read the books. They are quite engaging.