Applying Literary Criticism to The Hunger Games

1. Applying Literary Criticism to The Hunger Games ALSO: Writing a Thesis About Literature

2. Applying Marxist Criticism to The Hunger Games • What social and economic issues are at work in District 12 and in Panem at large? • What assumptions do these characters make about social class and access to food, clothing, etc? • What are the tesserae and how does this play a role in social class? What kind of families usually have to apply for tesserae and who does not? • In what ways does this book challenge or support the system that it describes? • What comment do you feel the book is making about American entertainment and capitalism?

3. More on Marxist Criticism and THG • What additional insights do you think that Marxist Criticism might offer us? • Consider issues of power and money – who has them, and how do those people treat Katniss and the other people from District 12? • Consider the significance of the so-called “Career Tributes”. What do their districts have the others do not? How does this affect their willing participation in the Games? • Are the Career Tributes and District 1 and 2 actually happy with the Games and the Capitol, or is this a survival tactic in an inherently unfair economic system?

4. More Questions for The Hunger Games • What kind of a person is KatnissEverdeen? • What is the significance of her name? • Can you think of any other significant names in this book? • This book is full of complicated relationships. • What is Katniss’s relationship to her mother? With her sister? Gale? Peeta? Haymitch? What about her prep team? • How are these relationships complicated by the economic and social tyranny the Capital has over the Districts? • How is entertainment seen as a tool of oppression in these books? • What other Critical Theories might apply to The Hunger Games?

5. The Hunger Games and Feminist Criticism In 2010, Katie Roiphe wrote a review of “Mockingjay” that described Katniss as “a great character without being exactly likable”: Katnissis bossy, moody, bratty, demanding, prickly. She treats the world with an explosive aggression that is a little out of the ordinary, to say the least…In short, she belongs to a recent tribe of popular heroines: the small, difficult teenage girl who manifests enormous physical and moral strength. She is both murderer and victim, somehow representing female strength and female vulnerability all mingled and entwined, dangerously, ambiguously, into one. • How might we read Katniss’s portrayal as “not exactly likable” through a feminist lens? • Is Katniss unusual when we compare her with heroines from other novels, movies, and tv shows? • How does Katniss compare with various male heroes in books, movies, and tv? Do we have different standards for “likability” when it comes to the genders? • What does it say about our society that we expect our female heroines to always be “likeable”, whereas often male heroes are allowed to anti-heroes who are morally “grey” and complex?

6. Perspectives on a Feminist Reading of Katniss and Beauty • “Interestingly, a critical part of making Katniss into a compliant participant in the Capitol’s oppressive enterprise is remaking Katniss into a feminine character both physically and behaviorally; these are simultaneously the moments when she is made the most vulnerable. On the one hand, these feminine moments may invite girl readers to identify with her anxieties, vulnerability, and, sometimes, her pleasure at embracing the trappings of physical beauty; on the other hand, they seem to reinforce the idea that Katniss is most powerful when she embraces masculine ways. Collins further complicates this narrative maneuver by allowing Katniss alternating feelings of rejection of the artificial beauty expectations imposed by the Capitol and acceptance of them.” • “Perhaps readers — girl readers, in particular — connect with the beauty artifice the heroine is subjected to, recognizing in it their own familiarity with cultural expectations. Such artifice can arouse public sentiment (much like the Mockingjay image that Katniss emblematizes) but is without substance.” • Is it without substance? What do you think? • What might a feminist reading that takes the opposite position on this point look like?

7. Quote from “Killer Katniss and LoverboyPeeta: In Defiance of Gendered Genre Reading” • “Besides blood relations, the novel also centers on surrogate families, whose members display loyalty and selfless love even at great personal risk. Haymitch, the man with no wife or children of his own, acts in this capacity and becomes integral to Katniss’s survival just as Katniss takes care of Rue, both by sharing food and shelter and by honoring her death with flowers and song. When he was himself a child, Peeta once risked physical violence to give bread to a starving eleven-year-old Katniss. • By including these powerful interactions between characters’ families and even virtual strangers, Collins touches on values that are not inscribed with gender ideology. Like the Greek myths that served as part of Collins’s inspiration, The Hunger Games emphasizes primal connections between people who exist outside social influence. As a result, the novel and its sequels reach a wide and diverse audience both in terms of gender and generation.”

8. Writing a Thesis About Literature Continuing Work on your Research Paper

9. Refresher: Definition of Thesis • A thesis is the statement/claim about the topic of your essay. It is your central argument, and the point that your entire essay is focused on proving/explaining. • A thesis is not a question. It may be the answer to a question, but it is a statement. • A thesis is complex, specific, and arguable. This means that you should avoid thesis statements that are simplistic, vague, or obvious.

10. Thesis Statements about Literature • When you are writing about literature, your thesis statement is a claim about the text or texts you are analyzing. • Since this is the statement/claim that your entire essay will support, make sure it is a claim worth making/writing about. • Information on thesis statements about literature are on p. 11-12 and p. 15 of your book.

11. A Weak Thesis Statement Revised • A WeakThesis: The short stories “Greasy Lake” and “To Build a Fire” are similar because they are both about nature. • This is certainly a true statement, but it is also obvious. It does not tell your audience what you are going to be saying about how each author uses nature or what critical theory perspective you are using to analyze the work. • What suggestions might you give the author of this statement?

12. Revised Thesis: • Weak: The short stories “Greasy Lake” and “To Build a Fire” are similar because they are both about nature. • Stronger: While T.C. Boyle’s “Greasy Lake” and Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” both present nature as a harsh, unforgiving antagonist, both stories also emphasize the importance of the connection between humanity and nature.

13. Research Paper Reminders • I recommended reading Chapters 1, 2, and 3 • Ch. 1: Reading and Writing About Literature • Ch. 2: Writing Literary Arguments • Ch. 3: Documenting Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism • If you haven’t already read them, read them ASAP. • It WILL help you finish writing the best research paper possible, which is your main focus now.

14. Next Week: • Tuesday, May 27 – No ClassThis is a non-instructional day at LAMC. • Thursday, May 29In-Class: Discuss the Final Exam • Homework Due:  Essay 3: The Literary Criticism Research Paper – printed and stapled copy due in class, digital copy due on turnitin.com