Hunger Games Final Draft

      In The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, her purpose of writing this book is to show us how the future will become if our government took total control of the people. This relates to how the citizens aren't able to speak up for themselves and follow the orders that were given without backing up. This book also shows how survival of fitness determines who can win, as a connection to how humans took over and their strength and weakness. The author's purpose is integrated through her style of writing and the audience that she is appealing to.
      To give some background information of how she proposed her purpose she defines it by the game called the Hunger Games. In North America, it is divided in 12 districts, and each district has to sent out two teenagers from the age of 12-18 years old to compete in the games. From the two chosen, it has to include one boy and girl. The contestants are picked randomly and they would have to go to the hunger games located in the Capitol. In the game of 24 that were chosen, they have to fight for death and only one can survive, and the winning contestant will get food for their districts.

"The rules of the Hunger Games. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. [. . . ]To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against others." (Collins 18-19)

This shows what the districts have to go through when the Capitol takes control of them. The tributes will have no choice but to fight for their own lives. This is when they can no longer trust anyone at all and must only use their own strength to survive. Without the help of others, by working independently it will take up lots of effort and time. This shows how the Capitol ruled over the districts to show how Collins explains her purpose.

      She showed her purpose by putting the Capitol in total control and making the people fight each other for their lives. By this plot, it shows that we as individuals can't change what our government is doing when we are alone. The government is trying to make everyone go separate ways so that they could not be able to work together and over power them. The governments are weakening their skills. I think the purpose of this book is very important and it teaches us about the outcomes of our governments if they take total control over us.

      After finishing The Hunger Games, I thought that it was a very great book. It got very intense and exciting to read near the middle of the book. Its like you can not stop flipping the pages. It taught me alot about how government runs when it takes control of the people. This book is intended to tell people about this kind of government system; warning the possibility that out government system might turn out this way.

     I think the audience this book is intended to are people that care about our government systems and how they function. The tactics that they come up with to make the people in the game kill eat other. Indeed the government can become very cruel when they have too much power. This book can be given to anyone that is interested to knowing how governments function. Because twenty four people are participating in the games, this show that if we don't step up to make the change happen, or if they don't do anything to change the rules, they will never rise up against the government and stay forever controlled. I would recommend this book to people that are interested to knowing more about government systems. This book explains it in a different way to explain its theme. The story is also really good, so that it would not be as boring.
      I would describe the author's style of writing as using descriptive language through most of the book. She had good use of descriptive language and bad uses of descriptive language. Some of it wasn't really necessary and it was too much so it made it a but boring. The beginning of the book was boring to start with because it was too descriptive, but as it headed towards the middle, it got more interesting.        My opinions of her style was good. Her descriptions helped me have a picture in my mind about what is happening in the story. It gave me a image of what is going on and what is happening about the surroundings.
One example of a  bad description would be:

 "Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you- the tributes of District Twelve!" (Collins 345).  

Another example of a good description would be:

 "When food is scarce, the game makers will invite players to a banquet, somewhere none to all like the cornucopia, as an inducement to gather and fight" (244).  

The first one wasn't good because they didn't put much description in it and it didn't really show lots of meaning in the line. It did not describe how they won and their victory. For the second quote it shows a meaning of the games. It shows that the government have control over the people and they can plan anything on the players since they are weaker. The stronger ones have a bigger advantage.

      In conclusion, Collins helped support her points by connecting to our society about our own government systems. By using descriptive language she was able to explain the plot of the story very well and give the audience an imagery. This book teaches a lesson about what we can do to change whats settle for us. I would recommend this book to anyone. It was a book that taught me about government systems in a way that is easy to understand.

  

Peer Review Comments

Here are the comments I left for my tablemates' rough drafts...

For Peter:
I think that you should introduce the questions that you are answering because it seems like you are only answering one sentence. I think that you could incorporate that into your intro paragraph. I think that you included a good summary about the girls relationship with her family and the struggles that she went through. Your ideas were good and the paragraphs transitioned from one another so it was good. I just think that you could go further in about the character and how relationship with others might impact them. Your conclusion was good because it introduced the overall idea that was expressed.

For Vanessa:
I think your essay was very strong at the beginning, but it got choppy in the middle; the part that says you finish your book. It might need a transition and I think that you could also mention your ideas in your second part in your introduction so that it could be more clear. As a sum up, I think that you did a great job connecting the points. It just needs some transition and I think that the conclusion could summarize all of your points so that it would be more clear. In conclusion it was a good essay, and it just needs some editing to make it flow and ideas connected. 

For Grizzell:
I thought that it was a pretty good book review and you expressed your ideas pretty well, but at some parts was kind of confusing. I think that you should move your paragraphs around so that it would flow more better and cut down one of your body paragraphs into two parts because too much ideas are in it. It makes your point unclear. I thought at you included a good summary of the book and I think you could add one more quote to support some of your points. Your conclusion was good and it summarized your book.

The Hunger Games Rough Draft

     In The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, her purpose of writing this book is to show us how the future will become if our government took total control of the people. This relates to how the citizens aren't able to speak up for themselves and follow the orders that were given without backing up. This book also shows how survival of fitness determines who can win, as a connection to how humans took over and their strength and weakness.
      To give some background information of how she proposed her purpose she defines it by the game called the Hunger Games. In North America, it is divided in 12 districts, and each district has to sent out two teenagers from the age of 12-18 years old to compete in the games. From the two chosen, it has to include one boy and girl. The contestants are picked randomly and they would have to go to the hunger games located in the Capitol. In the game of 24 that were chosen, they have to fight for death and only one can survive, and the winning contestant will get food for their districts.

"The rules of the Hunger Games. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. [. . . ]To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against others." (Collins 18-19)

This shows what the districts have to go through when the Capitol takes control of them. The tributes will have no choice but to fight for their own lives. This is when they can no longer trust anyone at all and must only use their own strength to survive. Without the help of others, by working independently it will take up lots of effort and time. This shows how the Capitol ruled over the districts to show how Collins explains her purpose.

     She showed her purpose by putting the Capitol in total control and making the people fight each other for their lives. By this plot, it shows that we as individuals can't change what our government is doing when we are alone. The government is trying to make everyone go separate ways so that they could not be able to work together and over power them. The governments are weakening their skills. I think the purpose of this book is very important and it teaches us about the outcomes of our governments if they take total control over us.

      After finishing The Hunger Games, I thought that it was a very great book. It got very intense and exciting to read near the middle of the book. Its like you can not stop flipping the pages. This was really a great book, it taught me alot about how government runs when it takes control of the people. This book is intended to tell people about this kind of government system; warning the possibility that out government system might turn out this way.

      I think the audience this book is intended to are people that care about out government systems and how they function. I can tell because this book's theme is about how our government can manipulate the citizens. The tactics that they come up with to make the people in the game kill eat other. Indeed the government can become very cruel when they have too much power. This book can be given to anyone that is interested to knowing how governments function. Because twenty four people are participating in the games, this show that if we don't step up to make the change happen, or if they don't do anything to change the rules, they will never rise up against the government and stay forever controlled. I would recommend this book to people that are interested to knowing more about government systems. This book explains it in a different way to explain its theme. The story is also really good, so that it would not be as boring.
      I would describe the author's style of writing as using descriptive language through most of the book. She had good use of descriptive language and bad uses of descriptive language. Some of it wasn't really necessary and it was too much so it made it a but boring. The beginning of the book was boring to start with because it was too descriptive, but as it headed towards the middle, it got more interesting. My opinions of her style was good. Her descriptions helped me have a picture in my mind about what is happening in the story. It gave me a image of what is going on and what is happening about the surroundings.
One example of a  bad description would be:

 "Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you- the tributes of District Twelve!" (Collins 345).  

Another example of a good description would be:

 "When food is scarce, the game makers will invite players to a banquet, somewhere none to all like the cornucopia, as an inducement to gather and fight" (244).  

The first one wasn't good because they didn't put much description in it and it didn't really show lots of meaning in the line. It did not describe how they won and their victory. For the second quote it shows a meaning of the games. It shows that the government have control over the people and they can plan anything on the players since they are weaker. The stronger ones have a bigger advantage.

The Hunger Games: Book Review #2

1. For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?)
2. How would you describe the author's style of writing? What's your opinion of the style?

     After finishing The Hunger Games, I thought that it was a very great book. It got very intense and exciting to read near the middle of the book. Its like you can not stop flipping the pages. This was really a great book, it taught me alot about how government runs when it takes control of the people. This book is intended to tell people about this kind of government system; warning the possibility that out government system might turn out this way.

     I think the audience this book is intended to are people that care about out government systems and how they function. I can tell because this book's theme is about how our government can manipulate the citizens. The tactics that they come up with to make the people in the game kill eat other. Indeed the government can become very cruel when they have too much power. This book can be given to anyone that is interested to knowing how governments function. Because twenty four people are participating in the games, this show that if we don't step up to make the change happen, or if they don't do anything to change the rules, they will never rise up against the government and stay forever controlled. I would recommend this book to people that are interested to knowing more about government systems. This book explains it in a different way to explain its theme. The story is also really good, so that it would not be as boring.


     I would describe the author's style of writing as using descriptive language through most of the book. She had good use of descriptive language and bad uses of descriptive language. Some of it wasn't really necessary and it was too much so it made it a but boring. The beginning of the book was boring to start with because it was too descriptive, but as it headed towards the middle, it got more interesting. My opinions of her style was good. Her descriptions helped me have a picture in my mind about what is happening in the story. It gave me a image of what is going on and what is happening about the surroundings. 


One example of a  bad description would be:

 "Stop! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victors of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark! I give you- the tributes of District Twelve!" (Collins 345).  

Another example of a good description would be:

 "When food is scarce, the game makers will invite players to a banquet, somewhere none to all like the cornucopia, as an inducement to gather and fight" (244).  

The first one wasn't good because they didn't put much description in it and it didn't really show lots of meaning in the line. It did not describe how they won and their victory. For the second quote it shows a meaning of the games. It shows that the government have control over the people and they can plan anything on the players since they are weaker. The stronger ones have a bigger advantage.

  

Book Review: The Hunger Games

     In The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, her purpose of writing this book is to show us how the future will become if our government took total control of the people. This relates to how the citizens aren't able to speak up for themselves and follow the orders that were given without backing up. This book also shows how survival of fitness determines who can win, as a connection to how humans took over and their strength and weakness.

     To give some background information of how she proposed her purpose she defines it by the game called the Hunger Games. In North America, it is divided in 12 districts, and each district has to sent out two teenagers from the age of 12-18 years old to compete in the games. From the two chosen, it has to include one boy and girl. The contestants are picked randomly and they would have to go to the hunger games located in the Capitol. In the game of 24 that were chosen, they have to fight for death and only one can survive, and the winning contestant will get food for their districts.

"The rules of the Hunger Games. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. [. . . ]To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against others." (Collins 18-19)

This shows what the districts have to go through when the Capitol takes control of them. The tributes will have no choice but to fight for their own lives. This is when they can no longer trust anyone at all and must only use their own strength to survive. Without the help of others, by working independently it will take up lots of effort and time. This shows how the Capitol ruled over the districts to show how Collins explains her purpose.

     She showed her purpose by putting the Capitol in total control and making the people fight each other for their lives. By this plot, it shows that we as individuals can't change what our government is doing when we are alone. The government is trying to make everyone go separate ways so that they could not be able to work together and over power them. The governments are weakening their skills. I think the purpose of this book is very important and it teaches us about the outcomes of our governments if they take total control over us.
  

Family History Connections

     After reading many family histories, I noticed a connection between most of the stories. Most of them talked about how important education was and how hard it was for them to get it. Because of money, education was put aside so that they could help earn a living for the family. Money was also a connection that I discovered because most families had a struggle through money. Money was the problem for them, and because of money some families didn't get the chance to go to school.
    
 From these three stories, they all have a connection to education and the struggles of money:


     In Grizzell's family history it talks about how important education was and that how her mom's parents would do anything just to get the right education for her mom:

"To their family, education is key to a great and complete life. They believed that by getting a full education and having good grades in school, will help their family move up from poverty to a higher status in life. My mom’s parents did everything they could to get money, just for their children to have a complete education. Money was not the issue, but it was hard to handle."

This shows that education means a lot to her family and that money wasn't an issue. Even though they didn't have much money, they still wanted their kids to get the education that they need because it can help them be successful in their future lives. No matter what their struggles through money are, they will try all their ability to get the money so that their kids will get a good future.


     In David's family history he talks about how she didn't go to school when her sister and brother went. His mom thought that earning money for the family was more important than her education:

"When she was still a child, my mother would be working on the farm to support her family while the rest of her older brothers and sisters would be attending school. She didn’t go to school yet because she thought that supporting the family would be more important than and education. At home, she would do chores around the house and cook for the family. At age 8, she had finally attended school."

For David's mom, she thought that supporting her family was more important that getting her education. If her family had enough money, her mom would have the chance to go to school and she wouldn't have to work and earn money. Money was an big issue in her family and her mom didn't want to be a burden by going to school. This explains that if they had the money, her mom wouldn't have to go to school at the age of eight.


     In Phuong's family history, it talks about how her mom's family was very poor and her mom didn't really go  to school in her age. Her mom's struggle was surviving.

" School. I don't have school. No education. My only education is to work to survive. One parent. Two kids. Survival is the main thing. I am not like you. I did not have the same luxury as you where you stay at home after school complaining about homework and how hard it is. Homework is nowhere as hard as as work. It is harder because it is hot in Vietnam."

In this story Phuong's mom didn't even go to school at all. Money was in important issue and because they didn't have much money, all they could worry about is surviving. This is another example that shows how important money was and how they had struggles through it. Worse than David's mom and Grizzell's mom. Phuong's mom didn't even go to school because she didn't have enough money.

     From reading these three stories, most of them had to struggle through money, and because of money, some of them weren't able to acquire what they want. It made me realize that I should appreciate the fact that I got to go to school. I should realize that money people didn't have the chance like I did because of the struggle through money. Some families got to go to school, some started last, and some didn't even attend school just because of moeny.

The Cycles in Marriage

     In The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, it talks about the transition of Chinese women in America. Most of the stories were told by the mothers and daughters and their past and present life. In most of the stories, both the mother and daughter have problems with marriage. One specific cycle that keeps reoccurring is the issue with marriage. The example I have here is the mother and daughter problems from Lindo Jong and Waverly Jong. Their mother and daughter stories include a cycle that happens with both the mother and daughter.

     In Lindo Jong's story called The Red Candle, it talks about how she mis-fortunate she was to marry into a family that she didn't really like. Life was not exactly nice and she wanted to escape. Her husband didn't treat her very well, and she was treat more like a servant. She did appeal as a wife to her husband, but someone who should serve him and do whatever he commands. When she got out of the family, by telling a lie about how she would give misfortune to the the family, she escaped and married another man, she said:

"The Huangs asked only that I never tell anybody of any importance about the story of my doomed marriage" (Tan 66).  

This proves that Lindo Jong's life was not happy at all from the moment she married in . She never got the respect that she deserved and was not appreciated for what she has done. It was freedom that she felt after she left. With no more worries and a loan to carry behind her back.

"How nice it is to be that girl again, to take off my scarf, to see what is underneath and feel the lightness back into my body!" (Tan 66).

This could explain her happiness afterwards and the problems to her marriage was gone. The cycle continues on where her daughter had the same experience. She was also going to through problems with her marriage like her mother did.

     In the story of Four Directions, Waverly tells a story about her marriage that is going to be held for her and Rich. The problem is that Waverly is having a hard time persuading her mother that Rich is the person for her. Because her first marriage didn't go well because her mother criticized Marvin, her first husband. She feels that because of the criticism, her marriage was poisoned, and caused her to see only Marvin's faults. Now Waverly hopes that her realtionship with Rich will go well and not result as a disaster :

"I was afraid that some unseen speck of truth would fly into my eyes, blur what I was seeing and transform him from the divine man I thought he was into someone quite mundane, mortally wounded with tiresome habits and irritating imperfections" (Tan 173-174).

Waverly was worried that her marriage will end up like her last one and she wants to change things. She wants to persuade her mother that he is not that bad. All along Waverly thought that her mother hates Rich, but she knew about the engagement all along and was surprised about Waverly's assumption that she hated Rich.

     The stories of the mother and child includes a cycle about the problems that can occur through marriage. There includes more examples from the book, from how marriage can me a failure. Problems to these marriages are hidden and kept in the past, such as how Lindo hides that fact that she was married into a bad family and how Waverly hides that her last marriage didn't end up so well. Even though there were problems, both the mother and daughter had a happy ending and got what they want. The cycles that I discovered was marriage.