Sunday 26 January 2014

The Hunger Games


Director: Gary Ross
Writers: Gary Ross (screenplay), Suzanne Collins (screenplay)
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth


  • In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided between 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal retribution for a past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives.
    - Written by Suzanne Collins

SEE TRAILER


TEACHING RESOURCES


The Hunger Games is a 2008 science fiction novel by the American writer Suzanne Collins. It is written in the voice of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the dystopian, post-apocalyptic nation of Panem in North America. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, exercises political control over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12–18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle to the death.
The book received mostly positive feedback from major reviewers and authors. It was praised for its storyline and character development, though some reviewers have noted similarities between Collins' book and Koushun Takami's Battle Royale (1999). 
In writing The Hunger Games, Collins drew upon Greek mythology, Roman gladiatorial games, and contemporary reality television for thematic content. The novel won many awards, including the California Young Reader Medal, and was named one of Publishers Weekly's "Best Books of the Year" in 2008.

Lesson Plan for the Movie: "The Hunger Games"

Only for the educator: 

Click on the link for general Information about the film: 

Hunger Games Glance






ACTIVITIES:

A. BEFORE WATCHING THE FILM

The Hunger Games is set in a future dystopia.

What is a dystopia?

Click on the link to do the activity: Dystopian Fiction

dystopia (from Ancient Greek) anti-utopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state which seems to be ideal. Dystopian societies feature different kinds of repressive social control systems. Ideas and works about dystopian societies often explore the concept of humans abusing technology and humans individually and collectively coping, or not being able to properly cope with technology that has progressed far more rapidly than humanity's spiritual evolution. Dystopian societies are often imagined as police states, with unlimited power over the citizens.


B. WATCH THE FILM


C. AFTER WATCHING THE FILM

The Hunger Games Questionnaire:

Activity #1 – Justice in Panem

1. What are District’s people’s lives like? Why is the film called “The Hunger Games"? What rights do people not have?

2. How are violence and threats used to oppress the people of Panem? What does oppression (the mistreatment or exploitation) demonstrated by Panem as the dominant group in society over the citizens of the districts look like, feel like and sound like?

These themes will re-emerge in Activity 2.

3. Click on the link to do the activity: District 12