Journal 3

In this journal I am going to talk about how I think Katniss feels about the whole situation with Peeta. As we all know after the rule change now allowing two winners from the same district, Katniss finds Peeta and they team up. When she finds him, hes pretty beat up with a particularly big gash in his leg. They camp out in a small cave while she nurses back to moderate health. Katniss makes a realization during her time with Peeta. The more they keep up the "Star Crossed Lover" act, the more gifts they receive from sponsors. Well at least its an act for Katniss, as we know Peeta is truly in love with her as he states in his interview. Katniss and Peeta kiss on numerous occasions and the gifts keep rolling in, mostly food to keep the two going. Deep down I think Katniss is starting to develop some feelings for Peeta but not nearly as much as he loves her. I think it is a scenario where   an obligated fake love is shown but then a legit love comes out but in this case the legit love is not very strong or at least coming from Katniss. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Katniss must be thinking of how things will be if they are to return home with Gale awaiting her return. There has always been something between Gale and with him watching the games on TV, seeing all of the romance between the two will he be upset? Will he fight Peeta for the love of Katniss? What do you guys think?

Journal #3

In this journal I’m going to talk about what effect the novel Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins has on me.  All in all the book excited and interested me greatly. I finished the book pretty quickly, in about week, for these reasons. The book had a great amount of suspense and the author did not go into too much detail about the setting of this book early on. One of the reasons I kept on reading and reading was because I was hooked on this novel’s setting. The books dystopian future setting is great because of how different it is than the current world we live in. The sharp contrast of this society to the one we currently live in is very refreshing because it makes for a book that stands out from all the books about vampires, werewolves and wizards. I also felt that the author handled the plot very well. The book has a lot of great twists as well that made me want to continue reading. For example when Peeta was following the careers around and even went back to finish off one of the other contestants I wondered what was going on in his head and why he was doing this. Aspects like that made me want to continue reading this book. Another intriguing aspect was the back story behind President Snow. Not much at all is revealed about him other than the fact that he is extremely intimidating; similarly Haymitch’s backstory is a mystery as well. What caused a man so rich to fall so far? 

Journal #3

Throughout reading the novel I have noticed a few symbols. Firstly, Katniss’s mockingjay pin that was given to her by the mayor’s daughter to represent district 12. A real mockingjay is a bird that was originally a jabberjay formed by the Capitol to repeat information that they heard from the districts. Once the Capitol had no more use for the birds they left them in the wild and they mated with mockingbirds. They no longer can repeat messages, only songs or tunes. The mockingjay is a sign of rebellion to the Capitol, because they are something that the city couldn't’t control. The mockingjay reminds Katniss of her father because before he passed he used to sing to them and they would repeat his song. It is also associated with Rue, who had a love for music. She would sing a song to the birds to let the rest of her district know that they were finished working.
Secondly, dandelions symbolize hope. This is because after she had seen the dandelion she knew that she would have enough food to feed her family. Most people see these as nothing but weeds, but for Katniss it means keeping her family alive.
Lastly, food is a great symbol for wealth. The author puts huge emphasize on how the amount and variety of food in the Seam compared to the Capitol. In the Capitol they can have anything they wish to eat at a push of a button and they eat far more than they need. In the Seam there are many families that die from starvation and are lucky to be full after a meal. Also they have to work very hard for there food.

Journal #2

I think it was extremely wrong for Katniss to pretend to be in love with Peeta. She completely took advantage of his feelings to be able to win the Hunger Games. Her main reason for pretending to love him and kissing him was to get more gifts from her sponsors, which would help her win. She didn't care much for how Peeta would feel afterwards. I only believe Katniss healed him when he was wounded because she felt as if she owed him for basically saving her life twice in the past. However it could be possible that she helped Peeta because she cared for him as a friend. However, this is highly unlikely based on how much she disliked him during the training. It seems to me that Katniss has more romantic feelings for Gale rather than Peeta. This part of the book reminds me of the reality show “The Bachelor”. This show is where there is one bachelor who goes on dates with twenty-five women who wish to get married with him. A certain number of women are eliminated each week, until the bachelor is left with his final woman he wishes to marry. The reason why this show relates to The Hunger Games is because just like Katniss there are sometimes woman who go on the show for the wrong purpose. They see the show as a way to become famous, since every couple who is formed on The Bachelor is followed my paparazzi and documented in magazines. These woman lie about their feelings to achieve their goals just as Katniss does. In conclusion, I find if you were to relate what Katniss is doing to a real life situation she comes off as a rather careless person.

Journal 2, Capitol Hospitality

This journal will be talking about Katniss and Peetas stay at the Capitol Prior to the games and the differences between the capitol and district 12 (the seam). Along with all the other contestants, Katniss and Peeta have made the trip down to the Capitol for pre-Hunger Game activity. In the book the Capitol is a very rich place and the Seam in District 12 can be compared to a present day ghetto. While reading i noticed the transition from the Seam to the Capitol was drastic like turning a baby to an adult instantly. In the seam, food is are hard to come by and is often illegally sold and hunted, whereas in the Capitol, Katniss and Peeta were introduced to intricate dishes that were new to them.  Each District is also assigned a stylist crew to decide the wardrobe of the contestants. Since Katniss and Peeta are from a poor district they receive a rookie stylist named Cinna who is only making his first appearance as a Stylist at the Hunger Games. At first Katniss thought Cinna would be mean and arrogant but as we get to know more about him Katniss develops a trust in him. Cinna prepares Katniss and Peeta for the opening ceremonies in matching fire costumes that literally burnt bright! This flaming entry to the games won the two contestants the hearts of many sponsors for the Games who may later be more generous in giving gifts to them. Later on, each contestant gets a training session in front of judges who will give them a score. Katniss goes last as she is the girl from the last District. Most of the judges are tired and just want to go home and don't pay much attention to Katniss and this upsets her. Her rage escapes the chains that held it back and she shoots an arrow right through the apple in the mouth of the pig at the judges table nearly hitting a judge, then she storms out. On the day were the training scores are announced Katniss prepares for a low score, but the opposite happens, Katniss scores a remarkable 12 which was the highest of any other contestant. I thought she received a high score because the judges liked the intensity she showed and her impressive accuracy

Journal #2

In this book I’m going to talk about a couple of the major themes this book touches on. One of these is the clear cut theme of society. The citizens of the Districts, specifically places like The Seam, are lower class. Therefore they live in far poorer conditions than the ones the people of the Capitol live in. There is also the fact that the citizens of Panem have little to no control over where they stand in society. In this world you are either born poor or born rich and if you’re born poor it is incredibly likely that you will die poor as well. I found the class based system within this book is extremely similar to the medieval feudal system. The citizens of the districts are the peasants, the peace keepers are knights, the people of the Capitol are the lords and the leader of the country is the king. In fact, it’s a little bit ironic. After the disaster that destroyed America overall society devolved into the archaic and forgotten feudal system. It is obvious after reading the book that there’s nothing the people of this country can do to change their class levels either, it all depends on where the person in born. The people of the Capitol can push a button and have their food appear on a platter before them whilst the people of the district have to ,illegally, forage and hunt in the woods around their district. This society is extremely unbalanced and as with almost every totalitarian government to have previously existed eventually the people will riot. 

Journal 1

In the first few chapters of the book The Hunger Games, the reaping takes place. The reaping is a grand draw with all the names of the people aged 12 to 18 in which one boys name and one girls name is picked to go to the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are an annual thing in which all the contestants fight untill death until one contestant is left. Each person in the age brackets name is entered once at age 12, twice at age 13 and so fourth. But in exchange for extra food you can have your name entered extra times.  This process is called a teserae. Katniss is the protagonist and she lives with her sister Prim and their mother. Katniss' father was killed in a fatal mine explosion and since then Katniss has taken responsibility for the food and care of the family by hunting and receiving teseraes due to the slum sad behaviour of her mother who hasn't been the same after the family tragedy. Katniss has a friend Gale who she hunts illegally with and they have become very close almost like family, but Katniss want more than that? I think so. Just before the reaping he tells Katniss to look pretty there, this gives her a fuzzy feeling inside which means she must have some feelings for him. Skipping ahead to the reaping, this year is prims first time being entered but since she is only entered once there is a low probability of her getting picked, but it happens, she is picked to got to the Games, but then Katniss comes to the rescue of her sister by volounteering to go in place of young innocent Prim.
#SWAG