Katniss has her wedding gown photo shoot, and is still trying to rap her head around the idea of marrying Peeta. The night her photo shoot is aired, the Capitol makes an announcement. The next Hunger Games is the Quarter Quell. Every 25th year the Capitol does something "special" for the Hunger Games. For the first Quarter Quell, the districts had to vote for who would represent them in the games, basically, they were voting on who to kill. In the second Quarter Quell the Capitol forced the districts to submit twice as many tributes. For the upcoming Quarter Quell, the Capitol cooked something especially "special" up. The tributes will be pulled from the existing victors. The people who beat the system, went from poverty to riches, and didn't have to ever worry again about being entered in the Hunger Games, until now.
Katniss, being the only girl victor alive from her district is guaranteed a spot in the games. When she hears the news, her feelings over come her and she runs blindly from the house. She enters a abandoned house and screams for an hour finally collapsing into tears. The next dawn she staggers over to Haymich's house and proceeds to try alcohol on droning her grief. When she is finally cleaned up, she goes and talks to Haymich and Peeta and they devise a plan. They start training, getting back in shape, and preparing for the inevitable future.
Literary Devices
In the chapters I read, Suzanne did a good job of catching Katniss's reaction to the announcement. She made it seem very realistic. She caught the fear, self-pity, worry, and sadness all in a couple of pages. Suzanne took you there to the moment, and made you feel what Katniss was going through.
Creative Critical Reflection
Personally, I like Gale better than Peeta. I definitely think Katniss should choose him over Peeta. First of all, he seems manlier than Peeta, he seems to have a more mature, intense character. I still see Peeta as a plump baker's son, not living in the reality of the real world. The story about Peeta being in love with Katniss since 4th grade, not a turn-on. I mean, it is very sweet, but not that enticing. The thing that really counts against Peeta, is that it is a little too sweet. He is always ready to give his life to save Katniss's, like he is more in love with her than anything else in the entire world. It is a little bit creepy actually, or more, like an obsession.
I like Gale better, because he has known Katniss for a lot of her life, and not in the stalker-ish way either. He has learned things from Katniss, and also taught her. I think Katniss agree with me and likes Gale better in romantic type of like. I think she values Peeta's friendship over many other things, but it's just not the same. Unfortunately she is engaged to Peeta, so I don't know if Gale will be in luck.
Katniss Everdeen lost her father in a mine accident when she was in second grade. Her family didn't even have a proper funeral because he was vaporized into thin air in a mine explosion. Her mom went into shock and couldn't care for Katniss or her little sister Primrose. Her family was near starvation and Katniss was close to giving up when, Peeta, the baker's son, threw Katniss some slightly burnt bread. Running home with the burning bread under her shirt, they ate their first real meal in months. The act of kindness Peeta showed probably saved Katniss's life. The next day she remembered that her father had taught her to hunt in the forest. From that day on, she provided sustenance for her whole family.
When her little sister Primroses is chosen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, Katniss, out of love, volunteers to take her place. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which two contestants from the twelve districts are picked by lottery to battle to the death. The Games started after the districts tried to rebel against the Capital, and lost. As punishment the Hunger Games were created, and the people are forced to treat them as a holiday. The contestants are given around a week of prep-time, in which they are primped, trained, and interviewed all to win the favor of sponsors. During the games sponsors can send gifts to contestants of their choice, and this is often the difference between life and death.
Katniss surprises everyone. Contestants from district 12 (her district) are usually the first to go, but with her superior archery skills and knowledge of edible foliage she is actually a contender. However, she herself is surprised when Pitaa, the other boy contestant from her district confesses to his crush on her. Katniss has never really thought or cared about boys or love, so this is a whole new concept for her. At first she dismisses it because she knows he will have to die if she is to survive. However, it all changes when it is announced that two people from the same district can win this year. Throughout the rest of the games, Katniss plays the role of a star-crossed lover. She acts like she is falling in love with Pitaa, so that the crowd will love her and sponsors will give her more presents. She is thrown into a really love storey, and has to figure out how to steer through the waters of love, and at the same time, stay alive.
Katniss and Peeta finally are the last two contestants alive. Through forest fires, starvation, and near-death injuries they have survived together, when it is announced that actually, there can still only be one winner. Peeta is ready to kill himself so that Katniss can win, when she has an idea. She gives Peeta a handful of poison berries and takes one herself, and they plan to eat them on the count of three. Without a winner, the whole point of the Hunger Games is defeated, and as they are about to swallow the Capital is forced to let them both survive. But now, is seems as though Katniss is in even more trouble then she was in the arena. People think she showed up the Capital with her little berry trick, and now the Capital is laughing stock. Her only cover is that she was so madly in love with Pitaa that she couldn't be accountable for her actions. The only problem being, that she can't even start to untangle her accentual feelings for Peeta, then from what she was doing out of the need to survive.
The book ends with Katniss telling Peeta that everything she did during the Huger Games was because she wanted to live. Peeta immediately turns into a new person, it's like he puts on a mask of disinterest. If you think about it, he's been in love with her since he was five and finally she is reciprocating, when he finds out that she was only acting. Katniss still wants him to be her friend, but just needs time to figure stuff out. He wants to be more than friends, or nothing.
Diction and Rhetorical Devices
In this book Suzanne Collins did an excellent job keeping your attention. At no time in the book was I bored. From the very first page, I was itching to turn the next. One of the ways she did this was by ending a each chapter with a major development. For example, at end of the first chapter, Katniss has just volunteered to take her sisters place in the Hunger Games. This leaves you wondering what's going to happen next. When you start the new chapter, you can't just stop reading in the middle of the chapter. However, when you eventually get to the end, something else really important develops that makes you start the third chapter. I noticed this pattern in her writing, and have decided that if I ever write a book, I will defiantly use this technique. However, this was only one of her tricks to keep you intrigued.
Creative Critical Analysis
If you were to ask me what types of books I like to read, I would reply "every type of fiction." I can't fathom how people enjoy reading non-fiction. Well, actually I can, but it seems to me like a very dull genre. I'm sure there are plenty of wonderful books, but it just seems like fiction is the better category. The Hunger Games is an example of a very good fiction book, not a very sophisticated, but non-the-less still very capturing. I read part one, finishing before I had to go to bed, and I did not want to put the book down. It took all the self-restraint I had to give the book to my mom so that I didn't stay up reading. This isn't an uncommon phenomenon for me, if I have a good book; I want to finish it right then and there. This leads me to staying up till 1:15 a.m. on weekend nights. Also, for the first half of this time, I have to read on my closet floor with a light on, because if my dad sees the light in my room he will come in and take away my book.
But, back to The Hunger Games after putting down the book, I could not fall asleep. I just kept on thinking about what had happened so far, and trying to deduce what would happen in the end. The problem with me is that if I start something good, I HAVE to known what happens in the end. It usually isn't a problem, but for this type of assignment, it is better if you have a book that you don't love, because then you won't finish it in one weekend. For this type of assignment, it's best to analysis about two or so chapters, because then you can really go into depth. For example, you can ask questions in one post, then answer them in another. That is the optimal way to do this assignment. But, since I choose books I like to read, I usually finish them in that week.
