APPLYING LITERARY
CRITICISM TO
THE HUNGER GAMES
ALSO: Writing a Thesis About Literature
Applying Marxist Criticism to The Hunger Games
• Questions:
• 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?
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?
– How is entertainment seen as a tool of oppression in these books?
What Other Literary Theories Might Fit Weill
When Examining The Hunger Games ?
• Consider the Characters:
• What kind of a person is Katniss Everdeen?
• 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?
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”:
Katniss is 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 antiheroes who are morally “grey” and complex?
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?
Quote from “Killer Katniss and Loverboy Peeta:
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-yearold 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.”
Writing a Thesis About
Literature
Continuing Work on your Research Paper
Step One: Know Your Purpose
• Read the Guidelines on “Writing About Literature”
pg. 6—19
• Step one is to know and understand your purpose in
writing about your chosen piece of literature.
• You are Option 2 in the textbook: Writing to Interpret
• You are using a Literary (Critical) Theory to
INTERPRET a piece of literature.
• This means that you are using the insights your chosen
theory gives you to argue and explain your work of
literature's possible meanings and significance.
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.
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.
A Weak Thesis Statement
• A Weak Thesis:
We can see that 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 and
simplistic.
• Also, 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?
Revised Thesis:
• Weak:
• We can see that the short stories “Greasy Lake” and “To
Build a Fire” are similar because they are both about
nature. (no theory mentioned?)
• Stronger:
• When looking at T.C. Boyle’s “Greasy Lake” and Jack
London’s “To Build a Fire” through the lens of formalist
criticism, we see that both works use formal choices to present
nature as a harsh, unforgiving antagonist, while
simultaneously their tone and implied theme emphasize the
importance of a connection between humanity and nature.
A Weak Thesis Statement:
• Katniss is not your typical girl and we can
see in the books how she is more like a guy.
Revised Thesis:
• Katniss is not your typical girl (trite phrase, overused, nonacademic) and we can see in the books how she is more like
a guy.
• NOTE: If you are arguing against stereotypical gender roles and
calling into question our society’s assumptions about what a
girl/guy is “supposed to” act like, don’t fall into the guy vs girl
dichotomy yourself!
• Katniss Everdeen challenges stereotypical gender roles not only
through her actions and attitudes within the world of the book,
but also through her real-world reality as a young adult
protagonist and action hero that appeals to girls and boys
equally, proving that boys can identify with and even emulate
female protagonists.
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.
Next Week: Week 16
• Tuesday, May 26
• Topics: Editing and Proofreading the Research Paper.
Perfecting MLA citation and more!
• Homework Due:
• Bring a copy of your Research Paper to edit and work on in class.
• Thursday, May 28
• Topics: Last Day of Class. Final Exam Prep.
• Homework Due:
• Essay 3: The Literary Criticism Research Paper – printed and
stapled copy due in class, digital copy due on turnitin.com
• ANY and ALL Late Assignments