The Politics Of Panem

The Hunger Games trilogy is a popular culture success. Embraced by adults as well as adolescents, Suzanne Collins’s bestselling books have inspired an equally popular film franchise. But what, if anything, can reading the Hunger Games tell us about what it means to be human in the world today? What complex social and political issues does the trilogy invite readers to explore? Does it merely entertain, or does it also instruct? Bringing together scholars in literacy education and the humanities, The Politics of Panem: Challenging Genres examines how the Hunger Games books and films, when approached from the standpoint of theory, can challenge readers and viewers intellectually. At the same time, by subjecting Collins’s trilogy to literary criticism, this collection of essays challenges its complexity as an example of dystopian literature for adolescents. How can applying philosophic frameworks such as those attributable to Socrates and Foucault to the Hunger Games trilogy deepen our appreciation for the issues it raises? What, if anything, can we learn from considering fan responses to the Hunger Games? How might adapting the trilogy for film complicate its ability to engage in sharp-edged social criticism? By exploring these and other questions, The Politics of Panem: Challenging Genres invites teachers, students, and fans of the Hunger Games to consider how Collins’s trilogy, as a representative of young adult dystopian fiction, functions as a complex narrative. In doing so, it highlights questions and issues that lend themselves to critical exploration in secondary and college classrooms.

Set in the future dystopia of Panem, The Hunger Games trilogy follows the rise of a provincial rebellion against the wealthy and tyrannical "Capitol." As narrator and heroine, Katniss Everdeen comes to embody the hope of the long oppressed for a new order. During her journey some of our most urgent political questions are addressed. What does it mean to be a leader? Can the oppressed recover a political identity that affirms individual values and freedoms? Do the media necessarily corrupt political discourse? This critical study of The Hunger Games explores novels in the context of how we think about the nature of politics, the value of the individual and the importance of political action. The author draws parallels between Panem and the Roman Empire, considering Herod's Massacre of the Innocents alongside Haymitch Abernathy's elusive political influence as mentor of tributes. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Set in the future dystopia of Panem, The Hunger Games trilogy follows the rise of a provincial rebellion against the wealthy and tyrannical “Capitol.” As narrator and heroine, Katniss Everdeen comes to embody the hope of the long oppressed for a new order. During her journey some of our most urgent political questions are addressed. What does it mean to be a leader? Can the oppressed recover a political identity that affirms individual values and freedoms? Do the media necessarily corrupt political discourse? This critical study of The Hunger Games explores novels in the context of how we think about the nature of politics, the value of the individual and the importance of political action. The author draws parallels between Panem and the Roman Empire, considering Herod’s Massacre of the Innocents alongside Haymitch Abernathy’s elusive political influence as mentor of tributes. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Includes 3 brand new essays on Gale, the Games, and Mockingjay! **Already read the first edition of The Girl Who Was on Fire? Look for The Girl Who Was on Fire - Booster Pack to get just the three new essays and the extra movie content.** Katniss Everdeen's adventures may have come to an end, but her story continues to blaze in the hearts of millions worldwide. In The Girl Who Was on Fire - Movie Edition, sixteen YA authors take you back to the world of the Hunger Games with moving, dark, and funny pieces on Katniss, the Games, Gale and Peeta, reality TV, survival, and more. From the trilogy's darker themes of violence and social control to fashion and weaponry, the collection's exploration of the Hunger Games reveals exactly how rich, and how perilous, Panem, and the series, really is. • How does the way the Games affect the brain explain Haymitch's drinking, Annie's distraction, and Wiress' speech problems? • What does the rebellion have in common with the War on Terror? • Why isn't the answer to “Peeta or Gale?" as interesting as the question itself? • What should Panem have learned from the fates of other hedonistic societies throughout history—and what can we? CONTRIBUTORS: Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Mary Borsellino, Sarah Rees Brennan, Terri Clark, Bree Despain, Adrienne Kress, Sarah Darer Littman, Cara Lockwood, Elizabeth M. Rees, Carrie Ryan, Ned Vizzini, Lili Wilkinson, Blythe Woolston, Diana Peterfreund (NEW), Brent Hartinger (NEW), Jackson Pearce (NEW)

Ambition will fuel him. Competition will drive him. But power has its price. It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute. The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined - every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

The greatly anticipated final book in the New York Times bestselling Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The greatly anticipated final book in the New York Times bestselling Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss Everdeen. The final book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins will have hearts racing, pages turning, and everyone talking about one of the biggest and most talked-about books and authors in recent publishing history!

A philosophical exploration of Suzanne Collins's New York Times bestselling series, just in time for the release of The Hunger Games movie Katniss Everdeen is "the girl who was on fire," but she is also the girl who made us think, dream, question authority, and rebel. The post-apocalyptic world of Panem's twelve districts is a divided society on the brink of war and struggling to survive, while the Capitol lives in the lap of luxury and pure contentment. At every turn in the Hunger Games trilogy, Katniss, Peeta, Gale, and their many allies wrestle with harrowing choices and ethical dilemmas that push them to the brink. Is it okay for Katniss to break the law to ensure her family's survival? Do ordinary moral rules apply in the Arena? Can the world of The Hunger Games shine a light into the dark corners of our world? Why do we often enjoy watching others suffer? How can we distinguish between what's Real and Not Real? This book draws on some of history's most engaging philosophical thinkers to take you deeper into the story and its themes, such as sacrifice, altruism, moral choice, and gender. Gives you new insights into the Hunger Games series and its key characters, plot lines, and ideas Examines important themes such as the state of nature, war, celebrity, authenticity, and social class Applies the perspective of some of world's greatest minds, such as Charles Darwin, Thomas Hobbes, Friedrich Nietzsche, Plato, and Immanuel Kant to the Hunger Games trilogy Covers all three books in the Hunger Games trilogy An essential companion for Hunger Games fans, this book will take you deeper into the dystopic world of Panem and into the minds and motivations of those who occupy it.

When The Hunger Games series began in 2008, many commentators lumped it in with other young adult genre fiction. But The Hunger Games was always more political. It’s since become the defining story for a generation that’s grown up with economic crisis and never ending war. An uber-rich ruling class gorge themselves in their gleaming high-tech Capitol, while working people are left behind to survive in exploited districts. Revolution is a forgotten hope kept at bay by brutal policing, aching poverty, and rigid class segregation. Suzanne Collins' dark vision has only become more relevant as The Hunger Games generation are thrown into an arena of increasingly brutal competition from which it seems like there is no escape, amid the climate crisis, global pandemics, rampant inequality, authoritarianism, media misinformation, and violence and cruelty as TV spectacle. It's no wonder the story continues to resonate. Stay Alive uses the story to shed light on our own age of extreme inequalities and climate collapse, in which elites use state power, compliant media, and violent spectacle to pacify their populations. The elite endgame is leading us towards our own version of Panem, an authoritarian state order we’ll call Capitolism. The world is catching fire. Elites have no intention of burning with us. And yet there is hope, which Michael Harris finds for his readers in revolution and radical solidarity, in the anti-authoritarian, empathetic, cooperative politics of a generation that has no choice but to rebel.