Young Adult Novel: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I know quite a few of us in the course are blogging about it, but I was honestly curious to read this and see if it would be suitable as a secondary school text. The story features a 16-year-old heroine, Katniss Everdeen who lives in the post-apocalyptic universe of Panem, a country which consists of the wealthy Capitol and 12 districts that live in povery under the tyrannical dictatorship of President Snow. 75 years prior to the start of the novel, there was a national rebellion among the districts, which resulted in the destruction of District 13 by the Capitol. The Capitol devised the Hunger Games, an annual event to punish the districts and to remind them of the consequences of their rebellion.
At the annual 'reaping,' the Capitol selects a boy and girl from each district, between the ages of 12 and 18, to compete as tribute in the games, where only one winner can emerge from this televised, fight-to-the-death event. When Katniss' beloved younger, sister, Prim, gets selected as tribute for District 12, she volunteers to take her place. Together with fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark, Katniss is taken to the Capitol for intense training before they are thrown into the arena. The horrific game is then broadcast nation-wide as voyeuristic entertainment to the wealthy citizens of the Capitol, and as a cruel reminder of the oppression over the Districts.
Suzanne Collins was inspired to write The Hunger Games when she was channel surfing between reality TV programmes and actual war coverage. As she was feeling tired, the lines began to blur in a very disturbing way, and the story was birthed. Interestingly, Suzanne Collins shared that the story was also influenced by the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. "The myth tells how in punishment for past deeds, Athens periodically had to send seven youths and seven maidens to Crete, where they were thrown in the Labyrinth and devoured by the monstrous Minotaur,"
MOE recommended text: The Conch Bearer by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Conch Bearer is a fantasy novel set in modern India, which features 12-year-old Anand, as its protagonist. After Anand's father mysteriously disappears, his middle-class family plunges into sudden poverty and Anand has to quit school to work at Haru's tea shop. The family is also afflicted with the tragedy of his younger sister, Meera, who suffered from deep trauma and depression since she witnessed a murder.
One day, Anand encounters a strange old beggar at the tea shop, whom he pities and sacrifices his meal for. Later at night, he finds the same old man outside his door. The old man introduces himself as Abhaydatta, and tells Anand that he is from a group of healers, known as the Brotherhood, who live in the Silver Valley, seated in the Himalayas. There, they employ their magical powers to help humanity. Unfortunately, they were betrayed by one of their own members, Surabhanu, who stole the powerful, magical conch. A team of healers were sent to retrieve the conch. Abhaydatta and his partner were able to recover the conch, but at the expense of his partner's life.
Abhaydatta asks for Anand's help to return the conch to the crystal shrine in the Silver Valley and shares that he was drawn to Anand because of his belief in magic, and his kind heart. Initially, Anand is torn between pursuing his dreams of magic and adventure, and his own responsibilities towards his family. But after Abhaydatta heals Meera from her deep depression, Anand and his mother are truly convinced that Abhaydatta is telling the truth about being a healer.
After painfully leaving his family behind, Anand embarks on a perilous journey with Abhaydatta and a resourceful, feisty, orphan-girl named Nisha, whom he meets along the way. Anand discovers the magical powers of the conch, overcomes several obstacles and even, Surabhanu himself. But most importantly, Anand overcomes the battle within himself to learn about the power of compassion, sacrifice, courage and friendship. In some ways, there are a few similarities between this story and The Lord of the Rings. For example, the figure of the unexpected hero; elements of magic and fantasy; a 'fellowship' and themes that deal with the corruptive nature of power, and the redemptive nature of compassion and love etc.
Other Text: Everything But The Brain by Jean Tay
As someone who admittedly does not read much local literature, especially from the drama genre, I decided to pick up Jean Tay's acclaimed Everything But The Brain. It won Best Original Script at The Strait Times Life! Theatre Awards in 2006, and has been selected as an 'O' and 'N'-Level literature text in Singaporean schools (I suppose that negates the need for me to discuss whether it is a suitable secondary school text).
Everything But The Brain revolves around the main character of Elaine, an unmarried, 36-year-old secondary school physics teacher, who lives with her father, a retired professor of physics. It has been just the two of them for the last 30 years because of her parents' divorce and her mother's passing, a few years earlier. Elaine's world is shaken when her father, whom she is extremely close to, suffers his first stroke at the age of 66. She decides to take a year off from work to take care of her ailing father. As his condition deteriorates with the second and third stroke, Elaine finds herself desperately battling against time and her own emotions. She devises a plan to go back in time, to a nostalgic moment in her past when her father taught her the theory of relativity using the metaphor of three bears and a train. The three bears are also characters in the play, who take on the role of a chorus that constantly reminds Elaine and the audience of the brutal constancy and passing of time. Along the way, she meets a young, handsome doctor, Sam. However, Elaine's crush on the doctor ends with an ironic twist on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale.
I was rather surprised at how much I enjoyed this play, and it is not hard to see why it has been selected as a secondary school text. It was witty, brilliant, moving and poignant. There are many timeless themes embedded with this play that are relatable and relevant for Singaporean students, such as family, relationships, memory and the notion of time. Perhaps the most impactful message that the play conveys is that despite the constancy of time as a truth, the greater and more powerful truth is the constancy of love. As Dr K.K. Seet so eloquently summarized the play, "though the title of the play foregrounds the brain, the crux of the drama ultimately apotheosies the heart and its capacity for love."
Out of these three novels, I will discuss the suitability of The Hunger Games as a secondary school text. I think it will be a good YA text to use either at Sec 2 Express or Sec 3 Express level, depending on the areas of focus. It is quite a rivetting read, which would hook students who do not usually like to read. In fact, neighbourhood schools who do not have a strong reading culture may seriously want to consider this text to trigger/sustain interest in literature (at the surface level, boys would be attracted to the action/plot and girls to the romance). In fact, many American schools are already using it as a literature text and have been very successful at engaging student interest (this also means that there are many resources available online for lesson plans/assessment ideas etc.) During my contract teaching, I would highlight examples from The Hunger Games to talk about plot and character, and connect it with the text I was teaching. This would always create an excited buzz among the students, so I do forsee that it could work quite well with them.
The novel is generally an easy read and is not filled with a lot of literary devices, except for irony contrast/juxtaposition, allusions and symbolism. However, it is quite rich thematically which makes it particularly suited for a reader-response or post-structuralist approach. Students would be able to dialogue and ask critical questions about establishment of governments, individual freedom, propaganda, war, class systems, social constructs of gender, gender stereotypes, science, technology and mutations, desensitization to violence and more. These themes are all powerfully linked to current issues that are happening in the world around us.
Having said that, these themes may be more suited for the Secondary 3 students, who have more maturity to delve into them. As for the Secondary 2 students, they could still study it and focus more on plot, character and themes that are easier for them to understand. With excited and engaged learners, plentiful resources for lesson plans, creative projects/assessments, teaching it should be really fun too! (I hope MOE considers putting this on their recommended list)
"The arenas are historic sites, preserved after the Games. Popular destinations
for Capitol residents to visit, to vacation....visit the sites where the deaths took place.
You can even take part in re-enactments.
They say the food is excellent."
I know quite a few of us in the course are blogging about it, but I was honestly curious to read this and see if it would be suitable as a secondary school text. The story features a 16-year-old heroine, Katniss Everdeen who lives in the post-apocalyptic universe of Panem, a country which consists of the wealthy Capitol and 12 districts that live in povery under the tyrannical dictatorship of President Snow. 75 years prior to the start of the novel, there was a national rebellion among the districts, which resulted in the destruction of District 13 by the Capitol. The Capitol devised the Hunger Games, an annual event to punish the districts and to remind them of the consequences of their rebellion.
At the annual 'reaping,' the Capitol selects a boy and girl from each district, between the ages of 12 and 18, to compete as tribute in the games, where only one winner can emerge from this televised, fight-to-the-death event. When Katniss' beloved younger, sister, Prim, gets selected as tribute for District 12, she volunteers to take her place. Together with fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark, Katniss is taken to the Capitol for intense training before they are thrown into the arena. The horrific game is then broadcast nation-wide as voyeuristic entertainment to the wealthy citizens of the Capitol, and as a cruel reminder of the oppression over the Districts.
Suzanne Collins was inspired to write The Hunger Games when she was channel surfing between reality TV programmes and actual war coverage. As she was feeling tired, the lines began to blur in a very disturbing way, and the story was birthed. Interestingly, Suzanne Collins shared that the story was also influenced by the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. "The myth tells how in punishment for past deeds, Athens periodically had to send seven youths and seven maidens to Crete, where they were thrown in the Labyrinth and devoured by the monstrous Minotaur,"
MOE recommended text: The Conch Bearer by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Conch Bearer is a fantasy novel set in modern India, which features 12-year-old Anand, as its protagonist. After Anand's father mysteriously disappears, his middle-class family plunges into sudden poverty and Anand has to quit school to work at Haru's tea shop. The family is also afflicted with the tragedy of his younger sister, Meera, who suffered from deep trauma and depression since she witnessed a murder.
One day, Anand encounters a strange old beggar at the tea shop, whom he pities and sacrifices his meal for. Later at night, he finds the same old man outside his door. The old man introduces himself as Abhaydatta, and tells Anand that he is from a group of healers, known as the Brotherhood, who live in the Silver Valley, seated in the Himalayas. There, they employ their magical powers to help humanity. Unfortunately, they were betrayed by one of their own members, Surabhanu, who stole the powerful, magical conch. A team of healers were sent to retrieve the conch. Abhaydatta and his partner were able to recover the conch, but at the expense of his partner's life.
Abhaydatta asks for Anand's help to return the conch to the crystal shrine in the Silver Valley and shares that he was drawn to Anand because of his belief in magic, and his kind heart. Initially, Anand is torn between pursuing his dreams of magic and adventure, and his own responsibilities towards his family. But after Abhaydatta heals Meera from her deep depression, Anand and his mother are truly convinced that Abhaydatta is telling the truth about being a healer.
After painfully leaving his family behind, Anand embarks on a perilous journey with Abhaydatta and a resourceful, feisty, orphan-girl named Nisha, whom he meets along the way. Anand discovers the magical powers of the conch, overcomes several obstacles and even, Surabhanu himself. But most importantly, Anand overcomes the battle within himself to learn about the power of compassion, sacrifice, courage and friendship. In some ways, there are a few similarities between this story and The Lord of the Rings. For example, the figure of the unexpected hero; elements of magic and fantasy; a 'fellowship' and themes that deal with the corruptive nature of power, and the redemptive nature of compassion and love etc.
Other Text: Everything But The Brain by Jean Tay
"You are the one true thing in my life.
The one thing that never made sense."
As someone who admittedly does not read much local literature, especially from the drama genre, I decided to pick up Jean Tay's acclaimed Everything But The Brain. It won Best Original Script at The Strait Times Life! Theatre Awards in 2006, and has been selected as an 'O' and 'N'-Level literature text in Singaporean schools (I suppose that negates the need for me to discuss whether it is a suitable secondary school text).
Everything But The Brain revolves around the main character of Elaine, an unmarried, 36-year-old secondary school physics teacher, who lives with her father, a retired professor of physics. It has been just the two of them for the last 30 years because of her parents' divorce and her mother's passing, a few years earlier. Elaine's world is shaken when her father, whom she is extremely close to, suffers his first stroke at the age of 66. She decides to take a year off from work to take care of her ailing father. As his condition deteriorates with the second and third stroke, Elaine finds herself desperately battling against time and her own emotions. She devises a plan to go back in time, to a nostalgic moment in her past when her father taught her the theory of relativity using the metaphor of three bears and a train. The three bears are also characters in the play, who take on the role of a chorus that constantly reminds Elaine and the audience of the brutal constancy and passing of time. Along the way, she meets a young, handsome doctor, Sam. However, Elaine's crush on the doctor ends with an ironic twist on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale.
I was rather surprised at how much I enjoyed this play, and it is not hard to see why it has been selected as a secondary school text. It was witty, brilliant, moving and poignant. There are many timeless themes embedded with this play that are relatable and relevant for Singaporean students, such as family, relationships, memory and the notion of time. Perhaps the most impactful message that the play conveys is that despite the constancy of time as a truth, the greater and more powerful truth is the constancy of love. As Dr K.K. Seet so eloquently summarized the play, "though the title of the play foregrounds the brain, the crux of the drama ultimately apotheosies the heart and its capacity for love."
Out of these three novels, I will discuss the suitability of The Hunger Games as a secondary school text. I think it will be a good YA text to use either at Sec 2 Express or Sec 3 Express level, depending on the areas of focus. It is quite a rivetting read, which would hook students who do not usually like to read. In fact, neighbourhood schools who do not have a strong reading culture may seriously want to consider this text to trigger/sustain interest in literature (at the surface level, boys would be attracted to the action/plot and girls to the romance). In fact, many American schools are already using it as a literature text and have been very successful at engaging student interest (this also means that there are many resources available online for lesson plans/assessment ideas etc.) During my contract teaching, I would highlight examples from The Hunger Games to talk about plot and character, and connect it with the text I was teaching. This would always create an excited buzz among the students, so I do forsee that it could work quite well with them.
The novel is generally an easy read and is not filled with a lot of literary devices, except for irony contrast/juxtaposition, allusions and symbolism. However, it is quite rich thematically which makes it particularly suited for a reader-response or post-structuralist approach. Students would be able to dialogue and ask critical questions about establishment of governments, individual freedom, propaganda, war, class systems, social constructs of gender, gender stereotypes, science, technology and mutations, desensitization to violence and more. These themes are all powerfully linked to current issues that are happening in the world around us.
Having said that, these themes may be more suited for the Secondary 3 students, who have more maturity to delve into them. As for the Secondary 2 students, they could still study it and focus more on plot, character and themes that are easier for them to understand. With excited and engaged learners, plentiful resources for lesson plans, creative projects/assessments, teaching it should be really fun too! (I hope MOE considers putting this on their recommended list)
Yes-yes-yes! to your final words on The Hunger Games! I really hope to see it in the literature curriculum soon. You took the words right out of my mouth when you wrote that it would capture the population of reluctant readers and sustain their interest. I think the sparing amounts of violence and romance would be especially enticing too.
ReplyDeleteMy only worry is whether it fits into the mould of 'good' literature and whether we can truly use to teach since it is essentially popular fiction. Then again, many of the classics started off as pop fiction, disregarded by the critics, too.. :P
Wondering it The Hunger Games is too thick. Do you think that putting it on the curriculum will kill the joy of reading it? You know, like putting Harry Potter on the school curriculum? :)
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