Description
NO AI, Answer the questions with 8th grade writing.
Unformatted Attachment Preview
CREDIT
1
SGI English 10B Intensive
SGI ENGLISH 10B INTENSIVE
CREDIT 1
Comprehension Focus Lesson
Author’s Purpose
Writing Task
Argument Essay
Student Name: ________________________________
Reading 1: “The Giver”
Novel Excerpt
Reading 2: “The Hunger Games”
Novel Excerpt
Credit Opener: Utopia or Dystopia?
Directions: Read the Learning Goals listed in the Self-Assessment scale below.
Next, rate your knowledge and understanding.
Assessment Scale:
1 = I don’t understand it yet.
2 = I understand but I need more practice.
3 = I understand and can do this on my own.
4 = I can do this and explain it to someone else.
Learning Goal #1:
I can identify the author’s purpose in a text.
Score: _______
Learning Goal #2:
I can use commas correctly when writing dates and places.
Score: _______
Learning Goal #3:
I can write an argument essay.
Score: _______
Directions: Read the passage below, then answer the questions on the right.
Imagine a world in which you
have no choices. Imagine a world
where you are forced to conform,
whether you know you’re conforming
or not. Imagine a world where you can
be watched by “authority” whenever
they choose. Imagine a world where
other people control your pain.
Imagine a world where you are
controlled by people you have never
met, and it could cost you your life.
What causes people to go along
with the crowd, despite the cost?
Many writers have created such
places. Welcome to Utopia…or is it
Dystopia?
1. Should the government restrict personal freedoms for
the good of the community? For example, should they be
able to tell you how many children you can have to prevent
overpopulation or who you can marry to eliminate divorce?
Why or why not?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
2. Have you ever felt like someone or something had too
much control over your life? Explain the who or what, and
why you felt that way.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
1
ACADEMIC VOCABULARY
Directions: Use the Vocabulary Slides for 10B Credit 1 to complete the vocabulary definitions.
Then, complete the sentences using your knowledge of the vocabulary words.
.
Target Word
Meaning
a place that is ideally perfect
utopia
with perfect ______________,
u-to-pi-a
___________________, and
(noun)
________________________
a place that gives off the
illusion of a perfect place but is
dystopia
Sentences
• In a utopia, there is plenty
____________________________.
• In a dystopia, there isn’t any
____________________________.
________________, ________
dys-to-pi-a
_______________________,
(noun)
and _____________________
_____________________________
community
a group of people with
common _________________
com-mu-ni-ty
(noun)
• A center for the community can be
helpful by ___________________
or ________________ living
together within a larger society
____________________________.
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
2
ACADEMIC VOCABULARY
Target Word
Meaning
to forbid something by
Sentences
• My parent prohibited me from
prohibit
____________, ____________,
doing ______________________
or _______________________
___________________________.
pro-hib-it
(verb)
an attempt to resist
rebellion
re-bell-i-on
(noun)
• Teenagers often try to stage a
_________________________,
rebellion against their
________________________,
___________________________
or _______________________.
because _____________________.
Practice with Vocabulary: Use complete sentences.
1. What is something you are prohibited from doing? How does that make you feel?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Name a movie or a TV show where there was a rebellion? Explain what happened.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. What is a community you are a part of? What do you share in common with your community?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
3
COMPREHENSION FOCUS LESSON
Must be completed
with Literacy Teacher
Author’s Purpose
Directions: HIGHLIGHT the answers to the questions in the chart below. CIRCLE the examples.
.
Authors always write for a reason.
What are those reasons?
Why do authors write to persuade?
How do authors write to inform?
Why do authors write to entertain?
Remember PIE:
• to Persuade
• to Inform
• to Entertain
Opinions: They give details that state a belief such as “I believe” or
“People should”
• Example: TV commercial, a political speech
Facts: They give statistics, descriptions, definitions, explanations,
quotations, citations
• Example: Science article, news article
Emotions: They give details that create emotions such as happiness
or fear
• Example: Novel, movie
Directions: Read the descriptions of each item and determine the author’s main purpose (to
entertain, persuade, or inform). Then, in a sentence or two, explain your answer. The first one
has been done for you.
1. A story about a family trying to stick together and survive through the Great Depression in the Midwest
in the 1930s.
Author’s Purpose: ____Entertain______________________
Explain Your Answer: __This is a story and stories are meant to entertain.____________
2. An article where the author argues that an iPhone is better than an Android phone.
Author’s Purpose: ____________________________________
Explain Your Answer: _____________________________________________________________________
3. A section in a history book describing the conditions and causes of the Great depression in the Midwest
in the 1930s.
Author’s Purpose: ____________________________________
Explain Your Answer: _____________________________________________________________________
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
4
COMPREHENSION FOCUS LESSON
Must be completed
with Literacy Teacher
Directions: Determine the author’s purpose for each example: inform, persuade, or entertain.
Then, in a sentence or two, explain your answer.
1.
Author’s Purpose: _____________________________
Explain Your Answer:
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
2. Once upon a time in a faraway land, there lived a beautiful, magic frog named Frogella. This frog was so
beautiful that people would come from far and wide to admire her. As if being this beautiful were not
enough, Frogella could turn rocks into diamonds. Her father feared that an evil villain in the neighboring
kingdom had plans to kidnap Frogella and use her magic to get rich. He visited the magic penguin and
asked that she put a spell on Frogella so that no one from the neighboring village could recognize her. She
sent a potion home for Frogella to drink. To everyone in her village, she remained a beautiful frog. But,
they knew the spell worked when the evil villain came to town and asked Frogella if she knew where he
could find the beautiful Frogella. When he left without seeing Frogella, the town celebrated with joy. Their
beautiful frog was safe!
Author’s Purpose: ____________________________________
Explain Your Answer: _____________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Couponing is a growing trend in our country. As more people are losing their jobs or their hours and pay
are being cut, they are looking for ways to save money. Coupons are an easy means of doing this. Yes, it
may take a little work, but the payoff can be worth the time. If you get the daily paper already, you don’t
have to spend any money to get the coupons. In addition, there are online sites that allow you to select
and print the coupons of your choice. Many stores even double or triple the value of the money saved. So
if you want to find an easy way to help your family save money during these tough times, try couponing.
There’s nothing to lose and money to gain.
Author’s Purpose: ____________________________________
Explain Your Answer: _____________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
5
PRE-READING
Utopia or Dystopia
Utopia: (Greek for nowhere):
an ideally perfect place.
Characteristics of a Utopia:
Orderly and ideal
No hunger or disease
No violence or war
Ruled by a peaceful government
ALL are equal
All have healthcare, education, shelter
and employment
Dystopia: Often begins as a utopia
wherein the government takes control
without the consent of the people; there is
often chaos.
Characteristics of a Dystopia:
Lack of basic needs
Poverty and hunger
War within own society
Widespread disease
Dictator is in control
Chaos
Directions: For each statement, decide whether or not this would be an element of YOUR Utopia,
your perfect world. Write the pros and cons each element. The first one has been done for you.
Element
1. Disease would be
nonexistent.
2. War would not exist.
Pros
I wouldn’t have to worry about my
family’s health. We could go wherever
and do whatever we want and not
have to worry about getting sick.
Cons/Possible Effects
The world would get overpopulated
because there wouldn’t be as many
deaths per year. It would lead to more
pollution and global warming.
3. Inclement weather
(rain, snow, etc.) would
be eliminated.
4. Everyone is given a
job and paid the same
amount of money.
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
6
PRE-READING
About The Giver: Lois Lowry creates a perfect world, a world without war,
fear, or pain. In order to achieve this utopian society, sacrifices must be
made. The sacrifices come in the form of a completely controlled society void
of individual choices. Lowry challenges its reader to question to what extent
individual choice should be limited in order to establish the perfect society.
Directions: HIGHLIGHT Lowry’s inspiration. UNDERLINE two purposes of rules in society.
An Interview with Scholastic:
Q: What inspires you to write books?
Specifically The Giver?
Author: Lois Lowry
I write books because I have always been fascinated by
stories and language, and because I love thinking
about what makes people tick. Writing a story… The
Giver or any other… is simply an exploration of the
nature of behavior: why people do what they do, how
it affects others, how we change and grow, and what
decisions we make along the way. Added to that, I love
the process of finding the right rhythm of words, and
then putting it all together, finally, to make a book.
Q: What did the community gain by not having
memory? What did they lose?
Depends on how you look at things. They certainly
gained safety, security, comfort. No war, no crime no
poverty, no pollution… those are good things. What
did they lose, though, in exchange? Maybe their very
humanity.
Q: The society in the book has many rules. What
do you think is the purpose of rules?
The rules in this case had several purposes. Rules are
good to keep the society running smoothly, to keep
people safe and comfortable and happy. But, they
exist also to keep people ignorant of the things they
were missing.
Directions: In The Giver, the main character, Jonas, lives in a world that is very different from the
world in which you live. It’s difficult, however, to decide whose world is the better world. The
following statements outline characteristics of Jonas’s community. Read each statement and
UNDERLINE any statements you AGREE with.
1. An ideal community would not have any hunger or starvation.
2. An ideal community would not have any jealousy or competition.
3. An ideal community would not have any unemployment.
4. All children should have equal possessions and privileges at a certain age, regardless of income.
5. Families are much closer when they share their feelings.
6. Life would be better and easier if we did not carry bad memories in our heads.
7. Overpopulation is such a problem that families should not be allowed to have more than two children.
8. There is no real need to learn about world history.
9. There is no real need to learn about one’s own family’s history.
10. One’s job or occupation in life should be a careful match of one’s interests, talents, and skills.
11. An ideal community would not have extreme emotions such as love or hate.
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
7
READING 1
Novel Excerpt
Annotate
1. CIRCLE How does Jonas feel in the
first paragraph?
2. BOX How were people reacting
towards Jonas in the second
paragraph?
Target Word
uncertainty
un-cer-tain-ty
(noun)
something that is
__________________________________
or
__________________________________
Example: There is no uncertainty about
_________________________________.
Author’s Purpose
3. WRITE: At the beginning of this
excerpt, the author repeats how Jonas is
feeling different and separate from the
community for the first time. Why might
she want the reader to focus on these
new feelings?
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
Chapter 9 from The Giver, by Lois Lowry
Now, for the first time in his twelve years of life, Jonas
felt separate, different. He remembered what the Chief
Elder has said: that his training would be alone and apart.
But his training had not yet begun and already, upon
leaving the Auditorium, he felt the apartness. Holding the
folder she had given him, he made his way through the
throng, looking for his family unit and for Asher. People
moved aside for him. They watched him. He thought he
could hear whispers.
“Ash!” he called, spotting his friend near the rows of
bicycles. “Ride back with me?”
“Sure.” Asher smiled, his usual smile, friendly and
familiar. But Jonas felt a moment of hesitation from his
friend, an uncertainty.
“Congratulations,” Asher said.
“You too,” Jonas replied. “It was really funny, when
she told about the smacks. You got more applause than
almost anybody else.”
The other new Twelves clustered nearby, placing their
folders carefully into the carrying containers on the backs
of the bikes. In each dwelling tonight they would be
studying the instructions for the beginning of their
training. Each night for years the children had memorized
the required lessons for school, often yawning with
boredom. Tonight they would all begin eagerly to
memorize the rules for their adult Assignments.
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
8
READING 1
Novel Excerpt
“Congratulations, Asher!” someone called. Then that
hesitation again. “You too, Jonas!”
Asher and Jonas responded with congratulations to
their groupmates. Jonas saw his parents watching him from
the place where their own bicycles were waiting. Lily had
already been strapped into her seat.
He waved. They waved back smiling, but he noticed
that Lily was watching him solemnly, her thumb in her
mouth.
He rode directly to his dwelling, exchanging only small
jokes and unimportant remarks with Asher.
“See you in the morning, Recreation Director!” he
called, dismounting by his door as Asher continued on.
“Right! See you!” Asher called back. Once again, there
was just a moment when things weren’t quite the same,
weren’t quite as they had always been through the long
friendship. Perhaps he imagined it. Things couldn’t change,
with Asher.
Annotate
1. CIRCLE
What does Jonas see his
parents doing?
2. UNDERLINE What does Jonas notice
about Lily? How is she
watching him?
3.
BOX
How does Asher seem
towards Jonas?
Craft and Structure
Point of View: The point of view is the
perspective from which a story is told.
The third-person point of view allows the
author to describe the thoughts of
characters.
The morning meal was quieter than usual. Lily
chattered about her plans for volunteer work; she would
begin, she said, at the Nurturing Center, since she was
already not supposed to know his name.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow to come,” she said happily.
Jonas sighed uneasily. “I can,” he muttered.
“You’ve been greatly honored,” his mother said. “Your
father and I are very proud.”
“It’s the most important job in the community,” Father
said.
solemnly
(adj.)
4. WRITE: On the last two pages, the
author describes how Jonas is feeling.
After annotating the behaviors of the
people closest to Jonas, does it seem like
this community is truly a Utopia, a
perfect place to live with no problems?
Explain your answer.
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
very serious or formal in manner
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
9
READING 1
Novel Excerpt
Target Word
selection se-lec-tion
(noun)
the action of carefully choosing
_______________________ as being
the _________________________
Example: Jenna considered the
selection of _____________________
________________ at the grocery store.
Craft and Structure
Theme: Sameness is shown in the
majority of The Giver. The whole
community revolves around it and the
Elders make decisions for everyone. No
choices, no color, no pain. They believe
that if no one can make choices, that
nothing will go wrong, or nothing bad will
happen.
“But just the other night, you said that the job of
making Assignments was the most important!”
Mother nodded. “This is different. It’s not a job,
really. I never thought, never expected—” She
paused. “There’s only one Receiver.”
“But the Chief Elder said that they had made a
selection before, and that it failed. What was she
talking about?”
Both of his parents hesitated. Finally his father
described the previous selection. “It was very much
as it was today, Jonas – the same suspense, as one
Eleven had been passed over when the Assignments
were given. Then the announcement, when they
singled out the one—”
Jonas interrupted. “What was his name?”
His mother replied, “Her, not his. It was a female.
But we never speak the name, or use it again for a
newchild.”
Jonas was shocked. A name designated Not-toBe-Spoken indicated the highest degree of disgrace.
“What happened to her?” he asked nervously.
But his parents looked blank. “We don’t know,”
his father said uncomfortably. “We never saw her
again.”
A silence fell over the room. They looked at each
other. Finally his mother, rising from the table, said,
“You’ve been greatly honored, Jonas. Greatly
honored.”
1. WRITE: After Jonas learns that he has
been selected to be the Receiver of
Memory, he experiences feelings he has
never felt before. In a world of sameness,
how do you see this selection affecting
Jonas?
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
Jonas’s father, sister Lily, and mother from the
motion picture adaptation of The Giver.
________________________________
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
10
READING 1
Novel Excerpt
Alone in his sleepingroom, prepared for bed,
Jonas opened his folder at last. Some of the other
Twelves, he had noticed, had been given folders
thick with printed pages. He imagined Benjamin, the
scientific male in his group, beginning to read pages
of rules and instructions with relish. He pictured
Fiona smiling her gentle simile as she bent over the
list of duties and methods that she would be
required to learn in the days to come.
But his own folder was startlingly close to empty.
Inside there was only a single printed sheet. He read
it twice.
JONAS
RECEIVER OF MEMORY
Active Reading
1. CIRCLE : On the previous page, Jonas
asks his parents about the previous
Receiver of Memory. What do they say?
2. WRITE: How would you feel if you
were Jonas having heard this response?
Explain you answer.
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
1. Go immediately at the end of school hours
each day to the Annex entrance behind the
House of the Old and present yourself to the
attendant.
2. Go immediately to your dwelling at the
conclusion of Training Hours each day.
3. From this moment you are exempted from
rules governing rudeness. You may ask any
question of any citizen and you will receive
answers.
4. Do not discuss your training with any other
member of the community, including parents
and Elders.
5. From this moment you are prohibited from
dream-telling.
6. Except for illness or injury unrelated to your
training, do not apply for any medication.
Target Word
dwelling
dwel-ling
(noun) a
place of _______________________
to live in
Example: My dwelling looks like
_________________________________.
React
Rules and Rituals
Jonas lives in a community of many rules,
rituals, and practices that are never to be
broken. Read Jonas’s list of rules.
7. You are not permitted to apply for release.
3. BOX the 3 rules that you think will
affect Jonas the most.
8. You may lie.
exempted
free from obligation or duty
(verb)
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
11
READING 1
Novel Excerpt
Active Reading
1. WRITE: Explain Jonas’s reaction to the
following rules governing his training. What
does Jonas think about each rule?
Rule
Thought
Rules
#1 & #2
Where to
go and
what to
do
Rule
#3
Allowed
to be
rude
Rule
#5
No
dreamtelling
Rule
#8
You can
lie
Jonas was stunned. What would happen to his
friendships? His mindless hours playing ball, or riding his
bike along the river? Those had been happy and vital
times from him. Were they to be completely taken from
him, now? The simple logistics – where to go, and when
– were expected. Every Twelve had to be told, of course,
where and how and when to report for training. But he
was a little dismayed that his schedule left no time,
apparently, for recreation.
The exemption from rudeness startled him. Reading
it again, however, he realized that it didn’t compel him
to be rude; it simply allowed him the option. He was
quite certain he would never take advantage of it. He
was so completely, so thoroughly accustomed to
courtesy within the community that the thought of
asking another citizen an intimate question, of calling
someone’s attention to an area of awkwardness, was
unnerving.
The prohibition of dream-telling, he thought, would
not be a real problem. He dreamed so rarely that the
dream-telling did not come easily to him anyway, and he
was glad to be excused from it. He wondered briefly,
though, how to deal with it at the morning meal. What if
he did dream – should he simply tell his family unit, as
he did so often, anyway, that he hadn’t? That would be
a lie. Still, the final rule said…well, he wasn’t quite ready
to think about that final rule on the page.
logistics the details of an operation
(noun)
recreation activity done for enjoyment when one is not
(noun)
working
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
12
READING 1
Novel Excerpt
The restriction of medication unnerved him.
Medication was always available to citizens, even to
children, through their parents. When he had crushed
his finger in the door, he had quickly, gasping into the
speaker, notified is mother; she had hastily
requisitioned relief-of-pain medication which had
promptly been delivered to his dwelling. Almost
instantly the excruciating pain in his hand had
diminished to the throb which was, now, all he could
recall of the experience.
Re-reading rule number 6, he realized that a crushed
finger fell into the category of “unrelated to training.”
So if it ever happened again– and he was quite certain it
wouldn’t; he had been very careful near heavy doors
since the accident! – he could still receive medication.
The pill he took now, each morning, was also
unrelated to training. So he would continue to receive
the pill.
But he remembered uneasily what the Chief Elder
had said about the pain that would come with his
training. She had called it indescribable.
Jonas swallowed hard, trying without success to
imagine what such pain might be like, with no
medication at all. But it was beyond his comprehension.
He felt no reaction to rule number 7 at all. It had
never occurred to him that under any circumstances,
ever, he might apply for release.
Finally he steeled himself to read the final rule again.
He had been trained since earliest childhood, since his
earliest learning of language, never to lie. It was an
integral part of the learning of precise speech. Once,
when he had been a Four, he had said, just prior to the
midday meal at school, “I’m starving.”
Immediately he had been taken aside for a brief
private lesson in language precision. He was not
starving, it was pointed out. He was hungry. No one in
the community was starving, had ever been starving,
would ever be starving. To say “starving” was to speak a
lie. An unintentional lie, of course.
Draw Conclusion
Release
Let’s take a look back at 2 quotes from the
first chapter.
• “For a contributing citizen to be released from
the community was a final decision, a terrible
punishment, an overwhelming statement of
failure.”
• “There were only two occasions of release
which were not punishment. Release of the
elderly, which was a time of celebration for a life
well and fully lived; and release of a newchild,
which always brought a sense of what-could-wehave-done.”
1. WRITE: After reading the quotes and the
excerpt so far, what do you think release
means in this community?
_______________________________
_______________________________
Active Reading
2. WRITE: Explain Jonas’s reaction to the
following rules governing his training. What
does Jonas think about each rule?
Rule
Thoughts
Rule
#6
Rule
#7
indescribable too unusual or extreme to be described
(adj.)
unintentional not done on purpose
(adj.)
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
13
READING 1
Novel Excerpt
Target Word
precision
pre-ci-sion
(noun)
the quality or fact of being
_______________ and _______________
Example: Precision is very important for a
job such as _________________________.
Craft and Structure
Author’s Purpose: Lois Lowry created a
community centered around rules to create
a Utopia. After reading Rule #8, this
questions whether Jonas’s community is, in
fact, a perfect place.
1. WRITE: Jonas’s rules state that he can
lie. Do you think that means other people in
the community can lie as well?
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
Precision of Language
But the reason for precision of language was to
ensure that unintentional lies were never uttered.
Did he understand that, they asked him. And he had.
He had never, within his memory, been tempted
to lie. Asher did not lie. Lily did not lie. His parents
did not lie. No one did. Unless…
Now Jonas had a thought that he had never had
before. This new thought was frightening. What if
others – adults – had, upon becoming Twelves,
received in their instructions the same terrifying
sentence.
What if they had all been instructed: You may
lie?
His mind reeled. Now, empowered to ask
questions of utmost rudeness–and promised
answers–he could conceivably (though it was almost
unimaginable), ask someone, some adult, his father
perhaps: “Do you lie?”
But he would have no way of knowing if the
answer he received was true.
2. WRITE: What is the author’s purpose to
show the reader rule #8? What does she
want the reader to see?
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
This Utopia comes with a price.
Now you may be rude and lie.
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
14
COMPREHENSION PRACTICE
Author’s Purpose
Directions: After reading the excerpt from The Giver, answer question #1 in the author’s
purpose box. The 2nd question has been done for you, explaining the author’s purpose. Then,
locate text evidence in the excerpt to support the author’s purpose. One has been done for you.
Author’s Purpose
1. The author’s purpose was __________________________.
a) to persuade
b) to inform
c) to entertain
2. Explain the author’s purpose.
The author’s purpose was to show the reader that there is no such thing as a
perfect society.
Text Evidence #1
Text Evidence #2
Text Evidence #3
After the ceremony,
Jonas felt different
and separate from
his community for
the first time in his
twelve years of life.
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
15
PRE-READING
About The Hunger Games: Suzanne Collins creates a dystopia, tackling issues such as severe poverty, starvation,
oppression, and the effects of war among others. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen lives in the country of Panem.
Each year, two young people from each of Panem’s Districts called tributes are chosen by lottery to participate in the
Hunger Game – a violent fight to the death. Katniss, her younger sister Prim, and her friend Gale, are among those
whose names are in the lottery this year to be chosen to compete. On the next, page, the following excerpt describes
what happens.
Directions: HIGHLIGHT Collins’ response to why reality television is so appealing. UNDERLINE what
influenced Collins to write The Hunger Games. BOX what Collins hopes readers will come away with.
Author: Suzanne Collins
An Interview with Scholastic:
Q: The Hunger Games is an annual televised event in which one boy and one girl
from each of the twelve districts is forced to participate in a fight-to-the-death
on live TV. What do you think the appeal of reality television is—to both kids
and adults?
Well, they’re often set up as games and, like sporting events, there’s an interest in seeing who wins. The
contestants are usually unknown, which makes them relatable. Sometimes they have very talented people
performing. Then there’s the voyeuristic thrill—watching people being humiliated, or brought to tears, or
suffering physically—which I find very disturbing. There’s also the potential for desensitizing the audience, so
that when they see real tragedy playing out on, say, the news, it doesn’t have the impact it should.
Q: You weave action, adventure, mythology, sci-fi, romance, and philosophy throughout The
Hunger Games. What influenced the creation of The Hunger Games?
A significant influence would have to be 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.
In keeping with the classical roots, I send my tributes into an updated version of the Roman gladiator games,
which entails a ruthless government forcing people to fight to the death as popular entertainment.
The audiences for both the Roman games and reality TV are almost characters in themselves. They can respond
with great enthusiasm or play a role in your elimination.
I was channel surfing between reality TV programming and actual war coverage when Katniss’s story came to
me. One night I’m sitting there flipping around and on one channel there’s a group of young people competing
for, I don’t know, money maybe? And on the next, there’s a group of young people fighting an actual war. And I
was tired, and the lines began to blur in this very unsettling way, and I thought of this story.
Q: What do you hope readers will come away with when they read The Hunger Games?
Questions about how elements of the book might be relevant in their own lives. And, if they’re disturbing, what
they might do about them.
Directions: Katniss’s world is very different from the world in which you live. Read each statement
carefully, and UNDERLINE those you AGREE with. CROSS OUT those you DISAGREE with.
1. Reality TV is fun, harmless entertainment.
2. I value my freedom.
3. Older siblings should be responsible for their younger siblings.
4. It is never okay to kill.
5. If the government does something wrong, it is the responsibility of the citizens to speak up.
SGI ENGLISH INTENSIVE
16
Novel Excerpt
READING 2
Annotate
1. CIRCLE
On the first page, find
evidence of a Dystopia.
2.
What is the Treaty of
Treason?
BOX
Target Word
district
dis-trict
(noun)
an ______________ or ______________
with a distinguishing character
Excerpt from Chapters 1 and 2 of The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
End of Chapter 1
Example: The district by the water has a
lot of ____________________________.
Evaluate
Compare: Like The Giver, this society also
has strict rules, and the Capital thrives off
of fear and control.
3. UNDERLINE the rules of the Hunger
Games.
4. How is this society different from the
community in The Giver?
__________________________________
__________________________________
__________________________________
Just
