Discussion Questions

Pre-Reading: Write a 3 – 5 sentence response for each question. Make sure to use complete sentences and provide examples if needed.

1. What is a dystopia? Can you give an example?
2. What is a utopia? Can you give an example?
3. What do you think social justice is?
4. What television shows, movies, books, or songs do you think discuss topics of social justice?
5. How does social justice impact our everyday lives?

Reader Response Chapters 1-3

1. What kind of class (upper, middle, or lower) do you think the citizens of District 12 are?
2. Why do Gale and Katniss consider running away?
3. Does the setting take place in a dystopia or a utopia? How can you tell?
4. What social justice issues do you recognize within the first three chapters?
5. Discussed in Chapter 2, what is punishable by death in District 12? Is this appropriate reasoning for the crime?

Interpretive Community

1. Choose a quote or sentence from Chapter 16; how does this chapter add to the dramatic effect of the game?
2. How is it that both Katniss and Peeta are able to leave the Hunger Games alive?
3. Why is Katniss sympathetic to Rue? What other character does Katniss believe Rue reminds her of?
4. Is it significant that Katniss, a female from the poorest District in Panem, survives the Hunger Games? What does this mean for the future?
5. How do Katniss and Peeta react to the gluttony and lavishness of the Capital? How do their reactions differ?

Formal Analysis

1. How does the social justice issue of violence evolve within the story? Does violence remain static or does it escalate?
2. What is significant about the location of the United States where Panem was built? Considering differences in food scarcity, why would Panem not have been built further north?
3. How might the story be told differently if The Hunger Games had a male protagonist — Gale or Peeta — telling the tale instead of Katniss?
4. How does the social justice issue of hunger evolve within the story? Are there any examples where issues of hunger are addressed and resolved?
5. What work does the book (or sequels) have to concur in terms of further resolving social justice issues?

Critical Synthesis

1. What is the book trying to say about how violence is represented in society?
2. Is Suzanne Collins showcasing that the United States has no hope but to become a dystopia? What social justice issues occur today that we can work towards resolving?
3. Katniss’s strong female protagonist reprioritizes who can be a hero in an action scenario; how does this female advocacy sustain the idea for hope? Could a male protagonist have achieved the same things as Katniss?
4. How is the end of the novel significant? Are things going to change in Panem or has all Katniss managed to do is to save her and Peeta’s life?
5. How would the story have been different had all of the Districts had the same resources (food, water, money, etc)?