Catching Fire: The Understanding

                Oh how I love this series. The reading and the book itself amazes me. Not only in the way its written, but the way its formed to the readers mind as well. Suzanne Collins “The Hunger Game” series has a phenomenal way to grasp the reader’s attention and by putting it into first person, you’re able to see and feel what the character is at the same time. Katniss Everdeen is the winner the 74^th annual Hunger Games, an event held every year by the capital and all of the districts. It is a reminder of how the capital is in charge of all the districts and to make sure no rebellions can take place among the districts. Usually, 2 people, one male and one female, are chosen out of every district to fight to the death in the areas. Katniss wanted to survive in this fight for her life, but not alone at least. She made this fake relationship with Peeta so she would have this one slim chance of winning the games without killing anyone herself. Oddly enough, the plan had succeeded and now she and Peeta are the winners of the Hunger Games. But at what cost? Now Katniss is in this unfortunate love triangle with Gale, her best friend she has known for years, and Peeta, her fake star crossed lover. What shall she do? We will never find out! Tune in next week for the next episode of a Classic Teen Novel!

                Ok so the last part was me trolling cause of the fact that the whole lovers theme is in every YA Novel I have read so far. It’s not a necessarily bad thing, but come on make the girl not fall in love. Let her show that she is independent and don’t need no man in her life!! WOMEN POWER!!!

                Ok sorry off track. Other than that, I love the beginning of this novel. The first 75 pages are not only a back story, but a tease of what will happen next. No wonder I’ve read this series twice already and I still am amazed on the way it’s written. Even the part where president snow comes in and scares her in her own house really gets me going. He is the ultimate badass, demanding and receiving what he wants. Now Katniss need to keep this fake relationship with Peeta and lose her feelings for Gale, since he is her “Cousin” now. I’m sorry but really??? Now there cousins cause some guy had the bright idea of saying “They are too close.  Make them family Members!” Ugh if you want to make it useful, take him out completely. Anyways, the book so far is excellent and I don’t mind reading it once again. 
-Justin R.

Are we there yet?

      The Hunger Games is a young adult novel set in a future world where mankind has reverted to a very basic “tribal like” format. These different districts all have a certain job to do to help support the growth and development of the Capital and Panem. Every year an event called the Hunger Games occurs where one male and one female from all the districts muse compete. Now these games aren’t just any games, it’s not like a simple battle of the wits and we have a winner. It’s a fight to the death. Where many people, even children, will enter and only one can leave. These games are watched by everyone in Panem and there has to be a winner. On the bright side the winning district gets more supplies for the year, which gives everyone a reason to cheer on their representative. This is a young adult novel so there has to be a voice. We find our protagonist as a young girl from district 12, a coal mining town, and her name is Katniss. Katniss has just recently won the Hunger Games, and the intro to this book puts us right where she wants to be, back at home. Now the districts have a very strict rule on travel, and we find out that Katniss doesn’t obey this rule. Although she won the Games and has plenty of food and supplies, because now she is treated like a celebrity. She still leaves the district to hunt for food for one of her best friends Gale. So no drama yet right? It’s a young adult novel there always has to be drama! I might have forgot to mention that Katniss wasn’t the only winner in the last Hunger Games. Since the creation of the Hunger Games there has only been one winner. Boy number two, I mean Peeta was the other winner in the Hunger Games. Katniss and Peeta where the last to survivors of the games, and they threated suicide if they both didn’t win. Luckily the Capital allowed them both to live. See after every Hunger Games the winner, or winners, go on a tour throughout all twelve districts and have a gathering at the Capital. The drama starts to kick in when Katniss is told by the president himself that she has be in love with Peeta or else everyone she loves will be killed. Including Gale, her long time “friend”. This novels name is called “Catching Fire” this is very symbolic to what is happening in the text. People are starting to rise up against the government and see through their lies and tricks. Katniss is one of the primary key to keep order in Panem, if she misses up we can see a total downwards spiral of the whoel area of Panem.

75 or bust! Too much celebrity for kitty-kat?

                                

                So it seems pretty bizarre that the world of the Hunger Games is a Fascist post-cataclysmic world. The capital has a tight grip on the rest of its districts, so much so that they even invented a sort of sport as a reminder for a rebellion long ago: These are the Hunger Games.

MAY THE ODDS FOREVER BE IN YOUR FAVOR!

                Those who win the Games are granted total stardom, fame and fortune. Out leading lady Katniss (and to a lesser extent Peeta) won their last Hunger Games, and Katniss doesn't seem to be happy at all. Could the Hunger Games, as a televised event, be a realistic parody of fame today or is it more extreme?

             

   Well, to start the Hunger Games are basically just a gladiatorial death match between 24 young souls, 2 individuals, a boy and a girl, from each district.

That’s right. They have human sacrifices to appease the beast.

                

The victor (or victors in the case of the actual story) basically becomes rich and famous, albeit with some psychological damage.  This is the position that we find our protagonist, Katniss and her love triangle compatriot, Peeta; the winners of the 74^th annual Hunger Games! YAAAAY….*cough*. 

Well anyway Long story short Peeta falls in love with Katniss during the games because they had to pretend to be in love for sponsors and likability (since the Games are just a big spectator sport), but Katniss is sorta kinda maybe (?) in love with this guy Gale from back in district 12 whose totally crushed seeing Peeta and Katniss kiss.

Geez, their actors, they weren't real kisses!

I guess that’s a downside of being a star: those who you act with can cause a lot of jealously for the fans

Being a victor doesn’t mean anything significant. It means you survived. You were capable of murdering fellow humans to survive a death game or orchestrated by your overseers, your panoptical media broadcasters. The fame is fraudulent, and there’s no two ways about it. Within the first iteration of the story (aptly called the Hunger Games) the president of Panam, President Snow tells the Game master that the Games are a sign of hope for the people. It shows that the Capital is kind, that some can and will survive.

Snow pops up again at the beginning of the second book, Catching Fire as well. This time he visits Katniss at her home, and warns her that she is on thin ice. Her actions taken during the Hunger Games caused district-wide rebellion against the capital; she’s not behaving like the good little pawn she is. President Snow is fully aware that Katniss is not in love with Peeta, but for the sake of her and her families own good, she’s to keep acting like she is. He even says that they are twisting the truth and saying that Gale is her cousin:

“Him I can easily kill off if we don’t come to a happy resolution.” (24)

Look at that, another downside: Maintaining relations with pervious friends becomes impossible.

It becomes increasingly more difficult for Katniss to do anything without watching her own actions. For instance, when She and Peeta are on their victory tour in district 11 (home to two members in the games that saved Katniss’ life), she meets eyes with two young girls in the crowd; The sisters of Rue, a close friend of Katniss’ who died during the games. She begins by saying how sorry she is and says that she sees Rue in everything:

“Everything Beautiful brings her to my mind. I see her in the yellow flowers that grow in the Meadow by my house. I see her in the mockingjays that sing in the trees. But most of all, I see her in my sister, Prim.” (61)

After this touching speech, the crowd begins whistling Rues’ mockingjay call, the one that meant safety in the arena.

Uh oh, uprising is nigh.

Well the man who started that chant was executed on spot, along with, oh, who knows how many else? Point is Katniss is in a position of power now that she is still not used to, and because of that she really needs to watch her actions…especially seeing as shes always being watched anyway.

Taylor R.

Collins, Suzanne, and Elizabeth B. Parisi. Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic, 2009. 24. Print.

Ibid., 61

Don't leave me hangin'

Honestly, I don’t enjoy reading. Like, at all. I mean I will read when need be, but when I have a couple hours to myself you can usually find me napping or watching Netflix. Almost never reading a book.

Well I mean there was this one time over the summer I tried to be all deep and act like I had this mysterious side to me, so I would borrow books from my sister and carry them with me everywhere I went so I could whip it out when I got bored (waiting at the doctors, laying on the beach, etc.). But in all reality, I think I got about two chapters deep and just gave up on them all. 

BUT, with this new book I am reading, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, I am totally enjoying it! I know I only had to read 50 pages to express my initial thoughts on this post, but after that I couldn’t stop reading. I found myself reading it in between classes when I had some extra time, before I go to sleep, when I’m bored at work, I’m already a third of the way done with it!

Collins does a real good job at leaving you wanting more after each chapter. Cliffhangers, that's what they are. It’s like when a TV show throws all the good juicy drama in the last five minutes and you’re like 'REALLY? Now I have to wait an entire week to see what happens next?!' Well I mean that’s what’s great about books, you can just turn the page to see what happens next.

The first cliffhanger, and definitely not the last, is in chapter 1. Katniss has just come home and her mother tells her there is a visitor, she’s nervous because there are people from the Capitol there and she has no idea why. She says, “I twist the polished brass knob and step inside. My nose registers the conflicting scents of roses and blood. A small, white-haired man who seems vaguely familiar is reading a book. He holds up a finder as if to say, “Give me a moment.” Then he turns and my heart skips a beat. I’m staring into the snakelike eyes of President Snow (Collins 17).”

And then she ends the chapter. She just ends it. I was basically speed reading through this entire page just to see who was there, at her house. And then, those last five words I read so calmly and so leisurely: snake-like eyes.... of.... Pres-i-dent........ Snow. BAM! If this were a TV series I swear I’d be screaming in my seat. Oh, I turned that page so fast I got a little breeze from it. I could not wait to read about why President Snow had made this private visit to Katniss’ house. And that is what I believe I have come to like so much about this author. Her ability to draw me in and keep me on the edge of my seat the whole time, makes reading her book fun and worthwhile. 

Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic Press, 2009. Print.

Nicole S. 

Change of heart

                Ok so maybe this book isn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but I still think this isn’t one of the best books ever made. I was still confused on how the book was written since it was written in the form of how they spoke, but in the end I learned to like it. Now being in favor of futuristic time lines, I would see how this book is a major warning to us as a generation. We get distracted with multimedia all night and day, checking messages from side hoes and seeing what ratchet girl #5 is doing on Facebook today. Even in my all-time favorite book “Level Up”, people of all ages are dependent on the technology. It’s a major warning to us. Titus even gives us a distance on where this will happen.

“I don't know when they first had feeds. Like maybe, fifty or a hundred years ago. Before that, they had to use their hands and their eyes. Computers were all outside the body. They carried them around outside of them, in their hands, like if you carried your lungs in a briefcase and opened it to breathe.”

Just like in “Level up”, we are on these computers that our outside our bodies, but still dependent. Why? Well its cause the real world we live in has gone to ruins and the internet world is better. The economy has gone to ashes, so the computer world is the next best thing. This creator of the game has made a second world for most of the people to live in. Either go to school or hunt demons, it’s to your liking, but here is the catch. There are three Easter eggs in this game. If you find all three, you win the PRIZE. What is it you say? A mansion and 10 million dollars to your own. Now that will motivate me to find the Easter eggs as soon as possible, but no one has found even one, let alone all three, so most people have given up on the PRIZE and go along in their virtual lives.

                These two books are warnings to all people of the younger and older generations. Technology is a virtue, yet a vice. Too much will make us succumb main b to the need and dependency on the bright lights with buttons, but too little and you aren’t effective in today’s world.  Just like how violet became ineffective once her feed malfunctioned. Once that was established, Titus had lost interest in her massively, like the old flip phone we use to have. Then we throw it away, looking at the new iPhone with pleasure. Even in “Level Up”, the main character throws away he’s beaten up laptop for a new system just because it new. The old one was 10 years old, but could still function and do its job. We don’t pay mind to how these little screens are now infused with our lives. Even now I’m using a laptop to type this essay. But not only that, I’m listening to music and texting my friends on when to play the next dragon ball z game. Also playing my Xbox so I can entertain myself while doing work.

                SEE! These two books are just warnings about what can happen to us if we, as a generation, don’t stop being so dependent. Hold on, I need to text my sister.

Me: Yea?

Celi: where r u? L

Me: Doing a paper, why?

Celi: mom wont t8k me on my d8t wth alex! L

Me: And my job is to??

Celi: Convince her!! Or cn u t8k me???

Me: Fine, but I want gas money.

Celi: Tanks bro J. Loves you! <3

                Now just to be real, this was only one person I was texting during my paper (Sorry sis), and we don’t even second guess it. We just do it like free will. We don’t see how technology has become one in our lives and will soon be our demise (Terminator). “Level up” and “Feed” are just warning that we need to recognize and use to better open our eyes. I mean away from the screens and into the blazing sun. get some fresh air and read a book! Something like that right? IDK Imz going to a party now. Oh Sabrina just texted me lol. Brb J. 
-Justin R.

The Way You Look Tonight

Briana Winklaar

 ◦◦◦

“Yes, you’re lovely, with your smile so warm

And your cheeks so soft…”

 ◦◦◦

When I was young she used to sing. My mother. She was always singing. She would lay next to me methodically caressing my hair, enveloping me in arms that imitated a horizon and sing into my ear until slumber whisked me away. The song was always the same, The Way You Look Tonight by a man with a pompadour. I could almost see his face I was at the cusp of remembering his name, but the feed wasn’t filling in the blanks. It hadn’t been for quite some time now.

This song had yet to leave me despite all the other things that were. My mother told me her grandfather sung it to her when she was a little girl. She said that when she first saw me that song was all that she could think about. Her feed was unmasked so everyone around heard it, some people sang along.

◦◦◦

                                       “There is nothing for me to love but you…”               

◦◦◦

She has been gone some time now. Days, months, years. I can’t really remember when she left anymore. I can only remember the pain. I can only remember the longing now. I realized that it’s (almost) all over and all I really want is her. That and Titus. He’s left me too. Everything is taking its leave. The feed is parting with me and taking me with it. Piece by piece. I can’t do anything for myself. Weeks ago my left leg stopped working, then my right. And after that both my hands, my arms, then my speech. Now I can’t even blink. My eyes are always open but I can’t move them. I can see things but only whats in my immediate vision. I can still hear but I can’t see where the noise is coming from. Noise is close to the only thing that will stay with me until the end. Ever since I got the feed there has been noise.

It was quiet. Once. For seven years there was a kind of quiet. When I think back it’s hard to hear. When I think back I can’t hear it. Not really. I try to remember how it was before the noise, before the chatter. And, I almost can. I see myself outside in the bounce pods in my backyard. I’m smaller and I’m bouncing. My movements sporadic and erratic. It’s almost, almost quiet. But, in the undertones I hear it. It’s not even a whisper.

“Be impulsive. Be unpredictable. Be random. Be BOUNCE! Buy a Bounce Bounce Bounce Pod. You won’t reg…”

I was young. Five, four maybe. Years before I got the feed.  Yet in my memory , in whisper it's there. Undertones of the feed.

◦◦◦

                                       “And the way you look tonight…”               

◦◦◦

Nothing Lasts Forever

Everything must go, is the reverberating phrase that the young adult novel “Feed” leaves us with. After a long tale of space traveling and emotional distraught we are reminded of the sub theme of the text. Advertisements are everywhere and no matter what situation we are in they will always bombard you with unwanted deals or sales. In this advertisement the phrase “everything must go” is repeated, I asked my self what the deeper meaning of this statement was. This phrase is very symbolic and I believe that the author is trying to express his opinions on the fact that nothing last forever. The phrase everything must go out of context is very similar to saying nothing last forever. The author must have wanted his readers to focus in on this phrase and digest it on our own. That’s what I did, and this idea is easily relatable to the idea that we as humans have gotten to the point where when we don’t want something anymore we just discard it. Although this object might still be useful and have some kind of value to them we just get rid of them. We also see this during our novel when Violet starts to get ill. Her feed is slowly degrading and Titus starts to notice and eventually he just gives up on her fully.

 It’s easily comparison of Violent and a piece of technology, like a phone, to what she really meant to Titus. Throughout the novel we saw the creation of this relationship and its painful degrade. Titus is a prime symbol for what the author doesn’t want the readers to become. We can all relate to Titus’ wants and needs but at some point we have to realize he is not making correct choices.  It’s kind of sad that someone would throw away such a close companion. It just shows that younger generations are more willing to give up on something than rather to work through their troubles. We can even see this today in our society, older couples that have sent decades together are getting more divorces. It seems like people are becoming more selfish as we advance through time.  The world is slowly becoming a very selfish place and this novel expresses these ideas as well.

Our capitalist society has always harbored this idea for people to want the best of the best and to try to reach for the top. It has grown and developed to this idea that nothing last forever. Anything that is considered to be top of the line is quickly replaced by a new product within months. We can also compare this to modern fashion and how often that branch of art chances and develops. Personally I can relate to this in easily, I might not be the most normal shopper but I shop enough to see the flow of fashion. I dont get my hair cut too often and within the time of my next visit I always ask my hair dresser, “What’s the new style?”, and every time I walk out of that place with a different haircut. I also have the same problem with clothing styles. My once a year school shopping spree might not be the best way to keep in style. I also want to try to look new and different but I don’t have the time or effort to go out. If I had technology like the Feed I might become broke within a few days. 

Anyways the real tie in with this young adult novel is the overarching thought about if our society is slowly become like feed? Or maybe it is already like feed? I mean we are an extremely wasteful country, we don’t have much care for the environment and our younger generations are becoming lazier and lazier. When will we see a large social change against these past methods? These are just some of the questions feed raise after you have completed it, pretty good for a novel written or young adults. We all as a society have to realize that we can’t just keep living this way, eventually everything ends and there has to be a change.

~ Richard P.