Social Issues in Mockingjay

     I am reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. In my book, the main social issue is war. There is a war against the government and a rebellion force. This war is having a negative affect everyone. The war in this book is a major problem for everyone.
     This war was caused by the action of Katniss, the main character. Katniss threatened to commit suicide during the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is an event when teenagers are chosen to fight to the death. Katniss didn’t want to kill her friend Petta. By doing this, she disobeyed the government. People saw this as an act of rebellion. This was a chance to rebel against the government, and the rebellion started.
     This war is ruining the lives of the people of Districts. In the Districts, the people are suffering. The government is making rules to make the Districts suffer. They are making theses rules to punish the citizens of the Districts because they rebelled against the government. The government replaced the Peace Keepers, or the police, with more strict and brutal people. The Peace Keepers make new rules that have to do with make the people of the district suffer. The Peace Keepers make the punishment for breaking the rules more severe. For example, in District 12, Peace Keepers built new whipping posts and gallows for punishment.
     There is only one possible way for the war to possibly end. Either side has to win the war to stop the situation. If the rebels win, the government would be overthrown and will liberate the people of the Districts. If the Capitol wins, the Districts would still be in their condition, but the suffering would stop.

Articles on Bullying

Article:http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=S44-4241-0-755&artno=0000318440&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Bullying%20in%20schools&title=Helping%20the%20Victims%3A%20The%20Bully%20Pulpit&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N

     I found this article very interesting. This article is about a recent law concerning bullying. This law makes it so teachers have to handle bullying. This law also makes what is considered bullying too broad. An example is that a student told another student he had cooties. The child was reported for what he said. A psychotherapist named Israel Kalman talks about why holding teachers responsible for handling bullying is wrong. The reason having a teacher handle bullying is bad is because kids won’t bully others in front of a teacher.
     I agree with what Israel Kalman said. Kids won’t bully each other in front of a teacher. Also, it is hard to catch a bully actually bullying someone. A recent study shows that bullying incidents happens in around 37 seconds. I agree with what Israel Kalman. Israel said that implying a lot of laws on bullying is not effective. What would be more effective is what Israel mentioned. Israel talked about teaching children social skills to prevent bullying instead. It is better to teach someone to prevent something than to protect them from it.

Article: http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=S44-4241-0-755&artno=0000317801&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=Bullying%20in%20schools&title=New%20Cyberbullying%20Law%20Forces%20Schools%20to%20Intervene&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N

     I found this article very informative. This article is about cyber bullying. This is about a new law that was past. This law made schools intervene with cyber bullying. This law also requires schools to report bullies. But this law also has a problem to it. The law is very vague and broad. What has to be reported is not very specific. The problem is that the law might violate the First Amendment. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, which allows someone to say whatever they want to say. This law restricts what someone can say.
     This law could be useful. It gives schools power to stop bullying. This law could put a stop to cyber bullying. Now, in a time where social networking sites, it is important that the Internet is safe. In the news, there have been reports of people committing suicide because of what someone said about them online. Know with this new law for schools, the Internet can be a safe place for students. This law can help make schools a better place. With these new policies, bullying could possibly be stopped.

Two Voice Poem

Italics:Boy 1
Regular: Boy 2

Fever
I have a slight fever
My fever is terrible

Sore Throat
It hurts to talk, my throat is sore
It hurts to breath, my throat burns in pain

Fatigue
I feel weak, but I can still walk
I can barely move, I am glued to my bed

Cough
I am coughing a lot
My cough is agonizing and painful

Pain
I feel a little bit of pain
The pain is unbearable and it keeps getting worse

Life
I can get well
My time is limited

Sickness
The flu
Ebola

     This two voice poem compares two illnesses, Influenza, or the flu, and Ebola. Both illnesses have similar symptoms but the symptoms of Ebola are more drastic. The italicized writing is the person with the flu and the other writing is the person with Ebola. The poem compares the symptoms of the flu and Ebola. Because of the similarities between the symptoms, the poem shows the difference in effect, such as the symptoms of Ebola being more drastic.
     I wrote about this topic to show the similarities between the two illnesses. These two illnesses have similar symptoms. Even though they have similarities, they also have many differences. The flu is common in the United States while Ebola is common in Third World Countries. Ebola has large death toll than the flu. This poem can help people see how bad some illnesses are to others.

Hope in the Hunger Games Trilogy

     I am currently reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, the third book in the Hunger Games series. Throughout the series, hope is a reoccurring theme. Hope is what drives the characters in the book to keep going. Without hope, the characters would have given up on accomplishing their goals. The source of hope is different in each book of the series.  

     In The Hunger Games, Prim is the source of hope. Katniss was driven to hunt and feed her family by Prim. When Prim’s name was called during the Reaping, Katniss lost hope in herself. A Reaping is a ceremony when two kids, a boy and a girl, from ages 12 to 18, are chosen to participate in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is an annual event in which the selected tributes fight to the death, with the last person standing as the winner. Prim was important to Katniss, as shown by this quote from Katniss: “ I protect Prim in every way I can, but I’m powerless against the reaping”.  Katniss volunteers to participate in the Games. She did this to make sure that she still had a source of hope. Before the Games started, Prim said “I don’t care if we’re rich. I just want you to come home. You’ll try, won’t you? Really, really try?” During the Games, Katniss keep telling herself to fight for Prim. Prim is a source of hope for Katniss.

     In Catching Fire, the source of hope was the rebellion. The rebellion was a source of hope for everybody living in the districts, not just Katniss. The rebellion is against the oppressive government. Ever since Katniss and her partner, Peeta, tried to commit suicide during the games, a rebellion has sparked. The government was threatening to kill Katniss and her loved ones, and they were making the citizens in the district suffer from harsh rules and starvation. Citizens saw the rebellion as a chance to overthrow the government. When Katniss fought in her Second Hunger Games, she fought to save Peeta. She wanted Peeta because she knew that he would help the rebellion. Many of Katniss’s actions were to help the rebellion, like making a mock hanging of a famous woman that was killed because of her decision not to kill Katniss. The rebellion was a source of hope for the people of the districts.

     In Mockingjay, District 13 is a source of hope. After District 12 was destroyed, some citizens of District 12 ran away to District 13. District 13 is the base for the rebellion. The rebellion is a source of hope for everyone in the districts, and District 13 is important to the people that survived the bombing of District 12. If it weren’t for District 13, the people of District 12 would be suffering in the forest. District 13 is a source of hope for the people of District 12.

     In the three books, hope is available from different sources. This hope helps the people of the districts get through the problems they are facing. Through all the problems people face, there is always a source of hope.   

Song About Social Action

     I saw the music video for World on Fire by Sarah McLachlan. I enjoyed the music video and found it very engaging. What I found engaging were the facts that showed up on the video. The facts for the video were astonishing. I couldn’t believe that the money that we use for music videos could make a major difference in other places in the world.

     The message about the video was well supported by the facts. I thought that the message of video and the song was that we are overspending and not realizing that there are people that could benefit from the money. The cost of the music video was fifteen dollars, and other videos are much more expensive than this one. The costs for some things like makeup for a music video could have helped people in other parts of the world live a better life. The facts were in the video to show us that we should be grateful for what we have, because other people aren’t as fortunate as we are.

     The video made me think about the people in the other parts of the world. The facts that were in the video were surprising to me. We waste money on many things while that money could make a major difference to someone’s life. We should learn to be grateful for what we have, and not to be wasteful.

      

Developing Character in Catching Fire

     I am almost done with Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the second book in the Hunger Games series. In Catching Fire, Katniss, the main character, has changed a lot since the event of the Hunger Games, the first book in the series. She has changed her perspective on things like politics, the Hunger Games, and friendship. The changes she goes through is because of the events in her life.

     In  Hunger Games, Katniss did not really think about politics or the government. After the Games, her actions during the Games caused a rebellion. Her and her teammate, Peeta, threaten to commit suicide. This action sparked a rebellion against the government. The rebels see Katniss as a leader of the rebellion. It is for this reason that the government starts to threaten to kill her and her family and friends. She learns about the corruption of the government. They killed off people that were rebelling and were making people in the districts suffer. During the Hunger Games, the government would censor some part because it was in their favor. Katniss realizes that the government was corrupt and was mad with power.

      Another thing that Katniss learns about is the Hunger Games. After she goes through her first games, she changes a lot. She has nightmares and is sad because some close friends died in the Games. When it was time for her to mentor the next tribute, it was time for a Quarter Quell, which is a special form of the Games to celebrate twenty-five years of the Games. When it was announced that former winners had to be reaped, or chosen as tributes, Katniss realized something. She realized that the Games are a way to weaken the Districts. She realized this by the way they introduced the gimmick of the Quell. “On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol…” (172). She now knows that the Games are a sick way to entertain the Capitol and to weaken the Districts.

      The final thing she learns about is friendship.  During her first Games, she formed an alliance with a girl named Rue that soon becomes her friend. During the Games, she decided to not have allies because she did not trust anyone. During her second Games, she realized that alliances and having friends is not very bad. Katniss could have used more allies to help her. In her second Games, her allies are doing well so far. They helped her, and on some occasions, saved her life. Katniss has learned that friends and allies are not bad and can be useful.

     From the Hunger Games, Katniss has developed as a character. She learned new things from being in the Games. The effects of her actions have affected her life and her perspective on things. She has changed a lot.