The Hunger Games

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. In Panem, power operates in different ways.

• Who has the most power in the novel? (topic sentence)
• Define and explain what makes that person or group the most powerful. Use evidence from the novel to support your analysis.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain how this example of power fits or does not fit with what you believe to be right.

2. Katniss does a lot of pretending to survive the games.

• Is Katniss’s deception justified? (topic sentence)
• Explain how justified Katniss’s pretending is, using evidence and reasoning to prove your argument.
• In your concluding sentences, explain if and when lying is defensible in the Hunger Games and in Panem generally.

3. Many people in Panem face poverty, which drastically affects their lives.

• Which aspects of poverty seem most devastating in the novel? (topic sentence)
• Explain how aspects of poverty harm people, using textual evidence to illustrate your claims.
• In your concluding sentences, present a lesson our world should learn about poverty.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Consider the different settings in The Hunger Games. Choose one specific setting (the arena, District 12, Panem, etc.) and write an essay that analyzes how the setting is used as a conduit for delivering large ideas. What large ideas does the setting suggest? How are elements of the setting symbolic of those ideas? How does the chosen setting build the theme of Duplicity, Deception, and the Line Between Fiction and Reality or The Disparity Between the Oppressor and the Oppressed?

2. Analyze Katniss’s character throughout the novel. What are 1-2 of her most defining traits before the games? How do these traits strengthen throughout the book? What new characteristics does she develop throughout the games? In what ways does she refuse to change? What are 1-2 of her most defining traits as she heads home at the end? Has she changed for the better? Why or why not? Use examples from the text to support your argument.