On 25 January, more than 15 students spent time at Lee Yue Mum Park and Holiday Village reading and exploring characterization, setting and themes of The Hunger Games, the first book of the trilogy. Like many previous reading camps, this one succeeded in taking students through the pages and episodes in the DVD, sharing personal response to what is read.
In campers’ view, the treasure hunt and hunter game in the morning was the coolest programme ever. They ran about the camp site, looked for clues, resolved the quizzes and shot each other with toy bows and arrows. The outdoor physical activity involved them in being hunters and being preys. It was good fun.
The film show after lunch engaged them in the producer’s view of a dystopian world, where civilians struggled in misery, squalor and oppression. What makes fiction such a potent tool is its effectiveness in illustrating our status quo: uprising in Ukraine, conflicts in Syria, clashes in Egypt, unrest in Thailand and oppression in many leading economic giants. There is much resemblance between The Hunger Games and the world in 21st Century.
For anyone interested in exploring themes in dystopian literature, The Hunger Games is definitely your choice. Other titles include H.G. Wells’ The First Men in the Moon, H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, George Orwell’s 1984, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and Nancy Farmer’s The House of the Scorpion.
(article from www.shcc.edu.hk)
   
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