Lecture Notes: Story Structure in The Hunger Games

Introduction to Story Structures

• Three-Act Structure
  • Originates from ancient Greek theatre.
  • Influences readers' reactions and emotions.
• Eight-Point Arc
  • Developed by Nigel Watts.
  • Manipulates readers' emotions throughout the narrative.

Application in "The Hunger Games"

• Warning about spoilers for those who haven't read the book.

Key Points in The Hunger Games

Stasis

• Setting: Collapsed America, District 12.
• Current Situation: Day of the Reaping, Katniss as a war victim.

Trigger

• Event: Prim is chosen as the female tribute.
• Transition: Katniss takes Prim's place, initiating change.

Quest

• Journey: Tests character’s strengths and weaknesses.
  • Events:
    • Training sessions.
    • Peeta's crush.
    • Fleeing the cornucopia.
    • Blowing up the cornucopia.
    • Gaining sponsors.

Critical Choice

• Authenticity: The choice must be genuine, not coincidental.
• Example: Katniss's reaction to Rue’s death.
  • Compares Rue to a wild animal.
  • Highlights the inhumanity necessary for survival.
  • Katniss's decision to decorate Rue with flowers shows her humanity.

Climax

• Tension Peak: Observing the transformations in the mutations' eyes.
• Observation: Cato’s dramatic death.

Reversal

• Importance: Essential to include in a narrative.
• Katniss’s Action: Chooses suicide with berries to avoid Capitol's control.
  • Changes her role from victim to hero.
  • Acts heroically, not consciously choosing to be a hero.

Resolution

• Tension Reduction: Return to stability for Katniss and Panem.
• Consequences: Both must face the outcomes of Katniss’s choices.

Conclusion

• Sets the stage for subsequent books in the series.
• Emphasizes the transformative power of critical choices and reversals in storytelling.