Hunger Games Chapters 1-3 Comprehension Question

What is the protocol for volunteering?

After both the male and female tributes are chosen, the announcer asks if there are any volunteers.

What happened to Katniss's father?

Blown to bits in a mining explosion.

Describe District 12 and the Seam.

District Twelve is a coal mining district. Its residents are poor, none exceeding lower-middle-class type living. The Seam is the poorest part of the district.

Who is Gale?

Gale is Katniss's friend that she hunts with. He has several brothers and no father.

Gale states to Katniss that the Hunger Games are "just hunting." What does he mean and does Katniss agree? Do you agree?

Gale means that killing squirrels and game in the woods to eat for another day is the same as killing other humans in an effort to win a game of survival. Katniss agrees, so long as she can forget that they are people. I don't agree.

What are the Hunger Games?

Games set up by the Capitol to punish the twelve districts for their uprising. Twenty four children ages twelve to eighteen are put into an arena of varying climates and landscapes to fight to the death.

What role will Haymitch play at the Hunger Games?

He mentors Katniss and Peeta. He lines up sponsors, dictates the presentation of any gifts, and can well be the difference between life and death in the arena.

What is a tesserae?

In exchange for putting an extra name in the reaping bowl for each member of your family, you get a meager supply of grain and oil, and they can be doubled each year.

What was the significance of the dandelion?

It gave Katniss hope.

What does silence at the reaping mean?

It is the boldest form of dissent the people of the district can get away with. It means that they don't condone what is happening.

What does three middle fingers to the mouth and then held out mean?

It means thanks, it means admiration, it means good-bye to someone you love.

What happens after the anthem?

Katniss gets one hour with her family and loved ones.

Describe the narrator. What is her family situation?

Katniss is the narrator, she is a round character. She lives with her mother and her little sister.

What type of competitors will she face?

Kids who have trained all their lives, boys who are three times her size, girls who can kill her in twenty different ways with a knife. People like Katniss, the ones to weed out before the real fun begins.

Is the reaping system fair?

No, because the poor are more likely to get picked because they take out more tesserae.

Who is the male tribute and how does Katniss know him? What is ironic about his selection?

Peeta Mellark. He fed Katniss bread when she was starving one day after her father died.

What instructions does Katniss give her family?

Prim is not to take any tesserae. They'll sell the goat milk and cheese, and the mother's apothecary business. Gale can get her the herbs she needs and he'll bring them game. Her mother can't go away again.

What is Katniss's mother's mental state? How has it affected Katniss?

She is depressed and no longer able to provide for her daughters. Katniss takes up the mantle of head of the family.

Describe Effie's reaction to Katniss and Peeta's table manners?

She is relived because last years trubutes ate with their hands like "savages" and Katniss and Peeta ate with forks, knives, and spoons. Katniss makes a point of eating with her hands for the rest of the meal.

How does the reaping system work?

Starting at twelve, your name is put into a fish bowl once, then, next year, your name is put in twice and so on until eighteen, when your name is put in seven times.

Where is the Capitol located? Where is district twelve located?

The Capitol is in the Rockies and District Twelve is in Appalachia.

What is the Hob?

The black market where Katniss trades the animals she hunts for other items.

Why don't most people have weapons like Katniss's bow?

The citizens aren't allowed to have weapons, Katniss's father made the bows illegally.

What is a mockingjay bird?Why does it make Katniss think of her father?

The mockingjay is a bird created when male jabberjays mated with female mockinbirds. Jabberjays were muttations created by the Capitol to spy on the rebels and could record whole conversations and reitterate them. Katniss thinks of her father because he would sing them a song and they would listen and repeat it immaculately.

Why is Katniss so worried about her appearance, first on the stage and then in front of the reporters?

The other tributes will watch the recap and see that Katniss is just weepy and easy to pick off first.

How are District Twelve's actions at the reaping described by the TV commentators?

They're not sure how to respond to the audience's silence, but comment on how District Twelve was always a bit backwards, but local customs can be charming.