Blog Post #3- Narrative Piece of Writing

The boko "The Hunger Games" is a fast paced action book about a girl fighting to survive. Each year, there is an event called the Games, it is an  event in which random people are chosen from each district and the participants (or "tributes") must fight in an outdoor arena controlled by the Capitol, until only one remains. The main character Katniss was one of those tributes. Her sister was chosen as a tribute in the Games, but Katniss loved her so much that she offered herself as a tribute. This book is one of the most popular books of all time. However, many people read the book for enjoyment or because many others were reading it. Since many read it for enjoyment, they don't discover the important themes in the book. I think the main theme in this book is survival.

First, although there are many other important themes like love, survival is the main one. Ever since the start of the games, survival is the main issue that Katniss has to solve. One example of survival in the book is that Katniss has to look for her own food and shelter. Just finding food and shelter in the wild is difficult, but she is doing this when others are targeting her and she is the prey. She survives by using her skill which is climbing trees in order to evade her targets. Another example of survival in the book is other tributes trying to survive. The main point of the Games is to survive, but we have other tributes teaming up to survive. The Careers were one group, each member of the group did a task to make sure they survived. Each one had to gather food in the wild and hunt out other members so that they can survive. Suzanne Collins conveys us by showing us what Katniss and the other tributes do in order to survive.

In conclusion, I think the main theme in this book is survival because of my examples. Katniss has to survive in the wild by hunting and gathering food for herself so that she can continue to survive. This is a clear example how Katniss is trying to survive and how she is trying to fight the wild. Survival is important in the book because if the last tribute was standing, their family would be crowned with riches. Everyone would want to be rich. They are also fighting to show the Council that they have spirit in their families and that they can't control them. Survival relates to the real world because there are many situations with survival. There could be a run-away teen running away from abusive parents and trying to survive in the wild. There could be an accident where you're left on an island and you have to survive by yourself. One example of this situation is the book "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen. There could be many situations that can force someone to live in the wild and look for food and shelter in order to survive.

Romeo and Juliet-Theme Response

I thought this movie was pretty cool overall. I wished it wasn't in the modern days though because I couldn't see what the buildings and Verona looked like when Romeo and Juliet was written. What I disliked was how the characters are so young and they're already in love. Even though the actors were over 18, the true story was that they are under 14. It shocks me how people so underage is already in deep love. I also found it hard understanding Shakespearean language, it's really tough, have to decipher each line one by one. My theme was sound and I think the sound really plays a role in the movie.

The sound is what makes the movie interesting. One observation I noticed about sound was the intense thunder noises when Romeo killed Tybalt. I think that the thunder sounds got louder and louder because it showed that Romeo committed a huge crime. The sounds helped us understand how Romeo felt when he killed Tybalt, regret and scared. Since he killed Juliet's cousin, he might've thought that Juliet would hate him for killing him. Not only did the sound change, the weather changed. The clouds got dark and it started pouring, showing his regret and anger.

Another observation of sound that I noticed was intense music in dramatic scenes. The sound draws the audience to pay close attention and wonder what is about to happen. I noticed that during the romance scenes, the music tends to be soft and peaceful. During the scene where Romeo and Juliet find out about their family and how they are Montagues and Capulets, the sound is very dull in tone. I think that the dullness in the music means that the two can never be together because one is a Montague and one is a Capulet. Another scene I thought meant something was when Juliet drank the sleeping potion. There was music that sounded like music played in a church or in a funeral. The music told me that something bad was going to happen. It conveyed sadness. To me, the music made me think of fate, it made me think of how Romeo would never see Juliet again after she drank the potion.

In conclusion, sound plays a big role in all movies. Without sound, we wouldn't be able to hear what the characters are saying or what is going on. Back in the old times, people would do silent plays and they would try to guess what the actors were doing. Also they had silent films with no sound, sound is really important. This is why sound plays a big role in this movie too, especially in a movie that is fast paced and filled with romance and drama. Sound can represent happiness and sadness. This is the interesting thing about music, music conveys different emotions. Music can be happy, sad, exciting, dull and more.