Literature Analysis #1

 1.I chose to read The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes by Susan Collins and it is a prequel to the Hunger Games series. It starts with a very poor Coriolanus Snow struggling to keep himself, his grandmother, and his cousin afloat. Then he finds out that he will be a mentor to the 12th district girl tribute in the Hunger Games, and if they win, they will be getting a nice cash prize, which he desperately needs. During is time mentoring, he and his tribute named Lucy Gray Baird, form a close bond and fall in love. Because of this new love(and the prize for winning) he cheats in the Hunger Games which allows Lucy Gray to win. However, he is caught cheating and is sent away to work in the military in district 12. Once there, he finds Lucy Gray, an after he accidently kills someone and his best friend, they plan to run away together. As they run off, Coriolanus  realizes that he could still have a chance of being someone great in the capitol. So he attempts to kill Lucy Gray and runs back to district 12, where he is then taken to the capitol and is set on the path that will lead him to presidency someday. Lucy Gray Baird's fate remains unknown at the end of the book.

2.The theme of the novel is that humanity at it's core is evil and animalistic, and we need a ruthless government to control and protect us from ourselves.

3.Based on the tone of the book, I think the author probably gets up a little late because the characters are more often than not very tired and she does a really great job at capturing that feeling. "He fell on his bed, feeling to stressed to ever sleep again. The next thing he knew, Tigris was gently shaking his shoulder." I feel like she'd then make some coffee to help shed the drowsiness. I also don't feel like she exercises in the morning. She probably eats a breakfast that is quick and easy to prepare. Something that isn't exactly the best quality food, but it tastes good enough. Something like toast or eggs and sausage. This is also conveyed in the book, " He also received two canned pear halves and a big mug of milk. Not elegant, but filling." After a quick breakfast, she probably gets to work writing and doesn't procrastinate. "Loosing himself in the assignment helped to calm him, and he preferred working in solitude...".

4.The 5 literary techniques I noticed were foreshadowing, indirect characterization, dramatic irony, symbolism, and imagery. Foreshadowing is used in quite a clever name with the character of  Lucy Gray.  She was named after a poem about a girl who disappeared in a snow storm, never to be seen again. This foreshadows what happens to Lucy in the book as she does in fact, disappear because of Coriolanus Snow. "The storm came on before it's time, she wandered up and down, and may a hill did Lucy climb, but never reached the Town." Another example of foreshadowing is how Coriolanus hates mockingjays, and in the future his enemy is Katniss, who's symbol is a mockingjay. "Here they were, multiplying like rabbits, completely unchecked. Unauthorized. Co-opting Capitol technology. He didn't like it one bit." Also, Coriolanus' rise to power is foreshadowed, as his Grandma constantly tells him that he'll be the president someday. "And to hear her tell it, it was a given that his future would be glorious. 'When Coriolanus is president...' she often began." Indirect characterization is also used quite a bit in the book. It is used to show Coriolanus's jealousy and possessiveness of Lucy Gray. " Billy Taupe had to accept that Lucy Gray was no longer his, but he belonged firmly, and for always, to Coriolanus." It is also used to show how Sejanus, Coriolanus' friend, doesn't think the Hunger Games are right when he gives the tributes food instead of letting them starve. "When Sejanus arrived with bags of hard-boiled eggs and wedges of bread, all the tributes ran up to him..." Another example of indirect characterization is when Sejanus is revealed to be a rebel but never tells anybody so as not to get caught. "Across from him, down on one knee, Sejanus listened intently...he recognized the image almost immediately. It was the map of the base." In this excerpt, Sejanus is talking to a rebel over a picture of the military base where Sejanus worked, heavily implying that Sejanus is a rebel. I also noticed the author use of dramatic irony as well. The example I noticed the most is when Sejanus plans to be a rebel and stop the government, but we know that anything against the Capitol fails for the next 64 years. "This was it then. The confession... Now was the time for the pieces to be explained... The moment the whole treasonous rebel plot would be revealed." The next example of dramatic irony comes in this scene, "He and Lucy Gray, running away into the wilderness." This is dramatic irony because though Snow plans to run away, we know that he won't follow through with it and will instead become the President of Panem. The final example of dramatic irony is when the Snow family lost everything and became nobodies, and they feel like they failed at life. However, we know that they get back on their feet and become one of the most famous names in Panem. The book also uses symbolism in quite a satisfying way. The most obvious form of symbolism is the title of the book, The Ballad of  Songbirds and Snakes. Coriolanus Snow is symbolized as the snake who betrays Lucy Gray, the songbird. Another instance of Snow being symbolized as a snake is how Lucy Gray has a fascination with snakes much like she does with Coriolanus. "Maude Ivory has said she always knew where to find snakes." Also in the book there is a verse in the song The Hanging Tree that is a symbol. The verse was "...where I told you to run so we'd both be free". This symbolizes how Lucy told Coriolanus that they could run away together and be free from the government, but she couldn't be free without him as she didn't want to be alone.  The last literary technique I found useful was the imagery. A big example of imagery was Lucy Grays appearance. In the book, it said, "Lucy Gray Baird stood upright in a dress made of rainbow ruffles..." This imagery reflects how she's someone special and someone the Capitol should take note of as she is the only one who really wears bright colors. Another piece of imagery I found was when the Coriolanus and his friends all went out to a lake on a hot day. "By the time they arrived at the lake, Coriolanus was panting and parched, and his rash burned form his sweat... He waded out, and the cold water embraced him..." The last piece of imagery I really paid attention to, was how district 12 was described. "The heat and humidity turned the air to some state halfway between a liquid and a gas... an hours trek down cinder and cracked-asphalt streets lined with hideous buildings...". This imagery perfectly shows how miserable life in district 12 is.