All right, folks, it all comes down to
this. After twelve weeks of learning to do cultural studies, how can we
make sense of the biggest literary phenomenon in America since Harry
Potter? THE HUNGER GAMES is, we think, the hardest thing we’ve studied
all semester. It’s got so much in it, so many parts that pull in so many
different directions and pick up so many different kinds of possible
meaning—psychological, interpersonal, economic, political, racial, historical,
literary, and much, much more. What makes this story so darn
appealing? To whom? How? And most importantly: with
what consequences? What does THE HUNGER GAMES do to us, and are we happy
about it? To make sense of all this, we’ll need everything we’ve got—from
Edgar to Colonel Quaritch. In this post, we’ll take a first step.
1) Find a moment in the novel—longer than a sentence, shorter than a
page—where you see the reader (maybe even yourself) being positioned in an important way. And please, find a moment
beyond Chapter 3 (so we don't all write about how Katniss volunteers for Prim).
('Positioned' = the reader is being
argued into taking side, with respect to a character or an issue. 'An
important way' = it matters; it leaves you either excited, because the reader
is being positioned in a way you agree with, or angry, because the reader is
being positioned in a way you do not agree with. Remember—following our work with 'feelings' in Avatar—that
this 'positioning' is not just a matter of ideas or statements; it's bodily,
a matter of emotions: rage, delight, relief, fear—and all the things in writing
that create these 'powerful feelings.')
2) Describe, in detail, how that positioning works. How is
this moment constructed, such that the reader seems to have no choice but to
take the intended position?
(This is a question of rhetoric: you’re explaining how
the reader gets 'argued' into taking a position. Think about
narrative—and spectacle…though it works a little differently in a book.
Think about inter-textuality. Think about Rousseau and Hobbes. Think
about Hegel and the World-Spirit and world-historical men (and women?).
Think about Hall on classification, and on truth. Think about ideology,
hegemony, and habitus. No need
to use all of these. Use whichever you need—and/or other material that’s
not here—to explain how your moment in the text works to position the
reader. And don’t use anything you don’t need!)
Use as much detail as you can.
Point us to some text. Get into the real specifics of word choice,
sentence structure, description, etc. Back every claim you have with
evidence.
Example: At
the end of chapter 17, Rue, whom I've learned to love, is trapped in a net,
under attack. Katniss runs to free
her, but:
'She
just has time to reach her hand through the net and say my name before the
spear enters her body.' [end]
Chapter
18 begins:
'The
boy from District 1 dies before he can pull out the spear. My arrow drives deeply into the center
of his neck. He halves the brief
remainder of his remaining life by pulling out the arrow and drowning in his
own blood.'
In the white
space between the chapters, I (Robin) ceased to be a pacifist and began to root
for more blood. I wanted Katniss
to kill, and find all her killing justified.
(Spoiler Alert!) by the time she puts another fast, clean arrow through
the evil President's heart in Book 3, I love watching her kill.
This is positioning.
But let’s not all write about Rue….
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