Exposition: Katniss, a sixteen year-old girl, who is the sole provider for her family is the main character and her sister Prim, best friend Gale, and her mother are secondary characters. District 12 is one of the districts in Panem where the story is set. Peeta is the boy chosen from District 12 to compete with and against Katniss.
Conflict: All of the 12-18 year olds in each district have to attend a ceremony called the reaping. At the reaping, one boy's name and one girl's name is called to be tribute to the Hunger Games. At first, Prim's name is called but Katniss immediately volunteers to take her place. The boy chosen was Peeta Mallark, and only one of them can survive all of Panem's Hunger Games.
Rising Action: Katniss and Peeta go to the Justice Building to say goodbye to their friends and families then take a train to the Capitol. At the Capitol, all of the tributes are treated basically like celebrities and given a mentor, who is a previous winner, trained, and prepped for the Hunger Games. At the start of the games, the tributes take advantage of killings at the Cornucopia which is filled with supplies until the Careers, tributes who have trained for the games, take the supplies for themselves. Katniss and Peeta find themselves in many battles and just when it seems like Peeta has joined forces with the Careers, he helps Katniss escape being killed. A rule change in the game provides a twist where there can now be two winners from a district, so Katniss and Peeta end up helping each other in and out of many tight spots. When the tributes number only three, they find they must outlive only one other to put an end to the games. Katniss finally kills the other tribute and they think the games are over.
Climax: Just when Katniss and Peeta think they have won, they hear an announcement that now states there can only be one winner. Torn between winning and making a statement, both competitors decide to kill themselves to put an end to such a controlling game. As they take poisonous berries, the announcer states there are in fact two winners so the Capitol can maintain some control and keep the districts entertained.
Falling Action: Katniss and Peeta return to the Capitol and get treatment for their injuries that were sustained. A ceremony is planned for the winners' announcement and Peeta and Katniss have been seperated until the ceremony. At the ceremony and following events, they must pretend they were taking the berries because they were in love and could not be apart, but Peeta has developed real feelings for Katniss.
Resolution: Katniss and Peeta return to District 12 and find that their romance facade might be real for more than just a presentation of the Hunger Games.
Literary elements that could be used with this novel are symbolism, flashback, and irony among many others. What a fun read!
Collins, S. (2008). The hunger games . New York: Scholastic Press.
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