The Hunger Games Essay

“The Hunger Games,” by Suzanne Collins is a popular novel set in a futuristic world where one person has complete control over everyone else. After losing a war against the government, the people of Panem are split into Districts and forced to work for the “Capitol” which is where the president and highest class lives. To punish the rebellious people, every year two young members of each district are lotteried to fight to the death in The Hunger Games as entertainment. The story follows a girl Katniss and shows her journey when she is sent to the deadly Hunger Games arena. Throughout the book, many examples of harsh ruling are explained. Some citizens are beaten if they break a rule, others executed for making a mistake on the job. However all suffer from the effects of harsh rule by one president. The Hunger Games shows the worst that can happen when the wrong people have all the power.

President Snow and the capitol completely control all of the districts, and abuse their power. They watch their people with cameras and troops to make sure no small mistakes occur, and if they do find one they punish the person severely. The Capitol has strict rules that the districts must follow without any say. One quote from the novel reads, “When I was younger, I scared my mother to death, the things I would blurt out about District 12, about the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far-off city called the Capitol. Eventually I understood this would only lead us to more trouble. So I learned to hold my tongue and to turn my features into an indifferent mask so that no one could ever read my thoughts,” the government forbids any individuality or any freedom. They use their power not to help everyone, but to turn them to slaves. “Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. “Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you,” Katniss explains how the Capitol continues to punish the districts for the attempted rebellion that happened years ago. When people tried to stand up for themselves, they were pushed back down and punished in many different ways. The capitol and President don’t treat the districts like people, they treat them like slaves. The people of Panem are forced to live a terrible life due to the terrible people having the power.

When the government has such strict rules, people are bound to disagree and to eventually rebel. The Hunger Games shows how the mistreated people begin to fight back against the people controlling them. Katniss begins to feel disgusted towards the Capitol, “All I can think is how unjust the whole thing is, the Hunger Games. Why am I hopping around like some trained dog trying to please people I hate? The longer the interview goes on, the more my fury seems to rise to the surface,” under these terrible rules people are bound to realize how wrong they are. “I keep wishing I could think of a way to...to show the Capitol they don’t own me. That I’m more than just a piece in their games,” eventually the anger inside people builds up, and the people of Panem are angry enough to do something, and to defy the Capitol.

The quote, “What goes around comes around,” applies to the book because the Capitol treated their people terribly and abused their power completely. The book shows the results of misused power through cruel unnecessary punishment and the beginning of a rebellion due to the treatment. The Hunger Games is a story about a world we never want to become.

Martín Espada Poems Essay

Previously in the United States, racism and segregation have been a terrible issue. A writer Martín Espada expresses the exclusion and frustration that comes from the same racism today through poetry. His three poems, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson”, “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School,”  and “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877,” all describe the misused power given to groups of people when it comes to differences in race.

Espada’s poem, “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School,” tells a story where people are unjustly treated because of their race by the person holding power. “The boys chatter spanish/ while the principal/ listens from his stall/ the only word he recognizes/ is his own name/ and this constipates him.” This quote shows the principal unnecessarily fearing the unknown. Because he cannot understand exactly what the boys are saying about him in spanish, he assumes the worst. “He decides/ to ban spanish/ from the bathrooms.” The principal uses his power to limit others and to help himself. He selfishly forces children to abandon their native language in order to eavesdrop successfully. The poem makes the reader feel disappointed by seeing this grown man feel self conscious of his own students. The poem makes the reader question why selfish people (like the principal in the poem) have so much power, and why they can get away with taking power away from others who deserve it (like the spanish speaking boys).

Martín Espada’s poem, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson,” describes the annoyance that follows a mispronounced name and overlooked culture. “Whenever my name/ is mispronounced/ I want to.../ hijack a busload of Republican tourists/ and force them to chant/ anti- American slogans.” The power holding people in this scenario is society itself. One’s name is their identity and ultimately who they are. When another person ‘butchers’ their name it shows the lack of attention to a culture, and it’s frustrating to lose a piece of who they are. “Wait/ for a bilingual SWAT team/ begging me/ to be reasonable.” Espada adds irony to his poem, because he writes about how forcing Americans to go against their own country seems like the worst possible thing, but many other races in America are forced to do the same. He makes the reader think about how in this case many Americans have little respect for other races and culture, and seem to change people’s names. Espada’s poem is simple but causes awareness when it comes to society having an open mind to other races, and treating everyone like their own.

“Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877,” tells the story of two Mexicans lynched because townspeople thought they were guilty. “Forty gringo vigilantes/ cheered the rope/ that snapped two mexicanos.” The two Mexicans were not treated like people in the eyes of the townspeople because of their race. The power was distributed unfairly to racist townspeople and instead of a trail, they were instantly killed. “A high collared boy smirking, some peering/ from the shade of bowler hats, but all/ crowding into the photograph.” The moment where two men were murdered was photographed with proud smiling faces. The poem by Espada puts power holding into perspective, and makes readers wonder if the people who have it should have it. And if those who have power, will do the right thing. Two Mexican men were killed not because of the law, but because of racism and biased townspeople who held their fate.

All the people described in Martín Espadas poems suffered from unfair treatment due to their race. They were given extra problems, because those with power created more obstacles. The groups with the power, whether it was society, a principal, or a town, all abused it and supported racism with their actions. Espada’s short stories in his poems open eyes to the issue of racism and wrongly given power, and hopefully will spark an awareness to end those issues.

Gaokao Test Essay

Every year China administers a test called the Gaokao. An Upfront article explains the process including schools that specifically prepare kids for the test and are a place “where 20,000 students train around the clock for China’s national college-entrance examination.” The amount of pressure the test inflicts is incredible due to it being “the only thing that matters for admission to Chinese universities,” which could mean a life outside a factory. It’s completely unfair to put so much pressure on millions of Chinese students to do well on the test, because the students suffer by devoting years to studying, and some families have more money and an unfair advantage on the test.

One of the reasons the test should not have so much riding on it is because it directly influences all students and forces them to do nothing but study, which could give them negative emotional feelings like stress, exhaustion, and depression. The article explains a town that has, “shut down all forms of entertainment,” one kid living in the town adds, “There’s nothing to do but study.” The town restricts kids from dating, using any type of electronic device, and even electricity, to force them to study. Also studying for the Gaokao pushes kids ‘over the edge’ for example a photo was recently shared of  “a classroom of students all hooked up to intravenous drips to give them the strength to keep studying.” Plus “teenage suicide rates tend to ride as the gaokao nears.” The test’s pressure forces teenagers to not care about anything but the test and studying for it.

Another reason the test should not have complete control over job opportunities is because some students come from different income families which means they have different advantages. One teen says he has to study hard and do well on the test because his “father is out working construction far from home to pay [his] school fees.” Many Chinese families have to overwork just to pay the fee for public schools, but the Gaokao test adds more fees for tutors and textbooks. In addition, some students are forced to go to “poor schools,” that have “few well trained teachers.” They don’t get the same education or test prep as those who can “hire private tutors, pay for test-prep courses or bribe their way into the best city schools.” Those who come from a rich background have more opportunities and overall an advantage on the test over those who don’t.

In China a stack of papers can determine a teenagers entire future. If students score badly on the Gaokao “manual labor would be their fate,” and their future would be set. “A few points either way could determine whether students qualify for a degree that could change their life.” The pressure placed on the students is way too much and has caused kids to take their life. It may be an efficient way to place kids in schools, its not healthy or fair to put all the power on the Gaokao