Rome and H.G.

The students finished taking their test today.  I'm hoping to have the grades in by Monday - sooner if I can.

The marking period ends tomorrow, so this will be the last chance to get extra credit this 9 weeks.  If you missed it, that's ok.  But I hope you did well on the test.

After they finished the test, we read The Hunger Games.

There's a lot in the book that ties into aspects of history that I don't teach.  Much of it is characteristic of ancient Rome.  The arena and the premise of the games seem to have come straight from the Roman Colosseum.

It becomes even more evident in the subsequent books when the excesses of Capital life are the same excesses that led to the moral deterioration of Rome - possibly causing its ultimate collapse.

And of course, one wonders if this was the intent of Ms. Collins when she wrote the book.  ...To point out the similarities between our society and that of Ancient Rome...

I was please to see that a number of students had studied this before.  We didn't go into much detail, since Rome is not officially part of our curriculum - but it's nice to see how it all fits together.

I found this interesting as well.

If you read the blog for extra credit, discuss The Hunger Games.  Tell the adult you read what's going on in the book currently.  Then, find a piece of scrap paper and write down the phrase: "The arenas are historic sites, preserved after the Games... visit the sites where the deaths took place...  They say the food is excellent."

Put it in the extra credit tray tomorrow.