Relating Readers

The film Holes, the television show KidNation, the classic novel Lord of the Flies,  and the contemporary novel, The Hunger Games. What do all of these have in common?  Theme.  

After reading "From Hinton to Hamlet: Building Bridges Between Young Adult Literature and the Classics," by Sarah K. Herz and Donald R. Gallo this past week, my eyes have been opened to the possibility of relating a text to almost anything.  In the article, they talk specifically about relating a classic, often required novel, with a more contemporary novel dealing with the same themes.  They call it restructuring the classroom, and they define it as examining "more broadly two or more works that deal with the same theme or themes".  This way, students can take more interest and relate more to those classic, often required, texts.  But I say, why stop there?  Relate these texts to anything relevant!  Let's look at the book The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins.  

The book describes the United States in the future.  It consists of the beautiful capitol, and 12 outlying districts who are controlled by the Capitol.  This is sheer distopia.  Katniss, the young protagonists is one of 24 children that must go to the capital to compete in the Hunger Games, a battle to death where only one child may survive.  Katniss uses her survival skills--and acting skills--to survive this fight to death.  As millions watch from their television sets, Katniss partakes in the Hunger Games and the brutal game of love.  

The central themes set up in Collins' novel are nothing new.  There is the loss of innocence, the abuse of power, the tyranny of a group, governmental control, and the idea of civilized society needing to have rules.  These themes are greatly similar to those in Lord of the Flies.  Here is a great example of where a classic title may be paired with a more modern title to spark kids interest and point to key themes that are present in both novels, and how such themes (especially with this novel) are relevant in today's society.  From here, you can go beyond the real of literature, and compare to movies, television shows, and show students that novels can be relative!  

Ask your students: are these themes and novels a reflection of society?  Could society ever truly become this?  Does anyone deserved to be treated this way, to be controlled in this manner?  I have said it before and I will say it again, what matters to students is relatability!  Science fictions novels may be more difficult to relate to, but students find them interesting, so why not play off the themes and relate them to many other narratives and spark their interest even more?