1. A Study in Cultural Phenomena
The Hunger Games
A Study in Cultural Phenomena

2. Political Oppression
Definition: The persecution of an individual or group for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of preventing or restricting their ability to freely take part in society.
Examples:
Hitler and the rise of the Nazi Party
Communism in Cuba
Tasks: Find examples of Political Oppression that are currently occurring around the world. Who is the major influence behind each repressive movement? What is the major opposition to each repressive movement?

3. World Hunger
Definition: The social condition of people or organisms who frequently experience, or live with the threat of experiencing, the physical sensation of desiring food.
Hunger often leads to malnutrition, famine, and eventually starvation.
Example
Potato Famine
Task: Find examples of present day societies living in hunger. Where are these societies located? What is the major cause of hunger within this society (i.e. population, economics, geography)?

4. Socio-Economic Status
Definition: The arrangement of groups within a society based on each individual’s economic status.
Socio-Economic status has existed in America ever since the country was formed
Example:
The Golden Age
Task: Describe a modern day society in which socio-economic status determines the allocation of resources within that society. Are there societies in which wide gaps still exists between economic status and availability of resources

5. Social Darwinism
A philosophical theory based on Darwin’s “Survival of the Fittest”
Social status deciding factor of “survival” in society (acceptance, achievement, etc.)
Example: Gilded Age
Task: Find an example of this theory in modern-day world. How does it affect society in that given region? Be specific.

6. Big Brother Name coined for government surveillance of its citizens
Example: The Red Scare
Task: Find modern-day examples of the “Big Brother” concept and explain how it affects citizens around the world.

7. Child Exploitation
the use of children for someone else’s advantage, gratification or profit often resulting in unjust, cruel and harmful treatment of the child
Child Labor of early 1900s
Task: Find a modern-day example of child exploitation. Describe how children are used for the benefit of adults.