Hi class, sorry I wasn't in today. My daughter is sick, and I had to take her to the hospital. I expect to be in tomorrow, and any failure to submit essays will be provided a sanction.

For class today, you'll be provided with three sources, along with a question. You will have a choice of Two Essay questions. I expect an essay no shorter than 1,725 words, and no longer than 2,324.

Please analyze the sources, and refer to no fewer than two within your essay. Leave them in my Jayhole for collection no later than 17:00 (Metropolitan Standard Time).

Source 1: Thirteenth Hunger Games (Panemois Standard Games Encyclopaedia)

Thirteenth Hunger Games, Victor: Aspen Woodman

The Thirteenth Hunger Games were the first of what would become known as the 'standardized' game format. A nice, open arena (Forested, on Couvee Island), a cornucopia with a bloodbath.

It, of course, had major alliances form. It was one of the first to have a secure Squad, although it did not take on present form until several years later. Instead, the alliance, comprised of the District 1 and 2 pairs and the male Tributes from District 5 and 9, was formed more based on martial ability, with the tributes less adept when it came to the social dynamics which drive much of the inter-district Squad cooperation.

Additionally, it was the first arena to feature several things later refined by the Panemois Government. This included environmental based training features, namely tree climbing and archery, a dedicated Training Center (although this would become more refined in later years), and the first Arena to be preserved for tourism. These features contributed to placement in the top 10 in each Quell ranking of Games.

There were, however, failings. Many of the tributes were percieved as less charismatic, and as such there was less popularity around them than there could have been had the Tributes been more popular, leading to Sponsors withholding money for the next year. Additionally, the failings of Head Gamemaker for the Environment Caecilius Tarth in providing a properly stocked Arena (although this was rectified) led to his replacement with now President Coriolanus Snow, at the age of just 21.

Source 2: An Extract (Seven's 25 Games: A History)

In my opinion, Aspen Woodman's victory was largely down to personal merit and skill rather than the action of his mentor and training. While to some extent it could be argued Woodman's escort (Octavia Mainwaring) was the largest factor, this leaves out several important factors.

For one, without his personal charisma in getting through the interviews and coming out well, it is unlikely Woodman would have been able to garner sponsorship money owing to the fickle nature of Capitol sponsorships. While generous, it's been proven that underconfident outliers are almost 95% less likely to raise a significant sum of sponsor money. As such, Woodman's confidence significantly raised his chances.

Additionally, Woodman's talent with an axe cannot be understated in importance. In comparison to the victory of Maple Lightfoot (definitely the underdog in her Games), Woodman played very much to the views of District Seven as plucky lumberjacks. By entering that viewpoint (although it is unknown exactly whether he meant to portray himself in such a way), Woodman further brought in sponsor money, with Capitol sponsors viewing him as a quintessential child from Seven. Finally, the relatively early loss of his District Partner (killed by Redfern at the Cornucopia) meant that Woodman was able to play up the revenge angle in televisual broadcasting, presenting himself as grieving for said partner and thus allowing him to garner extra sponsor funds at times he desperately needed them.

Source 3: Maple Lightfoot's letter to Mags Flanagan, 21st January, 21 PTD

Mags

I'm not sure how much longer I can go on like this. While Aspen was my mentor, and I should be looking up to him, that shit won't fly for long. There's already enough tinder between us to set this whole town ablaze, and I'm not sure how much longer I can go on like this.

Aspen was a drunken slob, more concerned with mentoring his stomach on surviving the alcohol than on mentoring us on how to survive the Games. I'm surprised he was able to drag himself out of the bar long enough to send me what he did, and I still got asked by sponsors what he did with their money. The fact Capitol people expect me to give him my respect is completely unfair.

Add to that that he's pissed off most of the town by this point. I know my father never liked him (not that I'll be talking to the former again), but everyone else. Well, Woodman was out in the woods before the war (they have such an elegant naming convention - heh). He's called half the town Mossies at this point (and that isn't the nicest term), and has refused to pay the shopkeeps so many times.

They refused to come to MY house until I explained I fully disagreed with him. Had to go down into town, and I've told you how bad it is down there. All's well now. They ignore him, come to mine. It's nice when I can get some company outside of Aspen.

Missing you and Four, and looking forward to the Capitol

Maple

To what extent was Aspen Woodman a Victor through his own merit?

By Leonidas Emmerman, 14, The Academy, 10/07/75 (10th of July, 75 years After the Dark Days)

The second decade of the games was to some extent a major milestone in the Post-Dark Days era of the Capitol. While not totally reconstructed after the damage done by rebel attacks on the civilian population, the reconstruction had progressed enough that the Ravenstill Administration felt content moving the Hunger Games to staging outside of the Capitol Arena and in larger open areas. This decision was likely to prove decisive, putting those tributes familiar with the terrain of each arena at a distinct advantage over others, particularly in areas with hazards adapted by the Gamemakers.

As such, Woodman was at a distinct advantage even before he'd entered the Arena. The Arena itself, located within District Seven on Couvee Island, was a terrain likely intimately familiar to him owing to the large logging population, and with the only other people familiar with the area being tour guides contracted from District One and trained in the area it is unlikely any other tributes would have been able to experience the unique geography of the western rainforests. This was seen in several instances, most notably in his ambush of District Two female tribute Lisa Redgrave. While Redgrave was clearly an experienced tracker, in the forest she was ill suited to counter Woodman's notable skill at tree climbing, unable to follow his movements.

This, along with her injury from a number of Mutt mosquitoes, meant Woodman was able to effectively engage Redgrave and prevent her from catching him off guard, eliminating his biggest competitor in one fell swoop without the long battles people either victory flanking him experienced. This meant Woodman was able to adequately maintain his strength, weakening the other competitors in his games as they descended into infighting without Redgrave as a balancing element. This eventual infighting led to four of the Squad being killed off and Victoria Clarke (1F) being severely injured.

By contrast, Woodman's knowledge of the foliage and wildlife of the terrain allowed him to stay out of the way of several of the more dangerous hazards. For example, his encounter with a mutted pair of black bears was avoided by his knowledge of how to handle such animals, making himself look bigger and when that failed escaping up a tree too small to be pursued up. The subsequent encounter of the bears with the 6F tribute proved his strategy was sound.

Furthermore, his actions in the Bloodbath started the Games off in his favour. By taking out both the 8M and 6F Woodman was able to establish himself as a credible threat both to the Squad tributes and to each other, while simultaneously removing a tribute with a relatively high training score. This narrowing of the viable non-Squad tributes led to more sponsor gifts as an absolute figure being gifted to him and to the male tribute from Ten, leading to a better sponsor base adeptly used by Mainwaring and later his substitute mentor Nutmeg Rosen (after Rosen's own tribute was finished off by his district partner).

Additionally, after two consecutive female victors, Woodman was able to make a successful appeal to Capitol citizenship at his interview, bringing in significant sponsor money. This can be attributable to a number of factors, both to Capitol interest in fairness for the competitors of the Hunger Games and to Aspen's own charisma allowing him to have a bigger splash compared to the relatively uncharismatic tributes from many of the other districts, crucially including One. This allowed Woodman to take the front as a charismatic outlier, for the first time since the 11th Games becoming a tribute without allies but with the largest amount of donations.

However, to claim Woodman was a victor solely through merit ignores the several factors working in his favour. For one, his escort Octavia Mainwaring was able to expertly leverage her contacts in the Capitol in order to challenge the dominance of double Victor districts (One, Two, Four) in being able to recruit more sponsors. This sponsor money, while largely unnecessary throughout the games, possibly proved crucial in the endgame. While injured, the provision of prohibitively expensive water is believed to have given Woodman a strength his opponent D1F Victoria Clarke did not have at that stage, allowing him to finish her off.

Woodman's skill with an axe also allowed him to better challenge the traditional Squad dynamics, as without their usual dominance over the tributes from the non-central districts they were less confident and argumentative. While technically indirectly related to him, this could not have been possible without significant mental issues with the Squad of that year. Without Redgrave, as a result, their collapse was both swift and brutal, and as such likely contributed to the first Victory from Seven.

In 'Seven's 25 Games: A History' notable District Seven historian and former mayor Cardella Bircher says that she believed Woodman was largely a victor through his own merit. While she does acknowledge the influence of Capitol citizens on his victory, she dismisses these as additional to his strategic ability and skill with an axe. This argument in my opinion has a lot of merit, as while many of the sponsor gifts such as food lent Woodman strength they were not critical to his victory in the way his skill with an axe was. Additionally, with Bircher personally having met and knowing Woodman it is likely her knowledge is more effective in parsing the emotional situation than Capitol historians who consider the facts through an understanding of fact.

Woodman's actions, however, could also be understood through the lens of his not knowing what to do and making up plans as he goes along. This is seen in several instances within his Games, with Woodman stating openly that he doesn't know what to do on several occasion within the games. This suggests that his actions were more a product of circumstance than anything, and further suggests that Woodman's victory was due to the aid of people with better ideas than himself (Likely his escort, Octavia Mainwaring, or somebody he interacted with during the training period).

Additionally, his actions after Victory suggest a lack of personal merit. Between well publicized affairs with several Victors and capitol citizens, a proclivity for partaking in alcohol and an attitude entirely unbefitting somebody meant to be loyal to the Capitol Woodman clearly was not as meritorious a person as would be expected. While Woodman is responsible for a second Victor, to a large extent her victory can be attributed as much to her own ability to play the crowd as to Woodman's 'shoddy' mentoring. He was then unable to secure another Victor, suggesting further issue.

This shoddy mentoring is shown in Source 3, a letter sent by his Victor (Miss Lightfoot) to Mags Flanagan in the immediate period after her Victory Tour. In this letter, she describes Woodman as a 'drunken slob, more concerned with mentoring his stomach on surviving the alcohol than on mentoring us on how to survive the Games. I'm surprised he was able to drag himself out of the bar long enough to send me what he did, and I still got asked by sponsors what he did with their money'. This statement suggests considerable anger on the part of Miss Lightfoot, and the description of him as a 'drunken slob' suggests that she holds considerable resentment towards his alcoholism. However, other factors at play mean she is likely to be biased. For one, living in a Victors Village with him suggests, similar to Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark's descriptions of Haymitch Abernathy, that they would have had significant contact, with such proximity liable to lead to conflict without any balancing individuals. Additionally, Woodman's lack of support for Lightfoot in the Games provides a viable motive for her to present a more negative opinion of him regardless of his actual activity, in spite of any benefit he brought her. As such, the letter, while providing a good primary source, is unlikely to be totally accurate.

Lightfoot's statement, along with other statements made by those tangentially or directly connected to Woodman, suggests an overarching view of Woodman which is argely negative, particularly with regards to his victory. Very few sources suggest that he's a well adjusted mentor, suggesting that either perceptions were overwhelmingly and unfairly negative when it came to Woodman, or he was generally not the best mentor. Without managing to get an interview with Woodman due to his death around the 64th, I am limited to secondary sources, and must interpret them in order to get a sense of the man, which may limit my understanding of him.

With Capitol News having made an effort to show the highlights of his Victory it is also possible that they failed to show moments at which Woodman was less meritorious, thus causing a biased view of his Victory to take place in the view of the Capitol. Unfortunately for the purposes of this essay, I was unable to get hold of a copy of Woodman's Games in full, and either way I would not have been able to spare the two weeks required for such an experience. As such, this may be a limitation of my essay, preventing me from properly analyzing the events of the 13th Annual Hunger Games. This was compounded by my mother's refusal to allow me to take off two weeks, in spite of the major benefit this would have proven to my work.

As such, while to a large extent I believe it was personal merit which allowed Woodman to take his victory, this idea is not without the caveat that the involvement of the Capitol was a significant factor in his own success and should not be underestimated. Especially, the involvement of Octavia Mainwaring allowed Woodman critical strategic redundancy in being able to replenish on supplies even into the later stages of the game.

36/40. Superb essay, Leo, accurately exploring Woodman through a Capitol lens and understanding the opinions of your chosen Games historian.

However, remember to tighten up your research. While it is true that Birchman did state as written, your analysis fails to consider possible reasons for her opinion to be biased. These could include being a District citizen, possible goals to support the reputation of Seven despite Capitol noted flaws and a need to appeal to one of her core supporters in her writing.

Additionally, of course, his consumption of arena produced food (rabbit and nuts primarily) came with significant risk, and as such your opinion differs largely from the popular consensus that without sponsor gifts Woodman would have been unable to overpower Redgrave. While not necessarily a negative, I would advise you to analyze such if you do differ.

To what extent was the 13th Hunger Games the most significant event in the development of the Hunger Games?

By Flavia Flautist, 13, The Academy, 09/07/75 PTD

The 13th Annual Hunger Games, to a large extent, developed the Hunger Games into the modern form. While it could be argued that later Games sparked the events that would have it be seen as entirely adjacent to the modern form, several developments within the Games meant the 13th was the landmark year.

For one, the events of the Games cemented a quickly forming dynamic. While the Squad as we know it coalesced in the First Quarter Quell, the 13th established a pattern of One and Two allying, and picking up a pair of supporting players. This dynamic would become relatively static after the 13th, with cooperative Mentors and a relatively aligned goal of serving the Capitol leading to the continual existence of the alliance. Additionally, this development saw the origination of an intense dislike towards the Inner Districts within several of the Outer Districts, with the tributes from Eleven in particular expressing a strong dislike towards the alliance that had formed. This mentality, from Eleven and later Nine, would continue throughout the games, and in certain cases prove pivotal to the outcome of the Games.

However, there were several ways in which this alliance did not last. For one, the inclusion of the District 5 Male tribute, especially with 5's inclusion in the Squad of the 12th was expected to see them eventually ascend as the 3rd core member. This did not come to pass, possibly due to the events after the 15th Hunger Games, with Five instead joining the 'Out' districts as one of the less favoured Districts to win the Hunger Games. For this event, it could be argued that the 19th Hunger Games was actually more significant, as it saw 4 begin a nearly unbroken streak of aligning with 1 and 2.

Additionally, as stated in the Panemois Standard Games Encyclopaedia, the Thirteenth Games was the first to have a dedicated training center. This structure allowed for an expansion with regards to training, as specialized stations were able to be established for each specific Game environment, allowing the Tributes to have a better experience and allowing the better Mentors to get somewhat of a grasp on what the Arena climate would be like for each year. This would put the districts with more competent mentors at a distinct advantage, thus benefitting them disproportionately.

Furthermore, the implementation of Sponsor rooms within the Mentor Centre allowed for Sponsors becoming more of a fixture within the Games, a belief further reinforced by the heavy Sponsor support that Woodman received in his Games. This led to a rise in the popularity of Sponsors, with the establishment on Woodman's Victory Tour of the Sponsor Gala in the Capitol. This deviation from the primary means of Victor-Capitol contact in the preplanned Victor's Ball soon became an established thing, with Sponsorship and sold tickets allowing individuals to meet the Victors at close quarters.

However, the establishment of the Victory Tour a year earlier, in the 12th Games, was arguably more significant in establishing the precedent of a tour at all. Due to the success of Mags Ventura's visit to the Capitol, the events of her tour or of Nike Gardiner's could be argued to have been more significant than the impact of the 13th in establishing a larger influence of the Games on the Capitol. Furthermore, the Sponsorship system had been established for a while, and as such while it was expanded to an extent during the 13th Games, the earlier Games were more significant in allowing it to get expanded.

On the subject of training, the first private showing of skills, as opposed to scoring simply based on training in work, was a major step. By allowing Woodman to conceal his skills in favour of pretending to be shaky with a sword, the establishment of a private showing system meant that the events of the Games had a majorly significant effect on the future of the Games. Additionally, several Victors since having followed Woodman's strategy of hiding their skills, it is likely that his actions had a major impact on the Hunger Games by setting an example. This shows that the 13th Games had a major impact on the existence of the Hunger Games, and as such could be argued to have had an impact on the Games in that way.

Additionally, the events of the Games led to District Seven getting their first Victor. This was a major impact by allowing them to subsequently gain their second, Maple Lightfoot, who has since carried the District Seven mentoring system to a great extent. As such, it could also be argued that by providing a previously Victorless District with a Victor, the 13th Games provided an additionally significant event by allowing Seven to gain an additional mentor, impacting the district in a positive manner. This, due to Seven's relatively high Victor count, could to a large extent be viewed as an impact Woodman had on the Games. By extension, this then applies to the 13th Games as a whole.

However, according to the letter sent by Maple Lightfoot, by her account Woodman was a relatively incompetent mentor, and it was in fact her actions which led to her Victory. To a large extent, I believe this source is a credible one. The private nature of the communication between Lightfoot and Mags Ventura lends credence to this interpretation, with Lightfoot more likely to express her true beliefs and understandings of the situation, rather than over or understating it. Additionally, Lightfoots interpretation of the events is likely to be more credible due to her relative newness as a Victor, which mean that she is more likely to speak her mind as opposed to later Victors, who fall more into the District mindset of negativity towards the Capitol which had blessed them with luxury.

However, Lightfoot's interpretation has several notable issues which must be considered when considering the question provided. For one, Lightfoot had been relatively neglected, and information released in the years after the Games showed that she had been largely ignored in favour of her District Partner, even though much of the sponsor funding had been specifically ordered for her. As such, it is likely she had stronger opinions against the actions of Woodman than were perhaps necessary, and as such is likely to have been biased as a result. Additionally, Lightfoot was writing to a friend/peer, rather than for a more official documentation, and as such it is possible she overexaggerated what had happened in order to inject some humour into the conversation, rather than make it all negative. Additionally, Lightfoot's heritage as a District Citizen means there is an additional grain of salt with which one must take her statements.

On another note, the statement suggests that the 13th Games was the most important. This statement fails to consider other Games, which could have had a similarly impactful involvement in the history of the Hunger Games. One example of this would be the 34th Hunger Games. The charisma of their Victor, owing primarily to her background and the concerning circumstances of her volunteering, led to a massive bounce in popularity for the Games. The 35th and 36th saw 30% growth on previous viewerships, and the sales for the tour out to the 34th arena were the highest rated yet, changing hands at almost 40,000 talents per ticket in the later stages of buildup to the first visit.

Additionally, it could be argued that the 13th, owing to their relative earliness, did not have as much a long term impact. Located after the 10th, it is in fact difficult to argue that the 13th Hunger Games was the most impactful Games even of the decade it was within. The involvements of the 10th, such as a period before the Games officially begun and the sponsor/mentor system, are without a doubt the most impactful with regards to the mechanics of the Games themselves, and are as such hard to overrule in favour of the 13th. This, however, does discount the fact that the 10th were far more basic versions of concepts that would later be refined, and was as such not the finished concept of the Games that many would imagine when looking at the events of said Games.

With regards to mechanics of the Games themselves, in my opinion it's other Games, particularly the 26th, which had more impactful twists. The decision of Head Gamemaker Melrose to commit to a brightly lit arena, supporting vision, while impacting all tributes with deafness, led to a surprising renaissance of popularity for the Games. This popularity extended into the future, with the unique twist and unique Victor making the Games as a whole a more nichely popular Games. This translated into several things. For one, this began to develop the tradition of 'fan fiction', with the first recorded incidence of such (Published on Flutter Writes), being written about the 26th Games, which has continued to be popular. Additionally, several other Games attempted to capitalize on the popularity of the twist with twists of various means, although none were as successful as that of the 26th. Furthermore, the 26th led to the first publication of a Mentoring Guide, which (although intended for the mentors) has been leaked every year so far and become a wildly population. This has only become more common in recent years, with an official version printed to head off the issues despite the issues caused by the leaks. This, along with other documents shared following the 26th, has become a major trend on the internet, with even several Government officials referencing it in speeches.

Overall, while I believe the 13th Hunger Games are to a great extent significant in the overall development in the Games, to describe any one Hunger Games as the most significant unfairly minimizes the impact others have had on the system. The 13th did implement elements that have endured to this day, such as the importance of Sponsorships and the involvement of a much larger Arena with Gamemaker elements, however other Games did as well. For example, the battery of changes in the 10th, or the large number of changes in the 44th, are not so unimportant as to be discounted in their impact, which a full agreement with this question would confirm. Additionally, the more interesting twists, such as those of the 26th and 58th, contributed heavily to the present culture of the Games, and Victors bringing charisma in Games like the 61st and 34th meant that the Games became more of a cultural touchstone than they could have been.

28/40. Lovely exploration of the 13th Games, Flavia, and I look forward to reading your second draft.

However, there are issues which limit your Essay to a band Seven. The changing referral to the Districts between their number as a word and as a number, along with the exploration of other games without direct comparison to the 14th, would severely drag your essay down in an examination situation.

Additionally, I see less reference to the Capitol here than I would have liked. More reference would have been very welcome.

Author Note: Hey all! Decided to go with a bit of a different theme for this after helping cousin with his writing, hope this was engaging enough! I greatly enjoyed writing this format (even if it did require the memories of a time forgotten)

As always, many thanks to those who have taken the time to take a look at this! It does give me a little buzz inside, so shoutout to all of you!

Disclaimer: I do not speak Latin, and so google translate helped me translate After Dark Days into Post Tenebras Dierum (PTD). Felt on brand for the Capitol to use that abbreviation!