Responding to the Storyworld of The Hunger Games through a Fan Fiction Fandom

Many reader response theorists have researched how readers respond to literature; however, my dissertation addresses the question of what the nature of fan fiction responses is in relation to the storyworld of The Hunger Games, based solely on the responses themselves, independent of the writer. Employing Henry Jenkins’s “Ten Ways to Rewrite a Television Show” as a framework for analyzing how these writers enter into the storyworld, I explore fifteen fan fiction stories utilizing a textual analysis methodology. My findings support the argument that these writings are to be valued as tangible examples of what Louise Rosenblatt terms as an aesthetic reading in her transactional theory of reading, as they represent evidence of engagement with and critical thinking of The Hunger Games series. I conclude my dissertation with a discussion of public education and schools. Noting the consideration given to standardized assessments, I address the concern that schools will move towards more close readings of certain text exemplars, moving away from independent reading and young adult fiction, undervaluing their roles in regards to how readers become engaged with them. To challenge this move, I suggest ideas of what educators can do in order to better engage students, stimulating their intrinsic desires to learn. Drawing upon research by James Marshall, as well as Rebecca Black, I conclude with their ideas of what school districts should consider as we educate our twenty-first century students.Language, Literacy and Sociocultural StudiesDoctoralUniversity of New Mexico. Division of Language, Literacy and Sociocultural StudiesPence, LucretiaLammers, JayneZancanella, DonSung, Yoo Kyun