Mockingjay

I finished the third book of the HUNGER GAME series while in Washington. Funny that I couldn't complete the series that worked against the Capital until I was actually in the Capital. As I did the Lobby work for the National Writing Project, the parallels to Collins' allegory and modern 21st century was a little eerie. I couldn't help but think about how normed life is for DC and how every state (and our lobbying groups) come forth with our district's concerns. As one legislative assistant noted, "The walk-ins are the worst. We never know what to expect or what their gripes will be." I feel fortunate that I had appointments.

I also thought rather impishly and how funny it would be to come up with many whacky complaints like the lack of circuses in the U.S. and the needs of unemployed clowns or concerns about eggplants brought to Congress by the Eggplant Growers of America.

Everyone has an issue and, if politics work correctly, they have a right to voice their needs to federal government. That is what I did this week. I said, "Whereas the Lorax speaks for the trees, I speak for 21st century writing realities in k - 12 schools." Teachers deserve professional development so they can be better instructors in their classrooms.

I wish I could say I was satisfied by the 3rd book of the trilogy, but it went way too far for my tastes. I guess the violence got out of hand and the chaos of Panem's panoptica was a bit too extreme. Even so, I feel I am a better man and teacher for reading them and I would not discourage anyone from the experience. Yet, whereas literature replicates life, I think the larger conversations we need to have is where Collins' books parallel societal realities that are not as far fetched as they may appear.

Happy Fools Day, April. This is posted by another Connecticut fool.