Guided Today, Independant Tomorrow: A Thesis on Didactic Considerations in Incorporating Young Adult Literature into Danish Upper Secondary Education
Translated title
Guided Today, Independant Tomorrow: En Afhandning om Didaktiske Overvejelser ift. Inkoorporering af Ungdomslitteratur på Danske Gymnaiser
Authors
Sørensen, Sara Møller ; Roesgaard, Mads ; Lauge, Julie Burchardt
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2026
Submitted on
2026-05-29
Pages
169
Abstract
This thesis explores how English teachers in Danish upper secondary schools (STX) can use Suzanne Collins’s dystopian YA series The Hunger Games with second-language (L2) learners. The core question is how teachers can plan concretely and equip students with the literary tools needed to meet the Ministry of Children and Education’s guidelines and curricula—covering both formal language skills and students’ personal formation (Bildung). The analysis focuses on three novels: The Hunger Games (2008), The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020), and Sunrise on the Reaping (2025). Methodologically, the study is organized around four main lines of analysis that bridge literary study and classroom practice. It draws parallels between Collins’s world and real politics, especially in the United States and in current global dynamics. Using Henri Tajfel and John Turner’s social identity theory, it explains the regime’s division into in-groups and out-groups and the creation of an enemy other. The thesis argues that propaganda is the key mechanism linking identity manipulation to subjugation, and that control is maintained through both hard power (coercion) and soft power (influence and culture). Drawing on Sianne Ngai’s affect theory, it examines envy, anxiety, paranoia, and disgust. These are framed not as personal flaws but as political responses to systemic inequality and oppression. Through Katniss Everdeen, Coriolanus Snow, and Haymitch Abernathy, it shows how the regime mobilizes these emotions: Katniss’s inward envy becomes a catalyst for rebellion, and paranoia appears as a rational survival instinct in a society saturated with fear and surveillance. Literary trauma theory is used to map the path from an unspeakable psychic rupture to sociopolitical meaning. In Panem, trauma is deliberately institutionalized as a tool of control via forced complicity, yet survivors can regain agency and redirect trauma outward as defiant resistance. The final chapter turns the literary, sociopolitical, and psychological insights into concrete teaching practice. Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD), scaffolding, and the CARTAGO model (a teaching framework) are used to meet the diverse needs of Danish L2 students. The conclusion is that teaching The Hunger Games not only strengthens L2 students’ vocabulary and their ability to decode complex figurative language; more importantly, it supports their personal formation. By systematically confronting and unpacking dystopian themes, students develop critical media literacy, empathy, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence that help them recognize and evaluate rhetoric, forms of rule, and systemic inequality in today’s democracies. The outcome is an ambitious yet highly flexible lesson plan that teachers can adapt dynamically to maximize motivation and learning in each class.
Afhandlingen undersøger, hvordan engelsklærere på danske gymnasier (STX) kan bruge Suzanne Collins’ dystopiske YA-serie The Hunger Games i undervisningen af andetsprogselever (L2). Den centrale problemstilling er, hvordan man planlægger konkret og sikrer, at eleverne får de litterære redskaber, der skal til for at opfylde Børne- og Undervisningsministeriets vejledninger og læreplaner – både ift. formelle sprogfærdigheder og elevernes personlige dannelse (Bildung). Analysen fokuserer på tre romaner: The Hunger Games (2008), The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020) og Sunrise on the Reaping (2025). Metodisk er arbejdet organiseret i fire hovedspor, der bygger bro mellem litterær analyse og didaktisk praksis. Der trækkes paralleller mellem Collins’ univers og virkelige politiske forhold, især i USA og i nutidens internationale dynamikker. Med udgangspunkt i Henri Tajfel og John Turners social identitetsteori forklares regimets opdeling i 'in-groups' og 'out-groups' og skabelsen af en fjendtlig 'anden' (enemy other). Afhandlingen viser, at propaganda er den centrale mekanisme, som forbinder identitetsmanipulation med undertrykkelse, og at magten fastholdes gennem både 'hard power' (tvang) og 'soft power' (overbevisning og kultur). Med Sianne Ngais affektteori undersøges misundelse, angst, paranoia og afsky. Disse følelser forstås ikke som personlige svagheder, men som politiske reaktioner på systemisk ulighed og undertrykkelse. Gennem Katniss Everdeen, Coriolanus Snow og Haymitch Abernathy vises, hvordan regimet målrettet mobiliserer disse følelser: Katniss’ indadvendte misundelse bliver en drivkraft for oprør, og paranoia fremstår som et rationelt overlevelsesinstinkt i et samfund præget af frygt og overvågning. Traumeteori bruges til at følge bevægelsen fra et ubeskriveligt psykisk brud til socialpolitisk meningsskabelse. Traumer institutionaliseres i Panem som et redskab til kontrol via tvungen medskyld, men overlevere kan genvinde handlekraft og vende traumet udad som modstand. I det afsluttende kapitel omsættes de litterære, socialpolitiske og psykologiske indsigter til praksis gennem konkrete didaktiske greb. Vygotskys zone for nærmeste udvikling (ZPD), stilladsering (scaffolding) og CARTAGO-modellen (en didaktisk model) bruges til at møde danske L2-elevers forskellige behov. Konklusionen er, at The Hunger Games i undervisningen ikke kun styrker L2-elevers ordforråd og deres evne til at afkode komplekst billedsprog; vigtigst er, at arbejdet fremmer elevernes personlige dannelse. Ved systematisk at konfrontere og afkode dystopiske temaer udvikler eleverne kritisk medieforståelse, empati, kritisk tænkning og emotionel intelligens, som gør dem bedre i stand til at genkende og vurdere retorik, styreformer og systemisk ulighed i moderne demokratier. Resultatet er en ambitiøs, men fleksibel undervisningsplan, som læreren kan tilpasse løbende for at maksimere motivation og læring i den konkrete klasse.
[This apstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]
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