Flashbacks can be a useful way to begin a story or fill in needed context at any point. Choose a book that you have read that yo
u believe makes good use of flashbacks or flash-forwards; briefly describe how the flash is used. (If you are not able to think of a book, you may choose a movie.) Why was the use of these flashbacks or flash-forwards so effective? How might the book have been different without them?
In the Hunger Games, I believe there was some good use of flashbacks and flash-forwards. There was one flashback from when Katniss Everdeen has to visit the mines with her class. When she smells the coal dust and goes into the shaft she is reminded of its danger and how her father died. Lots of flashbacks from the time her father was alive occur. They show that he taught her almost everything he knows, how to survive. How to swim, look for food, ect. The Flash-forwards are usually when Katniss feels like she cannot go on in the games and feels that people can live without her. She imagines Peeta winning the games and going home to his family in these flash-forwards. The book wouldn't be so heartfelt and personal without these flash-forwards and backs. These flash-backs and forwards help explain why Katniss feels the need to push through the game and her struggles.
I love that book, and I remember how it said that John Thornton was Buck's last tie to civilization, And once he died Buck was free to go primitive without anything holding him back. Loving him caused Buck to be unsure of himself and his primitive identity.
