How would you describe the author's tone in The Hunger Games?

Because the book is written in the first person perspective, the author's tone and Katniss's tone are blended together.  As Katniss's emotions shift, so does the tone of the story.  

Let's use the Reaping as an example.  As the Reaping approaches, the tone is definitely wary.  Katniss is worried about her chances of escaping the lottery system.  She has put her name in many times in order to secure more food for her family.  At the same time, though, the tone is slightly hopeful.  Katniss is fairly certain that her sister's name will not be called.  Primrose's name is only in there once, so the chances are very low that her name will be picked.  The tone goes from that mixture of hopeful and worried to a downright panicked tone when Katniss realizes that Primrose's name has been chosen.  

If I had to pick an overall tone to apply to the entire novel, I would pick tense.  This novel just doesn't ever let up.  There is always an oppressive feeling being placed upon Katniss and the reader because her life is always at stake.  She's either starving in her district or she's being hunted by other teenagers.  

What are the key features of the author's writing style in The Hunger Games?

Suzanne Collins writes this novel in the first person, so that we see the world through the eyes of the teenaged Katniss Everdeen. Katniss is a flawed but highly sympathetic young woman, and Collins quickly enlists the reader on Katniss's side: this girl is tough and angry but compassionate, competent, and caring. Katniss has to struggle with a high level of adversity as she lives in the poorest district of Panem, a dystopic future world in which almost all the wealth of the society is funneled to a small group of people who live in the Capitol. We quickly come to identify with Katniss, who must use her wits to survive and protect her family, and who sacrifices herself to save her little sister Prim from the Hunger Games.

Because this was written as young adult literature, and because Katniss comes from an unsophisticated background, Collins uses very simple, direct prose. This is not the lyrical poetic style of Nick Carraway's first-person narration in The Great Gatsby. Collins uses plain, declarative sentences and a simple vocabulary. For instance, the last sentence of the first paragraph states: "This is the day of the reaping." This writing style makes the novel accessible to a wide range of readers.

Another aspect of Collins's style is to set up a simple, understandable dichotomy between "them" and "us," the suffering people of Panem's impoverished Districts versus the wealthy, effete elite of the Capitol. She constantly reinforces this with imagery that contrasts the harshness of life for the bulk of the people who experience cold, hunger, death, and fear with the gourmet tastes and fashion obsessions of the pampered rich.

What are the key features of the author's writing style in The Hunger Games?

One of the central aspects of the style of Suzanne Collins is the way she so successfully uses cliffhangers to engage her readers and make them want to carry on. This is something that has ensured the popularity of this book and also something that makes the story a very quick and gripping read. Each chapter is structured in such a way as to make sure that it ends on a cliffhanger which automatically makes the reader want to read on to find out what the dilemma or situation that is introduced at the end of that chapter is resolved. Collins uses short sentences that are given a paragraph to themselves often in order to do this. Consider how she ends Chapter 13:

It would be hard to miss a wall of fire descending on me.

Such an ending to a chapter is typical as it introduces a new element of danger that makes the reader fear for the life of Katniss and almost insists that the reader continues to find out how Katniss survives this latest danger. This use of the cliffhanger is one of the key stylistic features of this novel.

How does the use of diction in The Hunger Games convey various tones?

Collins uses powerful diction throughout The Hunger Games to convey Katniss' shifting attitudes toward the Capitol and the games.

When Katniss forms an alliance with Rue, her tone completely shifts from being indignant and cynical to a lyrical tone, full of emotion with an almost song-like quality as she holds the dying young girl.  When Rue asks Katniss to sing, she reflects:

"[T]here was once music in my house, too. Music I helped make...The song that comes to me is a simple lullaby, one we sing fretful, hungry babies to sleep with" (Collins 234). 

The connotation of giving Rue a lullaby evokes soothing emotions; the diction used in this moment is gentle, and even the contrast of "fretful, hungry babies" is suggestive of a calmer, more wholesome setting than the actual Games.  Normative behavior suggests calming a fractious child; in direct opposition, the readers witness Katniss attempting to soothe a young girl, dying a violent death.  This quiet moment with Rue reveals Katniss' softer side. 

Later as Katniss gathers the flowers to decorate Rue's body, Collins depicts her "covering the ugly wound.  Wreathing her face.  Weaving her hair with bright colors."  Katniss observes "[s]he really could be asleep in that meadow after all"  (Collins 237).  The rhythmic quality of Katniss' speech here, infused with alliteration, again reinforces her wistful, lyrical tone--that Rue who loved music in life, should be honored with music in death. 

*I included link for a list of really helpful tone words, great for analyzing tone through diction.