H4 - The Hate U Give mini project

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

The Hate U Give (T.H.U.G)
- Angie Thomas

Mini-project H4: 

- Background information

- Chapter overviews

- Characters

- Themes

Background information

- Thug Life

- Civil Rights Movement & the Black Panthers

- Black Lives Matter 

The title of the book summarizes to the word THUG.
This was intentional. Do you know what that word means?

Thug

Thug is a term for a violent, lawless person, especially a man.

The word was originally used in the 1800s as a name for members of a group of men in India said to be professional criminals and murderers.

Since then, thug has come to have a more general meaning similar to its more old-fashioned synonym ruffian. The act of behaving as a thug is known as thuggery. In this sense, thug often refers to someone who acts as a bully or is a professional and violent criminal, as in:

"The mafia sent hired thugs to intimidate store owners."

Thug Life

In the U.S., the word thug has a history of being used by racist white people who specifically apply it to African American men to portray them as violent criminals. When used in this way, it is often thought to function as a substitute for a racist slur.

For this reason, some African Americans have reclaimed the word as a positive identifier. It is especially used in hip-hop, particularly in the phrase "thug life". One of the most famous rappers to use this term was Tupac Shakur (or 2Pac). The term was popular during the 1990s and the era called 'Gangsta Rap'.  You can read more about Tupac here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupac_Shakur

Assignment 1: T.H.U.G.

Read the following article to learn a bit more about what the term Thug Life means and tell in your own words how this connects to the book, its characters and of course, the title. Use chapters 2 & 10 of the book to help you out. (Khalil & Maverick talk about the meaning of Thug Life)

https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/thug-life/

Hand in assignment 1 here:

What can you tell me about
the Civil Rights Movement?

Civil Rights Movement 

The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place mainly during the 1950s and 1960s for Black Americans to gain equal rights under the law in the United States. The Civil War had officially abolished slavery, but it didn’t end discrimination against Black people—they continued to endure the devastating effects of racism, especially in the South. By the mid-20th century, Black Americans had had more than enough of prejudice and violence against them. They, along with many white Americans, mobilized and began an unprecedented fight for equality that spanned two decades.

Civil Rights Movement: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement#:~:text=The%20civil%20rights%20movement%20was,law%20in%20the%20United%20States

Important names (in the book)

Martin Luther King Jr: an important leader of the Civl Rights Movement. He organised peaceful marches and gave the famous 'I have a dream' speech. He even received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work. You can find more about him here: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr

Malcolm X : an African American leader in the civil rights movement, minister and supporter of Black nationalism. He urged his fellow Black Americans to protect themselves against white aggression “by any means necessary,” a stance that often put him at odds with the nonviolent teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr. You can find more about him here: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/malcolm-x

Important names (in the book)

Huey Newton: one of the founders of the Black Panther party. The party’s original purpose was to patrol African American neighbourhoods to protect residents from acts of police brutality. The Panthers eventually developed into a Marxist revolutionary group. You can read more here: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Panther-Party

Emmett Till: he was a 14-year-old African American boy who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman in her family's grocery store. The brutality of his murder and the fact that his killers were acquitted drew attention to the long history of violent persecution of African Americans in the United States. Till posthumously became an icon of the civil rights movement.  https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-death-of-emmett-till

What do you know about the
Black Lives Matter movement?

Black Lives Matter

was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.

You can read more on their website and on Wikipedia:

https://blacklivesmatter.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Lives_Matter

In the book, riots & protests happen after Khalil's death. What is the difference between the protest of Starr's school friends and the one in her own neighbourhood?

Comprehension questions

The following slides contain some questions about the book, the characters and the events that take place. Answer them by going back to parts in the book and by using the website: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/the-hate-u-give/

You can find lots of information about the book here that you can use to answer the questions. You can work together with a classmate, but make sure to both hand in our anwers.

Return to chapter 2. What was the advice of Big Mav when it came to the police? How did Khalil break the rules that would keep them safe?

Return to chapter 6. How do Detectives Gomez and Wilkes offend Starr?

Return to chapter 7. Hailey says that Starr is 'into that sort of thing now'. What is she talking about?

Return to chaper 10. Big Mav encourages Starr to use what she knows about her community’s oppression to shine light on what has happened to her community since the death of Khalil. How does Thug Life apply to the protests and the riots?

Return to chapter 13. What do we know about Khalil as fact? What do we know about Khalil as opinion?

Return to chapter 16: Starr says that she doesn't know how a dead person can be charged in their own murder. What does she mean?

Return to chaper 18. How are Uncle Carlos and Big Mav different in the way they take care of Starr? How are they similar?

Return to chapter 25. Why are the actions of Big Mav and DeVante in this chapter so significant?

Important events

Make a list of the events that you think are important in the story. Discuss them with some classmates and see if you agree.

Note down the 5 most important events and explain why they are imporant. Hand in your answer on the next slide.

Which events were important to the story? Add your list here.

Timeline:

Follow this link to a timeline of the events in the book and check to see if you still agree with the list you've made. Revise the list if you think something else is more important.

https://prezi.com/wrykcix_vhop/the-hate-you-give-timeline/

Characters

Think about the the following questions with regards to the characters in The Hate U Give:

1. Throughout the book, Starr talks about how she’s different “versions” of herself. She’s one person in Garden Heights and a different person at her school, Williamson Prep. This is often called “code-switching” when a person feels they must speak and act different in one social situation than in another. Do you think Starr switches successfully between the two places?
2. What is the importance of DeVante’s character in The Hate U Give?
3. Why is Hailey mad at Starr? Is Starr’s lie about not knowing Khalil enough to account for Hailey’s anger?
4. What are the big differences between Maverick and Uncle Carlos?

1. 

For most of the book, Starr feels that she has two different versions of herself because she moves between two different worlds—Garden Heights and Williamson—and the people in each of her worlds have negative, biased attitudes toward the world that they don’t know. By the end of the book, though, Starr seems more comfortable bridging her identities. She introduces Chris and Maya to Kenya and DeVante, and she doesn’t feel the need to change her speech patterns so much with each group. 

"I speak and act differently depending on where I am and who I’m with. I’ll greet my mom, my friends, and my teachers in different ways. I don’t think this means I’m fake, but it might mean that I can’t share all the different sides of my personality with everyone in my life. I’m okay with this, though, because I like being able to tap into different sides of myself in different situations, and I like to connect

with different people in ways that they’ll relate to and understand."

2.

DeVante’s story encapsulates the way stereotypes dehumanize people and mask the complexity of the lives underneath. Although DeVante compares himself unfavorably to Khalil because Khalil had not actually been a member of the King Lords, Starr quickly realizes that DeVante is not a bad person, despite his gang affiliation. We first meet DeVante when he protects Starr and Seven from Garden Disciples even though Starr and Seven are not King Lords, displaying bravery in place of blindly adhering to staunch gang codes of conduct. DeVante shows himself to be gentle and caring when he willingly helps brush a doll’s hair for Starr’s younger cousin. When he wanders back into Garden Heights, he goes not to cause trouble but to visit his brother’s grave, which reminds us that he lost a sibling very recently and is still grieving. DeVante therefore functions to remind us that even if Khalil had been a member of the King Lords, it wouldn’t have changed the injustice of his death. DeVante’s complexity and vulnerability demonstrates that gang members, too, have lives that matter.

3.

Hailey’s anger at Starr results from the discomfort she feels with issues involving race, and the fact that Starr no longer allows her to get away with racist comments and behaviors. Hailey unfollows Starr on Tumblr, the only place Starr brought up racial issues outside of Garden Heights, which creates a world where Hailey can ignore Starr’s blackness. Starr, of course, must constantly confront her own blackness and cannot so easily escape the discomfort associated with it. During the fights over the fried chicken comment and the interview with One-Fifteen’s father, Hailey gets most upset over the idea that she might be considered racist, which shows that she cares less about how her actions hurt Starr and more about protecting herself from accusations of racism. Therefore, when Hailey screams that she doesn’t know who Starr is anymore in Chapter Fourteen, she blames Starr for not allowing her to ignore Starr’s blackness, and that issues like police brutality are a real part of Starr’s life. We can interpret Hailey’s anger as a distraction from the real issue: Hailey’s white privilege is threatened by Starr’s realities.

4. 

Maverick and Carlos both show Starr unconditional love, and they offer her different kinds of support. Maverick provides his daughter with practical advice, such as what to do if she’s ever stopped by a police officer. He also instills in her a sense of pride in being black and knowledge of the history of black Americans’ struggle for liberation.

Carlos acted as a surrogate father when Maverick was incarcerated, and now he picks Starr up from school when she’s having a bad day and he lets her and her friends hang out at his house on weekends. He doesn’t tease Starr for having a white boyfriend the way Maverick does.

Maverick understands the issues facing kids like DeVante and is willing to help without judgment and Carlos knows how to make it in a more affluent community while still remaining true to his roots.

Quiz yourself!

Make sure you know the book, the characters and the events that take place. Do some digging into the background of the people mentioned and read up on the author, Angie Thomas. 

You can find information on her here: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/the-hate-u-give/context/

You can quiz yourself here: 

https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/the-hate-u-give/quiz/

http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-the-hate-u-give/quotes.html#gsc.tab=0

Make sure you go over the questions in the files I shared with you on Magister - Studiewijzer.