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The Hate U Give: Post-Colonial Theory #BlackLivesMatter

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As I continue to analyze The Hate U Give with a variety of theories, I uncover so many different perspectives and aspects of the book that I would have never encountered with just passively reading the novel. Angie Thomas’s novel uses the Postcolonial Theory to capture the attention of readers about a very controversial, but important issue. She tackles the issue of police brutality and the continuing racial divide between black and white individuals. She expresses a very dominant message towards the Black Lives Matter movement and the reality of the mistreatment the black community faces. A very big idea of the Postcolonial Theory that heavily applies to The Hate U Give is the concept of cultural hegemony. Cultural hegemony was described by Karl Marx as the idea that a ruling class dominates a culturally diverse society by changing their views and their culture so that their domination becomes culturally accepted. The novel speaks heavily on the domination of ce...
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The Hate U Give: Feminism??

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Within the novel The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas brilliantly tackles multiple topics such as police brutality, racism and the Black Lives Matter movement. Though this novel may not speak of feminism as prominently as other topics, there are multiple very important characters and scenes that lean towards feminism. This novel in general also weighs heavily on paternalism . You see that Starr is constantly being supported protected by male figures in the novel. Not to say that her mother Lisa, doesn’t do the same, but they are definitely portrayed in different ways. The novel depicts Lisa as more of a caregiver being sensitive and understand of Starr’s feelings. She is the one who is first to hold her and hug her, which goes back in relation to the mother archetype. She’s depicted as more of a gentle character. On the other hand, you have male-dominated characters like Maverick and Carlos who both act as father figures to Starr . On one hand, you have Carlos, Starr’s uncle who happ...
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Book Club- The Hate U Give: Archetype Characters

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When I started to dive into The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, I quickly noticed that there were a few characters that really stood out. This novel talks about a 16 year old girl named Starr Carter who lives in two separate worlds. On one hand, she lives in a poor black community, but on the other hand, she attends to a fancy rich suburbian prep school. Her world is quickly turned upside down when she witnesses the killing of her childhood best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Starr eventually finds herself in the middle of a battle between telling what really happened that night and knowing what she decides to say may hurt her community. Starr , her mother Lisa , and her father Maverick will be the focus on today’s blog post as we talk about the different archetypes of the novel. The Archetypal Hero- Starr Carter I consider Starr the archetypal hero in this novel because I feel that many of the characteristics of the archetypal hero are very fitting with Starr. Sta...
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Hm... Is it a Remix?

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How often is it that when you scroll through Google News, Twitter, or Instagram that you'll see singers like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, or Ariana Grande being accused of ripping off a song? Well, I realized see it way more often than I thought I did. However, one of the most controversial accusations of ripping off a song is Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby." When the song came out, many people noticed that it the baseline was very similar to David Bowie and Queen's hit "Under Pressure." Many have claimed that Vanilla Ice altered the rhythm of the baseline, making it slightly shorter. If we begin to analyze the two songs together, we’ll see that right away in the first few seconds of both songs, they sound identical. In case you wanted to follow along, I’m referring to both music videos of the tracks. At exactly 0:01 in David Bowie and Queen's hit Under Pressure , and 0:08 of Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby , you can hear the exact same baseline of ...
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English Class: Should it REALLY Be Mandatory for University?

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English. A course we all have to take for all 4 years of our time in high school. Each year we face the multiple grammar tests we have to study for, the different Shakespeare play we have to read every year, and that final essay we have to write a different book yearly.  Don't forget about that moment during the final exam when you decide to glance up at the clock and realize you have 15 minutes left for the exam and you still have to come up with the conclusion for your in-class essay! As my high school days come to an end, I am finally going to voice my opinion on the commonly asked and thought about question among the student body: Should grade 12 University English really be a necessary requirement for entry into all university programs? Despite the opposing opinions that I may receive from my friends and fellow peers, I personally do think that the Grade 12U English course should be a course that is necessary for you to take in order to get into...
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