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The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas novel extract
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Preaction The Hate U Give
Discuss in pairs: What do you know about police shootings in the USA and #blacklivesmatter?
GLOSSARY
resides bor/bur preppy her: privatskole bumps into støter borti / støyter borti interrupted avbrutt /avbrote abandoned øde, forlatt / aud, forlaten protagonist hovedperson/ hovudperson doubted tvilte på sprouted spiret/spirte chest bryst fussed lage oppstyr visible synlig/synleg sudden plutselig/plutseleg maneuvers manøvrerer abandoned forlatt/forlaten busted slått i stykker / slått i stykke ignition motor
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter lives in two worlds. She resides in a poor, mostly black neighborhood, but goes to a preppy white private school. Her mother enrolled Starr in this school after Starr witnessed the killing of her best friend, Natasha, in a drive-by when Starr was ten. One night, Starr goes to a party in her own neighborhood and bumps into her childhood friend Khalil. The party is interrupted by a shooting. Khalil is worried about Starr and offers to drive her home. As they drive through an abandoned street, a police car signals for them to pull over. Notice the use of first-person narrator. You see the events through the eyes of the protagonist, Starr. When I was twelve, my parents had two talks with me. One was the usual birds and bees. Well, I didn’t really get the usual version. My mom, Lisa, is a registered nurse, and she told me what went where, and what didn’t need to go here, there, or any damn where till I’m grown. Back then, I doubted anything was going anywhere anyway. While all the other girls sprouted breasts between sixth and seventh grade, my chest was as flat as my back. The other talk was about what to do if a cop stopped me. Momma fussed and told Daddy I was too young for that. He argued that I wasn’t too young to get arrested or shot. “Starr-Starr, you do whatever they tell you to do,” he said. “Keep Vurderingseksemplaryour hands visible. Don’t make any sudden moves. Only speak when they speak to you.” I knew it must’ve been serious. Daddy has the biggest mouth of anybody I know, and if he said to be quiet, I needed to be quiet. I hope somebody had the talk with Khalil. STOP and He cusses under his breath, turns Tupac down, and maneuvers the Impala to the side of the street. We’re on Carnation where most of the houses are abandoned and half the streetlights are busted. Nobody around but us and the cop. Khalil turns the ignition off. “Wonder what this fool wants.”
Tupac Shakur
The officer parks and puts his brights on. I blink to keep from GLOSSARY being blinded. beams stråler I remember something else Daddy said. If you’re with proof bevis somebody, you better hope they don’t have nothing on them, or insurance forsikring both of y’all going down. groans stønner/stønnar “K, you don’t have anything in the car, do you?” I ask. badge number skiltnummer He watches the cop in his side mirror. scar arr “Nah.” The officer approaches the driver’s door and taps the window. Khalil cranks the handle to roll it down. As if we aren’t blinded enough, the officer beams his flashlight in our faces. “License, registration, and proof of insurance.” Khalil breaks a rule – he doesn’t do what the cop wants. “What you pull us over for?” “License, registration, and proof of insurance.” “I said what you pull us over for?” “Khalil,” I plead. “Do what he said.” Khalil groans and takes his wallet out. The officer follows his About the Author movements with the flashlight. My heart pounds loudly, but Daddy’s instructions echo in my Angie Thomas head: Get a good look at the cop’s face. If you can remember his The American author Angie badge number, that’s even better. Thomas (1988–) based this young With the flashlight following Khalil’s hands, I make out the adult novel on a short story she numbers on the badge – one-fifteen. He’s white, mid-thirties to early forties, has a brown buzz cut and a thin scar over his top lip. wrote in college as a reaction to the police shooting of Oscar Grant in 2009. The novel was adapted Khalil hands the officer his papers and license. to film in 2018. Thomas’s second One-Fifteen looks over them. “Where are you two coming from novel, On the Come Up, is about a tonight?” young girl who wants to be an “Nunya,” Khalil says, meaning none of your business. “What you underground rapper. pull me over for?”
Vurderingseksemplar STOP and
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“Your taillight’s broken.” “So are you gon’ give me a ticket or what?” Khalil asks. taillight baklys “You know what? Get out the car, smart guy.” ticket bot “Man, just give me my ticket –” yanks drar “Get out the car! Hands up, where I can see them.” pins holde fast / halde fast Khalil gets out with his hands up. One Fifteen yanks him by his pats kjenner etter arm and pins him against the back door. nod nikke I fight to find my voice. “He didn’t mean –” “Hands on the dashboard!” the officer barks at me. “Don’t move!” I do what he tells me, but my hands are shaking too much to be still. He pats Khalil down. “Okay, smart mouth, let’s see what we find on you today.” “You ain’t gon’ find nothing,” Khalil says. One-Fifteen pats him down two more times. He turns up empty. “Stay here,” he tells Khalil. “And you.” He looks in the window at me. “Don’t move.” I can’t even nod. The officer walks back to his patrol car. My parents haven’t raised me to fear the police, just to be smart around them. They told me it’s not smart to move while a cop has his back to you. Khalil does. He comes to his door. It’s not smart to make a sudden move. Khalil does. He opens the driver’s door. “You okay, Starr –” Pow! One. Khalil’s body jerks. Blood splatters from his back. He holds jerks rykker til / rykkjer til splatter spruter/sprutar gasp gispe stunned overrasket/overraska earsplitting øredøvende/ øyredøyvande emerges bygger seg opp / byggjer seg opp STOP and Vurderingseksemplar on to the door to keep himself upright. Pow! Two. Khalil gasps. Pow! Three. Khalil looks at me, stunned. He falls to the ground. I’m ten again, watching Natasha drop. An earsplitting scream emerges from my gut, explodes in my throat, and uses every inch of me to be heard. Instinct says don’t move, but everything else says check on Khalil.
I jump out the Impala and rush around to the other side. Khalil stares at the sky as if he hopes to see God. His mouth is open like GLOSSARY he wants to scream. I scream loud enough for the both of us. rush styrte “No, no, no,” is all I can say, like I’m a year old and it’s the only utter si/seie word I know. I’m not sure how I end up on the ground next to stiffens stivner/stivnar him. My mom once said that if someone gets shot, try to stop the bleeding, but there’s so much blood. Too much blood. “No, no, no.” Khalil doesn’t move. He doesn’t utter a word. He doesn’t even look at me. His body stiffens, and he’s gone. I hope he sees God. Someone else screams. I blink through my tears. Officer One-Fifteen yells at me, pointing the same gun he killed my friend with. I put my hands up. ACTION 16 In pairs, discuss and note down key words: a What is your initial reaction to the text? b Find basic emotions in the text. c Make a storyboard of the excerpt. d Starr, Khalil and One-Fifteen. 17 Work in groups. a Discuss your answers to the previous tasks and b We read the text through Starr’s eyes, the firstperson narrator. Discuss how the text would be different if it was told from these perspectives: the police officer, Khalil, a third-person narrator on the outside c Reread the part where Khalil is shot. What words are used to describe the bullets and death, and what is the effect? d Discuss whether something like this could happen in Norway. Give reasons for your answer.
18 Do an online search and write a short biography of Angie Thomas. Include information about her other works. 19 First research and find facts on the shooting of Oscar Grant in 2009, which inspired Angie Thomas. Write down key facts. Then, find witness reports and videos. Compare and discuss your findings in groups. 20 In groups of four, make a news report with witnesses on the incident. First, take some time Vurderingseksemplar individually to note down your understanding of the incident. Then, discuss together and plan how you will structure the news report. Divide the roles of news reporter, Starr, the police officer and a police detective or a paramedic. Practice! This can be performed in class, written down and/or recorded.
Title: The Hate U Give (2018) Director: George Tillman Jr. Starring: Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, K. J. Apa, Common and Anthony Mackie ACTION – FILM ANALYSIS 21 Work in pairs. a Write down key words in the film analysis template online. b Make a double bubble of the two versions of Starr: private school Starr and ghetto Starr. Compare and contrast their challenges and opportunities. c Why did Starr find it difficult to be herself and to fit in both at school and at home? d Why do you think Starr’s mother chose to place her in a private school and wanted to move, and why did the father want to stay? e What does Starr’s father say about the system of drugs and prisons? What do you think of his observations? f Choose another character than Starr and write a summary of the events from this character’s point of view. g Discuss your view on racism and police violence in the USA after seeing this movie. h Discuss media’s different presentation of what happened based on the violence seen on TV in Starr’s home and the sad father presented at her friend’s house.
i Why are the media so occupied with Khalid’s past rather than with Starr’s wish to tell what actually happened? j What could it mean when the local activist April says, “It’s impossible to be unarmed when your Blackness is the weapon that they fear.” k What examples of prejudice can you find in the film? l Discuss what the film points out on the value of true friendship and understanding. m Who had the easiest road to success and the pursuit of the American Dream: Starr, Khalil or Starr’s friends from the private school? 22 With another pair, compare and discuss your Vurderingseksemplar answers. 23 Review all your notes and discussions. a Find the film analysis template again and write your final analysis in a running text. b Write a film review to be posted on a film blog. c Write a reader’s comment where you discuss what we can learn about the USA based on the film’s messages.
