The Hate U Give by Natalya Cobb

Full Story Synopsis

natalyacobb — 2023-10-30 21:21:51 UTC

In "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas, sixteen-year-old Starr Carter battles her dual identity, navigating two different worlds: her impoverished neighborhood, Garden Heights, and her affluent predominantly white school. At a party in her neighborhood, Starr reconnects with her childhood best friend Khalil Harris, but their evening takes a tragic turn when they are pulled over by a white police officer, leading to Khalil's fatal shooting. This event reignites Starr's memories of her friend Natasha's death in a gang shooting, and she realizes that her school friends and boyfriend don't truly understand her pain. In the face of injustice, Starr decides to speak out and testify against the officer, even as her community protests and her family faces danger. After facing a grand jury's decision not to indict the officer, Starr becomes a symbol of hope, leading protests for justice, and standing strong in her commitment to change the system and fight for the rights of black people unjustly killed by the police.

Themes

natalyacobb — 2023-10-30 21:23:31 UTC

Identity and blackness
Weaponizing of stereotypes against black people
The cyclical nature of racialized poverty

Meet Starr Carter

natalyacobb — 2023-10-30 21:25:25 UTC

Setting

natalyacobb — 2023-10-30 21:42:36 UTC

This story takes place in Garden Heights, an inner-city neighborhood in the southern part of the United States.

Meet Urie Brofenbrenner

natalyacobb — 2023-10-30 21:45:30 UTC

Urie Bronfenbrenner(April 29, 1917 - September 25, 2005) was a Russian-born American psychologist who gained recognition for developing the ecological systems theory. When he was just six he and his family moved to the United States. Bronfenbrenner has several higher education degrees, a bachelor's in music and psychology, a master's in education, and a Ph.D. in developmental psychology. In 1948 he moved to Cornell and became a professor of human development and a founder of the federal Head Start program, to provide educational, health, and other support services to impoverished children. During Bronfenbrenner's childhood, his father often emphasized the connection that exists between living things and their environment. These turned into theories on the ecology of human development, which Bronfenbrenner further developed by cross-cultural fieldwork in a number of various locations. His studies helped to define human development as a long-term shift in a person's perspective of and interactions with their surroundings. He saw a child as an ever-changing being that actively interacts with and changes its environment, and that environment in turn has an impact on the individual. Furthermore, Bronfenbrenner acknowledged that the course of human development can vary depending on time and place and that public policy has a significant influence on how people live their lives.

Ecological Model

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 00:02:57 UTC

The theory suggests that a child's development is affected by the different environments that they encounter during their life, including biological, interpersonal, societal, and cultural factors. Bronfenbrenner divided the person's environment into ﬁve diﬀerent systems: the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem.

Microsystem

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 00:03:13 UTC

The microsystem represents the innermost layer and involves an individual's immediate familial surroundings. The microsystem exerts the most direct and immediate influence on the individual.

Home life
Parents
School
Friends
Siblings
Neighborhood
Childcare
Religion

Mesosystem

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 00:03:25 UTC

The mesosystem is composed of all the relationships and interactions between the microsystems.Like the microsystem, the mesosystem has a direct effect on the individual. Examples of mesosystems in a child’s life include:

Interaction between kids, teachers, and parents
Interaction between friends and siblings
Interaction between neighborhood and family
Interaction between daycare and family

Exosystem

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 00:03:40 UTC

The exosystem refers to settings that the individual doesn't directly engage with but still affects their development.

Extended family members
Mass media
Social services
Local government
Parents' workplace
Family friends

Macrosystem

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 00:03:52 UTC

The macrosystem comprises societal and cultural influences that play a role in shaping individual development.

Values
Attitudes
Laws and legal systems
Customs
Ideologies
Political systems and policies
Nationality

Chronosystem

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 00:04:06 UTC

The chronosystem represents the outermost layer in the model, acknowledging the significance of time in shaping individual development. This includes:

Historical events
Environmental changes
Parents employment status
Societal economic changes
Changes in family structure

Starr vs. Microsystem Stage

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 00:04:33 UTC

In the beginning, Starr’s family and school friends had a significant influence on how she responded to the death of Khalil. She did not know what to do and who she should listen to. Her father was telling her to do one thing, and her uncle would say something different. They were both father figures in her life so she had know idea what to really do. Her fear of being judged and looked at differently by her school friends and boyfriend also made her reluctant to speak out. Initially, Starr’s decision to speak out was influenced by her immediate family environment.

Mesosystem

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 00:04:41 UTC

Exosystem

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 00:04:50 UTC

Khalil was portrayed as a thug and gang banger in the media, which is not entirely true. Not only the media but how her friends at school approached the situation. This impacted Starr's feelings and how she felt about the situation overall.

Macrosystem

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 00:05:22 UTC

When One-Fifteen was not indicted for the senseless killing of Khalil, Starr became more involved in her community. Compared to before Starr was not as heavily involved as now. The legal system and its injustices against Black people assisted in Starr's psychosocial development

Chronosystem

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 00:05:32 UTC

Starr gained the courage to speak about Khalil’s death. She was torn between what her home community would say and how they would look at her in school. However, seeing that the officer was not going to be indicted she spoke out for Khalil. The Black Lives Matter movement was at a peak during this time which shows how the timing of Khalil’s death helped Starr develop as a character.

Death of Childhood Best Friend Khalil

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 00:05:56 UTC

Experiencing the death of both of her childhood best friends encouraged Starr to get justice and become a community activist and embrace change for her community

Critiques of Theory

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 00:06:29 UTC

Bronfenbrenner's approach overemphasizes the cognitive and biological elements of human growth while underestimating the socio-emotional elements of human development.

Quote

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 17:31:16 UTC

"There are just some places where it’s not enough to be me. Either version of me."

Quote

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 21:24:30 UTC

“What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn’t be?”

Major Characters

natalyacobb — 2023-10-31 23:51:12 UTC

Starr Carter

Khalil Harris

Maverick & Lisa Carter

Uncle Carlos

Seven Carter

King

One-Fifteen

Devante desire to leave the gang

natalyacobb — 2023-11-01 00:41:56 UTC

After Devante wanted to leave the King Lords, Starr was inspired to help him since his situation was similar to Khalil's. Starr was also inspired to speak out against King in Garden Heights.

Effective in assessing Character

natalyacobb — 2023-11-01 03:54:17 UTC

Bronfenbrenner ecological model was effective in explaining Starr's character development. Bronfenbrenner's theory emphasizes the influence of environmental and social factors on human development. In "The Hate U Give", Starr's character development was significantly impacted by her community. Starr grew up in an impoverished neighborhood and traveled to go to school every day. Her community and school community had an enormous impact on how she developed as a person and her wanting to change her community. The novel starts off with Starr talking about her community and its different aspects and the two different worlds she lives in.