We are going to be analyzing
literature (our novel The Hate U Give). What is your mindset toward analyzing
literature? Do you have any experience doing it in high school? Does it evoke
bad memories of b.s.ing your way through Shakespeare & SparkNotes, or is
analyzing literature something you enjoy?
Analyzing the main character Starr’s personality. The novel is narrated from
Starr’s perspective — what we call 1st person p.o.v. — and as readers, we get access to
her thoughts & mindset. A simple way to explain literary analysis is that you take a
pattern of details (what we call textual evidence), and from that pattern of details you try
to infer some character traits about Starr’s personality. Here is a list of details that we
learn about Starr in the novel’s first few pages:
● she has Jordan’s;
● she wears an oversized hoodie to a party;
● she’s nauseated by weed smoke;
● she says things like “Do I look like I care what people think?” (5);
● she goes to Williamson prep;
● people in Garden Heights know her as “Big Mav’s daughter at the store”;
● she plays basketball;
● she has a boyfriend Chris but she’s a teensy flirtatious with Khalil;
● her dad used to be a King Lord.
3. What do all of these details reveal about what type of person she is, what
pressures she is under?
Welcome to Legit Writing
