Visuals/Graphs
What are Cirrus Clouds?
Cirrus visuals, or word clouds as most students would know them as, are tools that analyze a digital text to determine how frequently a word is used in the text. The more the word is used, the bigger the word will be in the Cirrus cloud. The first Cirrus cloud is of The Hate U Give, our novel for this website. The following graphs are of texts that are similar to or can be used in comparison of The Hate U Give. All of these texts deal with either police brutality, societal injustices, and/or stereotypes of African-Americans.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Word Cloud The purpose of this word cloud is to pinpoint the theme(s) within the novel. One theme that can be picked up from this graph is that family is important to Starr. Because the family and friend names are so prominent, it can be assumed that she thinks and refers to them often, meaning that she is invested in them and cares about them. The words that indicate this theme are the following: Khalil (her best friend from childhood), Daddy, Momma, Seven (brother), Chris (boyfriend). This word cloud could also potentially backup the theme of uncertainty or loss of identity due to the words, "don't" and "know", which indicates that it follows along with the novels plot that she has a difficult time deciding if she should speak up for Khalil or keep quiet to avoid any unwanted attention. The visual does not highlight the potential topics of police brutality or activism much; therefore, this visual could be used as a way to instigate discussion of what students may be able to pull from it versus strictly a tool of theme. |
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely Word Cloud Like The Hate U Give, this word cloud is not indicative of all of the themes that are seen and explored in this novel, All American Boys by Brendan Kiely. This novel, which includes a similar plot to The Hate U Give with police brutality and familial exploration, could have a theme of uncertainty and confusion, due to the unexpected beating of the African-American boy in the story by a white police officer and the main protagonist that witnesses it - who is white. The larger words indicate that the protagonist, Quinn, has difficulty coming to terms with what he needs to do about what he has witnessed. |
Malcolm X and Police Brutality: "Letter to the NYPD"
Word Cloud Malcolm X is a prominent historical figure who is known for his views on Civil Rights and the ways in which he promoted equality and opposed the oppression of the African-American people in America. The text that was used to create this visual is the letter he wrote to the NYPD about police brutality. The more prominent words of "justice", "violence", "prison", "chicago", "women" and "police" lend themselves to the overall message of the letter, which is that police brutality should not be allowed and that an outcry against it is impending. Within the letter, Malcolm X explains the peaceful protests that Islam promotes, and then explains that the disturbing brutal beating of a member of his congregation has called for the white men who committed the deed be prosecuted and not allowed to get away with what has happened. This word cloud is more on target with a theme-based visual than the others. |
"We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Word Cloud This poem is about African-Americans having to hide their true selves behind a false mask to protect themselves against the oppression and brutality that they can face in society. This poem is relevant to both To Kill a Mockingbird and The Hate U Give, as both of these novels deal with people of color who have to protect themselves by acting appropriately in certain situations. |
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Word Cloud To Kill a Mockingbird is from the perspective of a white female child who witnesses events in her town surrounding the trial of a black man being accused of raping a white woman. Not only are the stereotypes and the prejudice/injustice that is perpetrated against this man reminiscent of the contemporary novel, The Hate U Give, it is also relevant to the other texts, as well. Even though the perspective is different (from that of a white child), there are similar situations that occur and reactions of the people in society. This is also a great text to point out the differences between times in the 1930s and now. |