Thug Notes
GenreEducational, Comedy
Created byJared Bauer[1]
Written byJared Bauer, Joseph Salvaggio[1]
Presented byGreg Edwards
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerJacob Salamon[1]
Running time3-6 minutes
Production companyWisecrack
Original release
NetworkYouTube
ReleaseJune 3, 2013 (2013-06-03) 
November 28, 2017 (2017-11-28)

Thug Notes is an American educational web series that summarizes and analyzes various literary works in a comedic manner. Thug Notes first aired on June 3, 2013, on YouTube, with the pilot episode centered on Crime and Punishment.[2][3] The host of the series is Sparky Sweets, Ph.D., portrayed by actor and comedian Greg Edwards.[4][5] In 2015, a book of essays based on episodes from the series entitled Thug Notes: A Street-Smart Guide to Classic Literature was published by Vintage Books.[6]

Style

The series is presented by Sparky Sweets, Ph.D., in the character's "original gangster" style.[7]

The following is an example of Sweets' style from his analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird, one of his most popular:[7] "Only a jive-ass fool would bother capping a mockingbird, 'cause all them bitches do is just drop next-level beats for your enjoyment. So what my girl Harper trying to say is ratting on Boo Radley wouldn't do no good. It would only rid the hood of one more true-blue player."[8]

Explaining the usage of African-American Vernacular English within the series, Edwards stated, "but the truth is, the gift of literature is universal in meaning and should be made accessible to everyone on every plane. So, Thug Notes is my way of trivializing academia's attempt at making literature exclusionary by showing that even high-brow academic concepts can be communicated in a clear and open fashion."[9] The style used by Edwards' character was a result of "frustration with the world of academia".[7]

Episodes

# Book Author Note
1Crime and PunishmentFyodor Dostoevsky
2The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald
3To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee
4Nineteen Eighty-FourGeorge Orwell
5Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen
6Lord of the FliesWilliam Golding
7Great ExpectationsCharles Dickens
8The Catcher in the RyeJ. D. Salinger
9Jane EyreCharlotte Brontë
10HamletWilliam Shakespeare
11The HobbitJ. R. R. Tolkien
12Of Mice and MenJohn Steinbeck
13Fahrenheit 451Ray Bradbury
14Brave New WorldAldous Huxley
15BeowulfUnknown
16Animal FarmGeorge Orwell
17Moby-DickHerman Melville
18OdysseyHomer
19The Scarlet LetterNathaniel Hawthorne
20FrankensteinMary ShelleyHalloween Special
21Heart of DarknessJoseph Conrad
22MacbethWilliam Shakespeare
23The CrucibleArthur Miller
24InfernoDante Alighieri
25The Sun Also RisesErnest Hemingway
26Invisible ManRalph Ellison
27Notes from UndergroundFyodor Dostoevsky
28Romeo and JulietWilliam Shakespeare
29Wuthering HeightsEmily Brontë
30The Picture of Dorian GrayOscar Wilde
31LolitaVladimir Nabokov
32All Quiet on the Western FrontErich Maria Remarque
33Oedipus the KingSophoclesValentine's Day Special
34A Separate PeaceJohn Knowles
35Slaughterhouse-FiveKurt Vonnegut
36Things Fall ApartChinua Achebe
37GrendelJohn Gardner
38Catch-22Joseph Heller
39Ethan FromeEdith Wharton
40Adventures of Huckleberry FinnMark Twain
41The Sound and the FuryWilliam Faulkner
42A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManJames Joyce
43The StrangerAlbert Camus
44The Old Man and the SeaErnest Hemingway
45The Count of Monte CristoAlexandre Dumas
46The Grapes of WrathJohn Steinbeck
47The Brothers KaramazovFyodor Dostoevsky
48The Grand InquisitorFyodor Dostoevsky
49DuneFrank Herbert
50At the Mountains of MadnessH. P. Lovecraft
51The GiverLois Lowry
52The Hunger GamesSuzanne Collins
53The MetamorphosisFranz Kafka
54One Hundred Years of SolitudeGabriel García Márquez
55DraculaBram StokerHalloween Special
56Julius CaesarWilliam Shakespeare
57A Clockwork OrangeAnthony Burgess
58Death of a SalesmanArthur Miller
59OthelloWilliam Shakespeare
60A Christmas CarolCharles DickensChristmas Special
61The RavenEdgar Allan Poe
62A Tale of Two CitiesCharles Dickens
63A Raisin in the SunLorraine HansberryBlack History Month Special
64BelovedToni MorrisonBlack History Month Special
65The Color PurpleAlice WalkerBlack History Month Special
66The Tell-Tale HeartEdgar Allan Poe
67Fifty Shades of GreyE. L. JamesBET Short Episode
68Alice's Adventures in WonderlandLewis Carroll
69SiddharthaHermann Hesse
70The Handmaid's TaleMargaret Atwood
71Gone GirlGillian Flynn
72The Cat in the HatTheodor Seuss GeiselMother's Day Special
73WatchmenAlan Moore
74King LearWilliam Shakespeare
75A Game of ThronesGeorge R. R. MartinPart 1 of the A Song of Ice and Fire series
76A Midsummer Night's DreamWilliam Shakespeare
77The GoldfinchDonna Tartt
78The OutsidersS.E. Hinton
79Go Set a WatchmanHarper Lee
80Doctor FaustusChristopher Marlowe
81Ender's GameOrson Scott Card
82The Fellowship of the RingJ. R. R. TolkienPart 1 of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy
83V for VendettaAlan Moore
84Don QuixoteMiguel de Cervantes
85The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeC. S. Lewis
86No Country for Old MenCormac McCarthy
87Les MisérablesVictor Hugo
88The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyDouglas Adams
89Life of PiYann Martel
90Where the Red Fern GrowsWilson Rawls
91The FountainheadAyn Rand
92American PsychoBret Easton Ellis
93The Cask of AmontilladoEdgar Allan Poe
94Fight ClubChuck Palahniuk
95A Wrinkle in TimeMadeleine L'Engle
96The Fall of the House of UsherEdgar Allan Poe
97The Epic of GilgameshSîn-lēqi-unninni
98Madame BovaryGustave Flaubert
99The TrialFranz Kafka
100The Merchant of VeniceWilliam Shakespeare
101One Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestKen Kesey
102Where the Wild Things AreMaurice Sendak
103Horton Hears a Who!Theodor Seuss Geisel
104Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeRobert Louis Stevenson
105Ready Player OneErnest Cline
106No Country for Old Men
The Great Gatsby
The Hobbit
Cormac McCarthy
F. Scott Fitzgerald
J. R. R. Tolkien
This episode promoted the new podcast Thug Notes: Get Lit
107ItStephen King
108EmmaJane Austen

Reception

Thug Notes has been met with a cumulative view total of over 160 million (as of June 2017)[10] and critical acclaim.[4] Thug Notes's virality has been documented by mainstream news publications such as The New York Times and HuffPost.[11][12] The Tampa Bay Times has noted that the series can be used as an educational tool.[9] However, The New York Times somewhat criticized the increase in the frequency of style of the series, stating "We have to put a stop to inappropriate hip-hop appropriation before we get the Fox News 'Rap the Headlines Hour' or 'Gangsta 60 Minutes'."

In 2014, Wisecrack/Thug Notes was listed on NewMediaRockstars Top 100 Channels, ranked at #94.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "We are the team behind Thug Notes, yo' main hookup for classic literature summary and analysis. AUA!". Reddit. February 11, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  2. Crime and Punishment - Book Summary & Analysis by Thug Notes. Thug Notes. YouTube. June 3, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  3. "Thug Notes: Sparky Sweets, PhD Looks At 'Crime And Punishment' (VIDEO)". Huffington Post. June 4, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Comedian-actor-writer Greg Edwards". PBS. March 20, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  5. "'Thug Notes': The Hardcore Way To Learn About Books [VIDEO]". Guy Code Blog. MTV. June 21, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  6. Gutelle, Sam (2015-08-18). "'Thug Notes' Brings Its Brand Of Literary Humor To A New Book". Tubefilter. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  7. 1 2 3 Dobson, Miranda (August 14, 2013). "Thug Notes: YouTube comic brings literary Classics to the masses hip-hop style". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-07. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  8. "Thug Notes: 'To Kill A Mockingbird' (VIDEO)". Huffington Post. June 25, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  9. 1 2 Hooper, Ernest (September 4, 2013). "'Thug Notes' delivers the innovation needed in education". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  10. "Thug Notes About". YouTube. June 11, 2014.
  11. Genzlinger, Neil (January 24, 2014). "Homies in Verona, Gangstas in Elsinore". The New York Times. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  12. Hartsell, Carol (January 28, 2014). "The Latest Episode Of 'Thug Notes' Gave Sparky Sweets The Giggles". Huffington Post. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  13. "The NMR Top 100 YouTube Channels: 100 – 76!". New Media Rockstars. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.