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Analysis Of Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

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Life will be overflowing with challenges but that's to be expected, As everyone experiences some sort of problem or discomfort that might irritate them. That's to be expected but what matters is how people can handle those situations and not repeat their mistakes causing them a more drastic time. Some find their way out of a situation that you never want to be in by making the right decisions and others turn to have a harder challenge. The novel “speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson displays this as a young teen girl, her name Melinda sordino going into her first year of high school and facing many problems and challenges as she is unable to communicate with others about all the horrific things that have happened to her in school and outside of …show more content…

Melinda, a freshman girl attending MerryWeather High School in Syracuse, New York starts her new year off by consistently getting made fun of and being left out as she is part of no groups, no sports clubs, and even activities. She also has no friends at school except one, her name Heather, from ohio. Heather had just moved to New York from Ohio and is new. Melinda had recently found this old abandoned janitor's closet as she hides there to stay away from people and she also skips her classes as well. Her grades weren’t helping her either, She was consistently getting made fun of being talked about and abandoned by everyone because they didn't know the truth due to Melinda not speaking up for herself. The author also symbolizes mirrors in the book because Melinda took the mirror down from her room due to herself not being able to recognize herself anymore, she was a whole new person she never knew. Melinda also took a maya angelou poster and covered her mirror in her safe place. Maya Angelou was an author who was a selective mute and there is a connection between her and Melinda as they both did not speak, Melinda for the first 3 quarters of school was very quiet and to herself. Melinda heavily avoided Andy Evans the guy who …show more content…

Melinda in this new marking quarter doesn't hide as much as she used to by skipping her classes and she has a new friend, Ivy from her art class, a class that she liked and felt like it was a safe place. During the duration of the fourth-making period spring naked a significant change in Melinda as she had better grades, and now a friend to talk to as well. In PE Melinda played a tennis match with her old friend Nichole who is a very athletic person. Melinda lost as expected but she made the game close as she did very well and she tried in that match. This marked a big change in Melinda because Melinda previously had not tried in anything competitive and Melinda also thought she wasn't good enough for anything but here she tried and did well and she was able to recognize that she is good at something. Melinda was worried about her old friend Rachel who was dating Andy Evans so she got the courage to tell Rachel she was raped at the party by Andy Evans but Rachel said she was only jealous and trying to hurt their relationship. This also marks a big change in Melinda because she spoke up for herself unlike earlier in the book when she would not. There is a part in the book where there was a marker stain on Melinda’s shirt and she had to go to the bathroom to wash it off and Ivy helped her do so. During this

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449 Words | 2 Pages

There are specific people who helped her mature in a certain way. She slowly opens up over the course of the year with support from different people. There are several people in this novel who help Melinda find her “voice”. Mr. Freeman, for example, was an important part of Melinda’s growth. He is Melinda’s art teacher who came off as weird at first

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370 Words | 2 Pages

Melinda`s behavior reflcets the theme because she has come to the realization that keeping her feelings bottled up will not

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529 Words | 3 Pages

For instance, she tells rachel about what happened at the party. Once Melinda learns that Andy and Rachel are attending prom together, she needed to tell Rachel about what Andy did. “I was stupid and drunk and I didn’t know what was happening and then he hurt-I scribbled that out-raped me” (183). Melinda finally telling someone about what happened is a perfect example of her recovery. At the beginning of the novel, she could not even talk to her friends.

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754 Words | 4 Pages

Also, the closet her “safe place” she always used to hide what happened at the party from everyone else becomes a dangerous place. “It”, also known as Andy Evans the boy who rapes her at the party breaks into the closet and tries to sexually assault her again. Melinda realizes she can't let this happen again and therefore fights back with everything she has. She realizes that her closet is not safe anymore and that she can't hide from her trauma. And that she can't hide from this problem, and she needs to stand up and speak to the problem.

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842 Words | 4 Pages

Something in the past has happened during the summer when Melinda stopped being friends with Rachel that caused their friendship to break apart. Melinda is exaggerating to tell Rachel what happened, which remains unclear, however, it could lead us knowing what caused their friendship to be torn apart. depression As Melinda was being confronted by Mr. Neck in the cafeteria, she thinks, “It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it.

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779 Words | 4 Pages

This finally shows how much Melinda has grown and how much she has found her voice. Melinda's growth is demonstrated through her finally being able to say no to Andy unlike the first time, and Melinda saying no shows how she was able to find her voice. Melinda's growth and escape from depression is expressed at the end of the

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849 Words | 4 Pages

Looking through the eyes of her classmates, Melinda is a social reject, a freak, a target. “The girl behind me jams her knees onto my back…the girl with the arrested brother…yanks my hair…”(29). In a feeble attempt to get revenge, two students used childish antics to get their message of anger across to Melinda. They expressed their resentment for Melinda for ruining a party, but their actions had been influenced by a tiny puzzle piece of information that they had believed to be the bigger picture. They neither witnessed nor asked what happened to Melinda as to why she called the police during the party.

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755 Words | 4 Pages

At the end of the story she finally found her voice and was able to stand up for herself. In the beginning, Melinda didn't talk to anyone, barely even to her parents. She says, “I have tried so hard to forget every second of that stupid party and here I am in the middle of a hostile crowd that hates me for what I had to do. I can't tell them what really happened” (Anderson, 28).

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Melinda is ready to share with a trusted adult how she really felt on the inside throughout this school year. Melinda has changed as a person drastically throughout the story partly because of her drawing trees. I think she has now fully recovered from the incident and is ready to grow even more. The story of Speak and Melinda Sordino shows how art can be a powerful thing.

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421 Words | 2 Pages

At the beginning of the novel, Melinda silences herself as a way to protect herself from the painful memories and

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710 Words | 3 Pages

Near the end of the book, Melinda started standing up for herself and developing a new confidence. “I’m tough enough to play and strong enough to win.”(pg 170) For most of the book, Melinda always thought she was doing everything wrong “ I feel bad that I didn’t.” (pg 72) was a common theme for her. Melinda always did whatever people told her to do especially Heather “‘ I won’t help you.”’

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632 Words | 3 Pages

Melinda faced the trauma of being raped by herself for way to long and it is shown by the way she took care of herself and the way she never talked. If her family had noticed or invested more time into getting to know her they would have noticed their daughter falling into a deep dark hole that is depression. She says many times in the book “i am outcast” which tells the readers that she knows that she is not handling things well, she is this way because she was not close to anybody so chose to be

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1448 Words | 6 Pages

She refuses to talk to anyone, not even her parents due to the incident that happened to her. Heather is from Ohio and is the new kid at school. She’s extremely driven that she wants to join a club every day of the week. She wants to be a part of her new community,

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1218 Words | 5 Pages

Another element in this novel is Melinda’s inner conflict, man vs. self. What Melinda has been through greatly affected her everyday life. She struggles with depression, dislikes her appearance, and feels ashamed of herself for something that isn 't her fault: “I want to confess everything, hand over the guilt and mistake and anger to someone else...even if I dump the memory, it will stay with me, staining me” (Anderson 51). Andy Evans, the senior who raped her, made her feel worthless. This situation is much like the one in the novel The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.

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1197 Words | 5 Pages

Melinda, in a lot of ways, starts out like that it the book. She becomes a shell of herself from before the party happened and because no one else was there, she is lonely and doesn't have anybody to go to and to make matters even worse, she’s covered by the reputation that she has formed. In the book, Laurie Halse Anderson uses symbolism to convey exactly what Melinda can't say. In the beginning of the book, Melinda starts high school carrying her emotional wounds with her after something happens mysterious to her at a party during the summer.

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