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Depression In Speak By Lourie Halse Anderson

483 Words2 Pages

Speak Essay Depression can drown somebody, not allowing them a way to escape. It can be blinding, not allowing you to find a way out. In the book Speak, by Lourie Halse Anderson, Melinda shows many signs of depression after undergoing trauma and does not realize it until she is in too deep. I believe Melinda is depressed due to her loss of interest in activities, feeling as if her life doesn’t matter, and isolating herself from other people. I believe Melinda is depressed because she no longer wants to participate in activities or events that she would have earlier in her life. A quote from the book showing this states, “I used to be like Heather…She is happy, driven, aerobically fit”(Aderson 24). This shows that Melinda used to be mentally and physically healthy, in addition to desiring to partake in activities to better herself. Later in the book, Melinda says, “she couldn’t pay me enough to play on her basketball team.”(Aderson 75). This shows a change in her previous self because before she experienced the traumatic event, she most likely would have joined the basketball team. Now, she doesn’t want to, and even if she did her grades are so low that they would not allow her. …show more content…

Throughout the book, Melinda has many self-deprecating thoughts that have led to her deteriorating mental health. A specific quote displayed by the book says, “I’m sure I was a huge disappointment. I’m not pretty or smart or athletic”(Anderson 70). This excerpt from the book claims that Melinda has zero positive qualities and is overall not a good person. She assumes that everybody in the world thinks she is some huge disappointment that is undeserving of anything. This is a sign of depression because Melinda feels as though there is no hope in the world left for

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Melinda's Growth In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

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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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Laurie Halse Anderson Speak Analysis

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Furthermore, she also has problems with her friends .A problem with Melinda 's friends is that she gets annoyed with Heather because she talks way too much. Also, most of her old friends don 't talk

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Depression In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

1192 Words | 5 Pages

In this current generation depression is becoming more and more prevalent in impressionable teenagers. This issue of depression is also an important theme in the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson in which the main character Melinda tries to overcome after a traumatic summer party. Throughout the novel there are many displays and signs of Melinda's depression. Of these signs the three most noticeable include her low self-esteem which is seen in every one of her decisions, habits of isolation/social withdrawal at school and even at home, and self harm. She unveils these signs of depression with every test and challenge she faces.

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Characters In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

909 Words | 4 Pages

She also told Heather “… That’s not what I mean, I mean no, won’t help you. ”(Anderson 179). This was one of the first times that she stood up for what she wanted. After her fight with Heather, Melinda had a confidence boost and felt strong and powerful. Towards the middle of the novel she was getting more positive feedback from her friend Ivy.

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Examples Of Character Development In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

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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Figurative Language In Laurie Anderson's Speak

646 Words | 3 Pages

The cause of Melinda’s dreary mood obviously comes from IT’s abuse. Andy Evans constantly harassing Melinda in the hallways reminds her of the horrid rape and keeps the image in her mind. This is why Melinda cannot wake up from her nightmare and is emotionally unstable. To sum up, Melinda’s dismal mood is greatly portrayed through the metaphors of

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689 Words | 3 Pages

The most compelling evidence is on page 45 where it says, “I hide in the bathroom until I know Heather’s bus has left. The salt in my tears feels good when it stings my lips. I wash my face in the sink until there is nothing left of it, no eyes, no nose, no mouth. A slick Nothing.” This evidence shows how Melinda is feeling.

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Character Analysis: Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

1072 Words | 5 Pages

Heather claims that they were never really friends, that their tastes are different, and that Melinda truly has no interests at all. Melinda would be told by her that she is the most depressed person she has ever met. Which leads Melinda to say, “ I was the only person who talked to you on the first day of school, and now you’re blowing me off because I'm a little depressed? Isn’t that what friends are for, to help each other out in bad times?” (106).

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Because Melinda and her family mainly talk like that there is little to no family bonding and Melinda is not getting the love and attention she needs in this rough time in her life. It is not just her parents she is feeling the neglect from. She also wrote to her friends through notes. Melinda has no friends this school year because of what happened over the summer at a party when she called the cops because a senior in high school, Andy Evans, brutally raped her, but everyone in school does not know that. When she finds out that her old friend, Rachel, starts to date Andy, she wants to help her.

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392 Words | 2 Pages

Melinda also stops talking entirely when she’s at the lowest point in her recovery. This is a recognized syndrome, known as selective mutism. To her, the amount of effort required to string her thoughts into coherent words for somebody else to hear outweighs the value

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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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She is mentally struggling, and they cannot even tell because of how much they are not home. They do not even hear her out or ask why her grades are so low. They just assume that she is being lazy and not doing her work. This is an example of miscommunication because Melinda feels trapped inside her own mind, and her parents are expecting too much from her with the mental state that she is in at this time. In the play as well as the novel, the parents and the teenager do not communicate well with each other, and this causes the teenagers to feel alone, frustrated, and

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724 Words | 3 Pages

Hurting herself, like her nail and lip biting, is another way for her to express physically what she is emotionally experiencing. People around Melinda ignore her physical and emotional signs of despair. Instead of viewing Melinda’s scratches as a cry or help, Melinda’s mother tells her to stop because she does not have the time for such conduct. In addition to Melinda’s attempts at self-harm, Melinda experiences difficulty sleeping. For example, she expresses her inability to sleep when she says, “I just want to sleep.

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“There is no point looking for my ex- friends. Our clan, the Plain Janes, has splintered and the pieces are being absorbed by rival factions”(pg 4) . This shows how Melinda's friend group has split and now with more people of “their liking” such as the popular kids. Melinda then became depressed and lost the ability

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