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Discussion Questions On Speak By Laurie Anderson

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Kayley Flores English pre ap- 1st period Part 1- précis Speak by Laurie Anderson is a young adult fiction book that takes place freshman year at school in New York. The novel is circled around Melinda Sordino, the protagonist, and Andy Evans, the antagonist. The conflict happens because Melinda called the cops at a summer party. She struggles to make friends and speak up about what really happened that night during the school year. Summer is getting closer, so Melinda decides to get her stuff out of the janitor’s closet where then she is confronted by Andy. She finally escapes of the closet and soon reunites with her old friends because now they finally know the truth. This story expresses how you can’t judge people because you never really know what they’re going through. Part 2- Essay questions 1-What do think will happen after Melinda finally speaks up to Mr.Freeman? 2-Dicuss the reasons why most of Melinda’s friends ignored her. 3- Do you think that after Melinda’s parents find out about what happened they’ll become closer? Why or why not? Part 3- characterization …show more content…

In the beginning of the book Melinda sees Mr. Freeman as strange and just another lame teacher as shown in, “He started out as such a cool teacher. Is he going to make us thrash around with this ridiculous assignment without helping us?” (32) Throughout the story Melinda slowly grows respect for Mr.Freeman and can begin to trust him. They’re relationship can be seen getting closer when he gives her a ride and says, “You’re a good kid. I think you have a lot to say. I’d like to hear it.”(123) In the end Melinda finally gathers up the courage and opens up to Mr. Freeman by saying, “Let me tell you about

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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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Now, Melinda is starting to open up about the night of the party. Last, she stands up to Andy. While Melinda is in the closet, Andy tries to make her admit that it was her fault, but Melinda puts Andy in his place and confronts him. “I said no” (195). By standing up to Andy, Melinda shows that she completely recovered from the attack.

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Furthermore, Melinda had admitted that she could “[feel] the wind blow and hear the mockingbird whistling on the way back to her nest. But when [she tries] to carve it, it looks like a dead tree, toothpicks, a child’s drawing. [She cannot] bring it to life” (78). She wistfully imagines confessing her distress, but she remains reluctant and retreats from transitioning into speaking again. There are many moments within the novel where Anderson uses symbolism to illustrate Melinda's desire to refurbish her life as this one, but it is hard for Melinda to do so without the choice of acknowledging what happened.

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Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a book about a girl named Melinda Sordino. In the beginning of this book the audience meets Melinda as she is the main character and she describes her first day of high school starting with an assembly. Throughout the book you read about her life but she goes back to the past recalling of something that happened at the end of the summer; in a couple of instances she comes across someone that she refers to as “IT”. When reading you don't know who this “IT” is but it is developed over the story by her having flashbacks to that night or dropping a hint of what happened. During a seminar at the beginning of the book Melinda meets someone named Heather who is new and becomes her friend but ultimately leaves her

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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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She tries to run away from the embarrassment by leaving school, but gets caught by Mr.Neck. Mr. Neck is Melinda's history teacher that thinks Melinda has horrible behavior. This quote show a little about Melinda’s personality and how she doesn't have the courage to speak out and say what on her mind or what’s bothering her, instead, she keeps her thoughts to herself. conflict As Melinda was being bullied during the pep rally, she thinks, "I have worked 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" (54).

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Throughout the book Melinda has problems with her family. For example, they don 't communicate with her and instead choose to just communicate by writing notes to one another. Also, her parents are disappointed with her grades. They also are constantly arguing with each other.

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And now to the main character, Melinda

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Melinda pushing those around her away is a direct result of her not acknowledging interpersonal conflicts due to the fact it’s easier for her to lose relationships than speak out. One day, while Melinda is eating lunch

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These conversations also cause Melinda to struggle with her self-image. When someone commits an act of self-harm as Melinda did, most of the time they want help. This was all that Melinda wanted from her mother, yet all she got from her mother was an unmoving, emotionally unavailable, brick wall. To add to this, Mrs. Sordino essentially

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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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The new Melinda sees that she needs to say something and she works up the courage to help her once-friend. This really shows Melinda development as a person. She is overcoming her pain and

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After Melinda admits to herself that she was raped, Melinda starts to realize that

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The tone changes throughout the novel from coarse and cold to encouraging and vibrant. Near the beginning of the book as the reader is still creating their impression of Melinda, the narrator says, “It’s an old janitors closet that smells like sour sponges… a cracked mirror tilts over a sink with dead roaches crocheted together with cobwebs… This closet is abandoned-it has no purpose, no name. It is the perfect place for me” (25-26). Described here is a cold, melancholy and lonesome tone that shows the readers Melinda’s true opinion of herself and her self worth.

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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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