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Family In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak

752 Words4 Pages

Family. A lot of people cringe at the word because of the embarrassment that can come with it. Family means a support system that will follow through for you when you need it. A group of people, related or otherwise, who knows exactly what to do to push your buttons or make you feel better. In the book, Speak, Melinda grows up in a, seemingly normal, yet dysfunctional setting. Sure she has parents that are around, however that does not make a family similar to how kindness and caring is what makes a great one. Melinda was raped at a summer party. Entering high school is hard enough without a debilitating secret. What happened to her was not her parents’ fault, yet everything that happened afterwards could have been helped, or even prevented, if her parents had just noticed.
Showering is nearly daily ritual that people choose to partake in for sanitary as well as social reasons. Melinda has …show more content…

Physical as well as psychological scars are apparent on many survivors. Sexual assault victims of all kinds experience various psychological symptoms but a few of the most common ones are:Depression, Flashback of what took place, Sleeping and Eating disorders, Guilt, Distrust, and multiple personality disorders. Experiencing these things - especially two or more - can be a hard thing to deal with. It would be nearly impossible to hide these things from somebody who knew you even in the slightest. Melinda was able to do this, right under the noses of her parents for months. Her attack wasn’t the only thing that had left her scarred. As mentioned before, depression is an extremely common side effect in sexual assault victims.Melinda shows her experience with this as well as the harsh coldness from her mother. PG 88 “ Mom sees my wrist at breakfast. Mom: I don’t have time for this Melinda. Me:. She says suicide is for cowards.” This should have been a slap in the face to a mother who is supposed to care about her

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Analysis: Mom: She’s the type of mom that’s chill but if anybody does anything wrong she’s on top of your head. She wants the best from you.

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Many of these women, much like Melinda, felt very guilty and shameful about what was done to them, and were scared to be judged by other people. They also were afraid that they would not be believed. This is something that happens to many women and girls in the world, and most are afraid to talk about it for a long time. Melinda, like some of the women of Hollywood who have been in the media recently, was too scared to talk about what had happened to her for a while. She eventually felt supported by others and shared her story with other girls at school.

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love mom.” Esther picked her head up and looked around the bus in her head she can’t believe it taking her grandchild without the his mom’s permission is nuts! but then she thinks, I’m doing the right thing, she won’t go to the police all this violence and nonsense will finally cease.

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Sexual assault is very common and very difficult to overcome for most, in another article the girls that claimed to be raped talked about their process of overcoming the claimed assault they all have different experiences and different ways of coping with it again showing how different the reactions can

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Mom sees the wrist at breakfast. Mom: “I don’t have time for this, Melinda. ”(Anderson 88). Her parent hardly pay attention to her so she tries to deal with the constant memory of the incident on her own.

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She constantly suffered nightmares, plagued from the truth and what happened that night. She never outwardly says anything about it. While Melinda’s denial is a common response to trauma it is

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According to Merriam-Webster, family can be defined as “the basic unit in society consisting of two parents rearing children”(Family). But in reality, family often transcends that definition. Families are people who have strong emotional connections with each other. To Live is a story about a man who experiences many misfortunes. Fugui’s family is a big part of his life and once they are all gone he has no choice but to live on without them.

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The novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about a girl named Melinda, who shows signs of depression throughout the story. She has no friends and is hated by people she doesn’t even know. This is because she called the cops at a party, where she was raped. Anderson includes literary elements to show how Melinda is depressed. Throughout the novel, she uses many different literary elements to show Melinda’s conflict.

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Caring for a survivors of sexual abuse can be challenging, stressful and emotionally distressing due to the special needs of the individual (i.e., medical treatment, medications, mental health counseling). Since victims of sex assault are susceptible to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other mental health concerns. Family members may experience the effect of PTSD, but is acquired through secondary exposure. This is caused by the constant exposure to the behaviors of the victim, thus involuntarily mimicking the behavior of the survivor. Similar to what the victims is experiencing, family member may find it difficult to trust people, hyper-vigilant, fear, anxiety, and depression.

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“Foundation of Family” Family is the fundamental building block of all societies. It is all inclusive across generations and cultures. Based on the epic poem The Odyssey and current families today, we see that family is where we learn to love ourselves and each other, to bear one another’s burdens, to find meaning in our life and to give purpose to other’s lives, and to feel the value of being part of something greater than ourselves. Family is where we experience our biggest triumphs, deepest vulnerabilities, and where we have the greatest potential to do good.

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Family Paper Family, a word that so many know, but only few understand. The definition of family in the Webster dictionary is, a house hold, one’s own spouse, parents and children. What is a real family? Some people say friendship, love, and joy; while others say pain, agony, and anger. We do not choose who are family is, but the real family is the one that is always standing next to you during you happiness, you sadness, your hardest time in life.

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“Family” is a hard word to create a concrete definition for. If one were to ask three random people on the street, it is likely they will receive three completely different answers to defining a family. The textbook definition of family according to the etymology dictionary is: “Origin in early 15c. “servants of a household” from Latin familia “family servants, domestics collectively, the servants in a household.” The traditional dictionary describes family in a more narrow fashion stating, “a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not.”

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Family is characterized with common aspects such as parents, grandparents, and siblings but there are so many other ways to distinct family. The word family is commonly defined as a group of individuals that have the same ancestors, and gather for holidays and other special events. This particular definition is true in so many ways, but everyone goes through life with situations that are brought up that bring together or break apart families. When I think about the word family and my experiences I have gone through and I would consider family to have crazy moments, lots of laughter, and unconditional love. Family to me is getting everyone together and having a good time and acting crazy with your loved ones, making memories.

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According to Dictionary.com, family means a group of persons who form a household under one head, including parents, children, and servants. According to Google family means, all the descendants of a common ancestor. As one can see, there are many different meanings to family. To me family means support, dysfunctional, love, and friendships. Family is the most important influence on a child’s life.

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Family Family is one of the greatest gift and blessing from the Lord. Without family you can not feel love, care , satisfaction and happiness. They are the most treasured blessing that no one can take away from us. It is also like a fragile thing you consider as the most precious gem in your whole life. Family is a basic unit in the society traditionally consisting of parents and children.

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