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Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

849 Words4 Pages

One night, one party, one person, one call, that is all it takes to change somebody’s identity and shape them into the person they truly are. Melinda Sordino is the victim of a horrible night that changed her life. In the novel speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character Melinda is faced with many challenges. Melinda attended a party the summer before ninth grade. She wasn’t thinking about the consequences that come with drinking, she was not thinking about how one little action could ruin her relationship with those around her,one action that could shape her identity into who she truly is, one action that she would be to traumatized to tell anyone about. Is Melinda strong enough to handle the rumors and lies? It often seems that …show more content…

After that happens to somebody, there are usually two reaction, call the cops or do not tell anybody about it. In Melinda’s situation she did both. Melinda called the cops, “It's ok, we have your location we are on your way.”(pg. 136, Anderson) Since that night Melinda is labeled the snitch who busted the party. Not even Melinda’s “best friends” took the time to listen to the actual story. Melinda’s only response to this horrible incident is silence. This is only the start of Melinda Sordino's story. There is much more pain and hardship that will come throughout the novel …show more content…

“I will make myself normal” (pg. 125, Anderson) At this point readers really start to see a change in Melinda. She begins to put an effort into her classes and herself. She was so caught up in what everybody else thought, she couldn’t see passed her own pain. Melinda begins to take control of her own life. She accepts that she has no friends, “We were never really, really friends, were we?”(pg. 105, Anderson), but none of them took the time to find out what was actually happening in her life. Melinda is a strong example for others that it is good to have friends, but some people do not need friends to express themselves. Melinda broke through her depressed state all by

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Before her traumatic event, Melinda was indepent, now, after the event, she is even more so. Both of Melinda’s parents work full time jobs and are away from home most of the time. Their only communication most days is through notes left on their kitchen counter. Melinda doesn’t typically rely on her parents for much.

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The book I read was Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. The title of the book represents so much of the entire book even though it’s just one simple word. The main character, Melinda, was raped at a high school party while she drank too much. She later called the cops and lost all of her friends. After the party, she was an outcast.

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Throughout the book, Melinda’s problems with her family, For example, her parents and family doesn’t ever have time to spent with her. Furthermore, she has problems with her friends. Like her friends not liking

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In “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda is a freshman that attends Merryweather high school. She’s trying to survive high school, but her teachers, ex-friends, and parents are making that almost impossible. But something that Melinda did at a party makes everyone hate her, and the author wants Melinda to speak. Throughout the book, Melinda has problems with her family.

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The fictional narrative Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a 9th grade girl, and reveals communication goes a long way. In the setting of her school, the reader can see that Melinda rarely talks. This affects her grades and social life significantly and gets her into trouble with her teachers. In a home environment, her silence also creates problems with her parents, which causes her to have counseling meetings and stay after school to receive help from her teachers. Since Melinda does not have a good relationship with her parents she does not talk about being rapped at the party.

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60% of teens face discrimination each year. Inequality can lead to unequal treatment and mental issues. Speak was written by Laurie Halse Anderson. In Speak Melinda the main character called the cops on this party someone threw of the summer and now everyone hates her and thinks she is a snitch. Laurie Halse Anderson demonstrates how inequality can lead to mental illnesses through Melinda’s self image, how students treat her and how the teachers treat her.

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Melinda chooses to express her anger in the forms of outer and inner violence. Outer violence is clear in the very beginning when she called the police at the end of the summer party to report the rape but she left before they show up and getting all her friends in trouble. An even more intense and dangerous violence is her inner violence that happened because of being raped in that party and she cannot even talk or tell anybody about what happened to her, and that is what makes her isolated and silent. She wants to escape the world by sleeping or by having a coma for years; or even to forget completely what happened to her by having amnesia. Melinda is living in a nightmare, she is scared and ashamed because she is somehow believes that being raped maybe was her fault.

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Written Explanation of Individual Response for Speak It is common in today’s world to feel ashamed of what has happened to you whether it is sexually or mentally. Many people turn to depression, self harm, or suicide because they are afraid to speak up about what has happened to them, feeling like no one will believe their story. This is how Melinda feels.

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Another way Melinda is betrayed by her friends, is when the book quotes on page (105-106) “(Heather)You are the most depressed person i've

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In the last scene of Speak, Mr. Freeman asks Melinda if she wanted to share her story with him. She responds, “”Let me tell you about it,’” and this action of communication ushers in not only healing, but power as Melinda regains her agency and status in the community (L. Anderson

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

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In the story, Melinda got raped from a senior, Andy Evans. They were all at a party one night and he got her on drugs so she couldn’t stop him. She eventually called the police on the party, and everyone got upset with Melinda for getting them in trouble, but none of them knew why she called the police.

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However, this would not be existential without her initial release of confidence being her expression through writing. In which, confessing her past through writing needs to remain because it is the primary gateway that sets up the rest of the story. In the film, however, Melinda did not write anything. This is a mistake because writing was the ‘baby step’ that she needed to take in order for her opinion to spread and fully be exposed. Without this action occuring the plot has gaps which does not ease for a smoother story.

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Speak (1999), a novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about Melinda Sordino, a girl whose problems started the day she was raped. That tragic event led to many changes in her life, she got isolated from the people that surrounded her, including family, friends and classmates. She did not speak to any one, feeling trapped and prey of her own thoughts and emotions, which is why, for this written assignment I’ve decided to write a diary entry in which Melinda Sordino talks about a dream she had that changed her perspective about life. The reason why I chose this type of text is because I think that the informal style and the first-person point-of-view allow the readers to place themselves in the same position as the one writing it. In this case, the diary entry goes for all those teenagers that, as Melinda, feel trapped and alone in a cruel world, thinking they do not fit on it.

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While Melinda and Rachael are exchanging notes in the library, Melinda wrote, “I didn’t call the cops to break up the party, I called them because some guy raped me” (Anderson 183). Melinda finally reveals to her friend why she is so unsociable. She has been getting bad grades because she is constantly preoccupied by the memory of the rape and can not concentrate on anything else. Melinda shows that she is growing stronger. She is finally coming to terms with the assault.

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