Speak was written in 1999 by Laurie Halse Anderson. The book is about Melinda, a freshman just starting high school. Melinda starts school off with no friends, she lost the ones she had over the summer. A traumatic event causes Melinda to shut everyone out, and not speak to anyone. Growing up usually takes time, but Melinda is rushed into maturity too soon and must help others do the same.
There are people in our lives who have helped us grow. In the summer before freshman year in high school Melinda Sordino was raped at a party. After calling the police she was left without friends or dignity. She isolates herself not knowing what to do. In Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda grows in many ways throughout the book.
“Speak,” is a novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. The setting is in Syracuse, New York in the early 2000’s. Melinda Sordino is the narrator of the story and is a freshman at Merryweather High School. During the summer before her freshman year, she goes to a party with her close friends filled with alcohol and music. At the party, she drinks many beers and becomes intoxicated.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson should be mandatory reading for 8th graders due to its take on how trauma can affect the lives of its survivors. Through completed writing, the National Book Award finalist and Golden Kite Award winner, Laurie Anderson captures the thoughts of Melinda Sordino. After she gets raped and has to deal with a misunderstanding that leaves her silent and outcast. This short book of 224 pages is mostly written in short statements. From casual thoughts such as, “I zone out,” to ones with impact like, “Why go to school.”
Speak, the story of Melinda Sordino, the girl without a voice. In speak the main protagonist, Melinda, has to go through high school with almost everyone in her school hating her because of a misunderstanding, she called the police on a summer party because she was sexually assaulted but never had the courage to say anything. Throughout the book the writer, Laurie Anderson uses trees to symbolize changes in Melinda’s life like (insert thing here), how Melinda needs to remove the “dead branches” from her life so she can move on and grow from her experiences, and how Melinda was finally able to “cut the dead branches” from her life and learn to speak up for herself. A good example of Melinda’s transformation is shown in this next quote. “He’s
In “Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character is Melinda the setting is in Merryweather high school her situation is she is alone. Some people are Ivy, Heather, Melinda, Rachel, Mr Freeman, Mr. Neck, and Hair women. She has no friends, she is an outcast. Melinda can talk to her parents, her teachers, and her friends but she doesn't for a long time but does later.
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
Entry 5 (page 81-100) After being put under greater parental control, Melinda, alone in her room, decides to “open up a paper clip and scratch it across the inside of [her] left wrist” (87). She then describes what she is doing as “pitiful” (87). Melinda’s mother, seeing Melinda’s wrist the next morning, states that “suicide is for cowards” (88). Anderson makes it clear that suicide is not a solution rather a cowardly way to escape reality. The author’s stance is clearly against suicide and she persuades her readers to hold the same position as well.
In the book “Speak”, the main character went through some changes. From last year as an 8th grader she had a few best friends. This year, as a freshman in high school at Merryweather high school, she is starting the new year with no friends. The changes were caused by home and friend related events. Her identity was shaped negatively through these topics Melinda goes through changes because of her friend events.
Octavia Butler uses symbolism to highlight how the irregular occurrence of time travel forces Dana to accept slavery and how her past will “live” in her presence. Dana is forced to assimilate to the past because she has no control over her fate, and her life in the past revolves around slavery. The fact that Dana quickly transitions from the past to the present shows that she is quick to accept this time of slavery even though she is not mentally prepared for it. After Dana is disturbed by the inhumanity that the children show by playing an auction game, she says, “The ease. Us, the children… I never realized how easily people could be trained to accept slavery” (Butler 101).
In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda gives a really good example of character development throughout the story. Melinda just starts her freshman year at high school. Over the summer her and her friends went to a party and Melinda gets raped by a boy named Andy Evans and ends up calling the police, she didn't tell anyone why she called the police, causing her friends and everyone at the party to reject her. Melinda’s only friend is a new girl named heather. Melinda gets depressed and starts expressing her pain through stuff like biting her lips and her nails, and not talking.
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is set at MerryWeather High School in Syracuse. The fictional story details the freshman year of Melinda, the novel's main character. The freshman year of high school can be intimidating for anybody, but it is especially painful for Melinda due to an incident that happened during the summer. As each grading quarter passes, Melinda transforms from being shy to optimistic about being able to speak. Should high school students read Speak? Absolutely.
To begin with, the book Speak starts with a girl named Melinda who has just started high school after a terrible summer. Two factors that shape Melinda’s identity are her friends and family. As she starts the first day of high she wears the wrong clothes and has the wrong attitude for high school. She realizes that she has no friends and all of her middle school friends have broke away and gone to their own groups. Melinda met a girl named heather who moved to her high school and they became friends for a little while.
It 's a jaw-dropping book that will leave you wanting more as the author Laurie writes in a crisp and clear way describing the young girl Melinda’s horrific story and how it unfolds. The author 's tone gives off the vibe of a young frighted girl which I find really enhances this sad, but exhilarating story. This story taught me to always speak up for myself and to never let anyone take advantage of me. I would recommend this novel because it is extremely detailed, painting vivid pictures in your mind that really help to magnify and
She tries to navigate through her first year of high school, and it seems like the entire student body despises her; she feels more alone than ever. I will be analyzing and making connections to three specific elements in this novel: the search for one’s identity, Melinda’s inner conflict,
