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Summary Of Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

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Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak is a novel that makes a definite argument. In short, the novel argues that if you are a victim of a sexual assault, you will need to speak about it in order for yourself to grow and heal. As you probably know, there are lots of difficult reasons why victims of sexual assault might have a hard time speaking up about what's happened to them. Like Melinda Sordino, main character of Speak, they might be ashamed or afraid of what will happen if they tell. Speak is the story of Melinda Sordino, a high school freshman. She tells her story in her own words, in the present tense. This telling seems to be a kind of internal monologue. Melinda doesn't talk much to others, but she sure hasn't stopped talking to herself; she …show more content…

Melinda feels disturbed by the sexuality of her high school peers, really because she is a victim of sexual violence and yet, she always blamed herself. She feels like if she was doing what she was supposed to, the whole "Rape" thing wouldnt have never happened so she blames herself. She also blames herself because she does not feel ready for this next phase of life. "It happened. There is no avoiding it, no forgetting. No running away, or flying, or burying, or hiding. Andy Evans raped me in August when i was drunk and too young to know what was happening. It wasn't my fault. He hurt me. It wasn't my fault. And i'm not going to let it kill me. I can grow." Coming to terms with what happened to her allows her to finally accept that she is entering this new stage, and look forward to her future. My favorite characters were Melinda and Mr. Freeman because while she was going through a hard time and a tough experience Mr. Freeman was helping her through the process of growing. I like how the Art teacher (Mr.Freeman) connected to her and made her think deeply. Mr. Freeman helped Melinda find her voice in three main ways: he allowed Melinda to express herself through art in his class, he gave Melinda praise when deserved and criticism when needed, and he helped Melinda come outside of her comfort zone, but at her own …show more content…

Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say." This quote relates to the title of the book "speak" it shows how Melinda believes that she will benefit from being silent. The quote shows that Melinda actually have a voice but only inside her head not anywhere else. This line shows a big part of her personality. "He's not chopping down. He's saving it. By cutting off the damage, you make it possible for the tree to grow again." In this quote, we can substitute Melinda as the tree. Melinda is going through the same procedure as the tree. If Melinda put her past behind her and move on, it will give her a chance to grow. "Let me tell you about it." This quote made me happy because it was coming from a girl who stayed to herself, who wouldn't tell anybody anything, even though she had experienced something tragic. Deep down inside, her not to say nothing was hurting her even

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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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Although, she meets a new girl named Heather and becomes friends with her, although they have little to none similarities. Even with Heather’s friendship, Melinda is still depressed until she discovers art and an old janitor’s closet. Although she’s somewhat stable after finding the closet, she sees Andy Evans in the halls and calls him “IT.” After her encounter with him, she begins to become miserable again.

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Every year over 63,000 teenagers are raped. After Rape incidents, many victims suffer from trauma and painful emotions. A similar situation occurs in the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. In this story, Melinda Sordino, a high school freshman, is raped by an upperclassman. Many rape victims never recuperate from their attacks, but the strongest few do.

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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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Melinda is not telling people about her emotions, instead she is hiding in a closet away from her fears and

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After going through an intense experience, most people are going to be left in shock. In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, a girl entering her freshman year in high school named Melinda had called the police at a party she attended after being sexually assaulted by an older student. Throughout the novel Melinda had felt as if she had lost her ability to speak but ends up finding her way through written words to help her regain her ability to speak. After the party where Melinda was sexually assaulted she had felt she lost her ability to speak. She started to write less on the post-it notes written to her parents and started become more distant from everything around her, especially at school.

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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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In contrast, when Melinda decided to tell Rachel about Andy raping her, it is a turning point in her life. “Rachel writes in a heavy hand. WHO DID IT??? I turn the page. Andy Evans” (184).

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Mr. Freeman not only offered Melinda a safe place, he showed her that it really is okay to be imperfect and to accept your flaws. Melinda truly thought of him as a hero but, with all heroes comes a

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I shake my head” (28). Through looking at Melinda, drawing attention to her, the students are making her feel less and less wanted, weighing down her greatly. They are hanging onto when she called the police after being raped at the summer party, not knowing the real reason why she called them. She is part of the reason why they are acting like this, but because they do not forgive her at all, it causes for her to be an outcast, known as the person who wants to follow the rules and break up a party that was not appropriate for kids to be in. In doing both of these, the students make Melinda’s reputation, a part of her identity, bad to those who want to have fun.

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

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Mr. Freeman always has something to compliment Melinda on “ You are on fire Melinda, I can see it in your eyes.” (61) On the last day of school, Melinda hands Mr.Freeman her tree. Mr. Freeman says “You have been through a lot.” (198) Melinda responds” Let me tell you all about it.” (198)

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In the novel, Melinda experiences the life-changing event of being raped,”. ..dump the memory, it will stay with me... " (Anderson 151). This memory of Melinda is very traumatic and is something that she cannot forget about. This traumatic event caused Melinda to grow up and become more mature.

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1096 Words | 5 Pages

Melinda didn’t express herself at all in the book, for partial fear of being found by Andy, and partially because she is scared to face the truth within herself. So, she does exactly what she says people do. She dies, slowly, within herself. Melinda loses all personality, all friends, and all hope. She thinks the world is bleak and cold.

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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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