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.
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a story about Melinda Sordino. Melinda was an incoming freshman at Merryweather High, and was entering ninth grade with no friends. During the first school assembly, the new girl in town, Heather, introduced herself to Melinda, sparking somewhat of a friendship. Melinda also came across her ex-best friend, Rachel. Rachel had mouthed the words “I hate you” to Melinda, even though all she wanted to do was to tell Rachel what really happened at the infamous summer party.
Speak “Marking Period 1” Analysis In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Mouths/Lips was a reoccurring motif for Melinda throughout the first marking period. It is recognized that Melinda hates her appearance, but is especially disgusted by her lips, which she cannot stop from chewing at. Melinda’s habit progresses more throughout the first marking period.
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
44 percent of rapes are people who are under 18, what if you were in the 44 percent? That's what the book “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson depicts. In this book a girl named Melinda was drunk and got raped at a back to school party. And all she can do is think to call the police for help, but she doesn't realize that she is about to get almost everyone in there school busted for drinking. Everyone finds out she called the police at the party and everyone neglects and hates her for getting them in trouble.
It is estimated that 1 in 6 women will be a victim of attempted or completed rape, however, only 16-40% of all rape is reported. In the realistic-fiction novel, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, 14-year-old Melinda becomes a victim of rape at a summer party and begins to hide from herself to avoid the past. Within the novel Anderson uses the mirror as a motif to show Melinda’s growth from hiding from herself to defending herself. After Melinda’s assault, she calls the police while watching herself in the reflection of a window. “I saw my face in the window over the kitchen sink and no words came out of my mouth” (Anderson 136).
The story is not written as your average outcast "popular people are stupid" cliché. It's an original, the tone is like Melinda is just relaying on her thoughts and what she sees to the reader, rather than her feelings and rage and anger against the people that hurt her. As readers near the end of speak Melinda gets stronger and begins to stand up for herself. The community that challenged the book couldn’t connect with the book because they thought too much of the negatives in the book then what Laurie actually tries to
There are many themes that are presented in the book Speak, such as to not be afraid to speak up about the truth. In the book, Melinda is a freshman in high school that is now an outcast after she called the cops on an end-of-summer party last summer. But there is more to the story. Last summer at the party, a guy named Andy Evans raped her. But no one knows the truth except Melinda.
Phases in the Life of Melinda Mr. Freeman said “Be the tree.” to Melinda in Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel Speak. Melinda’s growth is described through her artwork, and other forms of the trees in this novel. In this story, Mr. Freeman, the art teacher, passes around a globe full of subjects for the students to work on for the entire year.
“It is easier not to say anything. 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.” (Pg 9).
Desperate for friends, Melinda meets Heather. Heather craves popularity that Melinda can far from provide. Heather, like so many other abandons Melinda. Rachel her ex best friend became someone totally different, she even started dating Andy Evans. The boy who raped Melinda.
This relates to her and her struggle but then she recognized it and she taught herself through it and finally changed it to where she speaks for herself now. Melinda finally speaking out changed her whole school year. It had made Melinda’s year so much better. It was definitely had to overcome her fear of speaking but I bet she is glad she was finally able to overcome it.
Speak You Also is an autobiography written by Paul Steinberg. He tells his story about how he went from freedom to being arrested in Paris, taken to Drancy, and then transported to Auschwitz. Throughout the book Steinberg explains how he was able to survive and advance to the next day. Going through moments, and rationalizing what he was thinking, and what he was doing.
Speak, a novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a memorable story about a girl who overcomes a horrific experience, rape, and with it, injustice. Melinda, the main protagonist, has an emotional journey, and with the help of her art teacher, Mr. Freeman, survives through this excursion. As Mr. Freeman says, “‘Welcome to the journey’” (12). Mr. Freeman assists Melinda, by constantly questioning her emotional being, turning an art project into a pool of her feelings, and forcing Melinda to see the light in her heart. With Mr. Freeman lifting her emotional baggage, Melinda can finally be free and with that, experience happiness once again.
In the book, The Sound of Waves, Mishima uses direct characterization to characterize Terukichi as a respected man on the island and a man who has authority. In The Sound of Waves, Mishima creates many obstacles for Shinji to be with Hatsue, the daughter of a man who is well respected, and also has much authority. “He knew that her father was Terukichi Miyata, the wealthy owner of two coasting freighters chartered to Yamagawa Transport- the hundred- and- eighty-five-ton Utajima- Maru and ninety-five ton Haraukaze- Maru”(Mishima 18).
