Melinda Sordino was the brave, resilient main character of Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel, Speak. Her transition to high school was displayed in a series of journal entries, which provided a clear and accurate window into her psyche. Raped at a party before the start of her freshman year, Melinda was ostracized by teachers, classmates, family and friends, instead of receiving the help she deserved. She continued to be abused by her rapist, popular senior Andy Evans, and was plagued by flashbacks whenever she saw him. The cumulation of her trauma
In “How to Handle a Bully,” by Kathiann Kowalski, an experienced journalist, Kowalski reports the different strategies to stop bullying. She informs that bullying is at its peak in the late teenage years, but can start in an early age. Kowalski concurs that girls intimidates as much as boys; however, they do it differently. She explores many reasons why bullying occurs at the first place, and who starts bullying. Kowalski exemplifies the situations that victims could be in, and the solution on how to handle the bully.
“The girl poked me harder. ‘Aren’t you the one who called the cops at Kyle Rodger’s party at the end of the summer?’” (27) Melinda is harassed about the party. The people heckling Melinda think it is alright to pester and bully her about that night, showing questionable judgement about the choices of her peers. It seems in this case that they do not take into consideration Melinda’s feelings and are not questioning if their choices are good or bad.
This essay will discuss who Danielle is bullied by, how it affects her, and what can be done to stop it. First, she is tormented and mocked by her classmates, including William. "WILLIAM: What's with this stupid picture anyway?" says the text. It’s just pencil-crayon on a wall.
She was found in a closet by the lacrosse team crying for help. Her peers now understand the reason she called the cops at a party over the summer, and what she went through that year. Melinda is making new friends, and forgiving her old ones for the way they treated her after the incident. Melinda understands what happened to her can’t be fixed, but it will help her grow stronger. “My tree is definitely breathing; little shallow breaths like it just shot up from the ground this morning….the new growth is the best part” (196).
In the personal narrative essay “Sticks and Stones”, author Nicole Bell narrates a story about a time in her life where she and her brother, Greg, stood up to the constant bullying they were experiencing. Every morning, as Bell and Greg would ride the bus to school James Nicholas, the bully, would verbally abuse, and criticize them. One morning, James decided to use physical force. Nicole and her brother ultimately reacted to the threats and retaliated. Even though we learn that violence is never the answer, the essay emphasizes the strong, defensive bond between siblings.
“One out of every five students report being bullied’’. This fact from the National bullying prevention center shows that a lot of kids are being bullied. In Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, Stargirl faces three types of bullying but one event has a major impact on Stargirl and through these events, we are shown Spinelli's opinions and ideas on bullies. Emotional bullying is shown throughout Stargirl as she gets bullied by her classmates and school members. After the basketball team loses, the whole school blames the loss on Stargirl.
Children in the age range thirteen to fifteen are often transitioning through a critical time of their lives. They frequently look to others as a cicerone on how they themselves should act. In the novel, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino calls the cops on an end-of-summer party at which she was raped. The novel depicts Melinda’s excursion as to how she copes with the heart-wrenching events that have affected her momentously as well as creating “[a] frightening and sobering look at the cruelty and viciousness that pervade much of contemporary high school life.” (Kirkus Reviews, Pointer Review).
Imminently, one feels unsettled, feeding someone against their will sends chills through the bones. Yet, going on 14 years old, June sits with Mrs. Andrews, her school principal, in a meeting with Kathleen to face a minor consequence for hitting her classmate, Cherry. Little did Mrs. Andrews and Kathleen understand that Cherry was laughing at June, “Her (Kathleen) hand grabs me roughly. Kathleen tilts me forward and I cough them out”(page 94).
Jennifer was the first to be picked the ugliest girl in her grade 4 years in a row, but it’s not really an accomplishment to be bragging about. Jennifer’s freshman year, she got so upset she threw up on herself while crying, “..she wailed so loud the science classes could hear her, even with their doors shut and their teachers lecturing.” (pg. 62) Although she was affected less and less every year, it’s not something someone should get used to. When she was crowned with the title her freshman year, it affected her greatly.
Melinda was raped as a young girl heading into her first year of high school and what happened after that was a catastrophe and would change her life and her peers view of her. Melinda perpetually haunted by her treacherous past memories struggled to stay happy and sane throughout her overwhelming first year of high school. Melinda evolves over time as she longs to be her past happy self again she slowly but surely begins to regain her happiness and self-confidence. With life-changing events coming at Melinda every which way, she experiences the highs and the lows and finds little things in life like her extraordinary passion for art to help her get through the toughest times in her life. This story will make your heart melt with sorrow and compassion, but also bring to you a remarkable story with realistic like events and settings.
Shane Koyczan, a spoken word poet delivered a powerful speech called “To this day….for the bullied and the beautiful,” at a Ted Conference for successful working adults, in 2013. Koyczan objective was to poetically develop an image of what the victims of bullies go through. Koyczan overall speech was driven by emotion and was filled with purposeful words in order to connect with the audience. Koyczan’s message was filled with pathos and ethos to appoint and relate to the audience. Instead of telling the audience a sob story of his childhood, Koyczan instead took the opportunity and created an appealing speech the captured the audience's attention.
The consistent use of past tense verbs like ‘was,’ ‘used’ and ‘been’ help to create the knowledge that this story is a journey through memories, rather than a present tense scenario. This paired with the use of ‘we’ highlights that this story is being told from the perspective of a bully, looking back upon their actions. Moreover, the use of terms ‘guilty’ and Davey describing himself as ‘wish(ing) she could have been right about him’ effectively conveys the emotions and shame that the character feels. The use of the term ‘guilty’ connotes sadness and regret, and the use of ‘wishing’ and the idea that he is still thinking about this incident years later further proves the guilt and long-lasting effects that bullying had on the perpetrator. In addition, the effect on family is created through emotive diction and descriptive language during interactions with narrator Davey Morne.
Emily Rigal is a 19 year old student at Columbia University. As a kid Emily was bullied at school. It was so bad that she had to switch schools. “It was damaging my self worth,”. She made friends at her new school “
In her narrative essay “The Sanctuary of School,” Lynda Barry recounts a story from her childhood that illustrates her relationships at school vs her relationships at home. She tells us how public school was her sanctuary from her unstable home life. It was a stable environment that she depended on. She tells us this when she says ,"[F]or the next six hours I was going to enjoy a thoroughly secure, warm and stable world." Unlike at home, her school was a place she was noticed and cared about.
