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
and she didn’t talk to anyone. Melinda has been trying to overcome her trauma since the start of her freshman year but she hasn't been able to find the courage to overcome it until the end of the year. The book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a girl named Melinda that had a traumatic experience at a party during the summer because of this Melinda has a hard time making friends going into the 9th grade. Melinda is also conflicted about her individuality and questions if she can trust anyone with being herself.
" Speak also states on page 161 " I am a deer in headlights of a tractor, is he going to hurt me again? He couldn't in school... why am I so afraid. " These examples from the text show all the problems Melinda had, for instance what Andy did to her,
This causes her to be unable to speak as normal and express herself only through self physical acts of hurting herself. However, through her pain, she begins to grow from a victim to a survivor and understands that the only way to go against evil is to speak out against it. Melinda in Speak is a high school freshman who is raped by Andy Evans who is a senior in high school. Due to him raping her she loses her ability to speak normally and say what she feels and how she feels. Melinda gains her confidence to speak in public freely again by the end of the story.
According to a graph in the” RAINN” article, 15% of sexual assaults occur in an open public place. In the book “Speak” Melinda got raped during a friend's party at the end of summer. I read the book “Speak” and articles RAINN, PTSD, Lady Gaga, and The Perfect Victim. They all explain how the victim was affected, how the victim copes with being raped, and the relationships the victim had with people after they were raped. The first similarity i see is how the victim was affected after being raped.
In the novel Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson repeats the idea of feeling companionless and shielding oneself from harm. Throughout the text, Melinda, the main character feels like everyone is against her and she tries to put a stop to being harmed again. Even at times when she should be happier, such as when she is with friends, she doesn’t speak much and is withdrawn from everyone. On her first day of high school, at the very beginning of the text, Melinda compares high school to the jungle by calling herself “ a wounded zebra in a National Geographic special.” (Halse Anderson 5)
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).
Laurie Halse Anderson Mr. Emmons ENG1D1.62 Trauma portrayed in Speak April 4, 2023 “Don’t expect to make a difference unless you speak up for yourself” (Anderson 159). Melinda saying this displays her growth, as this fact strongly contrasts her more timid, shy behavior at the beginning of the book. Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, has a character named Melinda Sordino slowly gain the strength to speak up after being raped during a party that previous summer.
Because of this, she has a difficult time speaking out about the event that happened to her. The struggle that Melinda goes through and what she feels is similar to that of countless women who have been in the news lately. Recently, more women have come out and talked about their experiences with sexual
Near the end of the book, Melinda started standing up for herself and developing a new confidence. “I’m tough enough to play and strong enough to win.”(pg 170) For most of the book, Melinda always thought she was doing everything wrong “ I feel bad that I didn’t.” (pg 72) was a common theme for her. Melinda always did whatever people told her to do especially Heather “‘ I won’t help you.”’
“Speak” is a novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson in 1999, which follows the life of Melinda Sordino. Melinda, a freshman at MerryWheather High School has entered her first year as an outcast because she called the police at a summer party. As Melinda navigates through her first year in high school, she faces constant bullying and resentment from her classmates and former friends because of this decision. Melinda struggles with PTSD and decides to remove herself from any social circle and becomes a selective mute as a result of a traumatic event that took place at this party. Through Melinda’s internal monologues and interactions with her peers, the novel explores themes of trauma and the power of communication.
Speaking up takes courage and trust, Even though Melinda spoke up, she was betrayed after that. After Melinda told her friend, Rachel what had happened and who did it, she was betrayed. As stated (pg. 184) “”Liar!” she stumbles out of her chair and grabs her books off the table. “I can't believe you.
The novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about a girl named Melinda, who shows signs of depression throughout the story. She has no friends and is hated by people she doesn’t even know. This is because she called the cops at a party, where she was raped. Anderson includes literary elements to show how Melinda is depressed. Throughout the novel, she uses many different literary elements to show Melinda’s conflict.
Melinda is the main character of Speak. She’s also the narrator, so everything we learn about others is filtered through her. She’s only fourteen years old and she’s dealing with one of the worst things that can happen to a person: rape. Melinda is a very closed off person mainly mute for the story.
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.
