The main setting of “Speak” is Merryweather High School in Syracuse, New York. Other settings include Melinda 's room. She spends most of her time there if she 's not in school. While she is in school, she finds a storage closet no one goes into and creates her year long art project in there. The author chose a high school for the setting to show how outcasted students can be over a rumor and how painful it can be for them.

The story problem in “Speak” is Melinda 's struggle to speak throughout the school year. She 's unable to tell anyone what happened to her at the end-of-summer party. Based on the rumors, Melinda 's best friends outcast her, along with the rest of the school. Melinda goes through a battle against herself to speak up about