The Theme Of Conclusion And Bullying In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak
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Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak uses the theme of exclusion and bullying, thus having the environment and people within the school affect the main character, Melinda. Melinda is affected throughout the novel increasing the amount of feelings of weakness and rejection and helps her recover from this as well. The novel begins with the introduction of Melinda giving perspective of her situation and her school, Merryweather High. Melinda is perceived as an outcast by her and others and is shunned from her peers; reason being that Melinda had called the police during a senior party. It is later revealed that the summer before her Melinda’s freshman year of high school, Melinda meets Andy Evans during this senior party. Outside the woods, Andy rapes her, giving reason to call the police. Shocked, Melinda does not tell anyone what happened to her, and nobody asks. When starting high school, Melinda is abandoned from old friends but once inspired by new made friends and new experiences, she is able to speak the truth. The truth of Andy comes out as he attacks Melinda in the abandoned janitor’s closet, a place of refuge for Melinda. Realizing the truth, students no longer treat Melinda as an outcast, rather, a hero.
Exclusion and bullying are themes of
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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.
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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.
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The most hated plot in America is the underdog’s demise- the empathetic pain of scrutiny, and the failure we all miss to escape. The scrawny, glasses-wearing outsider is often the underdog, the hero we all cheer for. The one who makes all the refinements in a society that is stagnant to change. And his most successful storytelling, or retelling, is that in the setting of high school. He walks awkwardly down the hall with his shoulders slightly hunched inward and mouth slightly ajar.
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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
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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).
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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.
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1. This exposition that includes details about Sammy is vital to the story’s development because this part shows us who Sammy is as a person. The exposition allows us to see what his opinions are in life and what he believes in. We are able to see his personality traits and his social class in relation to others. The author, Updike, illustrates how Sammy is slightly insecure and immature about approaching the girls and instead spends time with his coworkers discussing them. The exposition shows how he is longing for something different in life, to move away from working in the same store just to please his parents.
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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.
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In Speak, when Melinda is the first person on the bus on her first day of high school, no one that was picked up sat next to her. Anderson writes, “As we leave the last stop, I am the only person sitting alone. ”(Anderson pg.3) This demonstrates her being the theme isolation. When Melinda is the only person on the bus sitting alone, it causes her to feel isolated or being an outcast from her social class.
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The novel’s protagonist, Janie Crawford, a woman who dreamt of love, was on a journey to establish her voice and shape her own identity. She lived with Nanny, her grandmother, in a community inhabited by black and white people. This community only served as an antagonist to Janie, because she did not fit into the society in any respect. Race played a large factor in Janie being an outcast, because she was black, but had lighter skin than all other black people due to having a Caucasian ancestry.
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Another element in this novel is Melinda’s inner conflict, man vs. self. What Melinda has been through greatly affected her everyday life. She struggles with depression, dislikes her appearance, and feels ashamed of herself for something that isn 't her fault: “I want to confess everything, hand over the guilt and mistake and anger to someone else...even if I dump the memory, it will stay with me, staining me” (Anderson 51). Andy Evans, the senior who raped her, made her feel worthless. This situation is much like the one in the novel The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.
736 Words | 3 Pages
Isolation is when one is set apart from others and is virtually alone. In Laurie Anderson’s Speak, the protagonist, Melinda, isolates herself and is further isolated from others. Isolation can be seen through three symbols: lips, mirrors and a closet. Melinda thinks no one cares about what she has to say, resulting in silence. After the incident in the summer, Melinda cannot bare to look at herself.
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The novel follows Stevie an eleven year old girl who lives in Southside Chicago throughout her middle and high school years. Stevie goes through the social pressure of her peers and family to tell her how to act, think, and look. Slowly throughout
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I read chapter 6 of B. Evan Blaine's book Understanding the Psychology of Diversity, named "Understanding Gender Stereotypes and Sexism". The most intriguing aspect of these chapter to me are the distinguished types of sexism because before reading, I did not even know they existed. Blaine explains that hostile sexism are prejudices that label women as inferior to men and limit them to subordinate roles. Benevolent sexism is not expressed by negative attitudes rather, it is shown in describing women as objects to be protected and cared for. The underlying problem with this type of sexism is that it continues to regard women as weaker than men.
734 Words | 3 Pages
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.
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