Characters In Speak

Metaphors in ‘Speak’ show that Melinda’s past peers unintentionally destroy her self-respect, resulting in a feeling of dread engulfing Melinda, her. Thus, Some individuals tend to jump to conclusions without thinking about others .On her first day of high school, the entire ninth grade population holds a grudge against Melinda for calling the cops at a summer party without knowing it was because she was raped. During her lunchtime, Melinda “stand[s] in the centre aisle of the auditorium” as if she is “a wounded zebra in a National Geographic special, looking for someone, anyone, to sit next to.” (Anderson 5). Melinda, standing surrounded with hundreds of people, yet still alone, shows that she has no support from anyone. Melinda is hurt so strongly by others rude attitude towards her to the point she feels as if she has been physically wounded, even hunted, by the students from her school. Melinda is seen as if she betrayed her peers by calling the police, lowering her certainty along with her self-esteem, which interrupts her mental ageing process. She is instantly blamed which results in a lack of support, as well as company to start high school. In addition, Melinda views herself as a broken girl who cannot figure out her own life. One night, she is forced to go shopping for new clothes with her mother. In the change room, Melinda carefully studies herself in the mirror. Her self- belief is too low,

Melinda, the main character of speak was raped at a summer party. She calls the cops and that is where it all started. When Melinda reaches high school she is faced with all her old friends. They all hate her and want nothing to do with her, because of her calling the cops. Throughout the whole book Melinda runs into tough situations that eventually lead to her standing up for herself. Eventually, everyone finds out the truth, of why Melinda calls the cops. Although Melinda learns to stand up for herself, throughout the book she shows signs of depression such as poor performance in school, sadness and hopelessness, and withdrawal of friends and activities.

Within “SPEAK,” Laurie Halse Anderson uses Melinda’s artwork to express Melinda. At the Beginning of the story Melinda gets a year long art project to draw a tree. At the beginning, she struggles because she is still feeling pain and depression from getting raped. But, Throughout the story, she slowly grows and comes out of her “shell,” and becomes better and better with it; So by the

Her consequence was to go to MISS (Merryweather in School Suspension). “Andy Beast” is in MISS with Melinda. “I am BunnyRabbit again, hiding in the open. I sit like I have an egg in my mouth. One move, one word, and the egg will shatter and blow up the world” (Anderson 117). Which makes her feel uncomfortable and will not speak. Not talking in MISS creates a situation where Melinda must take increased mental torture from Andy Evans. She sits by the man who sexually assaulted her.In addition, more and more into the school year she is beginning to speak, but she isn’t quite fully there yet. When Heather tells Melinda that she isn’t fun and is very boring and depressed, Melinda realizes that she isn’t at all fun. David, her lab partner, start to talk throughout the school year and Melinda starts to feel more and more comfortable with him. “I ask David Petrakis for advice. We come up with a Plan” (Anderson 155). Melinda asked David for advice because she needed to present a project in front of the class, which Melinda is terrified of doing. So they come up with a plan and it helps Melinda communicate with other which is a wonderful thing for her; but the terrible part this presentation got her sent to

In Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, trees symbolize Melinda’s growth throughout her life to stay sane and pass the horrific time of her life. Depression is her first phase, when she starts to paint the trees that were hit by lightning. It is also shown by her not talking to many people. She starts to realize that she cannot be perfect when she imagines a beautiful oak tree but really cannot carve it properly. Her third phase comes when the trees outside her house has a few sick branches and she decides to let go of the present Melinda who is not letting her grow and nurture the old Melinda, the one before the party, the fun and outgoing one. The last phase, and tree was the one she drew for

William F. Halsey explains "All problems become smaller if you don't dodge them but confront them." This shows that mute Melinda was unable to overcome her struggle since she tried to “dodge” the truth. However, when Melinda finally spoke out about what happened to her, she immediately felt better about the struggle she was dealing with. The main theme of the novel and other texts is overcoming obstacles. This theme is expressed through the conflict, symbolism, and foreshadowing throughout the texts. Laurie Halse Anderson’s use of literary elements in Speak, as well as the devices in the ancillary text, The Art of Resilience, and the poem “If”, help the common theme of overcoming obstacles through a time of growth and change evolve

In “Speak” by Laurie Anderson, Melinda a teenage girl who is struggling to find friends in high school because of an incident at a party. It all started the summer going into freshman year when Andy Evans raped Melinda at a party, resulting in Melinda calling the cops. Since then only a few things are keeping Melinda going her freshman year like art and her few friends. Everyone thinks of Melina as the girl who called the cops now and nobody wanted to be her friend. Until she met a new girl Heather but, that friendship didn't last long. The closet incident with Andy played the most important role in changing Melinda’s identity. Melinda’s identity changed from being depressed and isolated to being happy and having friends once people found out what Andy did to her. This matters because now Melinda doesn't have to keep the secret about why she called the cops on the party because now people will believe her. This shows that people should not be afraid to tell the truth when they know it's the right thing to do no matter what.

In the novel Speak, the author uses the protagonist, Melinda, to teach the reader the importance of verbal expression. Melinda refuses to speak up about an event that occurred in her life; therefore her classmates cannot show empathy towards her. Melinda never spoke up about why she did what she had done during an event in her life, so people judge and bully Melinda for her decisions. Melinda’s silence slowly erodes her self esteem and leaves her alone to handle her depressive behavior and decisions.

Freeman tells the class that they are in "the only class that will teach them how to survive". Mr. Freeman passes around a broken globe and everyone takes a piece of paper. Whatever is on the piece paper is project that they will be working on for the whole year. Melinda's piece of paper says "tree." Melinda has been sitting with a someone named Heather at lunch. Heather is very talkative, she is very much the opposite of Melinda. One day Melinda gets home after school and orders pizza,, since her parents are both at work. When she hears her Dad come home, she goes off to her room. She lays on her bed bundled in her blanket and stares in the mirror from the other side of the room, and she sees that she is not looking very good. Her lips are all scabbed, because she can't stop biting them – and her mouth doesn't look like a mouth any more, she gets out of bed and puts the mirror in the closet. Melinda has gym class with Nicole and Heather. Nicole used to be in Melinda’s "group," called the Plain Janes, also with Ivy and rachel. It's not very clear if Nicole is upset with Melinda, or just too self-absorbed to talk to her. One day, Melinda tries to run away from Mr. Neck, and she finds a supply closet that look like it hasn’t been used in very long

Every single person has a secret or an experience that they prefer not to talk about. In this case, Melinda Sordino suffers with the traumatic memory of rape. Within the novel, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Sordino’s entire life changes as Andy Evans takes advantage of her innocence by raping her during a party in August. As a result, Sordino’s trauma causes the alteration of her personality and perspective of the world. Sordino ventures throughout the story to rediscover herself as a person and faces several obstacles such as family troubles, disrespectful peers, and the person who has inflicted her with the most mental agony she can possibly withstand.

In the book Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Andy Evans impacted Melinda Sordino in a very negative way. Melinda was raped by Andy Evans at a party weeks before she started high school as a freshman. Melinda, who was scared and unsure, called the cops. But she was too horrified to say anything and ends up going home before they arrived. But the police do come and arrest people at the party.

A symbol is someone or something that represents someone or something else. Symbols are used in literature because they represent a character, object, or place in a story. Similarly, there are plenty of symbols throughout the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Some examples of symbols in the book are Melinda’s tree projects, Maya Angelou, and Melinda’s report for Mr. Neck.

Towards the end of the year, there is a clear change in Melinda and she is confident of herself. When Andy tries to attack her again she says “NNNOOO!!!"(188) This shows how much she has grown because she decides not to be a silent victim anymore. Now she is a “definitely breathing”(197) tree. She came up struggling and feeling alone by herself, but she knew that she made a lot of progress from the start.

The author Laurie Halse Anderson made the book Speak to show and convey that to let out emotions and feel better about one's self, you have to talk to anoter. Speak tells the story of Melinda Sorindo, a ninth grader at Merryweather High School in Syracuse, New York. August before her freshman year, Melinda and her closest friends attend a party with seniors and beer. At the party, Melinda feels uncomfortable and out of place. She gulps down a couple beers before walking outside for some fresh air. While outside, Melinda meets Andy Evans, an attractive senior boy. Andy begins dancing with and kissing Melinda, and Melinda is taken aback but too drunk to say anything. Andy pushes her to the ground and rapes her. In her confusion afterward, Melinda dials 911 and the police arrive at the

In the novel Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson uses creative techniques to share the story of Melinda Sordino. The author uses symbolism and foreshadowing to relay the Melinda’s feelings and thoughts throughout the book. Symbolism is visible throughout the story. It is not obvious at first, but it is there. When Melinda chooses a tree to draw the whole year in art, it symbolizes that Melinda is the tree.