Effects Of Sexual Violence In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak

She battles between herself on whether she decides to speak up or stay quiet about her getting raped. In the end, Melinda was able to overcome this conflict and tell Rachel about it. In addition, Melinda has an external conflict with Andy Evans as he terrifies Melinda whenever he sees her. The climax of this story is when Andy Evans becomes trapped in the janitor’s closet with Melinda. The janitor’s closet is Melinda’s hideaway from the world. It’s a place where she can do whatever she wants without the judgement of anyone. On the last day of school, when she was about to leave, Andy walks in and slams Melinda back in the closet, trapping her in. He begins talking about how her big mouth of telling Rachel made her break up with him at prom. He goes on and on and when Melinda tries to leave, he locks the door and begins to forcefully kiss Melinda. Melinda screams at the top of her lungs while Andy was kissing her even throwing things around, but no one came for help. Everything stopped when she took a piece of broken mirror and put it up against his neck. From that point on Melinda was then a changed person. Although she was terrified of what just occurred moments before, Melinda was happy that she was able to speak

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.

Melinda isn't speaking to anyone, and no one will talk to her, except the new girl, Heather, who moved from the state of Ohio. Realistically, Heather being the new girl just wants to make friends. Heather doesn't know what is really going on with Melinda because she just moved to town. Heather has no idea what happened the night when Melinda called the police, which busted a summer party. In fact, no one knows, except for Melinda, what happened to her at the party? She is convinced that because she is a victim, no one understands her. The whole world, including her world, is out to get her and so it is best for her to remain silent.

Throughout the story, Melinda shows many signs of depression. Teens will often display changes in their thinking and behavior, lose their motivation, or become withdrawn. Psych Info Online presented some signs of depression that Melinda experienced in the novel. The signs Melinda indicated include: sadness, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, withdrawal from friends, decreased interest of activities, social isolation, poor communication, low self-esteem, guilt, and

Speaking out is a tough task for many people that have dealt with horrible, traumatic situations. In the novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character, Melinda, is one of those people who lost their voice. To be able to understand another person’s emotions, feelings, and situations is very difficult to do, especially because of how our society has formed and became a very judgmental place. Melinda Sordino starts her freshman year at Merryweather High School in Syracuse, New York, to a terrible start; she is a victim of a sexual assault and loses her confidents and voice to speak out. The more she interacts and makes new friends is how she starts to reach out and become more self-sufficient. Few weeks into school Melinda’s only

In Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, the protagonist, a freshman named Melinda must learn the key to recovery after enduring extreme trauma. She struggled to find someone to speak to, due to the school shunning her for calling the police at the party. Throughout Speak, Melinda seeks to recover from the trauma she experienced, especially the cruel actions from her ex-friends. Through symbolism, Laurie Halse Anderson displays the theme in Melinda's perspective.

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.

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.

In Speak, a novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about a teenage girl named Melinda, who is miserable in life. Melinda goes to a party, gets drunk and is sexaully assaulted by a older student. In Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson employs the closet as a symbol in order to create deeper meaning.

In the novel, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino is the 14 year old girl who was raped at an end-of-summer party. She finds herself struggling with her life and adjusting to what had happened. Melinda trudges through her freshman year of high school, being constantly reminded of the unspeakable experience. The only thing that gets her through her days, is art. Art gives Melinda the ability to grow mentally and physically stronger, allowing her to open up about her incident, accept what had happened, and confront who she is afraid of most.

Meet Melinda Sordino, a 14 year old girl and the narrator of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Melinda is a freshman at Merryweather High, where she mainly feels like an outcast. Due to a recent traumatic event, in which Melinda was raped by a highschool senior, she refuses to speak. The young teenager is however extremely loyal. When Melinda sees her ex-best friend in a relationship with her rapist, she is determined to warn her and protect her. She is also extremely strong. Even though Melinda was raped, she sees herself as a survivor more than a victim towards the end. “He hurt me. it wasn’t my fault. And I’m not going to let it kill me. I can grow.” Anderson 198

On the first day of school everyone Melinda had no friends; she was seen as a snitch and untrustworthy. Because of emotional trauma she faced regarding her

A trait that stands out in the book is the symptom of bodily memories. In Melinda’s case, during a frog dissection in her science class, she remembers the opening up and even says, “She doesn’t say a word. She is already dead. A scream starts in my gut – I can feel the cut, smell the dirt, feel the leaves in my hair.” (81). One of the other symptoms that Melinda has is self-harm. The first time that this is shown in the book, Melinda says this, “I open up a paper clip and scratch it across the inside of my left wrist. Pitiful. If a suicide attempt is a cry for help, then what is this? A whimper, a peep?” (87). Melinda also has a hard time talking to her parents about the rape to which she says, “How can I talk to them about that night? How can I start?” (72). Some victims recover from such a traumatic experience, while others don’t and live a lifetime of depression and must undergo intense therapy. In Melinda’s case, she finds redemption by talking to her parents and the guidance counselor, and putting her faith into her teachers, friends, and her art project at school. Because rape can affect anybody anywhere, everyone should be aware of the circumstances, and how to deal with it.

Unfortunately, victims of rape or sexual assault have been known to face mental health problems and risk behaviors that can change them