How Does Laurie Halse Anderson Use Metaphors In The Novel Speak

Something had happened during that summer party that made her want to end her silence and speak up. During the summer, Melinda got raped by a senior boy called Andy Evans. Whom she

“’The next time you work on your trees, don’t think about trees. Think about love, or hate, or joy, or pain – whatever makes you feel something, makes your palms sweat, or your toes curl. Focus on that feeling.’”(122) In the book speak there are many examples of symbolism. The one that stands out the most is the tree as it is mentioned very frequently in almost every chapter of the book. It represents that growth that she goes through as a character from the beginning of the book to the end and her mental recovery after the traumatic event of being raped. The different representations we see of the tree correspond with the state she is in and the emotions she is feeling at that part in the book. When she is struggling with her life she

In the book Speak the Trees describe life and growth for Melinda. In the beginning of the novel, Melinda is assigned to draw trees for a year long art project. She struggles to draw realistic trees, frustrated that she “can’t bring it to life”. This represents her depression and struggle. The tree symbolizes the danger Melinda’s faces in letting her pain overtake every aspect of her life. As Melinda begins to heal, her tree drawings become richer and more detailed, symbolizing her own growth.

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

Have you ever drawn a picture to express something, or just drawn it for fun? Well Melinda uses her drawings to express her feelings and get away from the world. I think the in the story “SPEAK,” by Laurie Halse Anderson, She uses Melinda's artwork and the tree to express the fact that Melinda got raped and afterwards, when she looked up... and saw... a tree.

In the book “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson Melinda is going through a transformation, by explaining it in a form of trees. She is expressing herself not much by the form of speaking, but by the trees she creates in art class. It’s to explain on how she has been at her lowest and highest points in times. She faces all these transformations as from past events and future events in her high school. The majority of these events relate to her tree transformation from lowest to highest points.

In the story, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Anderson uses images and descriptions in the chapter PRUNING, to portray Melinda’s life. First, as Melinda watches the tree in her yard cut down, she says that, “He’ll only leave a stump (Anderson 30).” Melinda represents the tree as herself. If part of the tree is cut down, it cannot grow back. Melinda is afraid that she may never recover from what happened to her at the party. She may be a stump with nothing left. Next, Melinda’s dad assures her that, “By cutting off the damage, you make it possible for the tree to grow again (5).” Cutting off the “dead” branches symbolizes that Melinda wants to have people with and around her to help her to “cut off” her bad memories and experiences. She does

60% of Americans know a survivor of Domestic Abuse or Sexual Assault. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, tells the story of the summer before her freshman year of high school, Melinda Sordino meets Andy Evans at a senior party. She starts high school at Merryweather High School as an outcast since all her old friends left her, and is shunned by her peers for calling the police. She declines to tell anybody the occasions that took place. The symbol “mouth” represents Melinda is conservative about what happens in her life. The symbol “mouth” represents Melinda being conservative about what happens in her life because she is afraid and has no one to talk to, she is traumatized by the things that have previously affected her, and Melinda also stops

In Speak, the author, Laurie Halse Anderson uses imagery to portray Christmas as a positive event for the main character, Melinda Sordino. Melinda has a distant relationship with her parents due to the fact that she often feels ignored by them. On Christmas Day, her parents “…give [her] a handful of gift certificates, a TV for [her] room, ice skates, and a sketch bag with charcoal pencils. They say they have noticed [her] drawing. [She] almost [tells] them right then and there. Tears flood [her] eyes. They noticed [she’s] been trying to draw. They noticed” (Anderson 72). This quote is significant because it reflects steps of improvement in their parent to child relationship. Since Melinda withdrawals herself from the attention of her parents,

In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson there are many examples of symbolism. Symbolism is a symbolic meaning attributed to natural objects or facts. Melinda in the book had her tree and that showed how she felt and the seasons changing showed how she was changing as a person. There was also the Maya Angelou poster she put up in the closet in school.

The tree in Speak symbolizes Melinda’s emotional state when at first she finds no meaning in drawing the tree then she finds the courage to speak up about her rape experience. As Melinda is starting her artistic path, Mr. Freeman says his opinion on her artwork and she develops an understanding that her art work could compare to her life.

Have you ever spent nights where you slept with hot tears rolling down your cheeks? Days where you wake up with the same nightmare as yesterday? Imagine that all you desired was someone to be beside you, to have a friend. “Speak”, by Laurie Hase Anderson reveals the bitter life of a high school outcast, Melinda Sordino. This story uncovers how Melinda manages to confess an appalling truth to a group of friends that despised her ever since she called the cops at an 8th-grade summer party.

Sometimes, problems can just stare at the one who’s having them. Given all of the possible solutions, the problems will stare hard until it hurts, maybe even to the point where one could become a totally different person. In the novel Speak, author Laurie Halse Anderson gives a quick snap into this crucial reality by moving into main character Melinda’s perspective. Anderson uses an inanimate object as a way to represent problems that just won’t look away.

The tree symbolizes Melinda directly . During the time that her tree looks un-lifelike, or is portrayed as dead, Melinda is going through the roughest time of her depression. After Melinda mentally overcomes the rape and talks about it, her trees exhibit changes in appearance: “I look at my homely sketch. It doesn't need anything… it isn’t perfect and that makes it just right.” (198).

My PSA is on consent and sexual assault and it is a topic that I believe more people should be informed about. I feel truly connected to this topic because I believe I can make an impact on someone’s life with my PSA. While researching for this PSA I have realized that people need to be informed about the definition of consent. Our entire grade read “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson, we all know Melinda’s story and we all read her struggle to finally tell people about what Andy Evans did to her. I included and quote that Melinda had said when she finally told her story, it reflected the feeling of relief when one finally tells their story.