Melinda's Intrigue

A meaningless life can become meaningful by giving a purpose to it .Buddhism tell us that we can win enlightenment during our lives on earth . .

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.

In the story ‘‘Rituals Of Memory’’, the main characters, Mary and Blaeser, have an unlike background and become friends. Mary had memories of her dad that brought her joy and happiness. Mary has a father and Blaeser does not. In the text it says ‘‘No matter how long our lives, no matter how far our experience takes us from our origins, our lives remain connected, always loop back to that center of our identity, our spirit.’’ This quote shows that being different, being unique, and coming from different backgrounds is a beautiful thing that should be valued and

Melinda started off in the story afraid, lonely, and out of place. “I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don’t have anyone to

Perhaps this means that the living friend begins to do more reflection on the experiences shared while both were living; perhaps this means that the living party carries on with conversing with their friend who has passed on, either not expecting a response or crafting one that they think their friend might have offered as a response in life. The new kind of friendship is more introspective, but the connection needn’t die because one of the friends did. Whyte also postulates that, “all friendships of any length are based on a continued, mutual forgiveness. Without tolerance and mercy all friendships die” (Whyte 71). It seems that, to Whyte, forgiveness and understanding are the cornerstones of a successful friendship. Not only is an authentic friendship strengthened over time because of the numerous chances for one’s mistakes and the other’s resultant forgiveness, but also, time strengthens it by desensitizing the two people from each others’ downfalls. In a lasting and meaningful friendship, the downfalls are acknowledged, but they are not something upon which the friends dwell; in place of dwelling on errors, the friends focus on encouraging the positive aspects of each other’s humanity. Whyte supports this claim in saying, “…to remain friends we must know the other and their difficulties and even their sins and encourage

Although she did have one friend, Heather, who came over to her house a few times. Her mother’s first reaction to seeing Heather at the house expressed that she realized that Melinda and her best friend Rachel weren’t friends anymore, but didn’t proceed to convey why. Instead of asking what had happened between the two of them, she just implied that “it was about time she saw a friend of Melinda’s come over” (indirect quote in Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, 15.5). Consequently, this lack of interest to know what had happened between the two friends showed obvious uninvolvement and unimportance creating an emotional

Melinda and her friends decorated their rooms to show who they were, Melinda stole a little bit from everyone else. The only part that is really her is a stuffed rabbit collection from when she was younger. You can see that Melinda doesn't know who she is. "My stuffed rabbits crawl out of their burrows,noses awiggling, pink bunny, purple bunny, a gingham bunny from my grandma, all excited to have company"(177). She obviously doesn't usually get company because her stuffed rabbits are excited to see Heather,even after she dumped Melinda. Melinda is lonely and this just adds to her feelings of helplessness.

The days are suddenly shorter, and chirpy colors have faded to darker shades without notice. Trees begin to lose their leaves, and they helplessly detach from their branches and plummet to the cold ground. This season is not anything like the previous season, like Melinda is no longer the happy-go-lucky child she was. Similar to a leaf that has been dropped and forgotten, everyone has renounced a Melinda growing isolated and withdrawn. Anderson writes, “Her [Rachel’s] eyes meet mine for a second. ‘I hate you,’ she mouths silently. She turns her back on me and laughs with her friends” (Anderson 5). Rachel does not bother to interrogate Melinda on why she called the authorities or stick up for her, which displays how Melinda’s supposed best friend does not truly care about her. This action lays the foundation of betrayal has causes Melinda feel alone and abandoned. It is later revealed through her thoughts that this is exactly what she believes, that “all that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say” (Anderson 9). This dreary kind of thinking adds onto the notion that Melinda has to deal with her troubles all on her

All of Melinda's friends refuse to interact with her and the only one who seems eager to get to know her is Heather, the new kid who knows nothing of Melinda's previous infamous embarrassment . Melinda and Heather

Melinda feels trapped in that she cannot grasp the traumatic event that happened to her at the party that night. Melinda is a very complex character due in part to her quirky and sarcastic humor, her depressive tendencies, and her strength. First of all, Melinda has a very

Performance I performed the excerpt by putting on a softer and lower voice to resemble Blanche's, and also moved my arms around to show my character's deep distress. Analysis of Excerpt Blanche explains her difficulties in life through an idea which pairs softness with attractiveness. She portrays herself as a victim of the demands that the weak be attractive. But the truth is that the abuse and complexities of life have forced Blanche to toughen up. Her use of the phrase "turn the trick" is a significant line in the excerpt, being an old idiom implying promiscuous relationships.

Melinda’s room suggests that she is a girly-girl. However, Melinda explains that she went through a “demented phase” in grade 5 which led her to decorate her room that way. From that, I can infer that now she isn't really into that type of stuff. To me, Melinda seems like the kind of girl who doesn't really express her feelings because usually people decorate their rooms to reflect their personalities, likes, and dislikes. But Melinda said that her room design was mostly stolen from everyone else. She also said she doesn't know what she would want it to look like anyways which, again, hints Melinda’s lack of communication. Furthermore, on page 33, when Melinda sees Heather’s room for the first time, she thinks, “The room screams Heather.

Through the social connections of individuality and affiliation, we become who we are known as. Primarily, we start life with the influence of our elders. By the time we reach puberty, social awareness comes into play, and our own sense of originality takes flight with what we hear, see and touch and this, in turn, forms our connection with society. In sequence with this, our affiliation with friends and family form the backdrop of our existence, while our originality as an individual configures our personality. “Relationships

In the poem called “Curiosity” by Alastair Reid, he delves into a philosophy of life that is whether a person can either exist and survive or live. Everyone perceives what the definition of living is differently and defined by the experiences that one goes through; environment, culture, and personality. Some people are naturally more relaxed while others are anxious in nature. Some had very painful experiences while others grew in such a controlled environment that they cannot even fathom the thought of deviating from their routines. Whether people realize this or not, all of these factors influences people’s day to day decisions and all the decisions made somehow one way or another impact even the most trivial moments.

Life is a complicated twist of suffering, laughing, and learning all merging to tell a great story - or great many stories. Based on this view, "it is not the end goal or outcome of life that gives life meaning but rather the quality of the story, the quality with which one lives out and develops his or her role."