Conflict in Speak In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, a young 8th grader goes to a party at the end of summer going into her freshman year. She ends up getting raped by a boy who was going into his senior year. Melinda calls the cops and has to hide what happened and who did it because of how people would react. Many people were furious at her, and she became an outcast. Throughout the book Speak, Melinda experienced a lot of character vs. self conflicts because of what she endured. However, in the end, she learned to love herself. One conflict she faced against herself was when she felt like she doesn’t fit in with any group You can see how she really feels in this quote “We fall into clans: Jocks, Country clubbers, Idiot Savants, …show more content…
On the other hand, her parents don't treat her the best because they think she is just shy and never wants to do anything or talk to anyone. You can see this in this quote “I bet they'd been divorced by now if I was important”. I'm sure I was a huge disappointment. I'm not pretty, smart, or athletic. I'm just like them -- an ordinary drone dressed in secrets and lies. I can't believe we have to keep playing until I graduate. It's a shame we can't just admit that we have failed family living, sold the house, split up the money and get on with our lives” (Anderson 70). In this quote, Melinda talks about how her parents just fought all of the time and they probably would have gotten a divorce by now if Melinda was never born. She also talks about how she thinks that she is a disappointment to them because she's not pretty or smart or athletic. a parent should never make their kid feel like they're a disappointment and people don't have to be pretty, smart, or athletic to be a good child. Once Melinda tells her mom what really happened, then their family opens up more and everyone actually talks about their feelings and Melinda ends up getting treated a lot
From the very beginning of the book, Speak is an incredibly moving story no one can forget. Melinda Sordino, a freshmen in High School, finds herself pitted against depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts after being ostracized by her fellow classmates. Throughout the book Melinda withdraws from her old social life with her best friend Rachel to a scared, timid girl who is afraid to open her mouth for anything. Right from the start, she is forced into a corner by her EX-best friend, Rachel and many other kids. Constantly, she is harassed, has obscene words thrown at her and is hated after calling the cops at a party over the summer break. Melinda, who cannot speak to others about what happened at that party- a rape, slowly beings to cope with her depression in ways that hurt her more than the rape itself.
When she starts school that fall, no one talks to her about what happened and Melinda ends up staying quiet. She tries to act like the event never happened and this has a very bad impact on her relationships at school. On her first day, it can clearly be seen that she is a social outcast. No one talks to her as they blame her for being the reason the party got busted. This further pushes Melinda into silence, eventually leading her into depression.
In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character, Melinda Sordino experiences a disturbing event over the summer of her eighth grade year. She was sexually assaulted by Andy Evans at a party. Melinda nearly loses her mind totally as she began shutting down on all fronts. However, she slowly recovered from her traumatizing experience, and eventually learned how to live with what happened.
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
In Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino experiences something that is almost impossible to forget: rape. After sexually assaulted by a senior as an 8th grader, the one thing she needs, someone to talk to, becomes absent in her life when all of her friends leave her. Many other turning points occur during the story that change and affect her identity. The major turning points that affect her identity are being raped in a field at a party, being attacked again in a closet at her school, and everyone finding out the truth about what happened in the end.
Everyone has someone in their lives who can help make them strong and help them to speak out. In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson the main character, Melinda Sordino, lost her voice and does not speak due to a traumatic experience. She went to a high school party at the end of the summer and met this boy named Andy. They danced a little, talked and kissed. Andy took Melinda out to the woods and raped her. She called the cops because she was so scared. When the cops showed up, they arrested people. Everyone knew Melinda called the police which makes everyone hate her. So she starts high school and has no friends and does not talk to anyone including her parents. But throughout the book there were three people who help Melinda find her voice.
Numerous teenagers notice the beginning of high school to be a difficult as they encounter a new obstacle, when walking into a new atmosphere it is common to lose one’s confidence not knowing what lies ahead. Mixed emotions are dealt from a freshman, Melinda Sordino, as she struggles to develop due to no growth and lack of confidence Unable to face her experiences and seek for help from others, in the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. The text uses Similes to display how Melinda is feeling where she passively lacks confidence due to her trauma. The use of metaphors is to describe Melinda’s fear of facing the truth towards her suffering. Finally, the value of symbolism explains how she is dealing with her trauma by observing her trauma towards
To begin with, in the book “Speak” , by Laurie Halse Anderson, A girl named Melinda gets picked on by all her classmates, in her her freshman year at Merryweather High School in Syracuse, because she called the cops in the middle of a party. In that party she get sexually assaulted by a senior named Andy Evans. Since that party she started feel different,she doesn’t say anything because she thinks she is irrelevant in her school and home,her parents when they do sit down for a dinner they yell at her act like they care about how she is doing in school when they went 6 weeks without saying anything to her, they
Laurie Halse Anderson’s fiction novel “Speak” relates the story of a girl from Syracuse, New York. This story surrounds Melinda Sordino who was victimized by Andy Evans at a high school party. She was afterwards labeled an outcast within her school after calling the police to the barn where they all were, getting many of her friends and classmates in trouble for underage drinking. Since none of Melinda’s friends were aware of the rape, they all believed she called the police just to bust them. In the second half of Melinda’s school year, Andy Evans confronts her and attempts to rape her again; however, this is when Melinda finally finds her voice and gets help before Andy Evans takes advantage of
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.
When Melinda, the character from Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, gets raped her fear keeps her from letting people know. Melinda gets bullied and rejected and even cast aside by her supposedly “bestfriend” all because her fear won't let it out and nobody knows. They all think she is just a snitch that called the cops at a highschool party.
Melinda was an outcast and loner in high school who was overwhelmed, fearful, and confused with her life and her environment at school. She was always silent in class and afraid to speak in front of people. Many students today might feel the need to fit in with other people so they wouldn’t have to be looked down upon. As we take a look at Melinda’s life we’ll be able to see how she handles her daily conflicts. In the book, Speak, Melinda Sordino, an incoming freshman at Merryweather High, starts her year off with a terrible start. She’s stuck with a mean history teacher, by who she calls Mr. Neck and a whole bunch of other weird teachers like her English teacher of who she calls, Hairwomen, because of her crazy, uncombed
Through the ups and downs of life everyone makes courageous decisions to improve people’s life experiences and those that surround us. The book Speak written by Laurie Halse Anderson talks about the ups and downs of high school while coexisting our personal lives. The main character Melinda gets assaulted at a party and has to work up the courage to talk about that night. It is important to be courageous in life to overcome obstacles and positively reach milestones. Many courageous people have accomplished huge milestones. Melinda may not have accomplished anything huge but Melinda did talk to Rachel about what happened that night, tells Andy no, and opens up to Mr.Freemen about everything. There was many more important moments but these were Melinda's most accomplished milestones.
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a story written in the first person about a young girl named Melinda Sordino. The title of the book, Speak, is ironically based on the fact that Melinda chooses not to speak. The book is written in the form of a monologue in the mind of Melinda, a teenage introvert. This story depicts the story of a very miserable freshman year of high school. Although there are several people in her high school, Melinda secludes herself from them all. There are several people in her school that used to be her friend in middle school, but not anymore. Not after what she did over the summer. What she did was call the cops on an end of summer party on of her friends was throwing. Although
. The problem is that she feels like she is not special. Her dad left so she thinks it is because she’s dumb. She thinks that is why nobody except for her mom likes her. She feels like she invisible and does not exist.