Speak did not pull me in as early as I would have liked. I think the main reason for that was due to the lack of activity in the beginning. For example, in the first chapter the only real action as when she got picked up on the bus. Although the next chapter was intriguing and urged me to read on. After a chapter or two I started to realize all of the similarities between my life as a high school student and Melinda's in Speak. A great example of this would be at the beginning of the book when the bus comes to pick up Melinda. I chose this example because she is frantically trying to find a seat where people won't judge her. I know from experience that in this type of situation the best thing to do is sit in the middle. The reason for this …show more content…
Everyone around her seemed to just zone her out. The only person that noticed her was her art teacher and her lab partner. They encouraged her to speak up and to not be so shy. At first Melinda doesn't listen to them because she thinks that speaking up will only hurt her. I think later on in the book Melinda will open up to a group of people and come to realize that it feels good to get it off her chest. Solely based off of the fact that she is becoming less shy as the book goes on. An example of this is when she starts to admit to herself all that happened the night of the party. All of the characters in the book are relatable. Heather for one, she is the outgoing kid that everyone knows. Heather was the most relatable character in the book for me. Another relatable character in the book is Melinda's parents. The main reason her parents are so relatable is because the day report cards came out they were shocked and told Melinda she had to stay after school. If I came home with a report card like Melinda's, my mom would definitely make me stay after school for tutoring. Although in the book, when Melinda stays after school she just goes to the supply closet that she cleaned up and made her
Speak, 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. What helps Melinda find her voice?
Again, throughout the whole book, Melinda has this odd feeling, she thinks that nobody likes her and is always down on herself. An example from the book that shows this behavior is at the beginning of the book, her first day of high school. "I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don't have anyone to sit with. I am outcast." (Anderson 4) As soon as she enters high school she doubts herself. It's almost as that she believes that since she has entered with the wrong clothes, the wrong hair, and nobody to sit with, that she will never fit in. This shows a sign of hopelessness, she is doubting herself to much. Another example of when Melinda shows sadness and hopelessness is when she hears about Rachelles Halloween party she is throwing. She says, "I knew I wouldn't get an invitation. I would be lucky to get an invitation to my own funeral." (Anderson 41) This shows Melinda again, being
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
She is landing at terms with the last item for her. She understands that she needs to analyze what happened. Obviously, Melinda's fundamental inspiration for at last uncovering the conundrum is clear, and it says a remarkable course of action concerning her character. When she sees that Rachel, the pal who sold out her, is in threat of changing into Andy's next misfortune, she is obliged to talk. This display to us that Melinda is solid to their previous history, and that she contemplates the security of others. Considering, all things have an importance at some point or another it covers the epic or the repulsive thusly making it more basic than it is. In the event that you nonchalance to know, is to comprehend that you don't know anything. That is the true blue significance of information, so making everything the furthermore Intriguing and troublesome in her condition. The tree is the motivation driving why she developed her heading and talked up about her circumstance. Disregarding the way that nobody like Melinda she kept her soul solid And battled through her inconveniences of helper school. In this way, Melinda contacted her objective of swinging out to everybody about the bona, fide truly was, and what happened and ensuring everybody knew. Make a point to exhort individuals with respect to the truth of what occurred than enable bits of converse with make and escalate the
She didn't reveal what happened to Melinda until the end of the third marking period, you only got tidbits of what happened to Melinda during the party in the Summer. Melinda didn't even realize what had happened to her, it felt as if you were going along the story with her.
The book “Speak” stated many great themes, but the one that stood out to me the most was the theme of isolation. At the beginning of the book Melinda is outcasted by her peers. A good representation of how she felt is when she says “I stand in the center aisle of the auditorium, a wounded zebra in a National Geographic special, looking for someone, anyone, to sit next to”. Even at the beginning of the book, isolation is big problem, because not only is Malinda isolated but everyone else is isolated in their own groups. Detachment from society feeds Melinda’s depression to an extent were she can no longer control. Not only is she excluded at school but at home as well. The unfortunate thing is that Melinda can not even speak to her own parents.
The story started in an ambiguous atmosphere ,as readers don’t know what happened to Melinda she refused to speak she only wants to live in her isolation. some people in their depression tries to speak, and others chooses to keep themselves silent and get stressed when they are given a heavy workload, like “why me ?” ,as they are too weak or shame to face the world around them ,and this exactly what happened to Melinda in this novel .People experiencing passive anger may not even realize they are angry, because passive angry maybe repressed, it can be hard to recognize. In this long term, these suppressed angry feelings can easily be a main reasson for psychological suffering. As readers can only notice that she carried a folded story that will be displayed through flashback
It does not let her feels and looks so stupid. After Heather joins in the Marthas, she blows Melinda off and Melinda is outcast again. The students hit Melinda in the hall; the girls' bully her at the pep rally all shows Melinda is an outcast, she is unwelcome. Melinda is a coward. "The kids behind me laugh so loud I know they're laughing at me. I can't help myself '' (Anderson 4). Melinda is a timid person. She scareds to tell the truth of that night, thus her friends cannot understand her difficulties. About the event happen at the party, she chooses to escape her past and become silent. Melinda does not talk a lot, either at school or at home to her parents. She acts like she does not care and hid from everyone. When someone bullies her, she just ignores them and suppresses her true feelings. Melinda is also a negative person. '' It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie'' (Anderson 9). From this quotation, it is evident to see Melinda is negative. Her thinking is negative and
Melinda got tired of living the pain. “Jeans that fit, that’s a good start. I have to stay away from the closet. I will make myself normal. Forget the rest of it,” (chapter 59, page 125). Melinda is tired of feeling stressed. She is growing as a person. She doesn’t want to be stuck in that situation anymore. She is now taking control because having flashbacks and trying to forget is not helping.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson tells the story of Melinda Sordino, a ninth grader that attends Merryweather Highschool in Syracuse, NewYork. The author has a unique way of writing Melinda's story. She uses subtitles instead of chapters, nd goes into detail of Melinda's everyday life, by using Melinda's perspective. The author sets a depressed mood in the story because of what the main character has gone through. The central idea of the text is communication which in the beginning Melinda lacks. August before her freshman year, Melinda and her friends show up at a senior party. At the party, Melinda ends up drinking. Andy Evans takes advantage of her drunken state and rapes her. She is too drunk to defend herself. Afterward Melinda deals 911 and the police arrive at the party, but Melinda is unable to confess what happened. When the entire school knows that Melinda was the one who called the police, everyone, including her friends, stopped speaking to her. No one knew the real reason behind the 9-11 call. Throughout the school year she cuts her wrist, skips school, and fails her classes. Melinda goes through a tough time in high school. She has one friend (who later on in the book betrays her), a difficult family, and was a victim
She doesn't talk to her family they use post it notes to communicate.Furthermore, she has problems with her friends. All of melinda's old friends hate her because she called the cops at a party.They dropped her like a hot pop tart on the cold friend
When she was packing all her pictures to take out of her room in the cleaning closet, she hears the door open and it was Andy. He tried to attack her again for telling Rachel that he raped her. The LaCrosse team heard the noise of Melinda fighting for her protection. They opened the door and caught Andy trying to hurt Melinda. After this all this was confirmed, Melinda felt free. She offered to talk to her mom about her tragic experience even though she had the option to talk about it later. Not everything is made clear at the end of the book, but a couple things are. Melinda was raped, it was not her fault, and she would have never opened up about it and realized she had nothing to do with it without her best friend dating Andy
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
In Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino is raped before her freshman year and is experiencing a difficult start to freshman year with no one wanting to befriend her. Her parents are not paying attention or acknowledging her, which makes them act like a dysfunctional family. Later on in the year, she slowly begins to heal and progress from the traumatic effects of rape. This leads Melinda to reveal the truth about what happened at the party in the summer and it increases her social life, and allows her to be more open. Anderson describes Melinda as a depressed outcast who is having a hard time recovering from her assault of rape due to her home life and relationship with her parents such as maintaining a detrimental environment at home with one another by not communicating. This serves as a parallel to her dysfunctional year at school and home life style affecting the way that she
The book, Type Talk At Work by Otto Kroeger, Janet M Thuesen an Hile Rugledge is a great read, but an even better source to refer back to in the future. I found interesting that the beginning of the book started out with a guide on how to navigate the read. The required awareness of the different personality types was required right from the beginning.