Melinda's Speak

“Speak” is book about a young girl who loses her voice after being raped and slowly gains it back over time. Laurie Halse Anderson uses an internal voice throughout the book to show the havoc that is attacking Melinda’s mind. This adds to the theme of being outcast and isolated because the she has no one to really talk to.

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

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

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.

After she released her story other people said that Andy Evans had done the same thing to them. “I can't do everything for you. You must walk alone to find your soul.” After this was said to Melinda by her mother she knew that it was time for her to finally break out of her shell and overcome what had terrified her for so long, Andy Evans. Once she told people she realized that so many people had cared about her the whole time but just never knew the whole story.

Throughout the book, Melinda goes through many different phases. In the “First Marking Period,” she is on the verge of a psychological death, but in the “Second Marking Period,” she knows what she wants to do, but can not complete it. In the “Third Marking Period,” she begins taking risks, and in the “Fourth Marking Period,” she conquers her fears and creates a beautiful tree. Many people can relate to what Melinda has gone through in high school, in fact we all face the same challenges she did. Upon entering high school, all people are forced to reconsider their friends, and are tasked with the difficult challenge of discovering

The most courageous moment in the book was Melinda telling Rachel about Andy. Melinda wanted to protect Rachel even after what Rachel did that past year. Melinda says “I didn’t call the cops to break up the party, I write. I called- I put the pencil down. I pick it up again- them because some guy raped me. Under the trees.”(Anderson 183). This was a monumental step for Melinda, after months of not talking to anyone but Ivy and Heather she opened up to her ex best friend.

He continues to torture her in subtle, psychological ways every time he sees her. Other antagonists are the girls who have dumped Melinda as a friend because she is unable to tell them the truth. They abandon her because they don’t know the entire truth, they only know the story that was made up, therefore they believe she has betrayed them. The real antagonist, however, that Melinda faces is herself. There is a continuous battle she fights mentally because she does not have the courage to speak

On page 194 the author writes, “A sounds explodes from me...NNNOOO!!!” This is significant because throughout the whole book Melinda is too afraid to speak up. During the first incident she tried to but couldn’t get it out. Now that she finally realized that she’s is strong enough to say no, she can learn to speak up about anything. Another quote to support this is found on page 195 where Melinda says “‘I said no’” (195). This significant to her identity for the same reason as stated before. Melinda saying no can be considered to be a turning point in Melinda’s life because it is something she couldn’t do for a long time but now she is capable. This moment is the most important for Melinda and her identity because she finally worked up the confidence to say

So far I have found this book really easy to read and understand. I like how melinda tells the story in her own way, she knows how to tell a story I like it. I never really read any books by Laurie Halse Anderson, this is my first book i read that she wrote, but I think that she is actually a pretty good writer. But anyways melinda is a very independent person. She can be sarcastic and funny at times, but she can also be deep and dark at times also. But yeah so far i guess i like the book. We are so close to finishing it. I liked all the terms, they were interesting, they made me wanna keep reading for some reason even though i'm not into this kinda stuff.

By the end of the books you could see that both were mature enough to accepted the truth of what has happened to them. For instance, Melinda faced the fact that she was raped. You can see this when she says “IT happened. There is no avoiding it, no forgetting. No running away, or flying, or burying, or hiding”

All different sentences have different purpose and lessons. In Speak, you get introduced to a new character with a certain perspective on the world. Melinda begins her freshman year scared and negative, she thinks, “It is easier not to say anything. Shut your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say” (Melinda 9). This quote represents her belief on silence. It foreshadows most of her behavior we see in most of the novel. The quotes cynical tone shows that Melinda has a voice, she just does not want to use it. Being silent was a way that Melinda decided to solve her problems by, her memory of her experience refused to go away, “Ill need brain

The event as one would call it, changed Melinda’s life and yet she will not talk about it, this has lead to no one being able to show empathy toward her. Melinda has even tried to forget it so she can talk and have friends again

I believe that Melinda was influenced by the drinking she did that night. Alcohol has a tendency to give people the courage to do things that they would normally never do. Melinda was a shy and quiet girl at the beginning of the movie. After she did not drink enough to be drunk, she was still kind of herself. The alcohol made her loosen up a bit,which made her do things outside of her comfort zone.

Melinda was influenced by a number of things the night of the party. She could have been influenced by peer pressure, Melinda started to talk to Andy without even knowing who he was or knowing anything about his background. Maybe she thought she was responsible enough because she was graduating the 8th grade and was now becoming a high school student and felt that she could handle being at a party like that. Melinda could have felt left out and wanted to be like the older people at the party and just drink and not care.