Speak Trees Analysis

Mr. Freeman backs up his praise by showing Melinda something about her work she herself might not be aware of. He tells her the truth as best as he can. She picks a piece of paper out of a globe for her project, and she has to draw a tree. Melinda thinks that the project is easy but the more times she draws the tree, the more she sees its that she can’t. The trees represent life and death.

Towards the middle of the book Melinda starts to get better. She is still isolating herself from everyone and mentally struggling, but thoughts of the future are appearing. On page 78 she is trying to sculpt a tree out of linoleum again but is having problems. She came up with an idea of what she wanted it to look like explaining it as “a strong oak tree with a wide scarred trunk and the leaves reaching to the sun.” The tree is describing what she

The mood of the speaker changes to guilt as the speaker and her mother realize they would "crawl" with "shame" and leave an "emptiness" in their father's heart and yard. The author negatively connotes "crawl," "shame," and "emptiness" to invoke a more serious and shameful tone. The beginning of the conveyed a more matter-of-fact and pragmatic tone, but changes into a more sentimental one by the end to convey family is more important than the money. The symbol of the tree represents the family, and connects it to their father's hard work and dedication to the family. If they were to cut it down, it would be symbolic of their betrayal. Imagery of the tree is used to describe the freedom and beauty of the tree as it "swings through another year of sun and leaping winds, of leaves and bounding fruit." The tree represents their family bond and how strong it is even through the "whip-crack of the mortgage."

Ironically, the person Melinda finds as the outlet to help her express her feelings is her art teacher, Mr. Freeman. In a class assignment, Melinda is assigned to create an art project based on a tree. She begins to express her inner angst through this art project. At one point, she uses dried bones to sculpt a picture of a skeleton. Then she glues broken knives and forks to the project so that the bones look like the plastic utensils are stabbing them. It is a grim depiction of how Melinda feels, and is immediately praised by Mr. Freeman.

When Melinda draws for her art class she has to draw trees and the trees represent her life and how she feels. When Melinda was drawing the trees she said “ But when I try and carve it, it looks like a dead tree, toothpicks, a childs drawing, I can’t bring it to life. I would love to give it up, quit, but i can't think of anything else to do so i keep chipping away at it.” (pg.78) As she draws the trees she realizes that they can represent her and her life. The trees are dead looking with branches, thats how Melinda feels she feels like nobody cares and nobody is there for her. Melinda does not know who she wants to be and throughout the novel she will figure it out. High School helps Melinda know who she wants to

The pear tree is her inspiration and her first true desire. She longs to bud and blossom, like the tree, and cannot wait to discover herself and all the wonders of the world.

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.

When people plant seeds into the ground, the seeds usually bloom into a beautiful plant. However, with growth comes obstacles. Weather and roadblocks cause delays or disruptions in growth. It takes strength and courage to move past these obstacles, just as Taylor has throughout Kingsolver’s novel, The Bean Trees. In this novel, Kingsolver plants certain tones and social issues as a way to make it her own.

At first, her father decides to have it removed, but later, he realizes that the tree can be salvaged. He tells Melinda, “Those branches were long dead from disease. All plants are like that. By cutting off the damage, you make it possible for the tree will be the strongest on the block” (187). The phrase “long dead from disease” symbolizes Melinda’s isolation and silence because of the rape. Additionally, the words “you make it possible for the tree to grow again” implies that she can change and heal in the future. Moreover, “strongest on the block” suggests that Melinda can become more confident in herself, or even more powerful than everyone around her. This example portrays Melinda’s decline and her possible

Personification also contributes to the relationship by making the tree a lively component of the family instead of a passive object in the back yard. A relationship necessitates at least two parties so it is necessary that the tree be a part of the family. At the end of the poem, “the black walnut tree swings into another year” when the family decides to keep it. This shows that the family respects the tree as its own entity and presence. First, this personifies the tree as free and leisurely because swings are usually for play. It also contextualizes the tree as having a

Trees and plants represent life in the novel which ties into the overarching theme of the dehumanization that comes from slavery. Many of the characters in Beloved have been subjected to awful events causing them to feel as if they were worse than animals. Because of this, many characters look to the beauty of nature and trees in particular, to help them heal from their time in slavery. For example, Baby Suggs decided to preach in a place called The Clearing, which is surrounded by tall trees. "In the Clearing, Sethe found Baby's old preaching rock and remembered the smell of leaves simmering in the sun, thunderous feet and the shouts that ripped pods off the limbs of chestnuts. With Baby Suggs' heart in charge, the people let go." (Morrison 94) Another example of trees bringing healing to the characters in the novel is the arrival of Beloved. “A fully dressed woman walked out of the water. She barely gained the dry bank of the stream before she sat down and leaned against a mulberry tree.”(Morrison 60) This tree represents a chance at a new life for Beloved and also offers Sethe a chance to heal. Ever since killing her child, Sethe has been haunted over her decision and she is finally able to confront her past with the appearance of

Melinda Sordino is a typical teenage girl with a not so typical life. Melinda is the main character in the novel “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson. This novel is about a young girl who calls the cops at the summer party thrown before her freshman year. At this party she was raped by Andy Evans, the dreamy boy who is wanted by every girl in school. As school finally begins, Melinda is left friendless and alone. She goes through extreme problems, such as: bullying, self harm, skipping school, failing grades, thoughts of her rape, and the loss of her best friend, Rachel. While she is going through all of theses issues she is assigned an art project that lasts all year. Melinda’s task was to take the word ‘tree’ and sculpt it into something of magic. At first, Melinda is annoyed by the project,

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.

The eucalyptus was introduced to California around the 1950's and was seen as a potential new lumber and would help save the lumber industry (Walker 1-304). However, it was later discovered that the tree was not a miracle or a cure for the lumber problems and was not a viable source of lumber, which was a huge disappointment (Farmer 18-22). Although they eventually discovered it was not a useful lumber wood it had been planted all over the state and became a familiar symbol for the people of California (Farmer 18-22). The use of the eucalyptus tree in the novel parallels the hope and eventual loss of hope that the tree symbolized for the California lumber industry. Long before the trees eventually start getting sick and dying off, Julia mentions them around all the major points of the novel.