Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson Essay

“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

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.

Within “SPEAK,” Laurie Halse Anderson uses Melinda’s artwork to express Melinda. At the Beginning of the story Melinda gets a year long art project to draw a tree. At the beginning, she struggles because she is still feeling pain and depression from getting raped. But, Throughout the story, she slowly grows and comes out of her “shell,” and becomes better and better with it; So by the

Speaking out is a tough task for many people that have dealt with horrible, traumatic situations. In the novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character, Melinda, is one of those people who lost their voice. To be able to understand another person’s emotions, feelings, and situations is very difficult to do, especially because of how our society has formed and became a very judgmental place. Melinda Sordino starts her freshman year at Merryweather High School in Syracuse, New York, to a terrible start; she is a victim of a sexual assault and loses her confidents and voice to speak out. The more she interacts and makes new friends is how she starts to reach out and become more self-sufficient. Few weeks into school Melinda’s only

Have you ever felt like you were invisible? Well, Melinda from “Speak” has. The novel “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a freshmen girl trying to find out who she is. At Merryweather High School, the constantly changing mascot symbolizes Melinda’s lack of identity. Melinda’s high school, Merryweather High, already changed their mascot the first day of school.

In the story she states, “I’ve been having trouble sleeping at home. I wake up because the covers or on the floor or because I’m standing at the kitchen door trying to get out. It feels safer in my little hideaway” (Anderson, 130). In this quote Melinda bluntly says that she feels safer in her closet than she does at her home. She also states that she keeps waking up at home and is having trouble sleeping. These were leading factors following what happened to Melinda. In the beginning of the novel she makes her closet her “home.” Melinda says, “ Mostly I just watch the scary movies inside my eyelids” (Anderson, 50). This shows that she is sleeping but she is having some nightmares. As the book progresses she creates a safe environment for her to find peace

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.

Towards the end of the year, there is a clear change in Melinda and she is confident of herself. When Andy tries to attack her again she says “NNNOOO!!!"(188) This shows how much she has grown because she decides not to be a silent victim anymore. Now she is a “definitely breathing”(197) tree. She came up struggling and feeling alone by herself, but she knew that she made a lot of progress from the start.

In speak the books shows the melinda should talk to someone and get help. Reading this books helps me have empathy on others who have bad things done to them. At the end of the first part of the book melinda's problems are causing her to get bullied and made fun of by many high school students, like the freshmen

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.

A second, factor that has shaped Melinda is her being depressed. At lunch in the chapter 2nd marking Heather was making the point that Melinda

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

Depression can affect anyone no matter what age or gender you are. Depression can be the result of alcohol and drug use, medical conditions, and stressful life events. Depression can run in the family. There are many types of depression. In the story, teen depression is one of the themes. Teen depression by definition is deep feeling of sadness and hopelessness. It is a lot more than just a feeling of sadness. It can affect everyday life and create big problems. Some symptoms of depression is complaints of pain, difficulty concentrating, loss of usually interests, sadness, anxiety, and turning to drugs and alcohol. A few of the worse symptoms are hearing voices that aren’t there and crying without cause.