Summary Of Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a coming of age themed fictional Novel based around Melinda Sordino, a freshman at Merryweather High School. During her days at school Melinda found trouble fitting in and speaking because of an incident that happened at a summer party. That incident being that she was raped by a senior named Andy Evans, aka, “IT.” At the time, Melinda panicked and ended up calling the police, which resulted in everyone despising her. Similarly to “high school drama,” the author illustrated gossip and the effects it can have on a person. To compare, when the news hit Melinda, she became silent and isolated staying away from any old friends she glanced upon. Fortunately, Melinda found new hope when a stranger asked, “I’m Heather

She battles between herself on whether she decides to speak up or stay quiet about her getting raped. In the end, Melinda was able to overcome this conflict and tell Rachel about it. In addition, Melinda has an external conflict with Andy Evans as he terrifies Melinda whenever he sees her. The climax of this story is when Andy Evans becomes trapped in the janitor’s closet with Melinda. The janitor’s closet is Melinda’s hideaway from the world. It’s a place where she can do whatever she wants without the judgement of anyone. On the last day of school, when she was about to leave, Andy walks in and slams Melinda back in the closet, trapping her in. He begins talking about how her big mouth of telling Rachel made her break up with him at prom. He goes on and on and when Melinda tries to leave, he locks the door and begins to forcefully kiss Melinda. Melinda screams at the top of her lungs while Andy was kissing her even throwing things around, but no one came for help. Everything stopped when she took a piece of broken mirror and put it up against his neck. From that point on Melinda was then a changed person. Although she was terrified of what just occurred moments before, Melinda was happy that she was able to speak

Starting her Freshman year of High School, Melinda found herself in a very dark, low, depressing, time in her life. She had lost all the ambitions she had for her High School career. She had lost her voice and passion for everything. Until Andy Evans made her find her voice after he sexually assaulted her. After all that Andy had put Melinda through made her find herself and her voice to come back from a traumatizing experience.

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 book Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, tells the story of high-school freshman, Melinda Sordino. After busting an end-of-summer party, she’s taunted and teased by her peers because she won’t give reason as to why she called the police. She soon slips into depression and starts her freshman year off in “all the wrong ways.” Melinda needed help. Help with confidence. Help with her mentality. Help in general. Throughout the book, very few characters try to help Melinda but one character in particular stands out. Mr. Freeman.

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 started off in the story afraid, lonely, and out of place. “I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don’t have anyone to

During this time in the novel, Melinda feels like she can’t speak for herself and can’t tell people what really happened and why she had called the cops at the party. She feels that if she tells anyone that they would say that she’s just trying to get attention. Those examples were just a few times out of the many that they changed the

Melinda's a troubled high schooler who has had difficulties fitting into her freshman class. She is also having trouble finding her identity due to some unfortunate events during the summer. In Laurie Halse Anderson's novel, speak, Melinda the main character is assigned an art project. She is asked to study drawing and research trees throughout the year. Melinda takes this project very seriously, her artwork is the only ways she communicates her emotions to the outside world.

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 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.

Another indication of Melinda’s self-destructive behavior is her loss of concentration. This can proven by Melinda’s declining grades which started off as “Playing Nice- B, Social Studies- C, Spanish-C, Art- A, Lunch- D, Biology-B, Algebra-C+, Clothes-C, English-C , Gym-C+.” After, her grades ended at, “Social Life-F, Social Studies-F, Spanish-D, Art-A, Lunch-D, Biology-D+, Algebra-F, Clothes-F, English-D+, Gym-D.” these quotes demonstrate that Melinda puts little effort into her work, meaning she is distracted and that her school isn’t her main priority. Certainly, her distracted behavior is because she is constantly rewinding the memories of what happened to her; she unable to get this out of her head. Seen from the evidence it is good to say Melinda is having difficulty stay focused. In addition, Melinda has found numerous ways to isolate herself from others. Throughout the book, Melinda takes us to her place of choice, being the abandoned janitor’s closet at her

One of the bigger turning points in her life happened when she is raped at a high school senior party. What made it traumatizing was that they are young girls and Melinda didn't realize

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, the main character, faces struggles in Merryweather High that the average student does not face. Melinda has been sexually assaulted by a senior boy and has never told anyone about it, which is leaving her failing classes, lonely, and depressed. As high school drags on, her lab partner, David Petrakis, helps her find the strength to speak again. He does so by encouraging her, being a friend, and inspiring her.