The Theme Of Communication In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

What would you do if the person you care the most about was suffering from depression? In Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the narrator, Melinda Sordino, suffers from depression and insecurity after being molested by a senior, Andy Evans. Over time, her emotions change positively. In her art class, she was assigned trees as her project to express emotion. In this novel, trees speak for her because they represent her life, growth, and her refusal to speak.

Laurie Halse Anderson’s fiction novel “Speak” relates the story of a girl from Syracuse, New York. This story surrounds Melinda Sordino who was victimized by Andy Evans at a high school party. She was afterwards labeled an outcast within her school after calling the police to the barn where they all were, getting many of her friends and classmates in trouble for underage drinking. Since none of Melinda’s friends were aware of the rape, they all believed she called the police just to bust them. In the second half of Melinda’s school year, Andy Evans confronts her and attempts to rape her again; however, this is when Melinda finally finds her voice and gets help before Andy Evans takes advantage of

In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda, a high school freshman, is given the assignment of working with a tree as her object for the year in Mr. Freemans’s art class. She thinks,

Everyone in this world struggles in life. Nobody's life it's perfect. In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the author weaves several important themes throughout the story. This story is about a young girl who was raped in a party called Melinda. Melinda went to a party and got raped. After that, Melinda called 911. Melinda’s friends stop talking to her because she got students arrested. No one knew that she was raped. Melinda’s influence that night was the alcohol affects. Alcohol always takes control in someone’s mind or body . In this situation, Melinda went a little too far in her first time meeting Andy. However, it was not her fault the fact that she got raped because she did not know what she was doing. Also, she did not expect anything that things were going to get down that far.

The author Laurie Halse Anderson made the book Speak to show and convey that to let out emotions and feel better about one's self, you have to talk to anoter. Speak tells the story of Melinda Sorindo, a ninth grader at Merryweather High School in Syracuse, New York. August before her freshman year, Melinda and her closest friends attend a party with seniors and beer. At the party, Melinda feels uncomfortable and out of place. She gulps down a couple beers before walking outside for some fresh air. While outside, Melinda meets Andy Evans, an attractive senior boy. Andy begins dancing with and kissing Melinda, and Melinda is taken aback but too drunk to say anything. Andy pushes her to the ground and rapes her. In her confusion afterward, Melinda dials 911 and the police arrive at the

We all have to face the positives and the negatives in life, what you make of it will shape you to who you are meant to be. In the book Speak written by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino, the protagonist of the book, is a 14 year old girl who gets severely depressed and loses the ability to “speak” after she got sexually harassed at a party. Melinda is also an outcast in her school because of people’s misunderstanding of her, but many of her great qualities made her survive through all the pain. Melinda has a strong sense of self-awareness, as she is aware of what happened to her has changed her. Secondly, her courage has helped her stand out, and fight for herself. Lastly, her inner strength has made her strong as she slowly overcomes

In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character, Melinda Sordino experiences a disturbing event over the summer of her eighth grade year. She was sexually assaulted by Andy Evans at a party. Melinda nearly loses her mind totally as she began shutting down on all fronts. However, she slowly recovered from her traumatizing experience, and eventually learned how to live with what happened.

Courage When someone goes through something really tough it can be really hard to be courageous again, but if they want to feel stronger, little acts of courage go a long way. The book Speak is by Laurie Halse Anderson and focuses on a girl that went through something horrible. She had to be courageous and finally stood up for herself. Everyone in the school hated her and gave her looks, but she didn’t give up, even though it got very hard. Courage is needed for different reasons and different people, sometimes it can be talking to someone, going somewhere, or standing up for yourself.

Speak was written by Laurie Halse Anderson and published in 1999. It is written from the point of view of Melinda, a high school freshmen whose world got turned upside down after a traumatic summer event. The story follows Melinda through 9th grade as she deals with depression, PTSD, and social exclusion and learns about standing up for herself. The theme of Speak is to stand up for yourself. This is clear because if Melinda had stood up for herself the first time, she wouldn’t have been raped and Andy Evans wouldn’t have continued to target her.

The main character of “Speak” is a freshman girl named Melinda Sordino, who attends Merryweather High School in Syracuse, New York. Before going into high school, Melinda and her friends all went to a party over the summer. Just like any high school party, there was drinking, smoking and boys. Being given attention by any high school boy when you’re a freshman is like a dream come true, except not to Melinda. At the party Melinda got pulled aside and taken away by Andy Evans, a senior. While they were together, Andy raped Melinda. In a panic, Melinda not knowing what else to do, called the police. However, this ultimately busted the party and caused every there as well as her closest friends to reject her. She then started high school with

The character Melinda of Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel Speak develop the theme of change throughout the story through her actions, words, and thoughts. First, in the beginning of the novel, Melinda was more isolated than the others because she chose not to communicate with anybody about her conflict and refused to talk to anybody, not even her parents. “One girl nods her head and says way to go. I hope you are okay” (Anderson 197). Melinda never communicated with anybody, verbally. In the end, when she screamed when she was being abused, her conflict was resolved. Because she chose to communicate, she also became quite popular throughout her school. Then, Melinda always thought about how terrible school is. “With hours left in the school year,

Constantly stated, is the idea that high school is one of the best times of life. Parties, friends, and endless days of fun is the American stereotype. These dreams dissipate, though, if you start freshman year with a record of zero friends. In the young adolescent novel titled Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, the reader encounters the feeling to lack the most powerful tool ever given to you: the tool of words. Melinda’s endeavor commence after an end of summer senior party, where she was cruelly raped. Rather than sharing her pain with the world, and achieving justice, she chose to keep her secret locked up, because she did not know how to reveal it. Speaking out would have dramatically changed her life for the better. The main theme

Coming-of-age novels focus on the transition from childhood to adulthood, with the main character going through a conflict and maturing from it. In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino a is a high school freshman transitioning from her difficult first year of high school to her second year. Through the novel, readers go through Melinda's freshman year learning about her conflicts, secrets, discoveries, and opinions of the world around her.

My PSA is on consent and sexual assault and it is a topic that I believe more people should be informed about. I feel truly connected to this topic because I believe I can make an impact on someone’s life with my PSA. While researching for this PSA I have realized that people need to be informed about the definition of consent. Our entire grade read “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson, we all know Melinda’s story and we all read her struggle to finally tell people about what Andy Evans did to her. I included and quote that Melinda had said when she finally told her story, it reflected the feeling of relief when one finally tells their story.

“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said” (Drucker). The theme that Drucker is trying to give out is communication just like in Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel Speak. Throughout the entire novel, this theme is shown mostly in the characters of Mr.Freeman and David Petrakis.