Importance of Voice I chose Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson due to the content of emotion. It is a sarcastic, confusing and depressing book that lets one go through a journey with the main character, Melinda. I continued to read Speak because I wanted to educate myself on rape culture and how Melinda has been living with a huge secret that she has never told anyone. Throughout the book, Melinda has trouble with her classes, making friends, and finding herself due to what happened that summer night. Rape is a subject that I am concerned with and after reading the book, I was further educated on rape. Rape can happen to anyone at any given time and personally, should be something one should be aware of. Before I read Speak, I did not have
From the very beginning of the book, Speak is an incredibly moving story no one can forget. Melinda Sordino, a freshmen in High School, finds herself pitted against depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts after being ostracized by her fellow classmates. Throughout the book Melinda withdraws from her old social life with her best friend Rachel to a scared, timid girl who is afraid to open her mouth for anything. Right from the start, she is forced into a corner by her EX-best friend, Rachel and many other kids. Constantly, she is harassed, has obscene words thrown at her and is hated after calling the cops at a party over the summer break. Melinda, who cannot speak to others about what happened at that party- a rape, slowly beings to cope with her depression in ways that hurt her more than the rape itself.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson tells the story of Melinda Sordino, a ninth grader that attends Merryweather Highschool in Syracuse, NewYork. The author has a unique way of writing Melinda's story. She uses subtitles instead of chapters, nd goes into detail of Melinda's everyday life, by using Melinda's perspective. The author sets a depressed mood in the story because of what the main character has gone through. The central idea of the text is communication which in the beginning Melinda lacks. August before her freshman year, Melinda and her friends show up at a senior party. At the party, Melinda ends up drinking. Andy Evans takes advantage of her drunken state and rapes her. She is too drunk to defend herself. Afterward Melinda deals 911 and the police arrive at the party, but Melinda is unable to confess what happened. When the entire school knows that Melinda was the one who called the police, everyone, including her friends, stopped speaking to her. No one knew the real reason behind the 9-11 call. Throughout the school year she cuts her wrist, skips school, and fails her classes. Melinda goes through a tough time in high school. She has one friend (who later on in the book betrays her), a difficult family, and was a victim
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
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.
In our novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, multiple settings are present. The overall setting is in a school called Merryweather High School in a small town. The main character, Melinda, describes her first day there, “we pass janitors painting over the sign...school colors will stay purple and gray…”(3, 4). The school mascot was the Trojans, but the janitors were painting over the sign because the mascot was changing. In the school, the overall mood is dark and angry. Melinda called the police to a party, and now she is a social outcast, therefore school is not a good place for her. However, there are a couple places inside the school that she feels better in. There is her art classroom, which is at the opposite end of the school, “The
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 the novel, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino is a teenage girl who went through a traumatic event during the summer. During a party, she was talked up by an older boy, Andy Evans from her school. He made her think he was romantically interested in her then, forcefully raped her on the forest floor. Concluding on this event when Melinda tried to call the police for help people attacked her for it. Her best friend Rachel, turned her back one at Melinda's darkest times.
“By not coming forward (about rape), you make yourself a victim forever.” Laurie Halse Anderson wrote a book called Speak. Speak is about a girl named Melinda who gets raped and loses all of her friends, which leads to Melinda stop speaking. Don’t let fear stop you from being who you are. In the book there is a symbol, a tree. Throughout the entire book the tree shows growth, and change over time. You can overcome your fears in many ways, just like their are many trees.
The book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson tells the terrible highschool experience of freshman, Melinda Sordino. She describes her feelings as she walks through the hall, people staring at her as though she were some sort of horrid creature, for calling the police at a party over the summer. Melinda Sordino however never told anyone what had really happened to her on that night. She was raped by a classmate, Andy Evans, during the party. Throughout the whole book Melinda refers to Andy Evans as “IT” because of the fear that he has bestowed upon her after this life changing incident.
Have you ever spent nights where you slept with hot tears rolling down your cheeks? Days where you wake up with the same nightmare as yesterday? Imagine that all you desired was someone to be beside you, to have a friend. “Speak”, by Laurie Hase Anderson reveals the bitter life of a high school outcast, Melinda Sordino. This story uncovers how Melinda manages to confess an appalling truth to a group of friends that despised her ever since she called the cops at an 8th-grade summer party.
Have you ever felt so so trapped you could not find the strength to share something? Speak is eye opening and heart wrenching novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson. It tells the story of a girl named Melinda who starts her first year of high school with no friends and a big secret. Her secret? She was a victim of sexual assault committed by a high school senior the summer before her freshman year.
In “Speak” by Laurie Anderson.Rachel ,Melinda,and Mr.Neck the pace is high school,the things is she an outcast, the main idea is about a girl named Melinda trying to get thru high school.The author wants Melinda to speak about her problems to her parents.
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
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
Laurie Halse Anderson creates a deep and meaningful book with the use of unique structure of the “chapters” and an important theme. Speak is a very relatable and realistic book. Many people around us have secrets that they are too scared to share. Melinda is a teenager that develops in character immensely. She goes from hiding a secret of herself to speaking the truth and finally revealing her secret. Rape is a serious situation and many people have experienced, but we do not even know it as the victims are possibly too afraid to speak up. Readers can relate to this book even if they aren’t the one with the secret. They could be the friend who did not know, or just a high school student who witnessed it all happen. Speak presents an important