Laurie Metcalf

change. It seems that artists tend to change their work based on emotion; if they aren’t ‘feeling it’ they can capture that feeling and morph it into a darker, scarier piece of art. This is especially true with the main character in the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. The story is about a Freshman girl named Melinda Sordino who is having the worst

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

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

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

Fever,1793 by Laurie Hale’s Anderson is a historical fiction book about yellow fever. Fever is about a girl named Mattie and her family, and how the get through the pestilence. The reader, believes the theme is to never give up, even in the hard times. The reasons why the reader believes this is the theme, is because perseverance can help you survive through the hard times, even when it would be easier to give up its better to persevere, and when you persevere you reach your goals. One

Speak-Final Essay 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

From past experience, I believe the words once said by Maggie Kuhn: “Speak the truth even if your voice shakes” are important words to live by. What she says is important to me because sometimes if you don’t speak people will get away with doing terrible things they’ve done in the past and continue doing them to other people. I should’ve spoken when the chance was given to me. Because I didn’t, I have to deal with daily guilt. I hope by sharing my story people will stick up for themselves and others

Have you ever been left in the woods, alone with no food and your sick grandfather starving? This is what Matilda Cook had to go through in the book Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. In this historical fiction book a fever outbreaks in Philadelphia killing thousands, Matilda has to go through several tragic and difficult situations. With all the hardships thrown at Matilda she consistently uses her physical and mental strength to overcome them, showing that perseverance is the main theme of Fever

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

in the bathroom for a while, the phone on the edge of the sink” (Hawkins, 292). This is a perfect example of deep description. I love when authors explain something so well, but it’s not too much information. This is how I wished the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson did her book. Hawkins manged to add such detail, but not too much. It was beautiful. What she did lack on is explaining the characters. I had some trouble picturing how the characters are. I couldn’t make out their faces. Of course