The main character of the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda, has a traumatic past. As a result, she is now suffering from the mental disorder depression. She has most of the major symptoms, three of which are self esteem issues or dysmorphia, withdrawal from friends and family, and lack of motivation or enthusiasm. These are all normal emotions that everyone experiences sometimes. But when a person feels like this every single day, there are bigger problems. Melinda 's first symptom, self esteem issues, appears frequently in the book. One notable example is on page 34, when she bluntly tells her friend Heather that she doesn 't think very highly of herself. The text says, "Heather asks why I don 't think they would let us in
Where we’re from, who we know, and how our mental makeup is, is very important in our lives. It can be the deciding factor between life in prison and a life dedicated to giving back to others. In The Other Wes Moore, The lives of two young men are examined through three distinct lenses, how the role our environment, social capital (How we get ahead by helping each other) and how our mindset can dictate who we become later on in life. Both of these young men grew up in roughly the same environment, the ghettos of Baltimore, Maryland and the Bronx, New York, respectively.
After graduating from college Chris seemed to change. He said things like “an epic journey that would change everything”, that he saw college as “an absurd and onerous duty”, and that heading on this adventure made him feel free “from the stifling world of his parents and peers, a world or abstraction and security and material excess”. Some people may say that Chris had struggles with his family “”From the things he said, you could tell something wasn’t right between him and his family…..””(Krakauer 18). But in reality I think it was something more. I feel like he was done having his family provide for him, ““I'm going to have to be real careful not to accept any gifts from them in the future because they will think they have bought my respect””(Krakauer
Her personality differs from her friend Heather’s because Melinda is not outgoing, social, or extroverted. However, through her journey of acceptance and growth, she is able to improve her mental health and behavior because of her dedication.
Melinda also exhibits self-loathing tendencies by avoiding mirrors and by engaging in negative self-talk. This aspect of the novel will allow for the reader to relate to how Melinda is dealing with the situation, but also to self-identify how they are dealing with their situation differently. The decline in Melinda’s functioning is quite extensive; she stops engaging in conversation and her hygiene, school work and attendance plummet. Here, the reader is shown how extensive the effects trauma can have in someone’s life and allows them to learn about it in a private setting without the pressure of speaking about what has happened to them
“tell them im strong tell them im a man good by mr wigin. ”(Gaines, 234). In A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines, Jefferson was wrongly convicted of being a murderer and robbing a store and was sentenced to death. Jefferson's meaningful relationships with Grant and other characters help him to realize he is human and help him become one again. Grants meaningful relationships with Jefferson and others help him improve his mental state and change how he thinks.
(MIP-1) People in the society of the novel Fahrenheit 451 are absorbed in technology, they are so immersed in it that they are always using it and drawn to it in the novel. (SIP-A) A familiar character in the novel, Mildred, who represents the average person of society, is drawn to the technology and uses her devices constantly. (STEWE-1) Mildred is so drawn to technology that she lays in bed and listens to her earbuds all night, “And in her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk and music and talk coming in, coming in on the shore of her unsleeping mind.
She get's harassed by a Popular group called the Marthas, they make fun of Melinda when she is introduced to them. They comment about her hair, body, and lips in a negative way. Also Rachele Melinda ex-friend hangs out with popular people and
Speak Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Selective Mutism “I know my head isn’t screwed on straight. I want to leave, confess everything, hand over the guilt and mistake and anger to someone else. There is a beast in my gut, I can hear it scraping away at the inside of my ribs. Even if I dump the memory, it will stay with me, staining me” (Anderson 51).
The cause of Melinda’s dreary mood obviously comes from IT’s abuse. Andy Evans constantly harassing Melinda in the hallways reminds her of the horrid rape and keeps the image in her mind. This is why Melinda cannot wake up from her nightmare and is emotionally unstable. To sum up, Melinda’s dismal mood is greatly portrayed through the metaphors of
This is the case with Susanna, who is the autobiographical main character of the book. She provides a perfect reason as to why it is important that mental illness must be talked about more. Susanna is admitted to the McLean Hospital after she attempts suicide and is then diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. She is at first convinced that there is nothing wrong for her, which is something that many patients go through, and is one of the important reasons that mental illness should be discussed more.
At the end of the story she finally found her voice and was able to stand up for herself. In the beginning, Melinda didn't talk to anyone, barely even to her parents. She says, “I have tried so hard to forget every second of that stupid party and here I am in the middle of a hostile crowd that hates me for what I had to do. I can't tell them what really happened” (Anderson, 28).
Throughout the book, Melinda has problems with her family. For example, her family is mad because she is not achieving academic grade levels. Furthermore, she also has issues with her friends. She called the cops and her friends get mad.
The novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about a girl named Melinda, who shows signs of depression throughout the story. She has no friends and is hated by people she doesn’t even know. This is because she called the cops at a party, where she was raped. Anderson includes literary elements to show how Melinda is depressed. Throughout the novel, she uses many different literary elements to show Melinda’s conflict.
Melinda, in a lot of ways, starts out like that it the book. She becomes a shell of herself from before the party happened and because no one else was there, she is lonely and doesn't have anybody to go to and to make matters even worse, she’s covered by the reputation that she has formed. In the book, Laurie Halse Anderson uses symbolism to convey exactly what Melinda can't say. In the beginning of the book, Melinda starts high school carrying her emotional wounds with her after something happens mysterious to her at a party during the summer.
Literature 1 Michael Arroyo August 28, 2015 4th Period “As Simple As Snow” by Gregory Galloway “As Simple as Snow” is a mystery novel made in 2005 that may confuse people’s minds with all the art, magic, codes, and love while reading. As a teen age boy who wants to find the secrets his girlfriend who left behind all these mysteries after her odd disappearance. It also tells about the lost gothic girl, Anna Cayne, who meets the young high-school aged narrator. Throughout the postcards, a shortwave radio, various CDs, and many other irregular interest.