Keeping Secrets In Melinda Sordino's Speak
How bad can keeping a secret impact your life? What kind of scenarios and possibilities could come of keeping one little dark secret? In the novel Speak, Melinda Sordino, a young high schooler, has to deal with her decision to keep quiet about being sexually assaulted. Her life spirals out of control as her friends and parents grow ever more distant. She views her teachers with negative outlooks, authority as a priority fear. Even new friends she makes throughout the story abandon her because of the depression given to her by the incident that she is keeping secret. Secrets, no matter how trivial or serious, can impact your life and your relationships in troubling ways when silenced. Melinda’s life has done a one hundred and eighty degree turn because of her silence. Before the incident of sexual assault, she had a decent life with her old friends. Everyone turned on her …show more content…
Unfortunately, her parents are unfamiliar to her, and she does not tell or show pain except through physical actions. Her parents become oblivious to her plight, for she will not tell them what happened to her. Melinda’s mouth also closes a surprising amount of times when confronted by just about anything. For example, she is completely silent when faced down by her guidance counselor and parents. Her parents go as far to ask her why she is silent. She kept her secret so long that she now views it as a second nature to be quiet. Resentment and hate are two very strong words usually not used to describe friends. Her relationship with Heather turns sour when Heather decides that the depressed girl with a bad reputation cannot be her friend. Melinda cannot even start over with new friends. Without coming clean and freeing her “reputation” she is unable to change. When she finally lets go of the secret, it relieves her, for her friends actually feel sorry for her. Her relationships improve and she can finally feel somewhat
Brief Summary Of Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson
620 Words | 3 PagesAt this point in the novel, the only thing revealed about what happened was that she had called the cops on a high school party during summer, leaving her friends mad at her. Melinda went through the first few classes and lunch on her terrible first day, finding them all completely miserable.
Character Analysis Of Melinda In Laura Anderson's Speak
173 Words | 1 PagesMelinda’s character develops tremendously over the course of the book. In the beginning of the book, she says, “ I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don’t have anyone to sit with. I am an outcast” (Anderson, 4). At the start, Melinda had lost all of her friends after she busted a party last summer, but nobody knows that a senior boy at the party raped her.
Essay On Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson
754 Words | 4 PagesMelinda is not telling people about her emotions, instead she is hiding in a closet away from her fears and
Victims Of Abuse In Laurie Anderson's Speak
471 Words | 2 PagesMany students in this novel are punished for speaking out. The, the consequences of not speaking are met with the repercussions of speaking out. This novel is about speaking and, how speaking can be is harmful. Speak highlights the stigma and consequences of speaking out, demonstrated by Melinda’s story, the students, and the staff of Merryweather High School.
Depression In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson
1222 Words | 5 PagesThe damage caused by her experiences at the party left her feeling broken and hopeless, and is the cause of her depression. Secondly, as the diseased branches on the large tree in Melinda’s yard are being cut down her father states that “by cutting off the damage, you can make it possible for the tree to grow again,” and that it will eventually be “the strongest on the block” (Anderson 187). The tree represents Melinda, and the diseased branches represent the damage that was left behind from the incident during the party. She refuses to talk about what happened, and due to that, it’s slowly dragging her even deeper into depression, however, if she would open up and talk about it she would have the ability to pull herself out.
What Is The Loss Of Innocence In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak
403 Words | 2 PagesChildren in the age range thirteen to fifteen are often transitioning through a critical time of their lives. They frequently look to others as a cicerone on how they themselves should act. In the novel, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino calls the cops on an end-of-summer party at which she was raped. The novel depicts Melinda’s excursion as to how she copes with the heart-wrenching events that have affected her momentously as well as creating “[a] frightening and sobering look at the cruelty and viciousness that pervade much of contemporary high school life.” (Kirkus Reviews, Pointer Review).
Use Of Figurative Language In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak
644 Words | 3 Pages" Speak also states on page 161 " I am a deer in headlights of a tractor, is he going to hurt me again? He couldn't in school... why am I so afraid. " These examples from the text show all the problems Melinda had, for instance what Andy did to her,
Figurative Language In Laurie Anderson's Speak
646 Words | 3 PagesThe 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
Examples Of Character Development In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson
755 Words | 4 PagesAt 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).
Symbolism In Laurie Halse Anderson's 'Speak'
805 Words | 4 PagesAfter Melinda admits to herself that she was raped, Melinda starts to realize that
Theme Of Isolation In Laurie Anderson's Speak
736 Words | 3 PagesIsolation is when one is set apart from others and is virtually alone. In Laurie Anderson’s Speak, the protagonist, Melinda, isolates herself and is further isolated from others. Isolation can be seen through three symbols: lips, mirrors and a closet. Melinda thinks no one cares about what she has to say, resulting in silence. After the incident in the summer, Melinda cannot bare to look at herself.
Stereotypes In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak
537 Words | 3 PagesThose listed were the main connections I saw with Melinda. While reading the novel Speak written by Laurie Halse Anderson, I can point out many similarities between the book and the four articles we read. Sexual assault stereotypes, sexual violence and rape statistics, and mental illness (PTSD) information. From reading my essay, I hope you can now say that there are a lot of similarities in the facts and statistical information between the articles and the novel
Essay On Symbolism In The Book Speak
1197 Words | 5 PagesMelinda, 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.
Discussion Questions On Speak By Laurie Anderson
516 Words | 3 Pages3- Do you think that after Melinda’s parents find out about what happened they’ll become closer? Why or why not? Part 3- characterization
Speak Journal Response To Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson
1218 Words | 5 PagesSpeak Journal Response This journal is in response to the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. As a coming-of-age contemporary novel, Speak discusses many sensitive issues that are still prominent even today. In this story, we explore the life of Melinda Sordino, a fourteen-year-old girl who is beginning high school right after experiencing an utterly traumatic event: rape. Melinda is left friendless, with no one to help and support her after what happened.
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