Speak was written in 1999 by Laurie Halse Anderson. The book is about Melinda, a freshman just starting high school. Melinda starts school off with no friends, she lost the ones she had over the summer. A traumatic event causes Melinda to shut everyone out, and not speak to anyone. Growing up usually takes time, but Melinda is rushed into maturity too soon and must help others do the same.
Double Entry Journal “Scar it, give it a twisted branch – perfect trees don’t exist. Nothing is perfect. Flaws are interesting. Be the tree” (pg. 177)
Speak The book I am responding to is called Speak written by Laurie Halse Anderson. This book is about a teenage girl named Melinda Sordino, who begins her high school year with a big secret. Over the summer she and her friends went to a party where Melinda was raped, she called the police, causing her friends and everyone at the party to reject her. Later Melinda befriends a girl named Heather, a new student at her school.
High school. It's a scary thought. Being prepared for things can be hard. Especially the changes that happened within one's identity. Imagine something terrible happened the summer before high school.
This book is fiction and drama, called “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson, the protagonist name is Melinda, she is a freshman, she is not the same person she was and she doesn 't talk anymore. The antagonist is Andy who is an narcissistic senior who is used to get away with everything. Then there is Heather she is the new girl who becomes Milinda friend. The problem is that Melinda is hiding something that she isn 't telling everyone, she is not the same person she used to be.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a freshman named Melinda Sordino who starts high school as an outcast and detested by her ex-friends and fellow peers. All because she called the cops at an end of the summer party that ended up with people getting arrested and the party being shut down. What everyone doesn’t know is that she did that because she was raped by a senior named Andy Evans at the party and didn’t know what to do after the traumatic incident and they don’t know because Melinda won’t speak. The conflict in the book is very similar to a book called Saints and Misfits by S.K Ali.
Due to her inability to tell anyone what happened she loses the ability to speak and she starts distancing herself from her family and friends. Throughout the book, there are symbolic items that help us know how Melinda is feeling and they also represent the stages Melinda went through
In the article, Editorial: Program helps guide victims of assaults on road to recovery, by the Janesville Gazette, The Sexual Assault Recovery Program says only between 5 percent and 20 percent of victims report the attacks. In the novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda is the main character in the novel and is affected by sexual assault herself. Melinda is one of the 5 to 20 percent who stay silent after she was sexually assaulted by who Melinda calls “IT”, Andy Evans. Anderson uses trees as motifs to support the theme of how Melinda’s social life is as the school year progresses.
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).
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a girl named Melinda Sordino , a girl who was raped her freshman year. Three things that helped her finally “ Speak” were , art class , symbolism of trees, and finally accepting it . To Melinda Sordino , the only safe place was the art room , and when she gave her own grades , this was the only class with an “A”. "You did a good job with that Cubist sketch," he says.
The second marking period in "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson was a crucial time for Melinda as she faced significant events that profoundly influenced her emotions and interactions with others, as well as her growing urge to speak up. To begin, in the chapter “First Amendment”, Mr. Neck, the social studies teacher decides to start a debate about immigration. He starts to talk about how America should have closed the borders in the 1900s, blaming immigrants for his son’s inability to get a job, and generally being xenophobic overall. Most students disagreed but didn’t have the courage to speak up, except for David Petrakis. David challenges Mr. Neck’s views and calls the tone of the lesson racist and intolerant.
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.
Speak 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.
Isolation 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.
Freedom of speech and other freedoms guaranteed to American citizens by the First Amendment protect our right to information and expression of opinions, which can be infringed upon when books are banned. Book banning refers to the practice of forbidding the use of certain books in school libraries or curricula. Due to this practice, many books have been banned in the United States. One victim of book banning is Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson which was banned in all K-12 grades in 2022 due to its perceived political viewpoint, alleged bias against male students, depiction of rape, use of profanity, and portrayal of suicidal ideation. While Speak does display sensitive and mature topics such as sexual assault and self-harm, which should be restricted for
