Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson Analysis

Speak is a book written about the internal and external conflicts that protagonist, Melinda faces after being raped by Andy Evans (“IT”) and hated by her peers for ruining an end-of-summer party. This has traumatized Melinda and she is too afraid to speak up. Anderson enhances the big theme of sadness and depression through similes, metaphors,

Melinda gets depressed and starts expressing her pain through stuff like biting her lips and her nails, and not talking. 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).

Anderson conveys her theme through the use of characterization such as they way the characters act, how they are portrayed, described, and how they interact (or not). From the beginning of the story to the end, many of the characters change quite a lot; especially Melinda. At the beginning of the story, Melinda says, “I am Outcast” (4). She truly feels that she does not belong when certain people cause her to feel this way. A specific example of this is when the narrator says that “when the pep rally ends, I am

It was clear in the counseling session that the Mother still blames Precious for her significant other not wanting her and eventually leaving her. The animosity, hatred, and disdain towards Precious was evident, when the Mother dropped the baby, and proceeded to attack Precious in the movie. (Daniels, 2009). The third cue is the depression and or border personality disorders on the part of Precious and the mother. Children who are victims of violence usually exhibit behavioral and emotional problems, such as depression

Curley's wife may be an awful woman, but she has to presence neglect and isolation. Steinbeck uses her character to create a visual of the difficulties that women had to face during the Great Depression. There are not evident loving relationship with women, the only ones that are mentioned belong in a house of prostitution, which corrupts the view of all women in the novel . Curley’s wife had no companions and was ignored. Curley treats her as a possession

Esther didn’t change at beginning. In the middle of this story esther still not change. She is not racist and author still showed she funny in her sentences. because Leanora and Esther are

In the passage, taken from To Kill A Mockingbird, there is a mean and angry woman who lives down the street from two young children. Throughout the excerpt Mrs. Dubose was saying horrible things to two kids, Scout and Jem, and sometimes about about their father, Atticus. Harper Lee, the author of To Kill A Mockingbird, makes it clear to the readers that Mrs. Dubose is a disrespectful and critical woman. Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose does not like children and always has something critical to say about Scout and Jem, sometimes even Atticus. She shows how critical she can be very early on in the book when she’s yelling at Scout about her clothes and what she should be wearing instead.

Eudora Welty’s “Why I Live at the P.O.” is a story about the isolation of an individual through acts brought upon herself because of jealousy and sibling rivalry. The narrative is told through the older sister’s perspective and she is simply referred to as “Sister”. All of the characters in "Why I Live at the P.O." show a family that paints the reader a picture of comical dread: The narrator who leaves her family to live alone because of an argument that stems from sibling rivalry and a family that instead of showing comfort, love and togetherness further push her away by verbally and physically abusing (Mama slapping Sister after mentioning Cousin Flo(98)) her to the point where she had to move out. .

She despises what she’s done, and hates herself for it every day. Her sleepwalking is a form of punishment for her sins. Lady Macbeth’s self-hatred becomes too difficult to live with it and she takes her own life. This is evident when Malcolm says, “By self and violent hands. /Took off her life,” (Macbeth 5.9.

She feels harmed, and alienated from others because of her inability to communicate and her traumatic experience with her rapist. Melinda can only relate to people with the same social division, such as her “friend” Heather, who she describes as a “wounded zebra”, for she is also an outcast.