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.
There are specific people who helped her mature in a certain way. She slowly opens up over the course of the year with support from different people. There are several people in this novel who help Melinda find her “voice”. Mr. Freeman, for example, was an important part of Melinda’s growth. He is Melinda’s art teacher who came off as weird at first
Laurie Halse Anderson’s realistic fiction book Speak depicts the life of Melinda Sordino, a 9th grader who called the police at a party after being raped and is now a social outcast. The pain from the memories of being raped keep her silent as she struggles through a powerful depression and the problems that go with being in high school. Anderson uses mirrors as a motif throughout the story to portray the stages of depression Melinda goes through. At the start of the story Melinda leads a very depressed hidden life; Anderson uses the mirror to represent this.
In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, she is trying to say that friends and friendships change over time. The first change that we found out about in the book was the group the Plane Janes that Melinda was in and they were best friend but they split over the summer, which was a change in a big group of friends. A second change between friendships was Ivy and Melinda they were apart of the Plane Janes but were never close until the ending of the school year. They were in the same art class which made them become close, through their artwork, which was a good change of friendship.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a book about a girl named Melinda Sordino. In the beginning of this book the audience meets Melinda as she is the main character and she describes her first day of high school starting with an assembly. Throughout the book you read about her life but she goes back to the past recalling of something that happened at the end of the summer; in a couple of instances she comes across someone that she refers to as “IT”. When reading you don't know who this “IT” is but it is developed over the story by her having flashbacks to that night or dropping a hint of what happened. During a seminar at the beginning of the book Melinda meets someone named Heather who is new and becomes her friend but ultimately leaves her
Melinda doesn’t know the exact reason why they ended their friendship with Melinda, but they definitely have a great impact in Melinda’s life because they were friends since they were little kids. Foreshadowing/ hyperbole As Rachel and her friends make laugh at Melinda, melinda share her past relationships with Rachel, she thinks, “If there is anyone in the entire galaxy i am dying to tell what happened, it’s Rachel. My throat burns”(14).
Also it’s showing that everyone does not think of her the same way. Melinda is also not blend in with everyone because she is wearing different clothes. In the end of the book, Rachel starts talking to Melinda again after she finds out Andy Evans raped her. Another part in the beginning of the book Heather starts making friends with Melinda but when Heather starts using her, Melinda stands up to her. Heather is super nice to Melida and invites her to do things, but when she meets the Martha’s she slowly started to leave Melinda behind until she needed something.
The realistic fiction novel, Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, begins with a confused, depressed, and alone 14- year old girl named Melinda Sordino. She enters her freshman year at Merryweather High School in Syracuse not knowing many people. Even on the very first day, Melinda feels like an outcast. She realizes that everyone belongs to a clan, whether it was the Jocks, Cheerleaders, Marthas, Goths, ect. Melinda, however, is clanless.
She finds her with her mom and sister and Dare, who is her friend. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. It is centered around a 13-year-old girl named Melinda Sordino. She was raped at a party over the summer, which resulted in her calling the police. She is faced with trauma and isolation throughout the school year.
“Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson was first recognized as an inappropriate book in 2001 by Wesley Scroggins. Speak is about a girl named Melinda who is raped at a party by Andy Evans during the summer and she calls the police. She is socially rejected by her old friends. Her friends don’t know the whole story but only know that Melinda called the cops and ruined the most important part of the summer. But Melinda manages to find solace in her art class taught by Mr. Freemen.
In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson the main character, Melinda, often turns to nature to provide an inspiring story for her feelings of hopelessness to fall back on. Though it is not always blatantly stated, while Melinda comes to terms with the fact that she has been raped nature provides parallels to Melinda's life, symbolizing changing sentiments as they occur. This symbolism manifests in Melinda's interests, the seasons, and her art project. Melinda often mentions plant seeds throughout the story. Melinda's first mention of them is in Biology class when the class dissects apples.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a girl named Melinda who goes through traumatic events throughout her freshman year of high school. The novel also examines her relationships and attempts to communicate with other characters, as well as how she finds the courage to speak up for herself. Trees and seeds play a major symbolic role in the novel because they represent Melinda’s growth throughout the story. Throughout the novel, trees and seeds are mentioned numerous times.
Samantha Dabros Mr. Chomin 9th grade Language Arts 17 January 2023 Speak The book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a girl named Melinda who goes to Merryweather High School. The theme of this book is finding your voice because Melinda was assaulted before she even went to high school. And the way it was written, it was meant to send that message. All books are meant to have a message but this seems to want that message to get across to people.
Although the students she calls “Future Fascists of America” are not revealed, they in reality are just the student government minding their own business. Melinda and her negativity feel the need to insult them, but she does not reveal why she does so. The reader can see these thoughts Melinda has in her head and start to feel extreme dislike towards her as a character. Her attitude and actions that the reader does get to see, do not make her a favorable character and readers start to hate her from the beginning. Once the orientation is over, Melinda is dreading being there even more, and remarks that on the way to her first class, “I can’t find it and get my first demerit for wandering the
Another element in this novel is Melinda’s inner conflict, man vs. self. What Melinda has been through greatly affected her everyday life. She struggles with depression, dislikes her appearance, and feels ashamed of herself for something that isn 't her fault: “I want to confess everything, hand over the guilt and mistake and anger to someone else...even if I dump the memory, it will stay with me, staining me” (Anderson 51). Andy Evans, the senior who raped her, made her feel worthless. This situation is much like the one in the novel The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.
