Isolation In Laura Halse Anderson's Speak

The classic novel, Ethan Frome, wrote by Edith Wharton, contains a great deal of symbolism. Throughout the story, Wharton recognizes a large Elm tree that nearly kills a newly- engaged couple. In most cases, a large tree may symbolize strength or majesty, however, Wharton gives the readers an understanding of fate., when describing the tree. While coasting down a slope, Ethan and Mattie make the immoral decision to commit suicide and crash into the large tree. Ironically, the end result was not their death, but the tragic ending of the two becoming crippled which robbed them the outcome they wanted.

Having read, The Poisonwood Bible book, it was both fascinating and interesting. The author, Barbara Kingsolver, was quick with her diction and used quite a lot of figurative language. The objective of the book was to show the true meaning of Africa and show how it was difficult to convert the people of Africa to Christianity religion. The setting was present in Georgia, which later they traveled to a village called Kilanga in Congo, in which they started their journey. The main characters includes, Nathan Price who was the main character, his wife Orleanna Price, and their four daughters, Rachel, Leah, Adah, and Ruth May.

Has a life experience ever change how you think about things? Well, you can see this clearly in two books. Life's journeys change us by making us stronger and wiser. People get stronger emotionally and physically. This change can clearly be seen in Stand Tall by Joan Bauer and Hollywood Hustle by Gordon Korman. These two books have specific examples in which the two characters go through situations where they realize things they didn’t notice before. In the book Stand Tall, Tree goes through some events that lets him experience life’s journeys.

At its core, “The Black Walnut Tree” is a conflict between the sentimental and what practically needs to be done. Throughout the poem, the author utilizes a very matter-of-fact and almost dismissive tone as the daughter and her mother debate whether or not to sell the tree and finish paying off a loan that they owe. As the poem progresses, this matter-of-fact tone transitions into figurative language as the black walnut tree takes on a more symbolic view. Mary Oliver shows in “The Black Walnut Tree” that the tree symbolizes the family’s heritage and all that their father has sought to accomplish, and, while the mortgage weighs down the family, cutting down and selling the tree would, in a sense, betray the family and what it stands for.

As the world went into Anthropocene, the disscussion of the relationship between human and natural became more frequnt than in before. Human being and the inviroment are not isolation based on the theory of Anthropocene, ont he opposite, they art related and effect each other.

In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda gives a really good example of character development throughout the story. Melinda just starts her freshman year at high school. Over the summer her and her friends went to a party and Melinda gets raped by a boy named Andy Evans and ends up calling the police, she didn't tell anyone why she called the police, causing her friends and everyone at the party to reject her. Melinda’s only friend is a new girl named heather. 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 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. In the chapter The Opposite of Inspiration is… Expiration?, Melinda tells us that “[f]or a solid week, ever since the pep rally, I’ve been painting watercolors of trees that have been hit of lightning. I try to paint them so they are nearly dead, but not

Children 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). The tragic event along with the rejection of her friends took a rather large toll on Melinda Sordino, in which, at one point, she stops

“I have entered high school with the wrong hair, wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don’t have anyone to sit with” (Anderson 4). In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, there are many themes. Appearance versus reality is an important theme in the novel and is true in people and life, it is not always just present in books. Appearance versus reality is when something in the story seems one way but is not actually that way. Melinda Sordino has a rough life and is way different on the inside than she looks and seems to be on the outside, Melinda herself is an example of appearance versus reality. There are multiple times that the theme appearance versus reality shows up in the novel they are: the couch, Melinda

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. A space where Melinda can physically be alone is what she needed to even more so build a wall between her and others, thus being why the closet is an important aspect and symbol. Isolation is what helped Melinda cope with her pain, this is what makes it the major theme in the novel.

Symbolism is the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character. In Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson uses literary devices to help the reader better understand Melinda’s personal changes and growth. Trees, lips, and coldness are all symbolically used to represent the changes of Melinda. Throughout the novel, trees play a big part in symbolizing Melinda.

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. The main character, Rachel Watson, had recently divorced her husband, Tom, and found herself missing the seemingly perfect life she had with him. Much like Melinda, Rachel feels worthless and disapproves of her appearance as well after the divorce. Her becoming an alcoholic over time was the main cause of the split. When she was under the influence, she could be extremely aggressive and violent and then black out; at least according to Tom. After she would sober up, he would tell her all the horrible things she said and did while she was drunk, like the time she attacked him with a golf club. She feels ashamed and blames herself for not being a good enough wife for Tom, just as Melinda feels guilty as though the rape was her fault, even if it really wasn’t. It is later revealed that in reality, it was actually Tom who had done all those atrocious things. He would lie to Rachel, blaming her for all the things he had done, just to make her feel guilty, weak, and worthless. Just how Andy had made Melinda feel after he raped her. With this connection, I can better understand Melinda’s character through Rachel’s in The Girl on the Train, which I read and enjoyed before I read

Dana Gioia’s poem, “Planting a Sequoia” is grievous yet beautiful, sombre story of a man planting a sequoia tree in the commemoration of his perished son. Sequoia trees have always been a symbol of wellness and safety due to their natural ability to withstand decay, the sturdy tree shows its significance to the speaker throughout the poem as a way to encapsulate and continue the short life of his infant. Gioia utilizes the elements of imagery and diction to portray an elegiac tone for the tragic death, yet also a sense of hope for the future of the tree. The poet also uses the theme of life through the unification of man and nature to show the speaker 's emotional state and eventual hopes for the newly planted tree. Lastly, the tree itself becomes a symbol for the deceased son as planting the Sequoia is a way to cope with the loss, showing the juxtaposition between life and death.

Glass Castle: The “glass castle” symbolizes Rex’s; Jeanette’s father’s hope and dreams. Before Lori was born; Rex and Rose had a baby girl whom unfortunately died at nine months. This caused a spiral downfall in Rex’s life making him become bitterer, gloomy, dark, and an increasing consumption of alcohol. But even though that situation occurred he still held on to that dream of building the glass castle. One of the biggest current problem he faces in his life is alcoholism. Alcoholism has affected both his life and his family’s lives as well; even though he knows how badly it’s affecting him, dreaming of building that glass castle can be implied as his hope of one day overcoming his drinking problem. Just like the glass castle itself Rex’s hope and dreams are fragile and can be easily shattered however by never giving up on his dream it shows that he still has hope that one day he will build a better and happy life in the future for himself and his family.

To start with, the protagonist of the book, Melinda, is experiencing multiple difficult times in her life like her parents relationship is falling apart, recovering from the rape, and loneliness. Melinda has isolated herself from everyone else for so long, but also since everybody thinks she busted the party, they don’t want to have anything to do with her. As her peers at school bully her by blurting things out at her while she has a perfectly good reason why she called the police, she is afraid to stand up for herself. At the party, she was raped by Andy and didn’t know what to do after it happened, so she called the police in shock.