What Are The Characters In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak

Figurative language has a tremendous influence on literature because it enlivens the words and makes them jump off the page. This allows the reader to visualize the scene in a unique, explicit way. Laurie Anderson’s Speak demonstrates an abundant use of figurative language. Figurative language appears in various forms; this includes simile, metaphor, personification, symbol, hyperbole and more. 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,

Helen Keller once said "...although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it." This quotation means that in life, you come to find yourself in many struggles, but there is always a sense of accomplishment over such problems. The reason I agree with this quote is because such triumph can only be accomplished after the fact of the occurrence of a struggle. The realistic fiction book, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a perfect example of my interpretation of the quote. The author uses conflict, figurative language and characterization to show that this quote is true.

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

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a novel regarding Melinda Sordino, a 14 year old girl, who gets raped at the end of summer party. Melinda ends up calling the police, causing all of her friends to absolutely despise her. The story begins as Melinda arrives to her first day of 9th grade friendless, receiving dirty looks from everyone in the halls. Her once happy personality, entirely transforms into the opposite. “I cry to let everything out” Initially, Melinda befriends Heather, a new girl to the school, but later Heather realizes that Melinda being her friend ruins her social reputation. When Melinda loses her only friend, her depression grows and she begins skipping class. Mr. Freeman and David Petrakis are the only people who notice Melinda’s

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.

There is a hidden message behind every book. Especial one called Speak written by Laurie hales Anderson it involves a girl named Melinda Sordino. Sordino is a freshman at Merryweather high school. She has been an outcast ever since a senior party in summer where she got raped by a senior named Andy Evans. After the incident, she called the cops who shut down the party, which leads to many people hating her including her own friends. The people that outcast her had no clue that she called the cops because she got raped, Melinda never spoke to anyone about it. Eventually, she confessed about what actually happened that night at the party. This story deals with a lot of important themes that many have a hard time admitting to which includes communication

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.

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a story about Melinda Sordino. Melinda was an incoming freshman at Merryweather High, and was entering ninth grade with no friends. During the first school assembly, the new girl in town, Heather, introduced herself to Melinda, sparking somewhat of a friendship. Melinda also came across her ex-best friend, Rachel. Rachel had mouthed the words “I hate you” to Melinda, even though all she wanted to do was to tell Rachel what really happened at the infamous summer party. At 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.

The novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about a girl named Melinda, who shows signs of depression throughout the story. She has no friends and is hated by people she doesn’t even know. This is because she called the cops at a party, where she was raped. Anderson includes literary elements to show how Melinda is depressed. Throughout the novel, she uses many different literary elements to show Melinda’s conflict. Laurie Halse Anderson uses literary elements such as imagery, symbolism, and conflict, in order to reveal the protagonist’s emotional growth throughout the the novel.

Art is way of expression. People can use actions and art or express themselves in ways other than speaking. In the book Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, symbolism holds a big significance. The trees mentioned throughout the book symbolize Melinda’s changing “seasons” (her “growing” as a person). People, like trees, go through phases, they freeze in the winter, becoming nothing but lonely limbs without leaves covered with white slush. 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.

“Speak up, because the day you don’t speak up for the things that matter to you is the day your freedom truly ends”. Speak up when you have the change because if you don’t you will end up like me . I lied to my mom about doing something. I know, everybody as lied to their parents. But she’s a mom so when I lied to her she already knew I did it. It was no point of lying. Your mom is always smarter than you. That’s why she is the mom and you’re the kid. That’s why you don’t lie, that’s why you need to find the strength to speak up. For this reason that’s what Laura Halse Anderson’s novel, speak , focuses on the idea of finding the strength to speak up, this theme is demonstrated in how the main character was isolated by her peers, isolated herself, and finally , in the metaphor of the tree.

“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

“Mr. Freeman is ugly. Big old grasshopper body, like a stilt- walking circus guy. Nose like a credit card sunk between his eyes. But he smiles at us as we file into class”(10).

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.

Nelson Mandela has an exceptional point of view on courage, as he once said "Courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it." Like Mr. Mandela, Melinda Sordino in Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson also learned this throughout her time as a ninth grader. The character Melinda has many encounters that test her courage throughout the book.