...book Speak by author Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino goes through exactly this. She experiences many turning points along her eventful 9th grade...
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...takes place in Syracuse, New York, a city with severe winters, that creates the atmosphere of coldness, brittleness and fragility throughout the most parts of the story. Melinda was raped in summer just before the new school year begins. Betrayed by summer and hating the cold winter, Melinda hides all in her mind throughout the various seasons of her first high school year. She is waiting for thawing out her “cold and silent” heart and growing like the trees when the spring comes. One of the settings is Melinda’s home. Melinda resides with her parents in the suburb of the city. Her room is pink and girly and full of the types of things that a normal teenager who may have. Also, she watches the same kind of TV that other people may have. There still may be silence that exists between her relationship with her parents. They seem more concerned their lives and Melinda’s grade at school....
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...Melinda: A PTSD Life “The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma”(Judith Lewis Herman). Laurie Halse Anderson wrote Speak as a way to symbolize the trauma that a person goes through after a tragic accident. Not only did she just write about it, Anderson’s father was a veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Anderson writes about Melinda’s ptsd as evidenced by her display of the three classic symptoms: flashbacks, hyperarousal, and emotional numbness. Melinda's flashbacks are apparent throughout the book. Many times she delves into the recesses of her mind to relive the event that scarred her. An example of this is when she cannot...
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...Martin Luther King once said, “ our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Laurie Halse Anderson an American novelist made sure to make this point true in her book Speak. Melinda Sordino (the main character) was conflicted between telling her story about being raped or not. The night that it happened she was at a party with her friends. After she was raped she called the cops out of fear and confusion, but no one knew the reason why she did it. The day after nobody liked or talked to her, not even her best friend Rachel. Throughout the book, she becomes more and more closed up and outcasted from her classmates Some try to reach out to her like Ivy, while others just make fun of her. The new girl Heather is oblivious to what happened over the summer and befriends her, but Melinda wasn’t really interested in being her friend. Her problem was that she was afraid that no one would believe the real reason why she called the cop and think that she was lying just so that she could get some attention. In Speak, Anderson teaches readers that speaking up doesn't always...
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...The movie begins with Melinda Sordino’s first day of high school. Melinda is an introvert and quiet girl that doesn’t have any friends. Throughout the movie she has flashbacks of a night she went to a party with her friends. In the firsts flashbacks she seems to be a very outgoing teenager, the opposite of what she is now. As the night went on, Andy Evans, a popular senior, told Melissa that she was beautiful and they start dancing and kissing. After a while, they went to Andy’s car and started kissing in the passenger seat and even though she tells him several times to stop, he continues. He sexually abused her. She got back to the house of the party, picked up the phone and called 911. She didn’t say anything so the police tracked her call and went to the house. The party ended and everyone knew that the fault was hers but nobody tried to know why and she didn’t find the courage to tell. Her best friends stopped talking to her. One day she went to a game and when she saw that her ex-best friend Rachel and Andy were dating, she ran away. Melinda wanted to tell Rachel what happened in the summer but she thought she wouldn’t believe her or would hate her. A time later she went to the place where she was sexually abused and had, once again, flashbacks of that night. That was when she decided to tell Rachel the truth, so she went to school and found her in the library. After finding out that Rachel was going to prom with Andy, Melissa picked up Rachel’s pen and wrote ‘I was raped’...
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...Literary Analysis: Speak Imagine not having a voice to speak out for yourself, your thoughts, and your opinions. In the book “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character Melinda tries to do what she believes is the right thing for herself, but eventually looses everything that's important to her all because she spoke out. Though her high school experience wasn't the best, the one thing that was valuable is the fact she found a voice to speak out about what happened to her. Though it may seem impossible to do, try your very hardest to find that voice, speak out for yourself. The author of “Speak”, Laurie Halse Anderson, was born on October 23rd, 1961 in Potsdam New York. She is most know for young adult and children's novels. Laurie’s...
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...poster is a line from the book. The first quote says, “I just want to sleep” (81.) Melinda is doing a frog dissection in science class and she ends up passing out. Melinda’s mom takes her to the doctor and the doctor shines a bright light in her eye. Melinda is worried that the doctor can read her thoughts, and is scared of the doctor’s reaction to the thoughts. Following is Melinda saying, “I just want to sleep.” This quote can show us that Melinda is depressed and she does not care about anything in the world....
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...Summer Reading Assignment- Speak Part I-Précis Laurie Anderson's Speak is a realistic fiction novel set in Syracuse, New York during modern day. The protagonist and main character is Melinda Sordino, while the antagonist is a senior named Andy Evans. The main conflict occurs because Melinda doesn't tell anyone she has been raped, forcing herself to become isolated and treated like an outcast by everyone else. Thus, Melinda begins high school with no friends after calling the cops at the summer party where Andy Evans abused her. She struggles through the school year and finally becomes motivated enough to tell everyone the truth when Andy tries to attack her again. With a newfound strength, Melinda is able to stop him and begins to confide in her art teacher, Mr. Freeman. Laurie Anderson's novel explores the importance of communication and being able to speak out, no matter how difficult. Part II-Essay Questions 1. What do the different tree versions Melinda creates throughout the story symbolize? What allows her final tree to finally become the one she has envisioned? 2. Discuss...
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...gain such attention always have a reason. Usually, these individuals are the ones who have something important to share. Melinda Sordino - the main character of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - is the epitome of such a character, she had several reasons to be silent. Melinda took nearly a year to speak out because she was surrounded by people who wanted to speak more than listen. For her, every reason became another wall, blocking and limiting her capability to speak. The start of Melinda's degeneration into utter mental and physical seclusion was the scarring event that took place at a party over summer. It was then she unwillingly experienced her first sexual encounter with senior Andy Evans. From the first protest to the last (verbal or otherwise), Melinda's voice was not heard, not listened to, and not heeded. Consequently, when she called the police, the teen couldn't say that she had been raped before the voice on the other line made the decision to send aid. Police rushed in to find a rowdy crowd of partying teens with alcohol. The party attendees and her friends were quick to make a cursory assessment and a superficial inquiry of the truth before promptly labeling her as the Squealer. Subconsciously known or quietly acknowledged, a prison began to build within her then. It whispered that even if she spoke, she'd be talking to walls, and Melinda believed it. She stepped straight into the trap, helping to create a protective barrier around herself and locking everyone...
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...peers do. Freshman Melinda Sordino did not have her ninth grade year go as planned for her. Her story is told in this book. This is a powerful novel that is great for opening discussions and shining awareness on topics such as violence, sex, language, drinking, drugs and smoking. "Speak" tells the story of 13 year old Melinda Sordino, who has a rough first year of high school. The previous summer, Melinda busted a party by calling the cops. No one understood why she did so, and this one act of hers is what made her an outcast her freshman year. It was made known what she had done that night and people weren't easy on her for this. With her friends not talking to her and the constant judgment of those around her who didn't even know her, this caused Melinda unbelievable stress. Melinda, now a mute and friendless, only found comfort in herself but she could never remain eased for too long because there was something else that happened that night that was causing her nonstop stress. She couldn't find the voice to speak about what had happened to her, and she didn't have anyone she could talk about it to anyway. The characters in this book are described as the way Melinda sees them. This book is written in first person narrative, and gives description as to how Melinda sees things and feels towards them. One thing that stands out about this book is that it is almost written as if it were a poem. You don't not see many novels written like this now-a-days. Melinda as the protagonist...
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...Name: Shelly (Yiru) Shi Year: 10th Title: Speak Author: Laurie Halse Anderson The book, “Speak” by Laurie Hales Anderson is about Melinda has a deep secret in her heart which she was raped by a boy named Andy. It is too shameful and secretive for her to talk. I have a friend who was raped by her half brother, but she chose to talk to the Elders eventually. There is an old saying in Chinese that “you should turn on the light in your heart by yourself. Thus nobody can save you except you at the first time”. I feel for her because as for me sometimes when I feel that something’s are hard for other people to understand I tend not to talk about because nobody can understand. For Melinda, sex is one of the most important things in a woman’s life. Nobody wanted to ask her what happened at first time when her best friend Rachel or her mom saw her weird behavior, but also her fear and struggling in her deep heart. She needs somebody to push her, to help her in a gentle way, like Mr. Freeman did. Even though, I didn’t meet any of these things in my life, it doesn’t mean it won’t happen in somewhere else in the whole world. Before I read the book, I thought if someone doesn’t want to talk, it just because they are introverted by nature. I always adopt a nonchalant attitude towards things of no personal interest (which is a Chinese old saying). But I realize that there would be lots of people that we need to focus on. Maybe they are sadness ladies, upset students or even autistic...
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...lives in. Melinda lists the cliques that the ninth grade class has broken into: "Jocks, Country Clubbers, Idiot Savants, Cheerleaders, Human Waste, Eurotrash, Future Fascists of America, Big Hair Chix, the Marthas, Suffering Artists, Thespians, Goths, Shredders" , familiar high school groups. Many readers will also understand Melinda's feeling of adolescent social isolation. Her negative reactions to certain aspects of the school day, such as gym class("Gym class should be illegal. It is humiliating" ) and lunch ("Nothing good ever happens at lunch. The cafeteria is a giant sound stage where they film daily segments of Teenage Humiliation Rituals. And it smells gross" ), are not unique to someone suffering from post-traumatic stress. Furthermore, Melinda exhibits a typical adolescentreaction to authority figures and rejects them by giving them ridiculous nicknames....
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...Speak Personal Response Speak shows that the author, Laurie Halse Anderson, understands and remembers the crude emotions and unrest that makes up a teen’s world. This happens to be the most realistic fiction story on the battles of adolescence and harassment. Melinda does not turn into a racist activist Wonder Woman (even though she might when she is older) portrayed in some movies and her recovery is not sugar coated, it describes the true struggles. Even though this novel is based on sexual harassment it also focuses on the thoughts and feelings of a victim of the cruelties in high school. Rape and harassment are not issues I have dealt with but the shunning by friends, weird teachers, and oblivious teachers are problems that I and many others can relate to. For instance, the description of the Sordino family’s communication system on page 14 depicts how some teens get cut of from communication with their parents. The author of Speak portrays high school to be truly what it really is. “I am clanless.”(4) Melinda thinks just what practically all teens think. I am part of no clan; I don’t think FFCA has clans but you still fell “uncool” or not popular. Melinda also talks a lot about how no one cares what you have to say and in reality, that is the comprehension countless teens have about adults. Laurie Halse Anderson did a dead-on illustration of a ninth graders’ day to day life in the dog eat weaker dog world we call high school. Creativity and symbolism in writing are...
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...In Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, the protagonist, Melinda Sordino, is struggling with depression. She attends a party with her friends and upperclassmen before the start of freshman year. Melinda, wrapped in the thrill of her first party, drinks three beers and is asked by Andy Evans for a dance. She agreed, flattered that a senior would ask her for such a thing. However, he abuses Melinda’s intoxicated state and aggressively rapes her. Terrified and confused, she quickly calls the cops, though finds herself unable to speak. The other kids realize she’s calling the police, who arrest several of the partiers once they arrive. Abandoned by all her friends, Melinda starts school with the bad reputation of a “tattler”. Anderson uses symbolism...
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...young adult books. To continue, Speak describes the conflict of the high school freshman, Melinda, and her behavior for much of the novel. This book obligates the reader to think about their actions and effects on people's feelings. Speak is set in Syracuse, New York. Exact dates aren't listened in the book. However, because the book was first published in 1999, it probably takes place in the late 1990’s. Most of Speak happens in Merewether High School where Melinda is facing her conflicts. Melinda is a freshman striving depression who entered high school with the wrong hair, clothes, and...
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