Everyone has faced rough patches with their emotions. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson contains many relatable themes and does not shy away from discussing the difficult subjects. This story details the side effects of sexual assault on high school freshman Melinda Sordino. This book can touch many young readers, no matter their situation. Despite its heavy themes, it does a fantastic job of addressing sexual assault and rape. This novel has relatable themes about broader topics that can be applied to a wider audience, such as depression and identity, that can resonate with readers. Even if someone can not resonate with the much deeper and more serious topic of sexual assault present in the book, there is most likely still something for them …show more content…
She does not use avoidant language to describe the events that occur. It is common in the media to sugarcoat the topic of sexual assault and rape, which leads one to believe that the topic is not as serious as it is. This novel does a magnificent job of showing the inner turmoil that occurs within a young victim such as Melinda Sordino, and how she can not run from her feelings or what happened to her. Anderson shows this via the quote: “You were thirteen years old. It doesn't matter if you were drunk. Honey, you were raped. What a horrible thing you had to live through” (164). This quote shows someone else telling Melinda that what had happened was a serious assault, therefore stressing how serious of a situation rape is. Anderson uses explicit language to emphasize the severity of the situation at hand. Another piece from the text that supports this is: “IT happened”. There is no avoiding, no forgetting. No running away, or flying, or burying, or hiding. Andy Evans raped me in August” (1988). This quote shows Melinda officially coming to terms with her assault. She is now acknowledging that she was
Rape is a hidden epidemic that affects many lives world wide. It is a problem that is so terrifying and uncomfortable that people do not talk about it. John Krakauer, author of Missoula, focuses on this issue of rape in the college town of Missoula, Montana. His focus is specifically on the case of Allison Huguet and Beau Donaldson. As the progression of Allison 's case continues we learn of more and more rape cases that happened to women on this same campus. A majority of women do not report these cases, we later learn as Krakauer continues through Allison 's case, because reporting and pursuing the case would be giving their life away. [4] Of course Allison decides to go through the trails of Beau Donaldson, however it is obvious that it is extremely difficult to convict someone with little evidence. As hard of a read as Missoula
She was harassed at school by malicious and prejudiced boys, and felt isolated by her limited English language abilities. Her discomfort with puberty was exacerbated by an encounter with a perverted American exhibitionist in a car. She dealt with these issues later in life by becoming a psychologist and analyzing her family's myriad mental problem” (Spark Notes Editors, 2002).
In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character Melinda is a 14 year old girl who is struggling to find not only a friend group, but also a friend who will stick by her side, but the year before Melinda was invited to a under age drinking party, and she was raped. She was not safe so she called the police. Melinda's desire to protect herself after she is assaulted does not conform to her peers ideas of what is ¨cool¨ and acceptable and so she is ostracized, experiences severe depression, but forced to understand what true friendship really is.
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a story written in the first person about a young girl named Melinda Sordino. The title of the book, Speak, is ironically based on the fact that Melinda chooses not to speak. The book is written in the form of a monologue in the mind of Melinda, a teenage introvert. This story depicts the story of a very miserable freshman year of high school. Although there are several people in her high school, Melinda secludes herself from them all. There are several people in her school that used to be her friend in middle school, but not anymore. Not after what she did over the summer. What she did was call the cops on an end of summer party on of her friends was throwing. Although all her classmates think there was no reason to call, only Melinda knows the real reason. Even if they cared to know the real reason, there is no way she could tell them. A personal rape story is not something that flows freely off the tongue. Throughout the story Melinda describes the pain she is going through every day as a result of her rape. The rape of a teenage girl often leads to depression. Melinda is convinced that nobody understands her, nor would they even if they knew what happened that summer. Once a happy girl, Melinda is now depressed and withdrawn from the world. She hardly ever speaks, nor does she do well in school. She bites her lips and her nails until they bleed. Her parents seem to think she is just going through a faze, but little do they know, their daughter has undergone a life changing trauma that will affect her life forever.
Adversity affects the lives of many individuals. Through facing adversity people tend to show their true selves. In the novel “Speak” by Laurie Halse-Anderson, the main character Melinda, faces a few different types of adversity. One form of adversity that she faces is that she was sexually assaulted. Another type of adversity that Melinda goes through in this novel is that she loses all her friends and starts to lose her family as well. Throughout my life, I have faced many different types of adversity, one major thing that I have dealt with in my life is depression. Those who face adversity in their life can choose if they want to face it or to ignore it, and the outcome will prove what they chose to do.
In the breathtaking book, Speak, by Laurie Hales Anderson, she gives insight into the ups and downs of high school in the eyes of her main character, Melinda. More specifically, Anderson focuses on one down fall, which happens primarily through Melinda “[Going] to [an] end-of the summer party, with beer, seniors, and music” and getting raped (Anderson, 133). While rape victims should tell their story, Anderson rejects the significance of having Melinda talk of her case as a way of showing the consequence of holding your tongue. Efficiently, as a result of her not speaking of her assault at the party, it causes her to go through an important change from the beginning of the novel, to the ending of the novel. According
The plot of the book, Speak is that Melinda Sordino, a freshman at Merryweather High went to an end of the summer party with some of her friends. Things take a turn for the worst when a senior named Andy Evans sexually assaults her at the party without her friends knowing about it. Melinda is frightened, afraid, and does not know what to do so she calls 911 busting the party, and causing her friends and everyone at that school to hate her, even if they don’t know her.
Laurie Halse Andersons, Speak, published in 1999 educates the reality of which we must speak out to be heard. Presumptively the novel is set in the late 90's at Merryweather high school in Syracuse New York. Protagonist, Melinda Sordino, narrates her story as a sexual assault victim. We journey through her freshman year and watch her suffer to find her lost voice and overcome her negative convictions . While her persona is revealed, we see that the rape forces change on Melinda through violence. Several months of self mutilation and bitter silence, she finally speaks up for herself and confronts her antagonist. Melinda's introspection through her art allows growth and she becomes a survivor. Her recovery nonetheless was tough and protracted.
can also fall victim to this awful crime. In the time that it takes a person to read this essay two people in the U.S alone will have been raped. In the novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main protagonist is a 9th grade girl named Melinda Sordino. During the summer of 8th grade, she is at a party and gets raped. She calls the cops but the rapist doesn't get into trouble, only the other kids do. Then during the school year the other kids hate
And since that day, our voices have only grown louder. I tell my story, not because it is unique, but because it is not. It is the story of many girls.” She realized opportunity through this trial would give her if she spoke up about what happened to her, she understood if she gave up the voices of many girls would be unheard, she knew that is was up to her to be the voice of those who can not voice their stories.
“Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson presents Melinda’s (a teenage girl) life as she drifts through her adolescent years, where she struggles to overcome internal depression, as well as typical issues, involving her social life. Melinda’s life in an obscure world, where enigmatic challenges constantly clog her path towards a normal and healthy life, she feels lost and betrayed. Likewise, the boy that raped her attends the same school as her, causing her to have constant memories of the event. Thus, Melinda’s defective life compromising of rape, lack of communication, and depression mirrors the lives of many teens around the world. In addition, this book revolves around the dominant theme of adolescence, resulting to an effect of a realistic- fiction novel.
...hich is about 238,000 people a year. Of all of these cases, 60% are never reported. A shocking two-thirds of these accounts of rape were committed by someone the person knew. As well as abuse, child abuse is an issue of today. About 70% of these children are under four years old about many never receive the help they need. There is also a tie between physical, sexual and emotional abuse in families that have a lower income of less than $1,500 a year. Over the last few years, abuse and murder have started to decrease, but they are no where closer to ending. However, while Joyce Carol Oates wrote a majority of her books from the 60’s to the 2000s, murder and abuse were at their peak. In reading Oates’s novels from this time period, one can see the real tragedy of so many Americans have faces, many who were unable to find a voice to express what was happening to them.
Joe and Bazil 's status as the immediate family members to a sexual assault survivor allows readers to see how sexual assault can impact an entire family unit; a frequent situation that many people find themselves in, but don 't know how to sensibly handle emotionally. Through Joe 's perspective as a child in this novel, Erdrich guides her audience into understanding how complex of a societal issue sexual assault is by displaying how far reaching its effects are on the victim, family, and community of a
Searles, Patricia and Berger, Ronald. Rape and Society: reading on problem of sexual assault. Westview Press, 1995
In the essay, “Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools” the author Nadine Farid Johnson reviews the states that have banned books as well as the books that have been banned, she then goes on to give her opinion on book banning, and how schools should go about banning books. Johnson does not believe in banning books; she thinks that it is taking away from the student's learning and they are missing out on opportunities. She thinks if the parents don't want them to read the books, that is understandable, but that should not stop everyone from reading the books. I agree with the author, I don’t believe that the USA should be banning books. I think this for a couple of reasons, I believe that if parents or students don’t