Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak

1275 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Peer pressure a big challenge to the young

Speak Essay

Melinda was an outcast and loner in high school who was overwhelmed, fearful, and confused with her life and her environment at school. She was always silent in class and afraid to speak in front of people. Many students today might feel the need to fit in with other people so they wouldn’t have to be looked down upon. As we take a look at Melinda’s life we’ll be able to see how she handles her daily conflicts. In the book, Speak, Melinda Sordino, an incoming freshman at Merryweather High, starts her year off with a terrible start. She’s stuck with a mean history teacher, by who she calls Mr. Neck and a whole bunch of other weird teachers like her English teacher of who she calls, Hairwomen, because of her crazy, uncombed hair. Her favorite teacher would seem to be her art teacher, Mr. Freeman, because he seems to be the nicest and most reasonable. Every student, even her ex-best friend, Rachel Bruin, gives her nasty looks and treats her rudely. All this trouble started when Melinda called the cops at an end-of-summer party. Everybody thinks she did that just to bust them and get all the people in trouble but instead, she called the cops for something more terrifying. During the night of that party, she was raped by a senior who goes to Merryweather High, Andy Evans, by who she calls IT or Andy Beast. She was too scared and didn’t know what to do so she called the cops. Because of this, now everyone in school is disgusted and hateful of her. Though most of the students didn’t like her, she did become sort of “distant” friends with Heather, Ivy, and her science lab partner, David Petrakis. With all the drama, sadness, and conflict involved in Melinda’s life, she still seems to manage and finish the school year without ...

... middle of paper ...

... emotional and mental growth from what happened to her through her artwork. Like Melinda had said in the book, she had gone through different phases in her art pictures from ones with dead, leafless trees to trees with cubism and beautiful leaves and branches. This shows her growth and recovery from what happened that night at the party. In the end, as this relates to Melinda, life is like a tree. You start off a little seed and then become a sprout. You learn from your mistakes and life lessons and begin to grow into a tall, strong, and mighty tree wear no one can harm or stop you from being yourself.

Works Cited

 Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999.

 Archetypes: Color. Home Page. The Professional Template II, 12 November 2013,

.

Show More
Related

  • Characteristics And Imagery In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

    281 Words  | 1 Pages

    Throughout the passages, Laurie Halse Anderson establishes the Central Idea through the use of Characteristics and Imagery, revealing that the loudest words are the ones that aren’t spoken.

    Read More

  • Notorious American Artists: Betye Saar

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...through and seen as a child, she really overcame the battles of the community as an artist gathering bits and pieces of memories from the trash just to make something out of it. But, to Saar it meant the world to her to have that doll that was repaired for her on Christmas. She really didn’t see it trash but as treasure in her eyes.

    Read More

  • And When We Awoke there Was Light by Laura Jacqmin

    791 Words  | 2 Pages

    Katie’s teacher, Mr. Dubey, puts a very high emphasis on the students at Katie’s school about how important school is. Because Katie starts to feel bad for using David to get into Harvard, his attitude toward the topic changes and he tells that she should be self-serving and not really care what people say and to not "ruin the rest of your life just because you feel a little guilty right now"(74). All of these conflicting messages on what Katie should be like, how she should treat others an...

    Read More

  • Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

    1740 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Why Speak Should Not Be Banned Essay

    953 Words  | 2 Pages

    Speak starts with a young lady, named Melinda, attending her first day of school scoping out the school and staff without any friends. Melinda, being the quiet girl she is in the beginning of the school year, gains new friends, a new girl from out of town, and her art teacher. As the story progress, background on Melinda is revealed. She had lost her friends after calling the cops on the party because she was scared after being raped by a boy named Andy Evans. Melinda’s grades and relationship begins to dwindle down as the year goes on for Melinda forcing her to see the guidance counselor with her parents. She starts to talk a little more to her old friends as her new friend Heather has

    Read More

  • Melindas Improvement

    474 Words  | 1 Pages

    “I start on the leaves, suffocating the bushes”(p.166). This quote describes Melinda going outside and doing yard work on her own without being asked to, which I don’t think she would have done before. Another example is when she asked her dad to bring her some flower seeds (p.168). These quotes prove that Melinda definitely becomes more active during the second half of the year. When the year started, Melinda did poorly in school.

    Read More

  • A Stolen Life by Jaycee Lee Dugard

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ors to describe her life and situation. This comes primarily from the fact that in her therapy sessions that is how she is taught to deal with everything. For example, one metaphor she talks about is “… she comes up with the idea of lighting candles to symbolize my past, present, and future…I’ve noticed my past melting… my present candle has stayed pretty much the same,” (D 266). She explains them as her past is become less controlling, her present is her and concrete ideas and her future is bright and untouched. These metaphors show how much she has grown and allow the things she is learning to have more meaning. All of these combine to make the piece very effective and insightful. They help to get her point across and call people to action to help against these crimes.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Social Constructs In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

    1882 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many people in the world are like puppets. They move to the commands of others. Once in awhile, the puppet obtains a will of its own and moves against the crowd. Ivy, from Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, became that one puppet who moved against the crowd, with the crowd being social constructs. A social construct is something that the society makes true even though to other people, it has no value. There are many examples of social conflicts throughout the book and the clans or groups in school are social constructs. The main character, Melinda, struggled to fit into these categories causing her to be the Outcast to society. Nobody seems to want to truly befriend Melinda, causing her to be alone. Although Melinda is ostracized by her society

    Read More

  • Analysis of Laura Anderson's Speak

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    An image of a dead skull indicates that a substance is poisonous because it happens to be a symbol. Throughout our lives, symbols are used to interpret meanings in an easier way. Similar to how trees represent life and death. They are a constant source of renewal. In Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel Speak, Laurie uses the power of symbolism to expound Melinda’s progress and growth throughout her bildungsroman story by using Melinda’s art class’ project: trees.

    Read More

  • Melinda Sordino Trauma

    1526 Words  | 4 Pages

    Melinda desperately wanted to explain and rely on someone. Rachel showed indifference as she invited Melinda to the party and Melinda did something that she should not have, which could affect her potential high school status. After Melinda calls the cops at the party, nobody bothers to ask what’s wrong, not even Rachel/Rachelle, who was Melinda's best friend. The first interaction that Melinda had after the event was in the cafeteria with Rachel, where she whispers, “i hate you,” from where she is seated (5). Since the people involved are not even slightly curious as to why or what could have happened to make Melinda call the cops, she becomes alienated. Melinda later becomes friends with Heather, their relationship is based on using each other. Melinda uses Heather so she is not alone. While Heather uses Melinda, so she can help her complete activities to join the Martha’s. When you start relying on someone and you still get omitted, it doesn’t make you overcome the wound, in fact, it adds more injuries. Compared to Heather and Rachel, when Melinda meets Ivy and David Petrakis she starts opening up. David is a role-model as he is the only one who helps her speak up. David does not know what Melinda has been through, yet Melinda still went to him when she didn't want to speak for her suffragette presentation. He helps her but later tells her that,"The suffragettes were all about speaking up, [and she] can't speak up for [her] right to be silent." This connects Melinda to the women in the past, who spoke for their rights. In contradiction, Melinda stays silent for hers, which won't have as great an effect (159). Ivy is the first person to understand and agree with Melinda. She also thinks that Andy Evans, Melinda's assaulter is bad news. When Melinda realizes

    Read More

  • Ellen Foster

    1450 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...family that she grew up in was such a negative environment. It is very possible that she will grow up to be an art teacher. One might think this because she looked up to her art teacher so much and admired her; Ellen’s mind is full of creativity and ideas. When Ellen’s school found out that her dad was abusive to her they put her up at her art teacher’s house. Ellen says “I came a long way to get here but when you think about it really hard you will see that old Starletta came even farther… And all this time I thought I had the hardest row to hoe” Like Ellen did, it is important for everyone to look back into their life and see what they have learned. Doing so cannot change ones past but only add to their future. Ellen will always carry the horrors of her childhood with her but by using all of her assets that she gained throughout the book her future can be enriched.

    Read More

  • Laurie Halse Anderson Brothers Character Analysis

    593 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the most formative elements in a person's life is family. In Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, the influence of family is expressed throughout the novel. A young slave girl named Isabel is separated from her parents at a young age. Despite the separation, her family still maintains a connection. Isabel's family instills in her qualities that are vital to surviving in a world of slavery.

    Read More

  • The Movie 'Coming Of Age Film Speak'

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    This is a huge step in he coming of age direction. Even though she isn't yet able to say it out loud, she has written it down. Her friend doesn't believe her, because Melinda than tells her that the boy who raped her is now her ex best friends boyfriend. Melinda’s ex best friend thinks that Melinda is just jealous of her boyfriend and she’s saying this to make them breakup. As the year continues she doesn't tell anyone.

    Read More

  • Melinda Anderson Symbolism

    575 Words  | 2 Pages

    'I've been painting watercolors of trees that have been hit by lighting. I try to paint them so they are nearly dead but not totally' ( Anderson 30,31) this says to me a multitude of ideas. One of those ideas is that Melinda is just simply putting up a facade of life when inside she is really just dead and gone. I also feel like Melinda wants to live a full life but is frightened. She is frightened because she doesn't know if anyone will believe her about being assaulted and wishes for an outlet. Also I think Melinda wished for someone to talk to during the beginning of the year because of her mood thoughts and actions.

    Read More

More about Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak

Open Document