Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson Essay

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Settings, Characters, Conflict In this novel, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the author takes us on a journey into the world of high school, where social anxiety, family struggles, and personal secrets can be unavoidable. This story takes place at Merryweather High, where ninth grader, Melinda Sordino, is trying to find her true belonging through the people around her. After a traumatic experience at a party in the summer, her life is turned upside down, and she must move past the hard challenges of high school while struggling to take care of her mental health. As Melinda’s story moves along, we listen to her deal with the main conflict of her story: the struggle to find her voice and speak the truth in a world that is determined to keep …show more content…

Anderson describes, “The hallways are alive with the sound of lockers slamming, kids laughing, and teachers yelling”(Anderson 25). This quote shows a chaotic and extremely overwhelming environment Melinda has to adapt to. Her school’s expectations of popularity are seen when she states, “cliques and crowds” (Anderson 30), that prove how she is silenced from the first day. Moreover, the empty yard symbolizes her emotions of being silent and the disconnection between her and her peers that contributes to a constant thought of Melinda’s depression. Through this setting at Merryweather High School, the author describes ways that the environment of students on campus can reflect on a person’s way of expressing one’s voice and personal experiences. The main characters in Speak, specifically Melinda and Heather, play an important role in Melinda's journey to express herself and speak her truth. Melinda is a complicated and indescribable character when she says, “I’m a freshman in high school, and I’m a victim” (Anderson, 42). This illustrates her struggle to move through high school with a traumatic past, also making her a reserved but sympathetic

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