The act of speaking out creates the difference between a depressed person and an optimistic socialized person. In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, learning how to speak out is the main theme; the protagonist Melinda learns how to speak out about what happened to her during the summer. The act of speaking out is also exemplified through various methods by characters like David Petrakis, Melinda’s lab partner, and Mr. Freeman Melinda’s
Art teacher. David Petrakis argues with Mr. Neck, the social studies teacher, and expresses his ideas and beliefs; he even uses his silence at the end of the argument to speak out. Mr. Freeman also speaks out, but using different methods. He uses his art to voice objection to the members of the school board. In the novel Laurie Halse Anderson emphasizes the importance of speaking out through the characters David Petrakis, Mr. Freeman, and Melinda Sordino.
The character David Petrakis exemplifies the act of speaking out as he argues with Mr.
Neck the social studies teacher and lets out feelings inside him. David Petrakis is Melinda’s lab partner who “Belongs to the cyber genius clan” (Halse Anderson 37) and gets good grades in all of his subjects. Melinda refers to David in any situation related to intelligence. David also tries to help Melinda by making her more social, his attempts include inviting her for a pizza party and helping her in a social studies’ presentation. David’s argument with Mr. Neck starts when Mr.
Neck begins a debate about immigration and blames immigrants for problems in the country because an immigrant is accepted for a job instead of his son. After that Mr. Neck decides to end
Danial 2 the debate, but David argues that in a debate each student has the right to speak. T...
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... speak through the characters David Petrakis, Mr. Freeman, and the protagonist Melinda Sordino. David Petrakis exemplifies the method of speaking out through actions and even silence. David’s speaking out happens in front of Mr. Neck who wants to erase students personalities as he wants to end debates without the students participating in it. Mr.
Freeman also exemplifies the act of speaking out through his art. He speaks out and objects the school board policies. The protagonist Melinda is the most important character to exemplify the act of speaking out and expressing oneself. She learns how to speak out about what happens to her instead of keeping it inside her and suffers depression and isolation. Thus, the author Laurie
Halse Anderson proves the importance of speaking out and how it can change a person’s life from depressing and hopeless to joyful and optimistic.
The few flashes of individuality showed her ability to rise to the occasion, to overcome her dependency, when the action was the only solution available. Like buying the poison or getting money by offering china-painting classes.
In the essay, “Other Voices, Other Rooms” from Inquiry to Academic Writing, Gerald Graff argues that students learn things differently from class to class and are not taught to use information from one class in another. This is a problem especially in higher education today because there is such a large gap from professor to professor. Although the disagreement from one subject to the next may seem like a problem to some, if there were no disagreements, nothing would be worth learning. While these problems may occur, they are essential in the evolvement of education. Without these disagreements there would not be any search for more information to solve the problems. Also, students would not be motivated to continue to learn. The disagreements between the two are what seem to confuse students, but what confuses them more is how the education system is set up. Students must learn to make
Ever since the party, Melinda rarely talked to anybody, including her parents. Nevertheless, I noticed that during the second semester of the year she talked considerably more. “All right, but you said we had to put emotion into our art. I don’t know what that means. I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel.”(p122). This quote is from the third marking period when Melinda was talking to her art teacher Mr.Freeman. I believe that she wouldn’t have said anything had it been earlier in the year. “Stinks. It was a mistake to sign up for art. I just couldn’t see myself taking wood shop.”(p.146). This quote is another example of Melinda talking, this time to Ivy in the mall. I think these quotes prove that Melinda starts talking more as the year progresses.
Leo argues that a lively debate is crucial to education, as it encourages “intellectual roughhouse” and allows people to challenged by, and become open to new ideas and discussion topics. Leo provides an example of a fellow columnist who agrees with him; E.J. Dionne has told his class at Georgetown that he encourages debating without fear from dominant groups.
David must pretend, not just for the remainder of the novel, but for the next forty years, to be ignorant of Frank’s crimes, and much of what is happening because his parents do not realise that he has overheard their discussions.
When David persistently asks Danny questions as Danny half-answers, anxiety is created as the significance of the questions is revealed.
David’s enemy, Sam, is the leader of the Varsity gang. Sam becomes a very bad kid; he actually kills a student during one of the food drops. David has to offer to do laundry for kids in order to get some supplies for him and his brother since they aren’t members of any of the gangs.
that draws the strongest contrast. When I see his painting, I see someone that is trying to express
Speak, is a novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson, about a girl entering high school, for the first time, with a heavy secret weighting on her. Melinda Sordino begins freshman year at Merryweather High School, being a complete different person. Over the summer, Melinda and her friends went to a senior party, where Melinda ended calling the police. This caused her friends and the people at the party to socially reject her, even though they didn’t knew that before the phone call, Andy Evans raped her. Due to the phone call, Melinda enters high school without friends and having to see Andy Evans everyday. Her only “safe” place in the entire school is art class, where Mr. Freeman is the teacher. Mr. Freeman is the only teacher Melinda doesn’t dislike or avoids, because he listens and understands her, but also shows her the value of honesty.
Anna is not afraid to speak her mind. For instance, when her mom is she is so called “sick.” Anna asks her mom if her hearing is okay, she says “Yes”. Therefore, Anna tells her that there is nothing wrong with her and leaves her Mom’s room. She is outspoken when she stood up to her Mom at the factory; Anna was tired of her mom telling her that she is overweight. Anna stood up to her mom and said “ You’re overweight as well, so why are you judging me if we both have the same weight.” Anna is outspoken when on her last day of school, she goes to her job and quits,
...and walked home.” Collins contrasts the students’ misbehavior with the teacher’s ignorance, thus implying a relationship between the history teacher’s inability to teach his students and their ensuing misbehavior.
influence all her life and struggles to accept her true identity. Through the story you can
White, Fred D., and Simone J. Billings. The Well-crafted Argument: Across the Curriculum. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
David leaves the US for Paris and resides there with his girlfriend Hella. She is a bit confused as to what she wants...
The novel follows the protagonist, Celie, as she experiences such hardships as racism and abuse, all the while attempting to discover her own sense of self-worth. Celie expresses herself through a series of private letters that are initially addressed to God, then later to her sister Nettie. As Celie develops from an adolescent into an adult, her letters possess m... ... middle of paper ... ... bservations of her situation and form an analysis of her own feelings.