In the book Speak written by Laurie Halse Anderson the main character, Melinda, faces a serious problem. She went to a party over summer where there was underage drinking going on, she called the cops. The classmates of hers got mad at her and she lost all her friends even though they didn't know the reason she really called the cops. Her problems are caused caused by two major conflicts, Man vs Self, and Man vs Man. Man vs Man is a conflict because she was raped at the party, we don't find this out until later in the book but when we find out it changes how you feel for Melinda. Man vs Self is another conflict because she would never tell anybody what actually happened, once she starts talking about it she doesn't have as hard of a time in school. The climax of the story is when rachel almost gets raped again in the old janitor's closet during prom. This is the …show more content…
This makes me think that the author was trying to give Melinda the “i dont care” alot attitude or she was trying to be funny. Most of the time though we only see Melinda's thoughts and she really doesn't talk to a lot of people The theme of this story is “speak”. To me that means that if something bad happens to you that you need to talk to somebody about it and not just bottle it up inside. When people don't know what happened they assume things and they'll take actions that may hurt you more because they don't know the truth because you never spoke about your problem. Personally i didn't like the book speak. It never really grabbed my interest and was just overall boring to me. The author tries to make you feel bad for Melinda because she was raped and didn't have the courage to tell anybody. Yes this is sad, but it doesn't draw me in to read more. I think she should've just said what happened and not been scared to talk about what happened so there would have not been a book for me to read about a pointless subject like
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.
There are many things going on in the story but it has a great theme which is it doesn't matter what others think about you or how they see you, all that matters is that you are happy and enjoying yourself.
In the novel Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson utilizes the motif of the janitor's closet to show the growth and changes Melinda goes through, starting nonfunctional, and then finally finding her voice and learning how to “speak”.
Throughout the book we can feel the struggle that a high school student can go through when they are misunderstood, discriminated and looked down upon. High schools and especially North American high schools can be ruthless and brutal about the people that somehow do not fit in. In the beginning of the book it was mentioned how everybody was part of specific groups or “clans” and that someone who did not fit into a group was doomed. I believe, that even though the main topic in the book is rape the author wanted us to think about more than rape and sexual assault in high schools. The fact that Melinda felt guilty, even though she was a victim of sexual assault shows us how hard it is for high school students who do not feel like they belong somewhere to speak up. The best example we can see of this is when David speaks up against Mr. Neck. By speaking up for the right of free speech in class he proved that speaking up is sometimes the best way to fight against an unfair authority. Mr. Neck was constantly shown as a character that picked on and oppressed Melinda, so even a brief act of going against him shows Melinda’s fight against
The main conflict is Ellen’s inner conflict and the effect that her repressed feelings have on her life and her attitudes.
Speak, by Laurie Halse anderson is novel about a girl known by the name of Melinda Sordano.In the novel Melindas transforamtion as the main protagoinst is represented by a tree. Three ways in which a tree represents Melinda are through the strugle to find who she is, her growth, amd life.
“Rape is always the rapist's fault. People never "ask for it" because of the clothes they wear or the way they act. If sex is forced against someone's will, it's rape” (Nemours). Melinda meets Andy at the party and she started having a good time with him and moves with him to the darker parts of the woods, and even though Melinda went on her own freewill with Andy to the woods, he still forced himself on her when she clearly was trying to escape- which ultimately would be consider date rape. Throughout the novel, Melinda has a hard time speaking of what happen to her and does not want to acknowledge the problem. At the end of the marking period Melinda encounter Andy Evans, who she hates, and refers him as IT, “IT sees me. IT smiles and winks. Good thing my lips are stitched together or I’d throw up”. Melinda is under pressure since she has been living in this nightmare. Her rapist is a guy at her school, and he’s talking to her former best friend. The rape changed Melinda and forces her to change though violence. It changes her physically and mentally, such as not speaking, not sleeping, not even cleaning her hair and other things that are noticeable but nobody really seems to really listen or see what Melinda is going through. Melinda states,” I just want to sleep. The whole point of not talking about it, of silencing the memory, is to make it go away, it won’t. I’ll need brain surgery to cut it out of my head” (Anderson, 81-82). This quote shows Melinda’s struggle trying to forget what happen to her at the party, the memory will stay with her, even if it is below the surface. At this point, Melinda is realizing that silence and repression will not lead to forgetting what happened. When she says she want to sleep she means two things which are: she actually wants to sleep but is not able to
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.
The mood and tone of the story are extremely strong because of the way the story is written and the words used. Even though there are numerous occasions where the characters go through rough times, somehow the story is still light hearted. The author used examples such as ``They dropped gracefully from nowhere, like two sparkling birds`` and ``It was the friendliest tap, a bit tentative, as if she was afraid she had arrived too early at a friends house``. These quotes and many others in the story use generally positive words even though they are setting the scene for an incident. The message the author is giving the reader is that there is always something positive to look forward to even if you are going through hard times. In like manner, the author describes the activities the characters in the story do in order to get past what they have been through. For example, when the daughter says ``She finally learned to read and write, as a way of overcoming boredom and depression of those weeks, and it was my father who insisted on teaching her, ``. Correspondingly, even though her husband passed away in the circus, she went to the hospital where she fell in love all over again. It was the incident in the circus that brought the daughters parents together, which the daughter is clearly grateful for as well when she says ``I owe my existence, the second time then, to the two of them and the hospital that brought
“The story employs a dramatic point of view that emphasizes the fragility of human relationships. It shows understanding and agreemen...
In conclusion, the author used a theme that conflict helps strengthen bonds. Some may argue that the main theme is about friendship. Though the author does mention this theme several themes it is not the main theme because it is not used often. The author spends more time emphasizing the value of relations between people and how they grow in times of conflict. Overall, the author uses emotional ways of the show not tell in a well-crafted novel to help readers know how we can connect it to our daily
In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda, the main character, goes through a series of events that affect her in the long run and shape her identity. Melinda goes through an eventful evening at a party and keeps it to herself for a long period of time. This is just one of the things that affects her. Some other turning points in Melinda’s life is when she finally tells someone about what happened at that party, as well as losing her friend Heather. These are all things that
10. The theme of the story is that people will do anything for their loved ones even though it means it will hurt other people that are innocent. The quote “How brave. How desperate. How insane. To keep her son from a manslaughter charge that might have turned into murder, she would scar herself and send another man to his death” (328) describes how Connie did everything she could to protect her son Neil, despite the fact that she would be hurting an innocent man. This theme is very true and applies in many situation where people are carelessly blamed from crimes that they didn’t commit.
The entire story was a symbol of Needy’s life. The setting in the story was symbolic to the way Needy was feeling. Needy’s life was diminishing right before his eyes, and he did not realize it. The different changes in the story represented how much Needy’s life had gradually changed over time. By reading the story the reader can tell that Needy was in a state of denial.
The story shows you how an unexpected twist in the plot can affect the whole out of the story. The story is about a woman, who has heart problems, and she learns about his death, and when she finds out he is alive she dies of joy the doctors think. Also, this story shows you how women were treated back in the 1800’s. The USA has changed dramatically over time because women are treated equal. Therefore, the moral is to never not expect the unexpected, and all ways treat others with respect because it could hurt you or others.