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Melindas identity in speak
Speak melinda character analysis
Melindas identity in speak
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Melinda has a very different character. She had many friends and was very happy until a specific tragedy. After that her friends dumped her, and she became depressed. Her behavior changed along with her whole attitude. Melina’s trauma shapes her identity. For example, she was raped, and has not been the same since. “I want to grab her by the neck and shake her and scream her her to stop treating me like dirt” (Anderson 21). Consequently, Melinda has been acting out and has not been herself. She has been skipping school, not worrying about her grades, and constantly thinking of what others think of her. Melinda’s friendships shape her identity as well. For example, her friends dumped her which left her feeling more self conscious. “What
Speaking up and not isolating yourself can help oneself overcome problems in life that can cause difficulties. Bottling up feelings that should have been talked through can help oneself be more confident. For instance, in the beginning of the book, Melinda is running out of the lunch room after
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.
Anna Figureoa, 59, has kept her feelings suppressed for most of her life. Figureoa’s bloodshot eyes extended out of their socket as she struggled to recall how her depression began. She bit her fingernails, then stuffed them ashamedly between her ratty couch cushions before revealing she spent her childhood and teenage years in foster homes. Five different men, including three who were LDS, molested Figureoa repeatedly. She blamed those experiences on herself, thus starting the swift spiral downward into despair.
In the United States, a forcible rape takes place approximately every 6 minutes (Statistic Brain Research Institute). Melinda Sordino is the main character in Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel, Speak. Sordino nearly stops verbalizing after an unknown incident. Throughout the novel, this incident is revealed to be a rape. This occurrence takes place at an end-of-summer party, at which, after being sexually assaulted, Sordino calls the police, causing the party to end. As a consequence of not maintaining her friendships over the summer, Sordino starts her freshman year in high school as an outcast; therefore, she no longer socializes, nor does she have any friends. In addition, the relationships in her household are deteriorating as her lack of ability to express her feelings deepens. In the book Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson creates an extended metaphor for Melinda to help develop Melinda’s character. In the novel, she directly and actively compares her
One factor that shaped Melinda’s identity is her family. “You get those grades up or your name is mud. Hear me? Get them up!” (Anderson 36) Where her parents talk to her, and each other they have a raised voice. They don’t try to listen to her, and this is something that could shape her identity because she feels like she can’t talk to them. The way someone is raised
Everyone has faced moments when they are afraid to speak up, and Melinda is no exception. However, you cannot let fear or anxiety hold you back from speaking out. In Speak, a novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson, we see this laid out in an interesting way—Melinda doesn’t have the courage to speak for most of the novel, and we see the consequences; however, by the end of the novel, she finally gets the courage to speak up. She shows the theme of not fearing to speak up through the relation between Melinda and Andy. Andy is a student went to an end-of-the-summer party where he raped Melinda. Melinda called the cops and even though they did arrive, Andy was not arrested, and now, everyone at school hates her. Since then, she has been afraid
Melinda finds the theme through the tough parts of the book and learning how to get them. When everyone is mad at her for calling the cops at the party she tries to get over it, but she still doesn’t know why she did it. So when she realizes why she called the cops, because Andy Evans/IT raped her. Melinda finally finds her voice, she decides to tell someone about what happened, even though they didn't take it well. Everyone at her school finds out what Andy did to Melinda and sides with her. But yet again she is acquainted with Andy Evans, and Melinda was locked in a closet with him and he tried to fight her but she used her voice and said ‘no’. Words are definitely powerful than actions, and when Melinda said ‘no’ she left Andy when no words. When Melinda found her voice I don’t think that she could let anything stop her, by the end of the book she decides to tell someone who will actually listen. So I think the theme of this is learning to find your voice, and not caring about what everyone will say. Finding that one person who will listen to you and that you can trust, and speaking up for yourself when you know something is
Students seem to get in troubles mostly when they are in high school. If they don’t know how to solve their problems, their whole school lives, perhaps even their whole lives may be destroyed. The most common problem occurs in high school is isolation. It also can be called bullying even though victims are not hurt physically; they are hurt mentally very bad. Some students can’t get out of it because they lack of courage. They don’t dare to speak up for themselves and the problem become worse day by day. The same thing happens to Melinda in the novel Speak of Laurie Halse Anderson. She has a hard time to struggle with her problem. Melinda demonstrates one major theme in the book, speaking up versus keeping secret, through 3 states - keeping
Firstly, Melinda demonstrates her innocence at the beginning of the novel when she flees the cafeteria because Mr.Neck tries to track her down for her homework. Melinda is in the cafeteria during lunch, when Mr.Neck tracks her through the crowd demanding her homework. This is when Melinda makes a plan: “I cut through the lunch line, loop around a couple making out by the door and start down the hall” (Halse Anderson 25). Melinda shows immaturity when she decides to run away from her problems. She does not realize that running away from her problems is not going to help her failing grades or help her during a future job. By not facing her problems, Melinda shows her innocence and naivety. Secondly, Melinda displays her immaturity during the first-marking period of the novel, when Melinda does not stand up for herself when her class was making fun of her name. Melinda is in Spanish class when
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.
...dation. Thus, Melinda is a strong girl fighting depression that originated from pressure, and rape; this is very common among adolescents. Melinda may be no less than a twin to many teens.
...ctly shown that Melinda’s thoughts gear readers to see many traits of people that suffered traumatic events and are able to return to their former personalities. All of the valuable lessons learned during the reading of SPEAK are encompassed by the main idea of resilience, which is the ability to bounce back from a terrifying event. Melinda showed the importance of participating in “flow” activities and maintaining healthy relationships with friends and family. Additionally, Melinda displays the horrors of rape to educate people about the terrible effects of rape and the book makes sure to deter people from engaging in crimes such as rape. The lessons that can be learned from SPEAK are priceless in that they can save lives and help everyone reach their utmost potential, making SPEAK a book that should be carried on the shelves of all middle school classrooms.
Allowing readers to glimpse her own story as she painfully evaluates her role as mother side by side with historical accounts of other women's experiences provides an avenue for understanding that leads to compassion. By the final chapter, instead of falling into the expected trap of revulsion toward Joanne Michulski's heinous crime, Rich's empathy provides the reader with the insight to realize both the complexity of Michulski's situation and to feel comp...
Another thing that could be a component in Connie's double life is that she is constantly compared to her older sister June. This comparison is
Tracy’s identity development is heavily influenced by her new friendship with Evie from that moment on. Evie is so popular, but she makes very poor choices and Tracy follows her lead because she wants to seem just as “cool” as her new companion. This is a type of peer pressure that affects many teenagers daily.... ... middle of paper ... ...