Shreya Shirodkar
Ms. Lane
American Literature
January 17, 2014
Laurie Halse Anderson: Changing the Scope of Young Adult Fiction
How do you write about the major, live-changing events of people you've never met? How do you write about sensitive issues in an engaging, but still thought-provoking way? How do you write about your own demons so that others do not follow your path? Writer Laurie Halse Anderson could provide the answers to these questions. Written at a time when difficult topics, such as sexual harassment, were just beginning to be spoken about, her stories were a combination of her struggles and the struggles of teens across the country. Through her gift of storytelling, Laurie has brought previously taboo topics, such as date rape and depression, to the attention of teenagers and adults worldwide.
LIFE
Shockingly, this world famous young adult novelist did not always enjoy writing. Born in Potsdam, New York in 1961, Laurie initially had trouble reading and writing, but learned and eventually excelled in both as a result of the guidance she received from supportive teachers. Laurie specifically thanks her second grade teacher, who helped her realize that writing was “cool” (Anderson) during a lesson on haikus. Despite her newfound appreciation of writing, Laurie still didn’t want to become a writer; instead, she wanted to become a doctor ("Laurie Halse Anderson")! Unfortunately for her, Laurie was not very good at either mathematics or chemistry.
For her final year of high school, Laurie decided to do something different. As part of a student’s exchange program, Laurie traveled to Denmark to study, where she had to work on a pig farm. Her experiences in Denmark helped her to grow into an independent young woman. After...
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... home from WWII. Late at night, Laurie would hear her father shrieking, having nightmares about the war. As her father’s condition worsened, Laurie grew increasingly detached from the man she once knew and loved.
Recalling the pain of that period in her life, Laurie wrote the story The Impossible Knife of Memory. In the story, the main character Hayley is attempting to take care of her father, who has PTSD. It can be assumed that some of Hayley’s experiences were actually Laurie’s own experiences. Today, Laurie has moved on from the past and shares a good rapport with her father, who unfortunately still suffers from PTSD (Deutsch).
Throughout her youth, Laurie suffered from a disease of her own: body image issues. She was made of fun by her peers and was even called “Baby Hippo” (Anderson). For years, Laurie had an “unhealthy relationship with food” (???)
The essay begins with Griffin across the room from a woman called Laura. Griffin recalls the lady taking on an identity from long ago: “As she speaks the space between us grows larger. She has entered her past. She is speaking of her childhood.” (Griffin 233) Griffin then begins to document memories told from the lady about her family, and specifically her father. Her father was a German soldier from around the same time as Himmler. Griffin carefully weaves the story of Laura with her own comments and metaphors from her unique writing style.
Sharon Creech’s childhood memories, college experiences, and creative brain significantly affected her writings. She rarely thought of being an author growing up, but as time progressed, she began to really think about it. Creech first became interested when she entered college and something sparked her career. She wrote multiple books with her much thought and creativeness leading her to an outstanding writing career.
Adjusting back to a more civilian life was nearly impossible for veterans returning home. War became live and well inside the homes of families who housed a Vietnam veteran. Stanton Book would find himself having flashbacks of the war that he would never actually speak about. One night, after Independence Day, Eli awakes when he hears screams coming from his mother, Loretta. Immediately after, Eli finds himself in his parents’ bedroom viewing his father choking his mother. Shocked and lost for words, Eli whispers out, “Daddy” and Stanton falls to the floor (House 203). While straining to speak Loretta states, “He was asleep,” and Eli thought to himself, “I knew what she was saying, Don’t worry. He wasn’t trying to kill me. It’s all right” (House 203). The war completely took hold of Stanton’s mind and was a threat to his family. A recent study from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs reveals that, “Families of Veterans with PTSD experience more physical and verbal aggression”. Eli’s once peaceful home became the Vietnam War within itself. No longer could anyone sleep comfortably with the risk of Stanton having a mental outbreak. Throughout the novel the story is told from Eli’s point of view as ten-year-old boy, however, in the epilogue Eli is a grown man with a daughter of his own. He explains that he left
In the novel, “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson. Melinda, the protagonist, does not join a group at Merryweather High School. Lots of people join but don’t get into the group on the first day, but some people get lucky and get it. Once someone joins a group they will change, and probably won’t be the same person you knew before they join the particular group.
One reason as to why Anderson’s ability exists is her life. Laurie Halse Anderson was born October 23, 1961 in Potsdam, NY to a Methodist minister and a manager. While speaking with Joan Kaywell about weaving comedy with tragedy, she said, “I come from a fairly messed-up family with a dark and twisted sense of humor. As a kid, we went through some ugly things, but my parents and other relatives were always quick with a witty observation or wry remark” (78). She has been an avid reader and writer from a very young age and received a degree in languages and linguistics from Georgetown University in 1984. Laurie worked as a freelance repor...
The dramatic realization of the fact that the war will affect a member of the Chance family is apparent in this quote. The amount of sorrow and emotions felt by the Chance family, and for that matter, all families who had children, brothers, husbands, or fathers, drafted into what many felt was a needless war. The novel brings to life what heartache many Americans had to face during the Vietnam era, a heartache that few in my generation have had the ability to realize.
Described within the vignette is a nineteen year old teenager named Brandy. Similar to girls her age, Brandy has difficulties dealing with her body image and self-esteem. For instance, she experiences hopelessness, isolation, sadness, and anxiety that all contribute to Brandy’s acknowledgement of her physical appearance. She completely overestimates her body size to the point of taking dieting pills then defaulting to purging. During the typical day, the meals are scarce but healthy compared to a bad day full of unhealthy snacking. Lastly, her family predicament is not a supportive one at that. Her mother was obese so she constantly dieted while Brandy’s father illustrated signs of sexual interest although he never physically touched her.
Adversity affects the lives of many individuals. Through facing adversity people tend to show their true selves. In the novel “Speak” by Laurie Halse-Anderson, the main character Melinda, faces a few different types of adversity. One form of adversity that she faces is that she was sexually assaulted. Another type of adversity that Melinda goes through in this novel is that she loses all her friends and starts to lose her family as well. Throughout my life, I have faced many different types of adversity, one major thing that I have dealt with in my life is depression. Those who face adversity in their life can choose if they want to face it or to ignore it, and the outcome will prove what they chose to do.
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.
...ther is losing her daughter to time and circumstance. The mother can no longer apply the word “my” when referring to the daughter for the daughter has become her own person. This realization is a frightening one to the mother who then quickly dives back into her surreal vision of the daughter now being a new enemy in a world already filled with evils. In this way it is easier for the mother to acknowledge the daughter as a threat rather than a loss. However, this is an issue that Olds has carefully layered beneath images of war, weapons, and haircuts.
Allison has had a bitter past full of moments which have scarred her personality. She uses these and writes about the world that few are willing to admit exists. Many find refuge behind their gregarious nature and take comfort in religion or other bodies. However, that does not change the facts of what the world is and how it got there. Allison exposes her audience to these facts, and in the process, she shares her own view.
Susie’s essay is about how society has sent standards for how women should look, eat, and behave. That is not a woman’s fault she’s over-weight or obese, but society for their judgmental standards. Susie claims “A feminist perspective to the problem of women’s compulsive eating is essential if we are to move on from the ineffective blame-the-victim approach” (Orbach 201) in this quote Orbach informs the reader that the blame the eater approach is the wrong one. Instead she provides a feminist approach. She says how being fat is sometimes a woman’s way of rebelling against societies standards. To break free of the sex stereotypes. Susie also says “Fat expresses experiences of women today in ways that are seldom examined and even more seldom treated…” here susies is saying that people over look the things that women have to deal with. Such as the magazines of twig-like women, how to be beautiful, how to behave, how to act, and all the stereotypes that society puts on women.
Vera Brittain, a student at Oxford University, called the day the war started, the most thrilling day of her life. Her fiance, close friend, and brother had joined the army. Brittain had a constant anxiety that the war would consume her fiance's life and it would come between their love for eachother. Wanting to do her duty in war, Brittain tried to knit for soldiers, but it did not satisfy her lust to contribute. Later she decided to leave Oxford to become a nurse. Being a nurse was nothing what she imagined it to be. What she witnessed in the hospitals changed her forever. Close to Christmas, Brittain’s fiance announced he would be home for Christmas giving her hope and happiness. Her fiance passed away on December 23rd destroying her life.
In the last 50 years, eating disorders have become more and more prevalent in the United States. Society is starting to realize that they do not just affect teenage women, but men and children as well (Caralat, Camargo & Herzog, 1997; Lask, 2000). Solitaire is a novel originally published by Aimee Liu was she 25 years old. It was considered America's first memoir of anorexia, with Liu describing her battle with anorexia as a teenager in the sixties. Gaining is the sequel to this groundbreaking novel, following Liu as she talks with her fellow (former) eating disorder sufferers. In Gaining, Liu talks with one specific person who is my main focus; Hannah Winters. This essay can be considered a case study of Hannah, looking specifically at her life, symptoms, diagnoses, and comparing them to the research that has been done on similar topics. From her story, Hannah could be considered a poster child of eating disorders; following very closely to the diagnosis of anorexia given in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (APA, 2000) and dealing with many of the typical issues that those who have eating disorders deal with.
In “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision,” Adrienne Rich discusses her view on the role of a woman writer by using examples of her own personal experience. As I look at my life, I can begin to understand how my own personal experiences can reflect the situation of many young women. I am tormented by which role I am supposed to play in today’s society. Am I to become the traditional mother and housewife? Should I flaunt my sexuality and become the female that the media is constantly portraying? Maybe I should be myself and follow my dreams to become an independent career woman, if that is even what I want. Young women in modern society are searching for the right answers to these questions and are basing these answers on their family, friends, and the media.