Social inclusion is not something mandated at merryweather high. To prove herself, heather must make the posters for the upcoming. While licking an envelope closed, melinda cuts her lip on the paper. Second marking period, rent round 3dark art cliffsnotes.
Symbolization in speak by laurie halse anderson essay. In the book, speak by laurie halse anderson, a young girl, melinda, who used to be a popular girl is now an outcast. He has brown hair and would be ashamed of himself because he got a b on a test. Her heart pounds as she stands on the spot, crouching by a trees trunk and feeling its bark. Can you please retell the scene when melinda sordino cuts herself. None of her former friends or would be friends can help her. Sally tells melinda its not her fault, and that andy needs to answer for his attack 76. Summary and analysis fourth marking period, postpromfinal cut. Through melindas cutting herself, the naming of it, and heather ignoring melindas freak out, you see melinda fall deeper into her feelings of isolation and. Its the last day of school, and shes drawing her final tree. The whole point of not talking about it, of silencing the memory, is to make it go away.
Secondly, and more metaphorically, melinda would like to drift off to a sleep world where she is no longer melinda and can forget about this new, unpleasant life she has found herself in since august. She is frustrated with herself, so she gets up and takes down the mirror and puts it somewhere where she knows, she will never see herself. This shows that melinda absolutely hates the way she looks. Only two people know the real reason behind melinda s call to the police on the night of the big bash. The following week, melinda decides she is ready to move out of her janitors closet. Why do you think melinda adds birds to her last drawing of the tree. Freeman about andy evans on the last page of the book. Its revealed that during the summer melinda called the cops on a party and it got busted a few people got arrested, and now everyone hates her. Jerrys contributes to the discussion by telling melinda to speak up 76. As you read the first section of speak list reasons why you believe she might be feeling this way. The lacrosse team has told the school about andys rape attempt, and melinda wryly notes that. I would categorize the students of merryweather high school as the foreign exchange kids, the goths, the cheerleaders, the artists, the marthas, jocks, country clubbers, and those who are clanless. Speak does not specifically deal with suicide but it talks about how the main character, melinda, is contemplating suicide. The last day of school which was the day after everyone was talking to her, telling her good for you, and hope youre ok.
In the book speak, does melinda sordino cut herself. It was then that andy evans raped her, leaving her bruised, scared and alone. I would recommend speak to anybody, boy or girl, from middle school to high school. This scene emphasizes the way melinda draws on everything around her to find solutions to her problems. Ohhh yeah and the movie is also called speak and you can watch it on youtube. But the book s overall gritty realism and melinda s hardwon metamorphosis will leave readers touched and inspired. How does melinda act differently when andy attacks her in the closet. The last line of the book is melinda saying, let me tell you about it 198. It is ironic that melinda has confidence at the end of the book as opposed to her earlier lack of it. When melinda holds a shard of glass up to andys neck, he cannot speak. Melinda seems to be giving us clues about whatever it is that happened to her at the party last summer. Melinda finds comfort in areas where she can cut off the outside world and focus on something she cares about, and both of these areas allow her to do just that. Laurie halse anderson uses an internal voice throughout the book to show the havoc that is attacking melinda s mind. I cannot say this in spanish because i did not go to spanish today.
At the beginning of the novel, melinda thinks the beast in her gut is shame. Essay about speak, laurie halse anderson 768 words. Instead the book features a jumpy, incoherent, cut up narrative that. She begins to see herself as a seed breaking through the dirt to grow toward the sun. Reddit upboats trying to help milton dew develop an identity for herself because he tells melinda when she rustles struggling with the m89s, the next parody you 911 on your memes, subreddit. As the novel progresses, she slowly starts to deal with the rape and finally accepts it and decides to move on w. What two things does melinda accept that help her begin a healing process. The next weekend, she publicly leaves and humiliates andy at the prom. One of the seniors is amber cheerleader, and melinda realizes that she may have misjudged her. Speak by laurie halse anderson meet your next favorite book. She used to be very social, outgoing, and loved until one night at a party. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an endofsummer party by. The summer before starting high school, she was raped by a senior student, andy evans. Ivy is kind to melinda, and even helps her at certain parts of the book.
Melinda bikes to the barn where the party took place, and walks to the treefilled spot where she was raped. In laurie halse andersons powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. The book is speak by laurie halse anderson and the movie is from 2004 and stars kristen stewart my favorite actress from twilightnew moon was awesome she was great in this film, better than she did in twilight and she was only back when she filmed speak. Throughout the novel, melinda is in her own world of despair and physically cannot speak to others about her rape.
She tells her story through what shes thinking, but says nothing about how she feels out loud. The girls lacrosse team heard melinda screaming, opened the door, saw what was happening and ran off to report it. Speak is a story of a ninthgrader named melinda sordino, a rape victim. Only two people can guess why she has suddenly become mute. While melinda s smart and savvy interior narrative slowly reveals the searing pain of that 911 night, it also nails the highschool experience cold. From page 1 to page 198, laurie halse anderson captures every little detail that teens go through everyday like, dealing with all the cliques and becoming accepted by your peers. That saturday, melinda revisits the site of her rape. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. She feels as if she has been under snow for a long time, and wonders how she can ever be revived. First, melindas use of a paperclip to scratch her wrist symbolizes her hopelessness. Speak up for yourselfwe want to know what you have to say. Speak, laurie halse anderson speak is book about a young girl who loses her voice after being raped and slowly gains it back over time. Since shes also the narrator, everything we learn about the other characters is filtered through her. As the seniors notice melinda, one of them says that she hopes melinda is okay.
By the novels end, anderson has shown how much melinda has grown through her. Rachel is receptive until melinda names andy the perpetrator, at which point she angrily leaves the room. Ever since she called 911 from a teen party, melinda has quieted her voice, literally and figuratively. The marthas is a clan filled with rich snobs who have no use for melinda. Melinda vaguely remembers seeing a phone and calling 911 for help but being unable to speak when the dispatcher answered. I cut class, you cut class, he, she, it cuts class. Learn the important quotes in speak and the chapters theyre from, including why. Melinda s closet represents the doubleedged sword of her loneliness. The story starts with melinda, the narrator, starting 9th grade.
Making her one of the few people that i think genuinely liked melinda in the book, as horrible as that sounds. How does melinda deal with the situation she finds herself in, and what does this show. Due to her trauma and inability to tell anyone about what happened, melinda spirals into a dark depression. Reminding herself that she has survived, she wonders whether she can cut out the. Melinda considers telling her parents about the attack but cant bring herself to speak. She would rather silence herself than make herself vulnerable by speaking her truth. Find summaries for every chapter, including a speak chapter summary chart to help you understand the book. There was drinking and drugs at the party, but this isnt the reason melinda decided to crash the party. Speak was a 1999 national book award finalist for young peoples literature. Summary and analysis of chapter 43 and 44 of speak. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself. She knows shes destined for summer school because of all her bad grades, but she lingers in the art room, trying to make the tree just the way she wants it.
What positive things happen after that incident the climax for melinda, both psychologically and socially. No one, however, knows melinda s biggest secret, the reason she dialed 911 over the. From the first moment of her freshman year at merryweather high, melinda knows that this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. Fourth marking period, postpromfinal cut cliffsnotes. How did they express melindas feelings in the book speak.
Through melindas cutting herself, the naming of it, and heather ignoring melindas freak out, you see melinda fall deeper into her feelings of isolation and despair. He successfully manages to make a big impact on melinda s life. Melinda categorizes the merryweather students into several groups. Melinda tries not to feel sorry for herself and spends the evening with a copy of dracula and some candy corn. Melinda feels a scream deep inside herself she can feel the cut, smell the dirt, leaves in her hair 38. She leaves a book about it on the back of the toilet to educate melinda who says. Unfortunately for melinda, there is no hallway constitution. After melinda calls the police at a party in august, her former friend group ditches her and disintegrates. Venting to both of these people help melinda to overcome the build up of emotions that go handinhand with being raped just as the removal of dead branches from the tree allows it to overcome its weakness. Speak kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole book. However, rachel does, in fact, listen to melindas story.
However, over many months of painful silence and selfharm in the form of lip and nailbiting, melinda finally admits to herself that andy evans raped her at the party last. Something happened to melinda at that party, something she hasnt told anyone about. Melinda is the firstperson narrator in the story, so we see things from her perspective only. What page does melinda cut herself in the book speak answers.
This adds to the theme of being outcast and isolated because the she has no one to really talk to. The remainder of the student body dislikes her for being a snitch. Speak by laurie halse anderson about the book speak up for yourself we want to know what you have to say. Her parents and guidance counselor try to get her to open up about her poor academic performance, but melinda refuses to speak to them. Their mean comments cut her to the quick and she sees herself as nothing, completely unseen, completely abandoned. What do you predict will become of melinda by the end of the book. Its a little frightening at first and reminds me of alice sebolds the lovely bones another great book. She only finds it when its needed to prevent a reoccurrence of the same horror. A book like speak, in which a character has experienced rape and its aftermath, allows adolescents to get into the head of the character and began to realize their own moral stances on the subject.
Birds, symbols of freedom and innocence throughout the book, now complete. Shes only fourteenyearsold, and shes dealing with one of the worst things that can happen to a person. His main action in the novel speak is when he supports melinda and tries to boost her self esteem. The main character, melinda even reminded me of myself. Id highly recommend this book to eighth grade and freshmen girls who love to read. Even though her circumstances have changed, melinda still removes herself.
Accurate descriptions of the minutiae of high school will appeal to any teen who has felt like an outsider, and when melinda is finally able to speak, readers will rejoice in her triumphs. Melinda is very perceptive and bright, but her vision is sometimes clouded by her suffering. Wounded, silent melinda ditches class, steals passes from teachers, and deliberately cuts herself. Melinda from the book speak wanted to have friends again and get her life back, but some devastating things occurred that really affected and changed her life, so this experience lets melinda think about what she is going to do and she learns a lot about herself and gains courage and bravery. From the first moment of her freshman year at merryweather high, melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. The shattering of the mirror, and the use of one of its broken shards to. Analysis melinda s interaction with her parents, her severe lipbiting, and her memories of last years halloween exemplify how much melinda has lost through the trauma she survived over the summer. Speak study guide contains a biography of laurie halse anderson, literature.