Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson is an emotional and touching book, with a significant title. What makes the title so significant is that it gives the reader an idea of what to expect and a hint of the theme. A theme constantly brought up throughout the book is communication. Melinda Sordino the main character struggles to communicate what she is feeling and thinking due to being sexually assaulted. The power of speaking up is stronger than we know, even though it is one of the most challenging forms of communication, the reward in the end is worth it. Figurative language is better than literal because it allows the reader to understand the author in clearer and more entertaining way. Some examples of figurative language would be metaphors,
What would you do if the person you care the most about was suffering from depression? In Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the narrator, Melinda Sordino, suffers from depression and insecurity after being molested by a senior, Andy Evans. Over time, her emotions change positively. In her art class, she was assigned trees as her project to express emotion. In this novel, trees speak for her because they represent her life, growth, and her refusal to speak.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a coming of age themed fictional Novel based around Melinda Sordino, a freshman at Merryweather High School. During her days at school Melinda found trouble fitting in and speaking because of an incident that happened at a summer party. That incident being that she was raped by a senior named Andy Evans, aka, “IT.” At the time, Melinda panicked and ended up calling the police, which resulted in everyone despising her. Similarly to “high school drama,” the author illustrated gossip and the effects it can have on a person. To compare, when the news hit Melinda, she became silent and isolated staying away from any old friends she glanced upon. Fortunately, Melinda found new hope when a stranger asked, “I’m Heather
I can tell you the authors style in the book In November by Cynthia Rylant. The style in her writings are mostly personification or figurative language. I know this because on page 4 it says "spreading there arms like dancers" based on what I read Cynthia Rylant uses personification also uses a simile. The book In November Cynthia uses tree limbs as dancers. She give a descriptive look as what the tree looks like. Cynthia Rylant uses a human action to a non human thing.
Most poems, new and old, almost always have an important message to teach to all those who take the time to read it. Authors use poetic devices to get their message across in creative, yet effective ways. For example, Mary Oliver carefully uses several poetic devices to teach her own personal message to her readers. Oliver’s use of the poem’s organization, diction, figurative language, and title aids in conveying the message of how small, yet vital oxygen is to all living and nonliving things in her poem, “Oxygen.”
Introduction The book, The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann, is an adventurous story about a creative boy named Alex, and his very bland and boring twin brother Aaron. Alex and Aaron are split apart because Alex took the blame for something that Aaron did, and at the Purge, when they were both thirteen years old, Alex was sent to his death, and Aaron was sent to the university of Quill, where he would become a governor. Alex, however lived because of a man named Mr Today, and the secret world of Unwanteds. Aritme was full of talking statues, magical creatures, and lots and lots of colors.
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
Speaking out is a tough task for many people that have dealt with horrible, traumatic situations. In the novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character, Melinda, is one of those people who lost their voice. To be able to understand another person’s emotions, feelings, and situations is very difficult to do, especially because of how our society has formed and became a very judgmental place. Melinda Sordino starts her freshman year at Merryweather High School in Syracuse, New York, to a terrible start; she is a victim of a sexual assault and loses her confidents and voice to speak out. The more she interacts and makes new friends is how she starts to reach out and become more self-sufficient. Few weeks into school Melinda’s only
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson tells the story of Melinda Sordino, a ninth grader that attends Merryweather Highschool in Syracuse, NewYork. The author has a unique way of writing Melinda's story. She uses subtitles instead of chapters, nd goes into detail of Melinda's everyday life, by using Melinda's perspective. The author sets a depressed mood in the story because of what the main character has gone through. The central idea of the text is communication which in the beginning Melinda lacks. August before her freshman year, Melinda and her friends show up at a senior party. At the party, Melinda ends up drinking. Andy Evans takes advantage of her drunken state and rapes her. She is too drunk to defend herself. Afterward Melinda deals 911 and the police arrive at the party, but Melinda is unable to confess what happened. When the entire school knows that Melinda was the one who called the police, everyone, including her friends, stopped speaking to her. No one knew the real reason behind the 9-11 call. Throughout the school year she cuts her wrist, skips school, and fails her classes. Melinda goes through a tough time in high school. She has one friend (who later on in the book betrays her), a difficult family, and was a victim
In Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, trees symbolize Melinda’s growth throughout her life to stay sane and pass the horrific time of her life. Depression is her first phase, when she starts to paint the trees that were hit by lightning. It is also shown by her not talking to many people. She starts to realize that she cannot be perfect when she imagines a beautiful oak tree but really cannot carve it properly. Her third phase comes when the trees outside her house has a few sick branches and she decides to let go of the present Melinda who is not letting her grow and nurture the old Melinda, the one before the party, the fun and outgoing one. The last phase, and tree was the one she drew for
Have you ever drawn a picture to express something, or just drawn it for fun? Well Melinda uses her drawings to express her feelings and get away from the world. I think the in the story “SPEAK,” by Laurie Halse Anderson, She uses Melinda's artwork and the tree to express the fact that Melinda got raped and afterwards, when she looked up... and saw... a tree.
Figurative language is one of the literary aspects. For example: ‘’I never understood why you would ever feel the need to shoot the fish in the barrel. I mean, they're in a barrel, you've already caught them. The hard work's done, they can't escape. So if you want them dead, just drain the water out. Why bring guns into it?” Another literary example used in the book is the use of syntax. The following quote demonstrates the author’s use of the correct syntax in his writing. “I don't understand a thing about this world: about people, and why they do the things they do. The more I find out, the more I uncover, the more I know, the less I understand.” Lastly, the author explains his point of view very well so that the reader can truly understand the author’s point of view. For example: ‘’Batman doesn't have any superpowers. He's not superhuman. He's not super. So therefore he can't be a
Melinda was an outcast and loner in high school who was overwhelmed, fearful, and confused with her life and her environment at school. She was always silent in class and afraid to speak in front of people. Many students today might feel the need to fit in with other people so they wouldn’t have to be looked down upon. As we take a look at Melinda’s life we’ll be able to see how she handles her daily conflicts. In the book, Speak, Melinda Sordino, an incoming freshman at Merryweather High, starts her year off with a terrible start. She’s stuck with a mean history teacher, by who she calls Mr. Neck and a whole bunch of other weird teachers like her English teacher of who she calls, Hairwomen, because of her crazy, uncombed
Every single person has a secret or an experience that they prefer not to talk about. In this case, Melinda Sordino suffers with the traumatic memory of rape. Within the novel, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Sordino’s entire life changes as Andy Evans takes advantage of her innocence by raping her during a party in August. As a result, Sordino’s trauma causes the alteration of her personality and perspective of the world. Sordino ventures throughout the story to rediscover herself as a person and faces several obstacles such as family troubles, disrespectful peers, and the person who has inflicted her with the most mental agony she can possibly withstand.
Speak Essay “ A sure cure for seasickness is to sit under a tree” (Spike milligan). Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a girl named Melinda that got raped at a party, ever since then she lost all her friends and struggled talking to people in high school. The tree in the book Speak is a motif in the story that symbolizes the growth of Melinda. First, she is assigned to draw a tree and thought it was too easy, Then, she tried stepping it up by adding color to the tree, finally, she built confidence in herself and agreed that she can do a better on drawing a tree.
The book Speak by Laurie Anderson is a book about how Melinda Sordino overcomes the troubles in her life, and how she learned to speak up for herself. The author uses a lot of archetypes and allusions throughout the book to add a fuller description to the events Melinda had gone through, which will help the readers to better understand what Anderson is trying to tell.