Speak: Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

Trees stand there, not saying a word, frozen. Melinda doesn’t talk a substantial amount in her class and social life, therefore, it is like she is frozen, not speaking. A dead tree can represent how Melinda wasn’t able to speak, the leaves on the dead tree are still clinging onto it, hoping it can live longer. Like that, Melinda would cling onto the idea that she would return to her happy self, maybe being able to freely express herself again. During Melinda’s science class, she draws a willow tree drooping into the water, this represents her sadness. “I look out the window. No limos... Now when I really want to leave, no one will give me a ride. I sketch a willow tree drooping into the water” (page 147). This shows how the willow tree expresses her negative emotion without saying a word. When Melinda’s dad was chopping down their tree; of course, it couldn’t say anything because it is only a tree. “ He is killing the tree... The tree is dying... There’s nothing to do or say. We watch in silence as the tree crashes piece by piece to the damp ground,” (page 187). This shows that when Melinda got raped, she did not say anything, instead she was dying inside, depression taking over. A tree in its various stages was an object that describes Melinda’s freshman year from the beginning to the

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

The mood of the speaker changes to guilt as the speaker and her mother realize they would "crawl" with "shame" and leave an "emptiness" in their father's heart and yard. The author negatively connotes "crawl," "shame," and "emptiness" to invoke a more serious and shameful tone. The beginning of the conveyed a more matter-of-fact and pragmatic tone, but changes into a more sentimental one by the end to convey family is more important than the money. The symbol of the tree represents the family, and connects it to their father's hard work and dedication to the family. If they were to cut it down, it would be symbolic of their betrayal. Imagery of the tree is used to describe the freedom and beauty of the tree as it "swings through another year of sun and leaping winds, of leaves and bounding fruit." The tree represents their family bond and how strong it is even through the "whip-crack of the mortgage."

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

The book Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, tells the story of high-school freshman, Melinda Sordino. After busting an end-of-summer party, she’s taunted and teased by her peers because she won’t give reason as to why she called the police. She soon slips into depression and starts her freshman year off in “all the wrong ways.” Melinda needed help. Help with confidence. Help with her mentality. Help in general. Throughout the book, very few characters try to help Melinda but one character in particular stands out. Mr. Freeman.

At first she tries her hardest to make it look like a tree but it never comes out to look like a good one. The art teacher had said “you will spend the rest of the year learning how to turn your object into a piece of art” (12,Anderson) which means the object is going to be growing like how Melinda is growing by the end of the year. Her growth is shown through this tree as she continues to redraw it and gets better at drawing towards the end of the story. The tree is a symbol of Melinda getting stronger and becoming able to communicate her

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

In the beginning, the pear tree symbolizes Janie’s yearning to find within herself the sort of harmony and simplicity that nature embodies. However, that

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

The tree in Speak symbolizes Melinda’s emotional state when at first she finds no meaning in drawing the tree then she finds the courage to speak up about her rape experience. As Melinda is starting her artistic path, Mr. Freeman says his opinion on her artwork and she develops an understanding that her art work could compare to her life.

- Tree - Firewood” (p.62). Melinda made the memorial related to trees and impressed mr.freeman because the memorial told him a story. Melinda shows growth in the middle of the story by stepping up her game with coloring the

The tree Melinda is assigned in art class symbolizes her and how she changes dramatically, for better or worse, throughout the book. In the near beginning Melinda draws trees that have been struck by lighting, the trees are dark, broken down and weary to symbolize how Melinda is feeling at this point. A great example of this is when Melinda says “For a solid week, ever since the pep rally, I’ve been painting watercolors of trees that have been hit by lightning. I try to paint them so they are nearly dead, but not totally. Mr. Freeman doesn’t say a word to me about them. He just raises his eyebrow. One picture is so dark you can barely see the tree at all” (Anderson 30). This symbolizes how she is going through a period in her life where she

The tree symbolizes Melinda directly . During the time that her tree looks un-lifelike, or is portrayed as dead, Melinda is going through the roughest time of her depression. After Melinda mentally overcomes the rape and talks about it, her trees exhibit changes in appearance: “I look at my homely sketch. It doesn't need anything… it isn’t perfect and that makes it just right.” (198).

Why I think the tree represents her is because like every person we face battles and we need to outgrow them sooner or later in our lives. In the beginning Melinda is in her abyss and feels completely torn down by everything that has happened to her. On page 30 and 31 she can’t seem to stop drawing dull and dark trees as if she’s drawing exactly what

The author gives many examples that show the initiation and the road of trials of Sylvia climbing the tree. One example is, ?a bird fluttered off its nest, and a red squirrel ran to and fro and scolded pettishly at the harmless housebreaker.? The author uses the word housebreaker as Sylvia saying that she is invading the animals that live on the tree and the animal think that she is an enemy. The author also uses simile to make the tree alive. The author wrote, ?The sharp dry twigs caught and held her and scratched her like angry talons.? The author compares the tree to a talon. The author?s language greatly compares Sylvia and the tree that make this story a dramatic adventure. The passage says that Sylvia has thin little fingers clumsy and stiff compares to the tree?s great stem. Sylvia did not give up and she climbs until it was morning, the tree was amazed at the determined spark of human