In life, everyone deals with a certain hardship that affects them in a way where they just want to give up. In Speak, Melinda is dealing with the pain of being sexually assaulted. In “Still I Rise”, a poem by Maya Angelou, the character is dealing with everyone being against her and calling her names to try to bring her down. They both were dealing with the pain of being doubted, the pain of people trying to kill their dreams, but they both learn that they shouldn’t give up when something has happened to them that could change their life, but instead for them to believe in themselves and try to fix it. Both of the characters from the book Speak and the poem “Still I Rise” face harder difficulties, but in the end they end up being confident
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Melinda from Speak was the outsider in everyone’s eye. No one believed in her, no one tried to raise her confidence, no one tried to help her through her difficult time. But she didn’t need anyone else. She was teaching herself to ignore everyone against her and try to find someone who would believe in her. Melinda started to grow a considerable amount throughout the story. She got her grades up, she learned to speak for herself, she did what she wanted to do. For example, after Heather abandoned her for the Martha's, she tried to ask Melinda for help with decorating the gym, stating that she would help Melinda clean up and decorate her room a little bit more. “No, I haven’t decided on colors yet. That’s not what I mean, I mean no, I won’t help you. ‘But you have to help me.’ ‘No I don’t,’” (Anderson 179) this shows that Heather said that “she had to help her” and Melinda says that she doesn't have to do anything for her if she doesn’t want to. In the poem, the character was doubted because everyone was calling her names and hoping she would give up. “You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lies…”(Angelou 1+2), “Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes?...”(Angelou 13+14), You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise” (Angelou 1-4). This shows how she was telling how …show more content…
Going back to the Andy and Melinda encounter in the closet, Andy was really mad because Melinda was spreading the rape to everyone around the school and Andy didn’t like this because he said that “she wanted it just as much as he did”, and “every girl in the school is looking at him like he’s a pervert” (Anderson 193). So when they encountered, Andy tried to rape her, once again, but this time, Melinda stood up for herself and told him “No”. Melinda learned to speak for herself and make her own decisions, once against Andy and once against Heather when she said that she “had to help her” but Melinda said she doesn’t have to do anything. In the poem, the whole gist of it is to show how these meaningless people in her life don’t affect what she does in her life. She is making the call. She is saying that she will still rise above from everyone trying to tell her what to do. This is how both characters were making their own
Melinda from Speak was the outsider in everyone’s eye. No one believed in her, no one tried to raise her confidence, no one tried to help her through her difficult time. But she didn’t need anyone else. She was teaching herself to ignore everyone against her and try to find someone who would believe in her. Melinda started to grow a considerable amount throughout the story. She got her grades up, she learned to speak for herself, she did what she wanted to do. For example, after Heather abandoned her for the Martha's, she tried to ask Melinda for help with decorating the gym, stating that she would help Melinda clean up and decorate her room a little bit more. “No, I haven’t decided on colors yet. That’s not what I mean, I mean no, I won’t help you. ‘But you have to help me.’ ‘No I don’t,’” (Anderson 179) this shows that Heather said that “she had to help her” and Melinda says that she doesn't have to do anything for her if she doesn’t want to. In the poem, the character was doubted because everyone was calling her names and hoping she would give up. “You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lies…”(Angelou 1+2), “Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes?...”(Angelou 13+14), You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise” (Angelou 1-4). This shows how she was telling how …show more content…
Going back to the Andy and Melinda encounter in the closet, Andy was really mad because Melinda was spreading the rape to everyone around the school and Andy didn’t like this because he said that “she wanted it just as much as he did”, and “every girl in the school is looking at him like he’s a pervert” (Anderson 193). So when they encountered, Andy tried to rape her, once again, but this time, Melinda stood up for herself and told him “No”. Melinda learned to speak for herself and make her own decisions, once against Andy and once against Heather when she said that she “had to help her” but Melinda said she doesn’t have to do anything. In the poem, the whole gist of it is to show how these meaningless people in her life don’t affect what she does in her life. She is making the call. She is saying that she will still rise above from everyone trying to tell her what to do. This is how both characters were making their own