Catalyst

Silence is uncommon today when sharing what is on everyone’s mind is just a click away. Malala Yousafzai expresses that, “We realize the importance of our voice only when we are silenced.” Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson follows the freshman year after the rape of Melinda Sordino who struggles between keeping her mouth shut and using her voice against her attacker. The novel explores the crippling power of being voiceless to illustrate the importance of speaking up. Melinda demonstrates the difficulty of confession when no one will listen, preventing healing and justice. Yet, silence helps to focus on the implication behind the words without the distraction of noise and careless speech. Speak by Laurie Anderson emphasizes the power of voice by contrasting silence and being silenced, illustrating the consequences of speaking against injustice, giving Melinda a chance to be heard and highlighting the meaning. The novel Speak illustrates that there is a wide gap that differentiates silence and being silenced. The main character, Melinda’s, muteness is initially perceived as a rebellious choice, however, it is revealed that her voice was taken away from her out of shame. Melinda reflects that “S [is] for silent, for stupid, for scared. S for silly. For shame” (Anderson, 101). Shame invalidates Melinda’s voice because she believes the rape is her fault. Silence is a deserving punishment because her words are just as useless now as they were that night of the party. In the presence…

Time and time again people experience the rough or the fortunate fate of one small incident altering their lives. For the unlucky few who have their lives changed negatively, it is always hard. Weather it is winning a lottery ticket or not getting a job that was worked so hard for, it changes the course of a person’s plans. The classic novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows a prime example of how one’s mistake, set in the seventeenth century, alters a woman 's life dramatically.…

A Fearful Existence Tullian Tchividjian once said, “The deepest fear we have, 'the fear beneath all fears,' is the fear of not measuring up, the fear of judgment. It's this fear that creates the stress and depression of everyday life.” The fear of the physical pain that things such as sexual harassment and violence can cause the surface fear, but beneath that is the fright of judgment caused by these events. Sexual harassment and violence can cause psychological effects of fear and insecurity in…

Alienation is the state or experience of being isolated from a group or an activity to which one should belong or in which one should be involved. Those groups include teams or friendships, and when someone is alienated, the others find a reason for them to be pushed away. Isolation can be the cause of depression with most, as they find themselves alone with no one who cares. This idea of alienations is shown in Speak, a novel by Laurie Halse Anderson. Speak is a novel about Melinda Sordino,…

Grade Level and Audience In her novel Speak, author Laurie Halse Anderson (1999) discusses the life of a teenage girl as she struggles through depression and the harsh realities of life. Topics wrestled with in the novel range from parental fighting and challenges to the endeavor of fitting in with high school students. Anderson skillfully addresses many of the same issues that plague teenagers in today’s world while also creating a connection between the reader and the narrator. Speak is a…

Transformation and Development Humans set themselves apart from other life forms as a “superior species”. The ability to communicate efficiently enables us to make social, political, and technological advances that other species cannot. When we do not use this ability, we can slowly dwindle into a mere shadow of ourselves. In the novel Speak, Melinda Sordino declines to use her words, thereby declining the very thing that sets her apart from others, coming close to being one of these shadows.…

through rigorous training beforehand and you most certainly shouldn’t decide to initiate trading without conducting thorough research. As a first-time stock trader, I wanted to understand the stock market before divulging my allotted funds into publically traded companies. So, I set out to find the catalysts behind price movement in the market for public traded companies, in order to determine when I should potentially long or short a company’s stock. In addition, I wanted to understand how to…

When people experience a traumatic event like rape many don’t speak up. They convince themselves that nothing good can come from vocalizing what happened to them. In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino, the main character, is a victim of rape who doesn’t speak up about what happened which leads her to become withdrawn, self - alienated, and dead inside. However as time passes she begins to show signs of healing, empowerment, and coming back to life. As Melinda begins high…

As Michael Morpurgo once said, “Encouraging young people to believe in themselves and find their own voice whether it’s through writing, drama, or art is so important in giving young people a sense of self worth.” In the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino feels that her voice is taken away after being raped by Andy Evans which he is referred to as IT, and Andy Beast. She goes into high school as a young teen, depressed and silenced. Melinda grows stronger throughout her…

Escaping the Grips of One’s Emotional Abyss “Every 107 seconds, another American is sexually assaulted.” (RAINN). Sadly, the statistic holds true for Melinda Sordino, a pessimistic ninth grader from the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Through Melinda’s battle with depression and acceptance, the author of Speak demonstrates a universal truth that breaking free from emotional bondage requires one to speak up. Melinda’s journey, from depression to self-confidence, allows her to reconnect…