Speak

Imagine you are starting your freshman year in high school. You are invited to your first high school party. A boy has his eyes on you at the party. He aproaches you. Before you know it you are on the ground staring up at the trees. In the story Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson Melinda is a very depressed character. Melinda starts out as a freshman in high school, but over the summer she was sexually abused. You can tell when she is angry or sad, and even if something is about bad is to happen because of the symbolism.


The symbolism in the story helped show when something bad happened or will happen. For example Melinda was disecting a frog;“Our frog lies on her back. Waiting for a prince to come and princessify her with a smooch? I stand over her with my knife...I slice open her belly. She doesn’t say a word she is already dead. A scream starts in my gut-I can feel the cut, smell the dirt, leaves in my hair(pg. 81).” This part shows that she remembers something and probably not that good of a memory because right after this Melinda fainted. You can tell how she felt when she said, “A scream starts in my gut,” she seems very unhappy and kind of scared.

Another part of the book that had symbolism is, “A cracked mirror tilts over the sink littered in dead roaches crocheted together in cobwebs(pg.25-26).” A cracked mirror usually is a sign of bad luck, so you can tell something bad will happen in this area.


With the symbolism you can tell something bad, sad, or even something good will happen. The symbolism helped Melinda find herself. She started out as a dead tree, but once she cut off the dead branches she was able to grow even stronger than before.