What is a motif in Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson?
In Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, the animal motif helps illustrate characters and asserts that people often act in primitive ways. In Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, the animal motif helps illustrate characters and asserts that people often act in primitive and predatory ways.
What themes are in the book Speak?
Speak Themes
- Coming of Age. Like many novels with high school settings, Speak is deeply focused on ideas of growing up and coming of age.
- Communication versus Silence.
- Appearance versus Reality.
- Family and Friendship.
- Isolation, Loneliness, and Depression.
- Memory and Trauma.
What does lips symbolize in Speak?
lips are a symbol in Speak because the author shows how teenagers hide the pain or the feelings to the world. For example: Melinda bites her lips because it is the way she tries to tell people that something is going wrong but she does not have the trust in her friends to tell them she was raped.
What do seeds represent in Speak?
Seeds symbolize growth. In Melinda’s case she grows both physically and mentally throughout the novel. Seeds are fragile and need to be taken care of. Once attacked they will not grow as easily again.
What is a symbols that represent Melinda in Speak?
Trees are one of the most prevalent symbols in the novel, appearing in almost every chapter of the book. Trees represent life and growth for Melinda. In the beginning of the novel, Melinda is assigned to draw trees for a yearlong art project.
What symbols are in Speak?
Speak Symbols
- Trees, Seeds, Plants, and Forests. Near the beginning of the novel, Melinda is assigned a tree as her yearlong assignment in art class.
- Birds.
- Melinda’s Closet.
- Melinda’s Bedroom.
- Mirrors.
- Lips.
- Blood.
- Water, Ice, and Melting.
What are some of the themes in Speak?
Speak Themes
- Coming of Age. Like many novels with high school settings, Speak is deeply focused on ideas of growing up and coming of age.
- Communication versus Silence.
- Appearance versus Reality.
- Family and Friendship.
- Isolation, Loneliness, and Depression.
- Memory and Trauma.
What is the message of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson?
One theme of Speak is finding one’s voice. Another theme in the novel is identity. The story can also be viewed as speaking out against violence and victimization. Melinda feels guilty, even though she was a victim of sexual assault.
What is the moral of the book speak?
Moral/Message: The moral in this book spoke strongly of standing up and not being afraid to face your fears. This is such an important message for teens to grasp because so many kids today end up hating their high school years. Those years should be the best of their lives!
What is the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson about?
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, chronicles the struggles of thirteen-year-old Melinda Sordino after she is a raped by at a party the summer before her freshman year of high school by another student. Melinda tells her story in first person narrative.
What does Melinda do to her lips?
Since she cannot talk about her own trauma, it makes sense that Melinda would hate and mutilate her own lips, which are so often silent when they should be speaking. At the end of the novel, Melinda is at last able to speak, and it is her rapist Andy Evans who finally falls silent.
What do Melinda’s bleeding scabby lips symbolize?
Speak Symbols
- Trees, Seeds, Plants, and Forests. Near the beginning of the novel, Melinda is assigned a tree as her yearlong assignment in art class.
- Birds.
- Melinda’s Closet.
- Melinda’s Bedroom.
- Mirrors.
- Lips.
- Blood.
- Water, Ice, and Melting.
What do mirrors symbolize in Speak?
The lips are symbolic of silence, which is odd, because they are a body part that should be speaking. Melinda will eventually find her voice and scream out against Andy’s second attempt, and the novel concludes with Melinda telling Mr. Freeman her story.
How is Melinda like a seed?
Melinda’s study of seeds underscores the new-skin metaphor, because seeds symbolize hope, growth, and the promise of new life. Melinda’s study of seeds reveals their tenacious character: Seeds need special conditions and a lot of luck to survive and turn into mature plants
What does the trees represent in Speak?
Speak Symbols
- Trees, Seeds, Plants, and Forests. Near the beginning of the novel, Melinda is assigned a tree as her yearlong assignment in art class.
- Birds.
- Melinda’s Closet.
- Melinda’s Bedroom.
- Mirrors.
- Lips.
- Blood.
- Water, Ice, and Melting.
How does the tree symbolize Melinda in speak?
As the narrative progresses, Melinda’s attempts to draw a tree come to symbolize her ability to move past her rape, and to mature as a person. Trees, and plants in general, are powerful symbols because of the life, strength, and fertility that they represent.
What does Melinda do that is a symbol of her healing?
Melinda’s yard work symbolizes her inner road to recovery from not speaking and not knowing what to do or how to tell anyone what happened. By cleaning up the yard, she is also cleaning up her life.
What does Maya Angelou symbolize in speak?
Poster of Maya Angelou Symbol Analysis A famous African American writer, Angelou writes eloquently about her own rape in the memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird sings. Throughout the year, Melinda imagines the poster as an empowering force, such as when it urges her to tell Rachel the truth about Andy.
How is snow symbolic to Melinda?
Melinda thinks that snow, in Hawthorne’s novel, symbolizes cold and silence (62.6) and stillness. Once snow falls and sits on the ground, it becomes as still as [Melinda’s] heart (62.6).
What does the rabbit symbolize in speak?
The Rabbit represents Melinda as the prey and Andy Evans as the wolf / predator. Every time she sees Andy Evans, she keeps on running away from him and her feelings of shame, fear, anger, and anguish bursts her mind. The rabbit symbolizes a victim by the wolf, which is so weak and vulnerable.
What does the frog symbolize in speak?
Melinda is still traumatized, as evidenced by the symbol of the dead frog and her interaction with IT. First, the dead frog Melinda has to dissect symbolizes her sense of self and the trauma she suffered
What does Trees symbolize in speak?
As the narrative progresses, Melinda’s attempts to draw a tree come to symbolize her ability to move past her rape, and to mature as a person. Trees, and plants in general, are powerful symbols because of the life, strength, and fertility that they represent.
What do lips symbolize in speak?
lips are a symbol in Speak because the author shows how teenagers hide the pain or the feelings to the world. For example: Melinda bites her lips because it is the way she tries to tell people that something is going wrong but she does not have the trust in her friends to tell them she was raped.
What is the main theme in Speak?
Theme of Speak Melinda was raped at the party by a boy named Andy Evans. After the rape, Melinda is unable to speak about what happened to her and quits speaking altogether. Rape and the consequences for the victim is the main theme, along with losing one’s voice and the tremendous courage it takes to find it again.
What is the moral of the book Speak?
Moral/Message: The moral in this book spoke strongly of standing up and not being afraid to face your fears. This is such an important message for teens to grasp because so many kids today end up hating their high school years. Those years should be the best of their lives!
