Laurie Halse Anderson Essay

“She turned to private study and was taught anatomy at the London Hospital and general medicine under the tuition of professors at St Andrews University and Edinburgh University Extra-Mural School”(Brooks 13-15). None of this would have been possible without the continued financial and moral support of her father. In order to practice medicine, Garrett had to gain a qualifying diploma. London University, the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons and other examining bodies refused to allow her to sit their examinations, but she discovered that the Society of Apothecaries did not specifically ban women from taking their exams. “In 1865 Elizabeth went on to pass the

Is it possible to lose oneself and have the life drained out of him or her by another’s misdeed? It most certainly can, according to Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Speak. Anderson’s novel revolves around a fourteen year old girl named Melinda Sordino, who was raped at a summer party. Traumatized and not sure of what to do, Melinda calls the police, but leaves in fright as chaos breaks out and several are arrested. Melinda then starts off her freshman year of high school loathed by nearly every student at Merryweather. Her inability to inform someone, anyone, about what really happened that night leads to her disintegration physically and mentally. However, certain activities, such as her art class and a tree Melinda is assigned to create,

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

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 novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is actually a sophomore curriculum because of the rough context and the sexual abuse used in the book. This novel reflects the state of youth in America today and how it has changed is by how teens dress, act, and their appearance. , any teens today are trying to skip their childhood and become adults and try to use the adult privileges. For example 14 year olds are dressing way older than they should be cleavage, midriff, etc. Also by using foul language when they talk to one another. In earlier generations, most people didn’t have to worry about walking the streets at night and getting raped, but how many teen girls act nowadays, the chances have increased. What’s the same is that, some teens

I did not expect the story to end with Lia Lee in a persistent vegetative state. I was very excited when I first started the book, but I soon became rather

In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the message the author is trying to portray is that speaking and conveying your emotions is vital to expressing feelings.Talking to someone releases a sense of relief for now somebody else knows and that specific information is not as powerful to only the protagonist. Opening up to someone releases how the protagonist feels, which is vital because then that someone will help Melinda get past the event that occurred. If Melinda doesn’t speak up and convey her emotions to someone about the event that occurred, people will start treating her poorly.In the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, the message the author is trying to portray is that speaking and conveying your emotions is vital to expressing

I found this novel to be was just as enjoyable, if not more, than the first. Even though things began to become too convenient near the end, this

When I first began reading this book, I assumed that it would be like the 2 previous books in the series: fast-paced with good action and good characters, but more a fun read than anything else. It was going to be enjoyable in an Ocean's Eleven or Casino Royale way like its predecessors. And so going into this, my initial reaction was surprise. In the first chapter I was already delving into the past of Kat and Hale's powerful bond and the history of their relationship, something I thought would never be explained. Already, the book was surprising me with its depth of character development and hidden deeper meanings. Throughout the book the theme of the characters taking on much bigger and influential roles continued. I learned to love the characters not just as characters but real people; I learned to look at Kat's world not just as all bright, cheerful hues, but this book revealed the shadowy, dark shades of Kat's world as well: corruption, hurt, and lots of angst. But, powering through it all and saving the day was the infinite loyalty and love of her family.

She used extraordinarily developed dialogue and is organized and written very well, except the part about the assassin. Probably the best part and person of the book, that she just draws it out way too faaaarrrr. About a couple times you’ll hear a mention of the assassin named Vamp (like a vampire, duh) but he’s never there for long. The only times he comes out is when he tracks April when she is being dumb and “sends a letter written on a napkin to her old boyfriend” (Duncan 36). If only the author put Vamp in more it would’ve definitely been so much more exciting. This is why the end of the book is the best part. In the beginning and the middle of the book it is slow and there is nothing to really keep your attention. I was thinking I would never see an assassin ever again but when he shows up it is the greatest and most exciting thing she

I did actually really like this book. I was not sure if I was going to enjoy it when the project was first assigned, but after reading for a while, I became really interested

Everyone grows physically. A person can be 4’ll”, and a couple years later they are 5’3”, Physical change is not a big deal. When someone grows as a person or emotionally it can go both ways, You either emotionally grow in a negative or positive way. The person can either become a better person, or grow with more flaws and bad habits. Speak was written by Laurie Halse Anderson, published on October 22, 1999. The story shows the character development of the main character, Melinda Sordino. Although teenagers go through emotional growth because their maturity levels are increasing, Melinda goes through a rough situation that helps her grow as a person.

I feel like Laurie Halse Anderson really conveyed a real life society that teenagers have to face every day. I also have the impression that the society in the book is ignorant because they do not see the underlying problems. The society ignorance caused Melinda a lot of pain and suffering, and probably affected her for the rest of her life. I think the part that angered me the most, was that no one try find out why Melinda was acting the way she was, and just secluded her instead. It is despondent to say that this society was mirrored on are very own, and I think that the most horrible thing that society does is make assumptions about things and people. I believe that the society did hold Melinda back, because it made it harder for her

I liked that the book is organized into small little entries. It makes it easier to read and to divvy up the book. I also liked the extended metaphor of a creating a tree that speaks to you; becomes you. In Speak, Melinda’s tree slowly becomes better and better. Along with her tree, she becomes more optimistic rather than pessimistic. By the end of the book, Melinda’s final tree, was given an A+, and her attitude and state of mind were better than ever. I love how relatable the book is to my actual life. The connections between me and Melinda made this book even better. The only thing I disliked about the book is that the incident of Andy Evans raping her was revealed closer to the end of the book. I couldn’t comprehend why Melinda was acting like this until 130 pages in. I wanted to know why Melinda was acting like this in the beginning of the story, so I can understand more clearly why Melinda was acting this specific way. I really don’t have many dislikes for this book, it was pure

Throughout this book the suspense was immense, and I could not stop reading. This book more than others in this series got much darker, and even scarier. I could relate to both Sam and Astrid in many ways, and felt like I was fighting with them.