Symbolism Of Trees In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson

In Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Anne Burns, there are various symbols throughout the story. In literature, a symbol is a physical object that represents an idea, or a feeling. The majority of the symbols in Cold Sassy Tree have to deal with love, grief, and change to their local town. Some symbols from this novel include the famous Cold Sassy Tree in their local town, the rose blanket prepared by Will’s Grandpa, and many more. The symbols in this story really help the audience understand the novel’s theme, and plot overall.

In the story, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Anderson uses images and descriptions in the chapter PRUNING, to portray Melinda’s life. First, as Melinda watches the tree in her yard cut down, she says that, “He’ll only leave a stump (Anderson 30).” Melinda represents the tree as herself. If part of the tree is cut down, it cannot grow back. Melinda is afraid that she may never recover from what happened to her at the party. She may be a stump with nothing left. Next, Melinda’s dad assures her that, “By cutting off the damage, you make it possible for the tree to grow again (5).” Cutting off the “dead” branches symbolizes that Melinda wants to have people with and around her to help her to “cut off” her bad memories and experiences. She does

What comes to your mind when you think of a tree? Trees appear a lot in Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. They are one of the most frequent symbols in the novel. Symbolism is giving certain symbols deeper meanings to portray something in the text. In Speak, Melinda’s paintings of trees are symbols, as well as the tree in her front yard. Anderson uses trees to show Melinda’s different phases and her growth.

Symbolism in Speak Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, tells the story of Melinda Sordino and the personal challenges she faces after a traumatic incident during the summer before her freshman year of high school. Melinda's mouth, the janitor's closet, and trees are all symbols used throughout the text that exemplify Melinda's current state of mind. In a detailed essay, explain how one of these symbols portrays Melinda's growth. Include details and examples to support your explanation. *Include at least two quotes: Melinda is a young girl who is at a summer party and calls the cops.

Inside the girls head, few emotions wonder around. Most of them include the thoughts of “why am I here” and “I can't do anything”. The novel “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a freshman in highschool named Melinda, she has not been able to speak up since the summer of 8th grade. The poem written by William Blake called “The Poison Tree” is about anger that can not be released by the speaker, this causes anger to grow and change his identity. Through the use of symbolism and trees, both “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson and William Blake the author of the poem “The Poison Tree”, reveal that speaking up helps define who you are, and keeping silent can block your true personality.

| The tree is symbolized to represent something grown up from. The tree is the past, and it was so much more meaningful before rather than now. The change in importance is due to Gene thinking and reliving it constantly over time.

At first she tries her hardest to make it look like a tree but it never comes out to look like a good one. The art teacher had said “you will spend the rest of the year learning how to turn your object into a piece of art” (12,Anderson) which means the object is going to be growing like how Melinda is growing by the end of the year. Her growth is shown through this tree as she continues to redraw it and gets better at drawing towards the end of the story. The tree is a symbol of Melinda getting stronger and becoming able to communicate her

In Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, the protagonist, a freshman named Melinda must learn the key to recovery after enduring extreme trauma. She struggled to find someone to speak to, due to the school shunning her for calling the police at the party. Throughout Speak, Melinda seeks to recover from the trauma she experienced, especially the cruel actions from her ex-friends. Through symbolism, Laurie Halse Anderson displays the theme in Melinda's perspective.

In the beginning of the book, Melinda is assigned to draw a tree in art class. First Melinda goes to art class and gets a simple tree to draw. “Tree. Tree? It’s too easy” (p.12).

One of the more obvious symbols used in the novel is a tree. Cross-culturally, it

Ironically, the person Melinda finds as the outlet to help her express her feelings is her art teacher, Mr. Freeman. In a class assignment, Melinda is assigned to create an art project based on a tree. She begins to express her inner angst through this art project. At one point, she uses dried bones to sculpt a picture of a skeleton. Then she glues broken knives and forks to the project so that the bones look like the plastic utensils are stabbing them. It is a grim depiction of how Melinda feels, and is immediately praised by Mr. Freeman.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a book with several examples of symbolism. Although the story is seen through a child’s perspective, it includes multiple instances of symbolism, some more obvious than others. Mockingbirds, Mayella’s geraniums, and the Radley household are all big symbols in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Moreover, this drawing of the tree is representative of the mind growth of Melinda. For instance, the drawing was poorly drawn at the beginning of the book, Melinda’s pressure and her life were weighing her down. As the drawing got better throughout the school year, Melinda’s strength and mindset also began to get better as well. If the tree meant “to shelter”, then Melinda sure developed a very nice shelter for herself in the end.

The tree in Speak symbolizes Melinda’s emotional state when at first she finds no meaning in drawing the tree then she finds the courage to speak up about her rape experience. As Melinda is starting her artistic path, Mr. Freeman says his opinion on her artwork and she develops an understanding that her art work could compare to her life.

Author use many symbolism in the book The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. She uses symbolism because it makes it easier for readers to understand the deeper meaning or feeling of the character or the events that are happening. For example, author uses the symbolism of bean trees as transformation and Ismene as the abandoned children to show the deeper meaning of them.