Nadiyah Yaneisha Joshua
Discussion Questions
1) With evidence in the story, why do you think everyone dislikes Melinda?
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Nadiyah: I think that no one likes Melinda because of something that happened at the back to school party that she went to before school. Or Her ex best friend might have started spreading rumors about her. Everyone in the story didn't talk to Melinda because they thought she just wanted to ruin the party.
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Joshua: Everyone dislikes Melinda because she is antisocial. Also because she refuses to make friends. They don't understand her situation.
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Nadiyah reply to Joshua on #1:
I don't think that everyone disliked her because she's antisocial, they have to have a better reason.
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Yaneisha: No one likes Melinda because shes the one who called the police. Things were getting out of hand. But something happened to her which caused her to do what she did.
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2) What do you think happened the night of the party Melinda attended?
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Joshua: I believe that Melinda was raped by Andy. Also she got drunk, and stayed out past her curfew. Due to her being raped is the reason she called the police.
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Nadiyah reply to Joshua: how do you know that she was raped by Andy and not someone else?
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Joshua reply to Nadiyah's reply to me: Because i just know.
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Nadiyah: I believe that Melinda drunk too much alcohol and was very vulnerable. Someone did something to her and made her have to call the police. She may have witnessed something or something may have happened to her that was so serious that made her feel as though she had to call the police.
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Yaneisha: Melinda just so happened to like a senior named Andy. They ended up dancing and drinking together.Afterwards, Andy took her up to a room and forced himself on her.
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3)Do you think Melinda not telling anyone about her rape is the right thing to do?
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Nadiyah: I think that Melinda not telling anyone about her rape is the wrong thing to do. What something happens to you, you're suppose to tell some one. That will keep you from being depressed. That's probably why Melinda is so sad not.
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Yaneisha: I say no because she could of yelled for help the night it happened. Or she of could told her parents or her used to be best friend.
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Joshua:I say no because melinda could have been more open the night it happened and the days after.Also because of her not being opened it caused her to go into a state of depression.​
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4) Who do you think Andy is, and what he did?
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Nadiyah: I think Andy is the antagonist in the story. I think that he is the person that raped Melinda at the party. I believe that Andy is harassing Melinda because he thinks she is soft, or weak.
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Joshua: I think Andy is the Antagonist. He raped Melinda at the back to school party.
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Yaneisha: I think Andy is the one who was at the party. And raped her.
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5) What do you think is the real reason Melinda and heather stopped being friends?
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Nadiyah: I think that Heather stopped being friends with Melinda, because she was too different. The Martha's may have felt as though Melinda wasn't capable of fitting their standards. So they told Heather to stop being friends with Melinda so that she will officially be accepted as a part of the group.
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Joshua: Heather feels that Melinda is too odd. Also because of she maybe feels that Melinda won't accept her as her friend. Heather and Melinda are opposite, while Heather is happy and hopeful, Melinda is sad and depressed.
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Yaneisha reply to joshua: I don't think that she was odd and that is the reason. We both had a similar answer.
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Yaneisha: Melinda was a shy, boring type of girl. Heather thought Melinda was strange and didn't have a fun personality. The Martha's didn't like Melinda around them. So they told Heather she can no longer be friends with her.
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6) Why do you think Mr. Freeman has so much faith in Melinda?
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Joshua: I believe that he has so much faith in Melinda, because it is his obligation being that he is a teacher. His job is to tend to the needs of students.
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Nadiyah: I think that Mr. Freeman sees that she has no friends, and that er wants to become close to her so that she will have someone to confide in. I think that he want to see her succeed and not let her continue to have no motivation to continue.
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Yaneisha: I think the teacher has a lot of potential in Melinda. She just doesn't believe in herself.
7) Why do you think Melinda's parents didn't notice anything wrong with Melinda?
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Nadiyah: I think they didn't notice Melinda's change in behavior because they were too focused on working. They had no time to stop and see what was wrong with her, or talk about her feelings.
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Yaneisha: Melinda's parents doesn't see anything wrong with her. They don't see that's shes a little off and distant.
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Joshua:Due to work Melinda's parents were unable to notice Melinda change in behavior.They were not able to see that there daughter was not the same as before
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8) Who do you think left the note on Melinda's locker?
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Nadiyah: I think that someone Melinda didn't expect to leave a note on her locker did it. I don't think that David left the note, because they don't really socialize. Also i think that David was just nice to her because that's the type of person he is.
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Yaneisha: I think andy left the note on her locker. Hes probably trying to tell her not to tell anybody about the night he raped her.
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Nadiyah's reply to Yaneisha: I don't think that Andy left the note because he doesn't know where her locker is, unless he's stalking her. But i highly doubt it.
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Joshua: I think that Andy is the one who left the note.He is trying to tell her not to say anything about the incident where he raped her.
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9)Do you think there is any connection between he raped her een Melinda's low grades and Melinda's rape?
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Nadiyah: Yes, I think that Melinda is depressed from the situation that she been through. I also think that he grades are so low because she isn't paying attention in class. She is also skipping out on tutoring, and study hall to be in her closet so that probably is the reason that she is failing.
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Yaneisha: Yes because after what happened with her, shes been slacking in class. She cuts class to be in her closet.
Joshua:Yes, because after what happened she started acting different. For example she started skipping and failing classes.
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10) What do you think was the reason for Hairwoman's new look?
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Nadiyah: I think that she was just tired of the kids making fun of her. And she also just wanted to change the way that she looked. Being that it is the end of the school year, she wanted too get herself ready for the summer.
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Yaneisha: I think she wanted a new look. Hairwoman could of gotten a new soulmate in her life and wanted to look good.
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Joshua: I think that its a possibility that she was tired of kids making fun of her. Its also because she wanted a new look.
11) Why do you think Heather wanted help from Melinda at the end of the book, and not have chose one of her Martha's friends?
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Nadiyah: I think that the Martha's didn't help her because they weren't her true friends any way. Also Heather wasn't a true friend to Melinda from the beginning.
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Yaneisha: I think because Melinda was the very first friend she met. And the Martha's wouldn't help Heather.
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Joshua: I think that she didn't tell her other friends. because they were not real friends in the first place. They were only using her for the extra hand.
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12) Why do you think Rachel didn't believe Melinda when she told her that Andy raped her?
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Nadiyah: Rachel didn't believe Melinda because she thinks Melinda is going to lie again like she did at the party. Melinda didn't tell what happened at the party so Rachel thought that she was lying about Andy raping her. Rachel was just using past knowledge thinking that Melinda didn't want her to be with Andy, not to help her.
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Yaneisha: Rachel didn't believe her because she thought she was lying and jealous of her.
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Joshua: I think that she didn't believe her because of what she did at the party. She probably thought she was lying because at the party she din't tell anyone the real reason why she called the police.
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Link to Trailer: Just in case the video does not work
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Character Analysis
Melinda
Melinda begins her 9th grade year friendless. She is depressed and all of her former friends stopped associating with her because of an incident that happened before the school year began. Melinda is sad all throughout her ninth grade because she was raped and gets bullied. Do to these things that have happened to her it causes her to be a constant Debby Downer. Making her the protagonist in this story. Melinda is depressed due to her being raped and not having the courage to tell anyone. Melinda feels as though she isn't good enough to fit into the other groups of high school kids, so she stands alone.
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Andy
Andy Evans is a senior at Marrywether High school, the same school that Melinda attends. Andy is the person that rapes Melinda before the school year begins. He continues to harass Melinda throughout the book making himself a nightmare for Melinda. Andy preys on the weak and thinks that he can get whatever he wants because he is a senior, and has popularity. Andy believes that he is untouchable, and that if Melinda was to tell that she was raped, no one will believe her because she is previously claimed mentally unstable. This makes andy Evans the antagonist in the story Speak.
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Heather
Heather is a new girl from out of town. She is the first friend that Melinda made in her freshman year of high school. Heather wants badly to fit into a group of high school. She is a major person in Melinda's school life because she is his only friend. Melinda rely's on Heather to make her feel like she isn't just some antisocial kid. But Heather is constantly stuck in the high school fantasy's that claim that you must be part of a click once you reach high school. Heather soon drops Melinda as a friend once the confides in a group called the Martha's for a sense genuine friendship.
Mr. Freeman
Mr. Freeman is Melinda's art teacher. He helps Melinda through the school year with finding who she is. Mr. Freeman is a very calm and collected person. He loves art and creates masterpieces that the whole school adores. Throughout a small duration of the book Mr. Freeman creates a masterpiece that exemplified something that the who school loved and wanted him to complete. Mr. Freeman serves as a role model for Melinda, helping her find her inner creativity through the projects that he gives.
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David
David is a one of Melinda school mates, specifically her lab partner. In the book David opened a case against Mr.Neck involving the fact that he made racial slurs against Mexicans to the class. David was very smart, and is Melinda's only stable friend even though they seldom talked. David was very focused on school, and his case against Mr.Neck to the point where he didn't have time for friends. David is considered a role model to Melinda. He is a role model for Melinda because she wants to be like him, she admires the things that he does like getting good grades and having purpose.
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Rachel/Rachelle
Rachel is Melinda's ex-best friend. She stopped associating with Melinda due to the fact that Melinda called the police while "the best party'' was in duration. When they got to high school Rachel changed the way that she look so that she could fit in with the other kids at Marryweather.
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Literary Luminary
"You are better than you think you are,"
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This quote is important to the text because, it exemplified how Melinda thought less of herself after the situation that happened to her.She thought that she would have no ability to become popular, or even get past what happened to her. It also applies to not only Melinda, but it can be relatable to everyone who thinks that they are less than what they are. It can be understood by everybody, and it applies to both the book and in real life.
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Some people think that they aren't enough, when they are more than they think that they are. They often may hthink thhat they aern't enough, and someone has to reassure them ats to reassure them and tell them that they are enough for enyone.
Individual Marking Period Summary's
Marking Period Summary's
1st Marking Period:
The 1st marking period begins with Melinda entering her 9th grade year. The section identifies all of her classes and how she feels about all of her teachers. First there's Biology, then English with Hair Women, the teacher whom has no face. Then there is Social Studies with Mr. Neck, who gave her a late pass at the beginning of the school day. Then Mr. Freeman the art teacher.
The section also showed how unstable her relationship was with her parents. This section also introduced Melinda's main conflict, the party that she attended before school started, that somehow ended with her calling the police. This situation not only caused bad blood between the people at the party but also her friends that she had hung out with her whole life.
Melinda met her 1st friend of the school year, her name is Heather. She was a happy girl from out of state.Being that Heather was new , she didn't know about the incident that occurred at the party, so she had no need to talk about her, or not like her. Heather and Melinda continue to be friends despite their major personality differences.
At the end of this marking period Melinda runs into and unwanted person that she refers to as "it". Melinda also finds an old janitors closet that she had decided to make her secret hiding spot when school became too stressful.
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2nd Marking Period:
However, Melinda is not interested in gaining popularity and spends all her time in an old janitors closet in school. Melinda steals passes and uses the closet as a way to escape her the judgmental teens, and the demanding teachers. Melinda also uses her closet to escape the study hall that Hair Woman forces her to go to, so that she can make up missing English work.
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Melinda takes the bus to Heather's and they hang out, watching movies, and eating popcorn. Heather is largely determined on gaining Melinda some type of popularity. Heather finally finds a group to join, but the group, named Martha's, don't accept Melinda. The group pushes Heather to participate in activities, but not including Melinda. Doing this such as inviting Heather to sit with them, but not inviting Melinda. Heather began to drift away from Melinda, eventually, deleting her as a friend all together,
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Melinda eventually accomplished her goal of creating an art project. Making a turkey out of the bones from the failed turkey from Thanksgiving. She felt like she meant something due to the fact that Mr. Freeman was proud of her accomplishment of unlocking her creativity.
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3rd Marking Period
Melinda reads " The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorn in English class. Hair woman makes her class focus on discovering the symbols in what they're reading and what they think. In art, Mr.Freeman paints his students names on paper work. Melinda still has trouble with her tree assignment that she was assigned.
While Melinda was in lunch, Heather walked up to her and expressed her want to not be friends anymore. Heather didn't want to be friends because Melinda was to boring and she didn't like to do anything fun outside of school. On valentines day, Melinda found a note on her locker. She hoped that it was from David, but the note was just from heather expressing her thankfulness for Melinda being so helpful.
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4th Marking Period
On the last day of spring break, Melinda walks around the mall and spots one of her classmates, Ivy, drawing by kids getting their faces painted. Ivy tries to encourage Melinda, telling her she has talent, so they work on the tree together.
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The main thing that happened in this marking period is the fact that Melinda finally told someone about what happened to her. Andy had taken interest in Rachel, and Melinda thought it would be wrong if she didn't tell her friend what this boy was capable of. The only problem is that when Melinda told her, Rachel did not believe her. Rachel told her that she was lying and left the scene. Even though Rachel didn't believe her it still took a chip off of Melinda's shoulder and she was no longer depressed.
The only problem now was facing Andy. Melinda met up with Andy in her janitors closet towards the end of the school year. They got into a physical altercation,. At the end everyone knew what he had done, and Melinda had gained respect from all girls in the school, for her bravery and the ability to stand up to Andy. The last person that she needed to tell was Mr. Freeman
Entire Book Review
Book Review
All together, as a group we would give this book a grade of C+. Even though it has won many awards, it did not catch our eye in any aspects. Not only can't we relate to the book, but the book doesn't exemplify anything hat we are familiar with. The book in not way, shape, or form shows how we feel in high school. Personally in the book, the topics were over exaggerated, except the situation that happened to Melinda. Other things were irrational and they made no sense, they had no explanation and they showed no purpose. The book had no clear cut story line, and barley any action. One of the only good qualities about the book is getting the word out there tht rape is something that is not to be played with. It showed the possible outcomes it you did't tell anyone about what is happening to you.
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I was not moved by the book, and i thought that it was rather long . The book was very long for it to only be discussing one small topic. I understand the severeness of the situation that she went through but i don't understand why all of the other things happened to her. In conclusion of this book review i would like to say that the book could have had some better things including a little bit more action.
Speak
Laurie Halse Anderson is an American writer best known for children and young adult books. Laurie's novels include Speak, Fever, and Twisted. She received the Margaret A Edwards Award from American library Association in 2010 for her contribution to young adult literature. Her first recognized novel was speak, which was published in 1999. Speak was made into a movie in 2004
Laurie was born on October 23, 1961 in Potsdam, New York. She was born to a two parent home, and has one sister. She showed many early interests for writing. During her senior year she moved out of her parents house at he age of 16. She lived as an exchange student for 13 months on a pig farm in Denmark. After returning home she got a job at a clothing store making minimum wadge until she attended college and received her bachelors degree. She later in life went on to make her ground breaking novels, such as Speak.