Melinda's School

Yes, I think that Melinda’s school can be a safer and better school if they address the school issues. If they did that and in force the school rules it would feel better then it use to and people will like the school even more. I guess you can say that the school isn’t so bad it’s ok but sometimes it gets out of hand and that’s not good for the kids that want to do well and be successful in life. If they had a better security kids wouldn’t be bringing drugs or alcohol or even getting into fights and that’s not a good thing to have in a school that is filled with nice students and teachers. My old school use to be like that. There would always be something bad going on like kids bringing drugs or people getting into fights, but now its better it’s safer to go to and have fun while you’re learning. If Melinda’s life would be better just if her school was better so that she won’t be scared to go to school and have to worry about some kids that go there that creep her out.

Speak

I think that Melinda’s experience in ninth grade is very different compared to mine, because first of all I didn’t go through the pains of not having any friends and being a loner. I was liked by a lot of people. I believe that she has a bad attitude toward everything. I also think that she should speak up and tell someone exactly what happened at that party she went to. You can’t just sit there and expect nothing out of it. you will go through a lot of pains, worry, and withdrawal from the world. The only reason I know this is because I have been through the same thing she has been through. The only big difference is she doesn’t have as many friends as I did. So, I think that she should speak up and tell her parents or one of the school councilors. I also think that she should confront Andy (IT) about what he did to her. When she goes to school she should tell one of the school councilors, stay away from Andy, and just focus on her school work. This book speak makes you want to speak up for her and stand up for her, because of her situation.

Speak

When I first went t ninth grade it was kind of scary because it was a new school and I had no friends because I was new. In my English class I had to write a poem about my first day there. It was kind of embarrassing but that’s how I showed people who I really was and how I felt about my first day of ninth grade.

I think that mine and Melinda’s experiences are alike cause we were both shy and both alone but she was alone the whole year and I had friends the next day. But I have a lot of the same problems that milinda has so I can really relate to her so much. I think that Melinda shouldn’t have kept quiet for as long as she did but at the same time it is really hard to speak up. Mostly because you are scared of what is going to happen next but I always know that I can count on the counselors here at summit.

Speak

I think her friendship with David is a good positive relationship. I think it is good that both of them have found each other to hang out with. I think there friendship is a lot more real and nicer than Heather and hers. I think David is a positive influence on Melinda because he doesn’t put her down he helps her feel better about herself that’s why I think David would be a good boyfriend for Melinda because he would know how to treat her. You can tell that he wants to date Melinda but he is scared of how she will react. I don’t think he has ever dated a girl before. They both are way shy, so it would be hard for them to break out of their shells. But I think David would know how to treat her. He would treat her right. But since Melinda’s been raped I think she has a problem trusting guys, and doesn’t feel comfortable around them like she used to. She needs to be shown how she deserves to be treated, and David should do that for her. I feel really strongly about them getting together and dating that would be awesome for both of them.

Speak

I think Melinda handles her isolation just a little bit better because she’s still having trouble talking to people and speaking about what she thinks and feels about things around other people she’s talking more and more a little at a time I think its like in life I think she’s just like that because she barley knows anyone in school so she still feels shy and the new kid. When people go to new places they feel new and shy or nervous. The newcomers are different to others and they are different from the school they don’t know what to do around so they isolate themselves and not talk for a while. Like me when I go to new places I feel nervous like I don’t know how people are in school I isolate myself for a couple weeks but then I slowly start meeting people like I don’t go meeting others they notice me and approach and talk to me and then we kind of start meeting and shish . so I just pretty much isolate myself even from the teachers from their help. I don’t think about others and I keep it to myself all the time. Like when I came to summit I was shy and didn’t know anyone for a couple weeks and then I started getting boosters but still ignored them I just kept it to myself but I still do keep it to myself sometimes.

Speak

Melinda’s and my experience is way different in the ninth grade because I was a very social guy in jr. high. Everyone wanted to be friends with me because I was very nice and out going, I didn’t try to be or act like someone I’m not, like try to act hard or anything. Melinda; people thinks she is weird and doesn’t belong there; she never talks to anyone at school. She just sits by her self at school and skips outta school by her self because she didn’t have any friends. When I skipped outta School I went with a big crowd. I was a trouble maker in school and she isn’t really. How the experiences were the same or similar is that at first I didn’t really like it but got used to it kind of how she is trying to do and open up to the school and her parents and try to talk to them a little more but it is still hard for her. When you’re in jr high it feels like your on top of the world because your in jr high and out of elementary school there is a big change.

Speak

Melinda’s experience in ninth grade was a lot different then mine but sort of similar in some ways. First of all I wasn’t raped or rejected like she was. We are similar by the way we enclosed ourselves within ourselves. When I was in ninth grade, I didn’t have that many friends and most of the time I felt alone. Just like Melinda, she sort of was popular until she was raped and no one knew she then became the outcast. Melinda didn’t have any friends she was truly alone. We are also the same because truly deep down no one knew how we felt no one listened to my feelings and my beliefs and thoughts. Just like Melinda but not exactly I had some friends who eventually left me for sports teams and other extra-curricular activities. I am different from Melinda though I decided to speak up and start from the top of the pyramid. I fell for a cheerleader and tried my hardest to get her to notice me, an unknown kid who was stupid and reckless trying to win the heart of a beautiful goddess, the cheerleader. Unlike Melinda, who went completely silent and wouldn’t talk to anyone. Not even to her parents. So in conclusion Melinda and I are the same in some ways but mostly different from each other. We ditched for personal reason we got in trouble we were quite we are who we are.

She realizes that Heather wasn’t really a friend to her and that she just used her. Melinda thinks the friendship was all a lie; nothing was real with their friendship. The ending of the friendship to Melinda means that she didn’t really have a true friend, and that friends are hard to come by. Heather is sorry about it but she likes hanging out with the preppy people. Melinda’s parents think her problem is that she doesn’t care anymore. The principal and the guidance councilor thinks she is having problems and don’t have to go to school the meeting didn’t really help Melinda it mostly hurt her and now she bluffs schools a lot more and doesn’t even go to class that much any more. She doesn’t really like school after all that stuff went down with her and Heather, she tries to avoid her and school as much as possible and she just gets on the bus and goes where ever she wants but then at the end of the day she feels like she messed up and wants to go back to school but at the same time she doesn’t want the drama with Heather.

I think Melinda’s parents thinks her problem is that she’s not talking and she’s not expressing her self or making friends. She doesn’t speak when someone’s talking to her or asking her a question Melinda’s not speaking up. Her counselor thought she was getting beat at home because she wasn’t speaking to any one or and she was not speaking at all to any one when the counselors was pulling her into their offices to talk to her about speaking and talking to people and to talk if they are beating her of her parents then they called her parents in to talk about a lot of things like if they are beating her or if she’s to shy she doesn’t speak up to anyone she’s to afraid to speak up of her opinion. The counselors and the teachers asked her something but she didn’t speak up and her parents freaked out telling her to speak up but she {Melinda} didn’t speak up she just ignored and daydreamed. But I also think that if Melinda learns to speak up and be more mouth active to talk she would be better off because she would have a lot less stressed out parents people or others wouldn’t think differently about her like the counselors did about thinking that she’s getting beat at home by her parents 

Melinda and Heather's Relationship

            I think Melinda realizes that she doesn’t have anyone and that she is alone. They both didn’t have any friends so they both decided to be friends with each other. So they didn’t really get to know each other they just jumped into their relationship not knowing anything about each other. Heather doesn’t really care about their relationship because she’s going to go be friends with the Martha’s. For Melinda she is going to be alone all the time now. She literally doesn’t have anyone except for her art teacher to talk to you. I think their relationship was very fake. Heather acted like she cared about Melinda but I don’t think she really did. Melinda really did care about Heather she really wanted to be her friend and be there for her. Melinda doesn’t deserve to be treated like Heather treated her. She needs a real friend that’s going to be there for her and actually care. Someone that Melinda can speak up to. I don’t think Heather is a good friend; she just cares about herself more than she cares about anyone or anything else. But Heather is just going to go be fake with the Martha’s.

Melinda's Parents

What do Malinda’s parents think her problem is? They think that she is a mute because she won’t talk. The principal and guidance counselor think her problem is that she is doing bad in school and she is skipping school because she is not doing well in school. I think the meeting hurt Malinda more than help her. It hurt her because she now can’t even talk to her mom and dad without them not trusting her. I think Mr. Freeman helped her because in art she can express her feelings through art and Ms. keen has helped her because in P.E. she con get her aggression out on Andy. She is able to connect to life through them by art and P.E. I see that she has changed for the better of her self. I think it is symbiotic that she goes to the hospital so that she can let the pain and suffering she is going through.  

Speak

I don’t think that Melinda told her parents what happen because, she is afraid of what they will say, or do. So she is in that position where she doesn’t know what to do. She also doesn’t want to cause she will get in trouble for sneaking out and going to that party when she wasn’t supposed to go. So I think that she wants her mom and dad to tell her what’s wrong and maybe then she will tell them. But then again maybe they will not support her and maybe they will she doesn’t know at that moment. But all she knows right now is that she should not say anything and that maybe it will all go away. but she knows that it wont and that’s why the book is called speak cause she does not say a thing.

I think that she knows that she will have to tell someone soon cause she cant hold it in any longer and that’s why she feels bad for the frog cause it cant say anything and its dead too so that’s why she p-asses out and ya so right now she doesn’t feel comfortable any one so ya.

Speak

         I think that Melinda thinks back on things too much to where she feels depressed about all the things she’s been through. I also think that she needs to take a chill pill and start talking to people, talk to a therapist, and get her problems out. That way she can get to know more people and find out what she needs to do. In her biology class, Melinda faints because of something that they are doing to the frogs. They pin the frogs arms and legs and it reminds her of when she was raped. She was pinned at the party. I think she really just needs to talk to someone about everything that happened and get it all out. I think that Heather the new girl will help her get the help she needs by going to the councilors about what has happened with her or something similar to that. One thing that I think that Heather will do is be her friend no matter what is going on with her. Even if Melinda starts cutting herself, Heather will be there for her. If Melinda and Heather stay friends for the rest of school then I believe that they will make it through all the challenges and changes in school. 

Speak

            I think Melinda will connect with Mr.Neck, just because he is the one that interacted with her on the first day of school and pays attention to her and what she is doing and tries to help her out with everything and asks about her and what she wants to be when she grows up. He talks to her bout the school and how the kids are there and see’s who she is friends with.

            The teacher I think Melinda will have trouble with is her Spanish teacher because she will try to talk Spanish to the class and not English so that the class can learn how to speak Spanish faster, she thinks that if she talks to them in Spanish a lot more than English than the kids will catch on faster than just learning out of the book. The other teacher she will probably have trouble with is the art teacher just because she doesn’t really get along with any of the students and Melinda doesn’t get along with the art teacher either just because the art teacher thinks he is better than anyone else and if u cant paint than she looks down on you and mocks your drawings

Speak

They are similar because they both are very stressed out at work. They are different because they have different things that they have to do in their jobs. And they have different jobs and different responsibilities.  I think that she sympathizes with her dad more than her mom. I think this because she and her dad get along better because he did not get mad at her for getting blood on the papers and the envelopes. I think that these experiences impact that way that she expresses her self to others.

I think that she does not tell her mom and dad about what happened at the party or that she went to the party in the fist place. She probably did not tell them about the party and what happened to her is because she is scared that her parents will think different about her. I think that if they fight less they might find her to be a little more honest with them even though they do not know that she is lying to them.

Why do I think that she fainted in biology class is cause she felt that she was probably pined to the ground and was raped. It references her getting raped at the party.

Speak

 The number one reason why she didn’t tell her parents what happen to her that night is because she was scared. She didn’t want them to freak out, if she told them that she went to a party instead of Heathers house. Her mom will be really mad and maybe she wouldn’t care much about her that night. The other reason why she didn’t tell them is because her parents were really tired and she didn’t want them to stress anymore since they’re all tired. They were all happy that day to, so probably Melinda didn’t want to get them all down and mad. If, Melinda told her parents that night things would probably be a little bit better then how they are right now. Her parents would be more trustworthy wit her and would let her do anything she wants and maybe she would be doing good in school so her parents wont give her crap about it. Melinda just needs to be more open and express her feelings a little bit better. If she did that she would be more, happy and will be making better friends and would trust them more then her old ones. She’s a good person to be with if you really get to know her.

Janitor's Closet

I think the janitors’ closet becomes a symbol of Melinda’s state of mind, because it’s closed off. It’s away from the world. She doesn’t have to worry about anyone saying anything to her. Her mental state is definitely isolated, she is killing herself inside. She doesn’t want to be part of the regular world. She doesn’t have to put on a front for anyone when she is in the janitors closet. She can hide out. I think she is also happy because she doesn’t have to have people see her alone. So she can hide out in there.

            Melinda’s thoughts are eating her inside. She can’t think or be happy, her being raped is always on her mind. It’s like a drug she is constantly thinking about it. She wants someone to listen to her and she wants to tell her secret, but no one will listen to her. In the closet she can be herself and be happy somewhat. It is like her own little paradise, which she feels on top of the world. No one will judge her in there. She can let her thoughts wander and think about other things. That is how it becomes a symbol.

Speak

I think that the closet reflect Melinda’s mental state showing that she likes to be Recluse to space.  She likes being alone.  And I think that she is really happy that she found this space because she can be herself in there. She can be whoever she wants to be in there.  She can imagine and think whatever she wants without anyone there to affect her imagination. I think that its good that she can go there and just have some time to herself to just breathe.  Just block everything out and just think.  But also I think that I could be a bad thing if she keeps going there to just get away from the world.  You got to face your problems sometimes instead of running away from them.  I think that if she will speak and talk about then things will turn around for her.  And she wont have to live such a crappy life.

Speak

I think Melinda fainted because she just made friends and she’s actually talking to some people and she’s kind of realizing it in her stomach I don’t know. Feelings and she’s hadn’t had friends or any one to talk to for a long time, So maybe this,  actually because what made her faint Is the person who raped her Melinda saw his face in her mind and that’s what made her faint. I think Melinda thinks way to back on things that’s probably why she’s not making friends because she’s always thinking about the past. The past is making her depressed even though its not happening right now it’s over and done with so she needs to worry about the present and the future. Melinda has one friend and its heather but heather I think she uses Melinda just a little bit because she asks Melinda to do posters for the food drive because she’s in some type of group with some other girls and they do some stuff for school. And heather needs the posters done right or she’s getting kicked out of the group by Martha, so shes asked Melinda to do it that’s why I think she’s using Melinda because Melinda’s good  she asked her just so she doesn’t get kicked out of the group. 

I think the picture she drew was a good idea. It talks about her very much. Like the lightening hitting the tree, that shows that the tree has been hurt just like her she’s been hurt and ashamed and the only thing she can do is keep to her self just like a tree does. A tree doesn’t talk, she doesn’t really talk to. So a tree is a very good example for her to show how she feels. Just like a tree you need to take good care of it and like Melinda she needs good friends so that she can be her self around them. If she has friends they will help her out, that’s if they were really her friend and if they were she can be better and she can share her feelings with her friends. If people would understand where she’s coming from then they won’t hate her so much they would be trying to help her out, but since no one likes her they don’t want to understand her like other people do. A tree is a very good example of showing how she feels.

Speak

         In the first section of the novel, how would you describe Melinda? Is she likable or unlikable? Why?  I would describe Melinda as a shy girl that doesn’t have much confidence in herself. I personally think that she is both likable and unlikable, because her friends kind of just left and don’t want to be around her at all. I also think that she is likable, because shy girls can be kind of hot sometimes and the new girl form Ohio likes her. The new girls name is Heather and she asked Melinda if she was new too. I think that, so far, this book is alright. I think what will happen next is that she will make some friends at school later on when she is not as shy as she is and maybe become popular. I think that this book might teach me some lessons about life. I also think that this book might be kind of lame later on, that is just my opinion. When Melinda makes friends with this other girl Heather she will help her to talk to people more and answer. That is just a prediction of what I think will possibly happen.

I think that Heather and Malinda’s friendship is not true. Heather is very negative influence on her and she acts like a bitch to her. She except her as a friend because no one else will. I think the tree and the lightning going through it represents what she is holding in from others about getting raped. It is a sign of her being stressed out. And it is a sign of her wanting to let out some words to relive the stress. I think she should not be friends with her because the influence is not the best for her. She is very rude and she is also very mean and puts her down all the time. She is not a very supportive person to be around. And she made friends with the wrong people and she went to the wrong place and did the wrong thing at the wrong time by going of with some random guy she didn’t even know. I think that if she would just talk about what is going through her head that her life would be much better.

Teacher

I think that she is going to connect most with her art teacher. She already seems like she has a connection with him already. You can tell she likes art and has a peace with it. Just like when she called the art class sanctuary. It makes her feel comfortable. She goes to art class and feels like she can just be herself. She feels like she has no cares in the world, like she fits in. I think the teacher she is going to have the most trouble with is the guy gym teacher, she met in the hall. He seems like the type of guy that only likes people that play sports. He was very rude to her in the hall. He wouldn’t even give her a break even after she had mashed potatoes thrown on her. He could’ve been nice and asked her if she was okay. Instead he didn’t care about anything, except for if she had a hall pass. I think her and the art teacher are going to bond very well. He is going to be able to give her advice and be someone that supports her. They are going to be great friends.

Ways I can describe Melinda is that she seems like a shy embarrassing person in school and or at home. She seems like these because she lets people push her around and beat her up or tell her what to do like she’s their you know what. She is to shy to share her feelings in things to others; she is also to shy to speak out to others. She has no friends. 

She’s got the shyness in her she won’t talk to anybody to make friends. Melinda seems to much of a keep it to herself type of girl. Students, she’s like the type of student at other schools like the losers would sit by the garbage can and the popular students would sit by

Some good view of some type I don’t know.

I think Melinda chooses to draw the tree with lightning behind it because it kind of describes herself by she lets others pick on her and do to whatever the hell they want to her. They get her like lightning she wont stop it she’s afraid to say something to tell them to stop doing what their doing. There I’m done this is it. ok

Speak

 Melinda is a person who is afraid to take a stand and say what’s on her mind. Melinda is hated by her old friends. The toss food at her, tell her they hate her, and avoid her at all costs. All this is due to an event where she called the cops while at a major summer party and fled the scene. Leaving everyone else to deal with the cops over summer break. I believe Melinda will most connect with her art teacher because he speaks her language. He’s given her an opportunity to talk without using words. Mainly through her projects she’s creating. Mr. Neck on the other hand, I believe that Melinda and him will not get along to well with each other, because of the tension of the no hall pass confrontation. Qualities that make a great teacher would be one tat helps the students learn but on there own terms with little help and let them learn on their own pace. Students on the other hand. What make a good student is one that is willing to learn, like the art teacher having the students chose their own path and draw the name of an object to focus on during the term and turning it into art so that it speaks to whoever sees it.

How I can describe Melinda. Melinda is a quite girl she keeps to her self, so she doesn’t get into something that will get her into trouble. I think she still has a great personality ever after what happened in her past. She’s probably really out going and is a very fun person to hang out with. It would be way hard to go through the things she is, not having anyone to talk too, her parents are always gone and her old friends hate her. Melinda is a very likeable person, already. She just needs to talk to someone, to let it all out. No matter what, because it could effect her in the long run, just like it is now. Melinda is way scared and way nervous, I could understand why. She doesn’t know what to do and I don’t think anybody would either, she’s a lost teenage girl, and it doesn’t help when she can’t let it go. I think she is a good friend but no one knows that anymore because their to busy trying to be popular but when the popularity goes away, what will they have than, being popular is the only reason why they all left her alone, and Melinda says that they we’re good friends but good friends wouldn’t just ditch out on her like they did.