Well. The first marking period is over, and some of you have even read further than that. What do you think of Speak so far? What do you think of Melinda? What are your observations about high school life and drama?
Comment on this post with your thoughts. ALSO, choose one quote that stands out to you from "First Marking Period" and include it at the end of your comment.
Due Friday December 13
The book Speak is a very interesting typical high school drama story so far. Melinda seems like the typical loner outcast she says she is and she doesn't really do anything special so far. Her high school life sounds terrile and not fun. if i grew up with people telling me this kind of stuff about high school i would have been scared as an incoming freshmen, but it wasn't like that. High school drama in the books seems very mild so far i haven't read anything to head turning about drama in this book some girls in it are just mean.
ReplyDelete"She avoids basketball players. from their perspective, she must look like a basketball"(37).
I would also be scared about being a freshman if i was told the things people say to her.
Delete1. So far, Speak has gotten my attention, for the sake that in certain way, I relate to some of the emotions being passed around.
ReplyDelete2. Melinda is a unique character; she has been through, obviously, a lot. Without anyone there for her, she seems like someone I would befriend, because I can feel for her. I like her, in a sense. With some support and good friends she has the potential to be magnificent.
3. Their high school drama and life is quite similar to ours, yet very different. They have organized cliques that don’t normally socialize with those outside of their “realm.” Our school may have groups of friends and whatnot, but for the most part, everyone is one large group. We all talk, socialize, wave hello, and help each other to a certain extent. And the drama here, oh my goodness, it’s uncontainable. “Small school drama” meaning, one slip of the tongue, and it’s all over town; everyone is involved in someone else’s business. It’s almost impossible to prevent.
Quote: “This is how terrorists get started, this kind of harmless fun” (Anderson, 42).
I believe Melinda has a nervous feeling about her life. She had just been noticed as the person who put one student’s brother in jail. That is not very exciting. She also has only one person left who is the closest thing to a friend, Heather. But due to some situation, Heather has been accepted into a clan, meaning, she would be leaving Melinda. It is a very dramatic time in high school right now for her. High school life is the vortex of drama. It is one of the main causes. High school life is difficult. My classmates and i are going through these dramatic experiences. It's not easy, but we are managing together. We don't let drama come between us. That is how all high schools should handle drama. Just stick through it and high school will become much easier and faster this way.
ReplyDeleteQuote: " This closet is abandoned---it has no purpose, no name. It is the perfect place for me" (26)
DeleteWow, "vortex of drama" is an awesome phrase. :)
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ReplyDeleteSo far I am really enjoying this novel. It really captured my attention right of the bat and it sort of tugs at your “heart strings”. I think that Laurie did really well in capturing all of the drama and bullying that is involved with high school in her novel about Melinda. Honestly, I feel really bad for Melinda. I have had to deal with bits and pieces of the bullying that she has been put through but never to that extent, and it really is an awful thing. I just know that something really awful happened to her and I cannot believe that no one even thinks for a second that she may have had a reason to call the police. Most people don’t “nark” just for fun. However, I think she is staying really strong and as part of Melinda’s audience, I am really proud of her for that. It is hard to deal with all of the extreme (and not so extreme) drama that occurs during our high school years. Everyone knows there is drama because it sort of revolves around the school (or in our case, town) and affects everyone at some point. In a small town it is definitely different, because the drama spreads far more rapidly and the cliques aren’t as definite, but everyone still experiences it. We all just have to sort of deal with it in our own way.
ReplyDelete“She didn’t even bother to find out the truth-what kind of friend is that?”(Anderson pg. 21).
Well, in the book people have been rude to Melinda and she is just good at ignoring it. Melinda discovered an old janitor’s closet that she has been trying her best to fix up and make her own so she can read; she is really fond of covering mirrors. The pep rally bothered me, how everyone didn’t know the real reason why she called the party and she can’t say what it is. Everyone in high school is always begging for something to do to someone. Melinda’s new friend Heather has found a group that is only inviting her to use her; the Martha’s. Heather and Melinda decorated the teachers’ lounge and all that they got out of it was a big bag of nothing.
ReplyDeleteI think Melinda is an original person who is worried about running into her old friends. This high school of hers is pretty vast from ours; its terrifying and not kindly welcoming.
“Aren’t you the girl who called the cop at Kyle Rodger’s party at the end of the summer?” (Speak 27)
I like Speak a lot because it portrays high school as it really is, in most cases. It’s great, because it calls high school out on all of its B.S. Drama does occur, but not to the point that most teen movies try to depict, with the super rich mean girls, and different cliques, and so on. I like Melinda, and can compare myself to her a lot in this book. So far, Speak is one of my favorite required reading books, because it does illustrate how much people sometimes literally dread going to school because the people there are so mean. Depiction is key in this novel; because I think Anderson really went through the hell we call high school. “[The First Ten Lies They Tell You in High School] 10. These will be the years you look back on fondly" (Anderson 6).
ReplyDeleteI like that you point out that Speak portrays high school drama, but it isn't totally over the top like a lot of those unrealistic movies. Also it seems like it makes a difference that Melinda isn't in any of those groups, she was kind of excused from high school culture both by choice and by force and that gives her a really interesting perspective.
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