"I just want to sleep. The whole point of not talking about it, of silencing the memory, is to make it go away. It won't. I'll need brain surgery to cut it out of my head."(pg 81,82)

                                                                                                                     

This quote basically summarizes how Melinda feels in the first two marking periods. We can tell that she is depressed. She really wants to tell the secret to someone and get it out of her head.

                                                                                                        Prakriti

Melinda's last name Sordino means deaf in Italian. I don't know if the author purposely chose that last name but it is definitely accurate with the plot of the book.

Prakriti

10. What is the theme of the book? 

I think the theme of the book is that keeping a harmful  secret to oneself     for a long time can eventually end up having a harmful effect on every aspect of a persons life socially, mentally, emotionally and physically. In the book, Melinda gets raped in the summer before grade 9 so she calls 911. When she goes to high school everyone hates her because they all know that she called 911 but no one knows that she got raped. She decides not to tell anyone and she starts getting into deep depression.Because of depression, she has a very low self esteem which leads to her not talking at all. Once she decided to stand up for herself and move on. Her whole life improved.

                                                                  Prakriti

I thought this analysis was pretty cool.

“THE FIRST TEN LIES THEY TELL YOU IN High School

1. We are here to help you. 
2. You will have time to get to your class before the bell rings. 
3. The dress code will be enforced. 
4. No smoking is allowed on school grounds. 
5. Our football team will win the championship this year. 
6. We expect more of you here. 
7. Guidance Counselors  are always available to listen. 
8. Your schedule was created with you in mind. 
9. Your locker combination is private. 
10. These will be the years you look back on fondly. (pg.5)

TEN MORE LIES THEY TELL YOU IN HIGH SCHOOL 

1. You will use algebra in your adult lives. 
2. Driving to school is a privilege that can be taken away. 
3. Students must stay on campus during lunch. 
4. The new text books will arrive any day now. 
5. Colleges care more about you than your SAT scores.
6. We are enforcing the dress code. 
7. We will figure out how to turn off the heat soon. 
8. Our bus drivers are highly trained professionals. 
9. There is nothing wrong with summer school. 
10. We want to hear what you have to say.” (pg.148)
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

Prakriti

9. How has Melinda changed from the begging of the book to the end of the book? 

• At the beginning of the book, Melinda wouldn’t speak up; she was bottling all of her feelings inside her. She was misunderstood and mistreated because of lack of communication. Throughout the book, she has grown. She has gained self confidence and has become a much stronger person. At the end of the book, she spoke up numerous times and was happy after a long time.  

Prakriti

8. What does Melinda draw for her final tree project and what does it symbolize? 

• For her final tree project, Melinda drew a tree and little birds flying freely off of it. It symbolizes Melinda letting go of her past, moving on and choosing to let the past make her stronger. She is no longer attached to what happened to her. She is free like those birds flying around freely.  

Prakriti

7. How does Melinda respond to Andy Evans trying to rape her for the second time? 

• When Andy first comes in the room, she gets scared. She tries to just go around him but he pushes her. At first she cannot do anything but then she screams really loud. She gets a piece of glass and holds him against his throat and tells him that she said NO and then unlocks the door. 

Prakriti

6. What does all the hate notes in the bathroom stall about Andy Evans prove and how does Melinda feel about it? 

• All the hate notes about Andy Evans in the Bathroom stall prove that Melinda is not the only girl that he abused. Melinda felt really happy to see this and it gave her strength. In the book she says, “I feel like I can fly”.(pg 186)

Prakriti 

5. “He's not chopping it down. He's saving it. Those branches were long dead from disease. All plants are like that. By cutting off the damage you make it possible for the tree to grow again. You watch - by the end of summer, this tree will be the strongest on the block.” What is the message behind this about human life? 

 

• The message that the author is stating indirectly is as humans none of us are perfect and we all have bad things happened to us in the past. If we keep holding on to them, we cannot grow. Just like if those branches are not cut off, the tree will not grow but once you do cut them off, the tree grows again. Likewise once we choose to move on and leave our past behind, we can grow and the past will only make us stronger. 

Prakriti 

4. What are few events that prove Melinda trying to get over her past and move on? 

• Melinda writing her essay on suffragettes and handing it on time 
• Melinda deciding that she needed to stay home for a mental-health day  
• Talking to her parents and ivy 
• Melinda having a conversation on her brain and telling herself that what happened to her was rape and she should speak up. 
• Melinda cleaning up her front yard 
• Melinda trying to beat Nicole at Tennis. Even though she lost, it gave her hope that she can be good at something.  She realizes that she could possible win. 
• She stands up to Heather  

• Melinda tells Rachelle about the rape 
• She goes back to the place where she was raped 

Prakriti 

3. What did Melinda decide to do in order to help Rachel/Rachelle? 

• Melinda decides to send Rachel/Rachelle a note that warns her of Andy Evans. The note says that Andy Evans will use her and he has attacked a ninth-grader before so be careful. To make sure that Rachel/Rachelle does not find out that it is from her, she decides to write it with her left hand. 

Prakriti 

2. How does the description of the phases of her tree project on page 151 compare to the phases that Melinda has gone throughout the whole book? 

 

• When she is describing the phases of her tree project, she is really describing the phases that she has gone through. At the beginning she was confused; confused as to what happened at the party, what did she do that was wrong? Then there was the spaz period where she just did not know what to do. After that came the dead period where she started cutting herself and then she says that she is getting better and she doesn't know what to call that phase yet.  Basically her art was a representation of herself, she was drawing whatever she was feeling. 

Prakriti 

1. Why does Melinda think that Rachel/Rachelle has lost her mind? 

• Melinda thinks that Rachel/ Rachelle has lost her mind because she went on a movie date with Andy “Beast”. She also overhears Rachel/ Rachelle gushing about Andy. This makes Melinda very anxious and she can’t decide whether to help Rachel/ Rachelle or not because of the arguments going on in her head.  

Prakriti