Independent+Novel+Study

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Journel Entry 1: Page 1-25

The protagonist has started her first day of high school of grade nine at Merryweather High and so far it has been a disaster. For some reason her friends from middle school ignores her and other people who used to get along with her is now giving her evil glares. Her former group of friends have all split up and went to new different groups. She is struggling to blend and fit in and although she has made a new friend, Heather, things are still not going well for her because the teachers has it in for her. It was suggested that her best friend and her former clan ignores her because of an incident that happened in the summer of grade 8 involving a party. And apparently she called the cops resulting in getting everybody busted. Something significant has happened at the party that changed her life but the truth has not been revealed yet in the story.
 * __Plot summary:__**

I decided to select this novel because the protagonist is a teenager and like me she is entering her first year of high school. I thought if I can relate to the protagonist of the book I might be able to understand the content of the book better. I have also chosen this book because after I read the summary it interested me what really did happen to the protagonist at that party that was so life changing.
 * __ Why did you select this novel? __**

Based on what I have read so far the protagonist revealed information about something happening at a party in the summer before high school started. This was an important piece of information because the incident was what made an huge impact on her life so far like losing her friends, not fitting in, and being glared at by strangers.
 * __ What has happened before the novel began? __**

The protagonist herself is telling the story in first person. Her perspective effect the way the story is told because she is apparently the only one who knew what really happened at that party. She looks at things differently because she knows the truth but she can't tell anybody about it because it seems that her former friends have all abandoned her and mistaken her for some reason.
 * __ Who is telling the story? How does this person’s perspective effect the way the story is told? __**

10/10

Journel Entry 2 : Page 26 - 51 December 10, 2010

__**Plot Summary:**__ The story continues talking about the protagonist, Melinda, and her high school life. The pep rally is coming up and after one of the girls said "aren't you the girl who call the cops from that party?" at the pep rally, everybody sitting around Melinda glared at her. After the pep rally Heather, her only friend starts to realize that she needs to fit in in high school, to stop being a nobody. Heather then attempts on join the Marthas a clan that's big on helping and her first task was to decorate the faculty lounge for a thanksgiving party. In between chapters it talks about the protagonist high school classes such as art, algerbra, biology and such. The section on page 45 to 46 before the "Second Marking Period" of the book suggested "IT" was somebody - whether it's a boy or a girl- who was the unspeakable reason of the protagonist calling the cops.

__** Comment on the style of the novel. Is it easy or hard to follow the events? **__ It is fairly easy to follow the events because the story is written in a point of view from a teenager. It helps me relate better because of the way she thinks about teachers, classes, fitting in, pep rally, and other stuff that occurs in high school. The protagonist's attitude and the way she tells her story in first person is easy to follow because it was written this way to target our age group.

__** How does the author get you to read on or hold your interest? **__ The author achieve this by slowly revealing important information one at a time. Throughout the book it mainly talks about how she survives her everyday life in high school but in it there are also little hints revealed to what happened at the party and why everybody hates her. The author tries to let you complete the puzzle by giving you pieces of information so you can figure out the reason behind her calling the cops at the party. It slowly build up until it finally reveals the truth which in this case is possibly the climax.

__** What is the setting of the novel? Is the setting important or could the novel be happening anywhere? Why? **__ The setting of the story is at Merryweather High. The setting of the story is very crucial because the obstacles that the protagonist is facing is what high school's all about. High school contains problems like fitting in, being socially accepted, getting along with teachers, etc. more than any other settings such as work, middle school or home.

10/10

Journal Entry 3: Page 51 - 76 January 1, 2011

__** Plot Summary: **__ Her socials teacher Mr.Neck has started a debate about America closing her borders in 1900 and Melinda's lab partner David is suing the teacher for having a racist, intolerant and xenophobic lesson. Thanksgiving is coming up and her mom is stressed out about the making the sales a her turkey. Melinda's dad attempts on cooking the turkey but fails and dumps it in the trash instead. Melinda later dug out the bones and made a piece of art representing "pain" according to her art teacher Mr.Freeman. It's near winter break and David is still recording Mr.Neck's classes and handing the tapes over to his lawyer. Meanwhile at the Winter Assembly they announced the school's new mascot - the Merryweather Wombats. School is finally out and when Melinda opened her Christmas presents she was touched by the fact her parents noticed she has been drawing and she wanted to tell them right then and there what really happened at that party. But she managed to hold back her tears and the truth. During winter break Melinda went to help out at her mom's and dad's jobs. When school started she had gym inside playing basketball.

The book targets at mostly teenagers because they can relate to this book. The protagonist has many worries about fitting in and stuff like that as a teenager. Also the book was written in first person and very informal therefore it was meant for young people.
 * __ To what age group is the novel aimed? Support your answer with evidence. __**

Yes the novel is actually very believable because it has a normal setting at a high school and the protagonist is very real. The plot was very common too because it did not evolve unrealistic creatures or events like vampires or time traveling, instead it's about a normal average teenager hiding a secret from everyone. In other words this story //could// have happened to any one of us.
 * __Is the novel believable? __**

I would because a friend of mine would most likely be a teenager too, meaning s/he can relate to the events happening in the story. It is also a good book because it describes the feeling of fitting in at high school and what it's like to be an actual outcast. It also mentions other problems a teen is most likely to face such as family members, getting along with teachers, etc.
 * __Why would you (or why wouldn't you) recommend this novel to a friend? __**

10/10

Journal Entry 4:Page 76-100 January 7, 2011

__**Plot Summary**__ It continues to talk about Melinda's classes. She found herself incredibly good at basketball but is unable to join the team because she has a grade point average of 1.7.Heather is still trying to fit in to the Martha clan by helping out and she asked Melinda to help with making posters. It talks about her classes like how she fainted in biology during frog dissection, has an algebra teacher who is trying to convince students that algebra can be used daily, and how she has an English essay to write.The school mascot changed again to being the hornets instead of wombats.The IT mentioned earlier on in the story is revealed to be a boy named Andy Evans. He is apparently rich, gorgeous and rumour has it he sleeps with anything. After seeing him before school one day Melinda decided to skip school and bus home when it's 2:48.

__**Why did (or didn't) the novel meet your expectations? **__ The novel meet my expectations because it talks about a girl's normal high school life except she has a secret that she can't tell. Things involving making friends, getting along with her family and such are mentioned through the book with added twists about the party in the summer of grade 8 and a boy named Andy Evans. It's interesting because the writer builds up the tension of what really happened at that party.

__** Describe any new characters that are introduced? What is their purpose? **__ Although "IT" has been mentioned before it was not until now that his full name was given. I think his purpose is the main point to the story. He has done something to the protagonist at that party and is now still teasing her at her high school.

Melinda started high school as one of the "nobodies". She didn't have any friends and was glared at by strangers. Finally Heather became her friend but now Heather is trying to join the Martha clan and she is not caring about Melinda anymore. This shows when she didn't stick up for Melinda when the Martha clan insulted her posters and she also didn't go to the bathroom to comfort her when Melinda threw up.
 * __ What new things are added to the original problem as the novel progresses? __**

Journal Entry 5:Page 101-198 January 11,2011

__**Plot Summary**__ Heather had decided to stop being friends with Melinda and officially join the Martha clan. And nothing is going well for Melinda since her grades has gone down the toilet due to her absences and incompletion of homework in her classes. Then everything was revealed and the reason why she called the cops at that summer party was because Andy Evans raped her. She was drunk and young and couldn't scream no. After knowing her former best friend, Rachel, was dating Andy she decides to try to warn her. She attempts on sending her a note but was obviously ignored. The at the library one day she finally tells Rachel about the rape and when she told her it was her boyfriend Rachel wouldn't believe it. Later at the dance Andy tried to feel up Rachel and that made her mad and starting to ignore him the next day. While Melinda was in her "closet" (janitor room) at the school Andy Evans comes in and locks the door attempting to rape her again. But this time she finally managed to scream and say no. She picked up a broken piece of glass and held it to his neck. It was then the door flung open and she was saved. After that Rachel became friends with Melinda again and she finally decide to speak the truth and told Mr.Freeman what really happened at that party.

__** What message did you get from the novel? How was this message conveyed? **__ That the truth needs to be spoken no matter how difficult it may be because it's better to speak up then forever remain silent. "Although it's hard to speak up for yourself, keeping it shut is worst." was the main message from this novel, this phrase was also mentioned in the summary of the book.

__** What is the climax of the novel? **__ In my opinion the climax of the novel would be when Andy Evans attempts on raping her again in the janitor's closet. It reminded the protagonist of that night under the trees when he first rape her. Nothing new is revealed after that because she was friends with Rachel again as expected and she told Mr.Freeman about what happened.

__** How are the major and minor conflicts solved? **__ the conflict between Rachel and Melinda was solved when she told her the truth and they became friends again. As for the conflict between her and Andy, after she told Mr.Freeman what happened the readers will assume he has to face charges and go to jail or something along the lines of never bothering Melinda again.

Write a short plot summary of your novel. This should be about 250 words(1 page). Include information such as: What the title has to do with the book, where and when the story happens, who is telling the story, what the central conflict is in the story, what the climax is, how the climax is resolved – or if it isn’t, and whether or not you enjoyed the plot and your reasons.

Speak is about a protagonist who has an unspoken secret that costed her her friends, her social status, and her grades. She decides to keep her mouth shut because she is scared and afraid that no one would believe her. The title speak is the message this novel tried to send, that it is better to speak up for yourself then keeping your mouth shut. The story was set at Merryweather High School sometime in the present and the protagonist Melinda is telling it in first person. The central conflict is what happened between Andy and her at that summer party. It's partly man vs. himself because she fights what goes on in her brain. Everyday the memories come back and haunt her and she doesn't know if she should speak up or not. The information about what happened at the party was not revealed until later on in the book. Her ex-best friend ends up dating Andy and after Melinda told the truth to her friend Andy got hold of the news and attempts on raping her once again. The climax of her being assaulted again by Andy was resolved when she screamed and yelled no which made people rush in to help. After that Melinda decided to speak the truth about what happened at the party and her problems were solved by the end. I enjoyed the plot because the setting and the conflict really tied in together and the message the book tried to say about speaking up was conveyed well.