Speak Novel Study Name__________ By Laurie Halse Anderson First Marking Period – Pages 3-48 Excerpts from Christine M. Hill’s Interview with Laurie Halse Anderson in VOYA December 2000. Hill: Is Melinda a reliable narrator? Anderson: I personally think that all narrators are unreliable. Anything told in the first person is unreliable….They [Readers] have to make up their minds about what is perspective and what is truth. There’s this whole question about do you believe everything she sees? Are people really treating her this way or is this how it feels people are treating her? Are they treating her because she’s acting this way? 1. Read the interview excerpt above. Do you agree or disagree with the author’s comments about first person point of view. Do we get a better understanding of her inner feelings? ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________ Additional excerpts from Christine M. Hill’s Interview with Laurie Halse Anderson in VOYA December 2000. Hill: What was your clan in high school? Anderson: I had no clan. I didn’t fit in….If I had any friends, it was the waste case kids, who are in a lot of trouble with no place left to go. They used to call us “dirtbags”. By tenth grade I had my act together a little bit more. My clan was an unusual mixture of jocks (because I was on the track and swim team) and the kids who hung out in the foreign language wing….I’m coming to the conviction that all high school students feel as if they’re outsiders at one time or another, even the kids who on surface look as if they have everything. Inside, they go through these times when they feel disconnected. 2. Do you agree or disagree with the author? Do all students feel as if they’re outsiders? Have you or your friends ever felt this way? Explain.
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Speak Novel StudyName__________ By Laurie Halse Anderson
First Marking Period – Pages 3-48
Excerpts from Christine M. Hill’s Interview with Laurie Halse Anderson in VOYA December 2000.
Hill: Is Melinda a reliable narrator?
Anderson: I personally think that all narrators are unreliable. Anything told in the first person is unreliable….They [Readers] have to make up their minds about what is perspective and what is truth. There’s this whole question about do you believe everything she sees? Are people really treating her this way or is this how it feels people are treating her? Are they treating her because she’s acting this way?
1. Read the interview excerpt above. Do you agree or disagree with the author’s comments about first person point of view. Do we get a better understanding of her inner feelings?
Additional excerpts from Christine M. Hill’s Interview with Laurie Halse Anderson in VOYA December 2000.
Hill: What was your clan in high school?
Anderson: I had no clan. I didn’t fit in….If I had any friends, it was the waste case kids, who are in a lot of trouble with no place left to go. They used to call us “dirtbags”. By tenth grade I had my act together a little bit more. My clan was an unusual mixture of jocks (because I was on the track and swim team) and the kids who hung out in the foreign language wing….I’m coming to the conviction that all high school students feel as if they’re outsiders at one time or another, even the kids who on surface look as if they have everything. Inside, they go through these times when they feel disconnected.
2. Do you agree or disagree with the author? Do all students feel as if they’re outsiders? Have you or your friends ever felt this way? Explain.
3. Describe Melinda. Discuss Melinda’s attitude in this section of the book. Is she fair to the other kids, her parents, or her “friends”? Is she creating more problems for herself? Use two specific examples to support your response.
4. Discuss the following statement on page 22. “I need a new friend. I need a friend, period. Not a true friend, nothing close or share clothes or sleepover giggle giggle yak yak. Just a pseudo-friend, disposable friend. Friend as accessory. Just so I don’t feel and look stupid.” What does this say about Melinda? Is she serious about friendship?
6. Read pages 14-17 and 35-36. How would you describe Melinda’s relationship with her parents? Is this a typical family? Can we trust Melinda’s analysis? Is she showing some responsibility and helping out her parents? Is the author making a comment about the importance of two-way communication in families?
7. Many chapter titles have significance. For example the chapter “The Opposite of Inspiration is…Expiration?” this is significant because it reflects Melinda’s despair as if f she isn’t inspirational maybe she will just expire or die, either literally or figuratively.
Identify three chapter titles and explain the significance of each.
Chapter Title Significance
8. Create a report card grading Melinda’s teachers. Give one direct reference to support your grade.
Teachers Grade Explanations and ReferencesMr. Neck
22. Theme (p. 56-57, 87): The importance of speaking out—communicating your feelings.
Melinda, with her lack of voice, speaks for many teenagers who, for fear of what others will think, do, or say, spend each day alone with their troubles. At one point Melinda says, “The whole point of not talking about it, of silencing the memory, is to make it go away” (p.82). Melinda points this out when she talks about David Petrakis who is protesting his social studies lesson. David eventually walks out of class. To Melinda, “he says a million things without saying a word…I have never heard a more eloquent silence” (p.57).
Sometimes people may feel that if their trouble is not spoken aloud, it will go away or that the pain associated with the trouble will not be as great. Is this tactic working for Melinda? Is the pain actually going away? Support your response with specific examples from the text.
How does communication breakdown in Melinda's family? What could each person do to improve it? If you were a parent, how would communication be in your family?
Flashback—the interruption in a narrative to show an episode in which a writer or narrator describes an earlier time.
The Purpose of Flashback Provides insight into the behavior of characters Explains emotional condition of characters Explains internal conflicts or external conflicts Provides background information Supports and conveys theme Creates mood and atmosphere
Flashback is triggered by:Five senses Visual Images Fears Thoughts Actions Words Characters
26. Flashback (p. 66, 72, 81, 133-135) Discuss the author’s use of flashback in the first three marking periods of this book. What role does this technique play in novel?
27. Characters are often developed through their interaction with others. Explain the meaning and importance of the following statements made by Mr. Freeman.
Mr. Freeman tells his class, "You must walk alone to find your soul." (p. 118)Mr. Freeman says that "art is about making mistakes and learning from them." (p. 122)Mr. Freeman says “When people don’t express themselves, they die one piece at a time.” (p. 122)Mr. Freeman tells Melinda that "nothing is perfect. Flaws are interesting." (p.153)
28. Compare David’s speech (pp.56-57) with Melinda’s Suffragette speech (pp. 156-157). How are they different? Why does Melinda get a D for her report? What is David’s reaction to her assignment? Is there a lesson here for Melinda?
30. Melinda's father explains to her that the arborists are cutting off disease and damage to make it possible for the tree to grow again (p.187). What is the significance of the final paragraph on p. 188; is there a change in Melinda’s attitude? Explain how a tree has become a metaphor for Melinda's life (p. 188, 196, 197-198)?
31. It has been said that Melinda is “more an observer to her own life rather than a participant. She holds herself back because it's too painful to engage.” With no desire to speak about her pain to her friends, family, teachers or even herself. Melinda goes through the motions of living. She breathes, eats, sleeps and observes. However this changes. Show how she has grown and changed from the beginning of the year to the end. Use three examples from the novel to support her development.