Where do I belong?

Author's Note: I decided to write a creative piece based on the story Speak. I choose to do a journal entry on  Melinda's (main character) point of view. It will display how she feels so alone and closed off from everything. In this piece I'm trying to show emotion towards Melinda and connect that with readers to their lives from the times they have felt cold and by themselves.

Dear Journal,

     It's been a tough year of high school so far but luckily it's almost over. I feel cold and alone in this huge dark world full of evil. I just don't fit in with anyone and I never will. There's this new girl Heather from Ohio but this certainly is not working out. Heather and I want different things in life and in our school environment. She wants to hang out with the Martha's and this clique consists of Rachel (ex best friend) which is most definitely not going to work. Rachel and I don't speak anymore based on what happened over the summer at that party I told you about. If it wasn't for that stupid party I wouldn't be in this position feeling all by myself. Plus on top of that Rachel is dating IT aka Andy Evans. This is the whole reason why everything got blown out of proportion was because of IT. He raped me at that summer party and what was I supposed to do just sit there and take it... no. I called the police and since then I've been know as the girl who got everyone busted for drinking and doing underage things at this wild bash. I guess I'm just not your average girl. No one really accepts me because of who I am. Every time I look into the bathroom mirror I notice that I'm probably not the little girl my parents expected to raise. Instead I see my reflection staring back at me distorted and feelings broken into tiny pieces. All I want is to fit in and find somewhere that I belong. Let's hope I can take on that journey and it will happen quickly. Anyway I have to go but thanks for letting me write down what I had to say. I'll certainly be back within the next day or two.

                                                                                            Your friend,

                                                                          Melinda S.

                                                                                     

Above the Influence

            In the book Speak by Laurie Anderson many themes run throughout this novel, but one in specific is loss of innocence from the main character. Melinda is a girl who is very closed off from others and doesn’t really speak at all. She really starts to lose respect for others and herself throughout the novel and this does start to take a toll on her life.

One scene from the novel is when Melinda is at a senior party during the summer. Melinda probably thought that this was a regular party but she had no idea what she was getting herself into with her friend Rachel.  Once there Melinda starts drinking beer. At first she says that it tasted worse than cough medicine, but one at a time she pours the alcohol down her throat and this leads to Melinda getting drunk, which is her first encounter with growing up to fast. Another event that tells about Melinda’s loss of innocence is found on page 135. After she was all liquored up, Andy Evans, an admired senior, comes up and starts flirting with her. From there Andy takes things a bit too far and rapes Melinda before she can even say anything or cry for help. These main events are what destroy Melinda and show her loss of innocence to readers.

This theme can also be found in the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. One scene that describes this is when Ponyboy fights with Darry. Pony and his friend Johnny were sleeping in a vacant lot that night and Ponyboy fought with Darry. He hits him with all his might and Ponyboy decides to run back to the lot. This is when loss of innocence starts to occur in this novel. Afterwards the Socs show up at the lot and they nearly kill Ponyboy. With this happening Johnny’s reaction was to stand up and he ended up going too far. This resulted in Johnny killing Bob. Hinton definitely showed loss of innocence between the two characters Ponyboy and Johnny. 

            Most definitely both books show loss of innocence between each character. Melinda should not have done what she did at that wild party and Ponyboy and Johnny should not have made poor decisions to fight.  Both novels have main characters lose who they are and lose their own virtue inside them. Overall readers can certainly learn from this and apply it to their life because loss of innocence did play a big part in the book Speak and The Outsiders.

Chacter Analysis-Speak

      In the book Speak by Laurie Anderson the main character is Melinda Sordino. Melinda is the type of girl who is very closed off from others and doesn't really speak. She doesn't have many friends except Heather from Ohio. Melinda's attitude towards situations and people is very negative. She always stereotypes people in her school since she doesn't have many friends of her own.She believes that everyone if against her for calling the cops at a drinking party. Menlinda's overall attitude affects Heather because she's pushing her away. Also it affects her parents because Melinda gets bad grades in school and her parents get mad at her, but she has no explanation for this behavior. Overall Melinda affects the story with her beliefs, values, and attitudes very much because she is negative towards most things.