Welcome FHS students! Please check your FHS gmail! We'll use this blog to talk about our summer readings. Sign into Google with your Fairview Schools login. Speak, Never Fall Down, and The Age of Miracles discussion questions are all on this page. Scroll down to find each novel's questions. Then, click on Comment link following the questions you wish to answer. Click on the page links on the left to access additional information.
Discussion Questions for All Novels
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Speak 1. Silence and Truth
1. Silence and Truth: Discuss the title of the novel and its significance. Explain the roles that silence and truth play in the story.
The title Speak is significant because as Melinda speaks, she begins healing. At the beginning of the novel, Melinda is very silent. She doesn't have any friends and everyone at her school hates her. She is too afraid to speak up and tell everyone the real reason why she called the police at the party. As her story continues, she starts to find her voice. She tells her ex best friend, Rachel, the real reason why she called the police. Eventually, more and more people find out what really happened to Melinda at the party. Finally, Melinda gathered enough courage to use her voice and tell her art teacher exactly what happened. For Melinda to speak is to heal.
Silence and truth play a big role in this story. Melinda became silent instead of speaking up and telling everyone the truth. As long as Melinda is silent the truth is hidden. As Melinda learns to deal with her awful ordeal with rape, she breaks the silence, speaks up, and the truth is revealed.
I agree with Nina when she says that as Melinda speaks, she starts healing. She is very silent at the beginning but we watch her grow throughout the novel and at the end she's almost back to normal. For the greater part of the book, she's very silent. She won't talk to anyone, and even her speaking at home is a surprise to her parents. Soon, she finds the courage to tell her ex best friend Rachel the truth about her boyfriend. Rachel's the first one she told about the reason she called the police. Nina makes a good point when she says that silence is a big role in this story. She doesn't speak until almost the very end. However, when she does speak, she breaks the silence and speaks up. The truth comes out.
The title of this novel, Speak, is actually somewhat ironic to me. Melinda didn’t talk about what happened at the party for a good portion of the book. This is why a majority of the school hated her. They didn’t understand what really happened. As she begins to talk to people at school again, it’s as if she has begun to learn to live with what happened to her, making it easier for her to really think about what happened. When Melinda realized that Rachel might be in danger, Melinda told Rachel that she was raped, but she didn’t believe what happened until Andy attacked Melinda for finally speaking. Nina in the post above me says that the significance of the title is healing. I disagree with that. No one ever completely heals from something like that. The victims just learn to live with what happened to them and make their peace with those memories. The significance to me is that Melinda realized her voice is important. That is how she summed up the courage to tell Mr. Freeman and Rachel what happened to her. She realized how important her story was. Silence and truth play major roles in this novel. As I mentioned earlier, no one at school knew the truth of what had happened at the party which is why they hated Melinda. It came to my attention that in the book, the longer she stayed silent, the more everyone was distant from the truth. The role silence plays in the novel reminds me of this saying I heard a long time ago. It went along the lines of when the one who is silent speaks, everyone listens because it must be important. In this case, Melinda is the silent one, and she started speaking when she wrote the message on the bathroom stall to keep away from Andy. Here though, no one listened until she told Rachel because that spited Andy into attacking her. Once she spoke, truth soon followed after what she said.
I agree very much with Vanessa, I also found the title very ironic and I also believe that no one can never truly heal from and experience such as the one Melinda had. Silence and truth do play a large role in this novel; although I believe that being silent helps Melinda see the truth, Melinda just needs to find someone to listen to her. Rachel dating Andy presents Melinda with an opportunity to talk to someone. Melinda’s worse fear is that no one will listen to what she has to say and at first Rachel does not believe her, but the truth soon comes to light when Andy tries to physically keep her quiet, causing everyone to listen.
In my opinion I found the title of the book to give Melinda’s worst fear and deepest longing. Throughout the whole story she experiences a constant inner struggle to if it would be best for her to stay silent and pray she can forget what happened, or speak up and make the guilty pay for what he did to her and heal the wound that he created. I read through the novel I found that in the beginning Melinda didn't really come to terms with the truth of what happened to her at the party, she always came up with kind of excuse as to why it wasn't what it was. She was denying the truth of matter for as long as she could, but then when she shut herself off from the rest of the world and stayed in her own mind in complete silence she slowly came to terms with what had happened. In short as Melinda delves deeper into her silence she slowly uncovers the truth of what Andy did to her. Thus, in my opinion, silence is really what brings Melinda to see the truth of everything, work up the courage to finally find her voice again, and speak out to expose Andy for the sick boy he is. All in all for Melinda to face her fear of speaking out to the world and reveal the truth she had to fall deep into the depths of silence to find the truth for herself first.
I agree with all that Emily had to say. Melinda was apprehensive to accept the fact that she had been raped. She was scared to tell anyone about it because she was unsure what the outcome would be. If she told someone, it wouldn’t change what had happened to her. I like when Emily said, “...when she shut herself off from the rest of the world ... she slowly came to terms with what had happened.” Melinda is able to then convince herself that she really was raped and can now build up the strength and the confidence necessary to “expose Andy for the sick boy [that] he is.” And in the end, she did just that. She learned that to keep quiet would do nothing for her, but by speaking out, she would gain the peace and comfort that she longed for.
In my opinion I found the title of the book to give Melinda’s worst fear and deepest longing. Throughout the whole story she experiences a constant inner struggle to if it would be best for her to stay silent and pray she can forget what happened, or speak up and make the guilty pay for what he did to her and heal the wound that he created. I read through the novel I found that in the beginning Melinda didn’t really come to terms with the truth of what happened to her at the party, she always came up with kind of excuse as to why it wasn’t what it was. She was denying the truth of matter for as long as she could, but then when she shut herself off from the rest of the world and stayed in her own mind in complete silence she slowly came to terms with what had happened. In short as Melinda delves deeper into her silence she slowly uncovers the truth of what Andy did to her. Thus, in my opinion, silence is really what brings Melinda to see the truth of everything, work up the courage to finally find her voice again, and speak out to expose Andy for the sick boy he is. All in all for Melinda to face her fear of speaking out to the world and reveal the truth she had to fall deep into the depths of silence to find the truth for herself first.
The title of the novel, “Speak,” is the perfect title, representing the irony of the situation. Throughout the book, Melinda (can I call her Mel?) speaks as little as she can. Before she was raped, Mel was as talkative as you or I. After she was raped, she was silent, perhaps because she was afraid of speaking the truth, or perhaps because she couldn’t accept the fact that she had been raped. Maybe, Mel thought, if she didn’t speak the truth about what happened to her, then it wouldn’t be true. Maybe she could ignore that fact better if she were silent. On the rare occasion that she talks, it is usually to ask for something. The one time in the book where she actually shouted loudly was when Andy was in her closet with her. The loud “NO!” saved Mel from harms way because it alerted the girls lacrosse team that something was wrong.
I find there is significant meaning behind the way Mel initially communicated that she had been raped. She was talking to Rachel, but they were shushed by a librarian, so they started writing. The first time Mel told someone that she had been raped, she wrote it. She didn’t speak it. Maybe she wasn’t ready to tell someone verbally. I think it was easier for her to write it than it would have been if she had spoken it.
Along with being silent at school, Mel also doesn't speak at home. Her not speaking helps her to further herself from her family and helps the family break apart a bit. Communication is vital, and yes, non-verbal communication is used frequently, but vocal communication is needed for a well functioning family.
Flori in my opinion did an excellent job explaining why Mel won't speak. Flori says "After she was raped, she was silent, perhaps because she was afraid of speaking the truth, or perhaps because she couldn’t accept the fact that she had been raped. Maybe, Mel thought, if she didn’t speak the truth about what happened to her, then it wouldn’t be true." Mel definitely has issues with denial. In the book she goes through periods of trying to think it never happened and blaming herself. It is not until the end when she can finally say she was raped and speak the truth. I also like how flori explains the first time Mel tells anyone that she was raped. The trauma of the event was so overwhelming she most likely would not have told Rachel if she did not write it.
I agree with Flori, Melinda was silent because maybe she thought that if she doesn't think about it or say anything about it, then it didn't happen. I agree with the point that when she wrote it in the library it was easier because she didn't have to be verbal about it.
The title, “Speak,” shows how devastating a life can turn out if one keeps all their emotions bottled up. Throughout the book, Melinda conceals to the people around her that she was raped during a party. Melinda feels alone because, not only has her friends abandoned her, her parents don’t understand the pain she goes through. Melinda’s melancholy, dismal life can be set on a new course if she speaks. Without others’ guidance, Melinda will slowly fall into her own, doleful fantasy. Once she begins reaching out to others, her life begins to, perhaps, turn around as new opportunities arise. Her efforts reap rewards when Rachel breaks up with Andy Evans and sets the school against him. The truth of Andy’s actions finally reveals that silence was not the key to Melinda’s happiness.
Although I agree with Nevin on a few points, I have to disagree with what he believes the title of the book means. While he thinks that it portrays what may happen if you keep your feelings contained within yourself, I believe it is a message from the author to the reader. Anderson was trying to tell the reader to “Speak.” If you look into the back of the book, or at least the version that I have, you will see where Anderson answered questions from many fans. Many of these have to deal with how to cope with, or what to do in case of a situation like the one Andy put Melinda in. Throughout the book Melinda is silent, and is miserable for the most part. However, when she finally opens up her mouth to speak, she is healed. This occurrence could also be a simple way to explain the title, but I feel as if there is more to it than that. The way that I see it, the title of the book is a command. This command is telling the reader to not withhold their feelings, but to open up to others and allow them to help. Laurie Anderson wants her fans to speak.
I agree with Nevin completely when he discusses how keeping your emotions bottled up can devastate your life. The evidence is clearly written in the book. Heather briefly mentions Melinda’s “reputation” around school. She seemed strange, odd and even ugly to the students who did not understand what was happening to her, and honestly, none of them did and probably never will understand what she went through that night in August and the fear she has every night. At the end of the book, Melinda finally opens up to her classmates about the rape and almost all of her problems are resolved. She is suddenly popular and her grades improve, or at least in art.
The novel “Speak!” is all about talking to people about problems. Melinda has difficulty doing this though, her silence must be broken. The title signifies that Melinda must talk about what happened at the party, the reason she doesn’t is because she thinks no one will believe her. I think the real reason she does this is because she doesn’t know what to say. Being truthful will get Melinda to be more likeable, her peers don’t like her because of what happened at the party in the summer when she called the cops and got everyone busted. Andy a senior raped her, she didn’t know what to do so she called the cops and left before they ever got there people just thought that she called because of the underage drinking.
The title of the novel, Speak, is very significant. At first, Melinda cannot speak about what happened to her. She undergoes losing all her friends and exclusion because she will not admit she was raped. However, the only thing that ends up helping Melinda is speaking. She begins by leaving an anonymous note in Rachel’s locker and writing the note on the bathroom stall. Finally, she gets the courage to write a note to Rachel face to face in the library, but Rachel really likes Andy and does not believe her. When people finally do believe Melinda, after the closet incident, she is finally able to talk to others and finish her tree drawing for art. Silence is what Melinda thinks will help her seem normal to her classmates after the rape, but truth ultimately is what saves her in the eyes of the other students. The silence inhibits her ability to make new friends and make amends for calling the police at the party. When the truth finally comes out, Melinda is popular and finally has the acceptance of the students who hated her for the entire school year.
The title Speak is significant because as Melinda speaks, she begins healing. At the beginning of the novel, Melinda is very silent. She doesn't have any friends and everyone at her school hates her. She is too afraid to speak up and tell everyone the real reason why she called the police at the party. As her story continues, she starts to find her voice. She tells her ex best friend, Rachel, the real reason why she called the police. Eventually, more and more people find out what really happened to Melinda at the party. Finally, Melinda gathered enough courage to use her voice and tell her art teacher exactly what happened. For Melinda to speak is to heal.
ReplyDeleteSilence and truth play a big role in this story. Melinda became silent instead of speaking up and telling everyone the truth. As long as Melinda is silent the truth is hidden. As Melinda learns to deal with her awful ordeal with rape, she breaks the silence, speaks up, and the truth is revealed.
I agree with Nina when she says that as Melinda speaks, she starts healing. She is very silent at the beginning but we watch her grow throughout the novel and at the end she's almost back to normal. For the greater part of the book, she's very silent. She won't talk to anyone, and even her speaking at home is a surprise to her parents. Soon, she finds the courage to tell her ex best friend Rachel the truth about her boyfriend. Rachel's the first one she told about the reason she called the police. Nina makes a good point when she says that silence is a big role in this story. She doesn't speak until almost the very end. However, when she does speak, she breaks the silence and speaks up. The truth comes out.
DeleteThe title of this novel, Speak, is actually somewhat ironic to me. Melinda didn’t talk about what happened at the party for a good portion of the book. This is why a majority of the school hated her. They didn’t understand what really happened. As she begins to talk to people at school again, it’s as if she has begun to learn to live with what happened to her, making it easier for her to really think about what happened. When Melinda realized that Rachel might be in danger, Melinda told Rachel that she was raped, but she didn’t believe what happened until Andy attacked Melinda for finally speaking. Nina in the post above me says that the significance of the title is healing. I disagree with that. No one ever completely heals from something like that. The victims just learn to live with what happened to them and make their peace with those memories. The significance to me is that Melinda realized her voice is important. That is how she summed up the courage to tell Mr. Freeman and Rachel what happened to her. She realized how important her story was.
ReplyDeleteSilence and truth play major roles in this novel. As I mentioned earlier, no one at school knew the truth of what had happened at the party which is why they hated Melinda. It came to my attention that in the book, the longer she stayed silent, the more everyone was distant from the truth. The role silence plays in the novel reminds me of this saying I heard a long time ago. It went along the lines of when the one who is silent speaks, everyone listens because it must be important. In this case, Melinda is the silent one, and she started speaking when she wrote the message on the bathroom stall to keep away from Andy. Here though, no one listened until she told Rachel because that spited Andy into attacking her. Once she spoke, truth soon followed after what she said.
I agree very much with Vanessa, I also found the title very ironic and I also believe that no one can never truly heal from and experience such as the one Melinda had. Silence and truth do play a large role in this novel; although I believe that being silent helps Melinda see the truth, Melinda just needs to find someone to listen to her. Rachel dating Andy presents Melinda with an opportunity to talk to someone. Melinda’s worse fear is that no one will listen to what she has to say and at first Rachel does not believe her, but the truth soon comes to light when Andy tries to physically keep her quiet, causing everyone to listen.
DeleteIn my opinion I found the title of the book to give Melinda’s worst fear and deepest longing. Throughout the whole story she experiences a constant inner struggle to if it would be best for her to stay silent and pray she can forget what happened, or speak up and make the guilty pay for what he did to her and heal the wound that he created. I read through the novel I found that in the beginning Melinda didn't really come to terms with the truth of what happened to her at the party, she always came up with kind of excuse as to why it wasn't what it was. She was denying the truth of matter for as long as she could, but then when she shut herself off from the rest of the world and stayed in her own mind in complete silence she slowly came to terms with what had happened. In short as Melinda delves deeper into her silence she slowly uncovers the truth of what Andy did to her.
ReplyDeleteThus, in my opinion, silence is really what brings Melinda to see the truth of everything, work up the courage to finally find her voice again, and speak out to expose Andy for the sick boy he is. All in all for Melinda to face her fear of speaking out to the world and reveal the truth she had to fall deep into the depths of silence to find the truth for herself first.
I agree with all that Emily had to say. Melinda was apprehensive to accept the fact that she had been raped. She was scared to tell anyone about it because she was unsure what the outcome would be. If she told someone, it wouldn’t change what had happened to her. I like when Emily said, “...when she shut herself off from the rest of the world ... she slowly came to terms with what had happened.” Melinda is able to then convince herself that she really was raped and can now build up the strength and the confidence necessary to “expose Andy for the sick boy [that] he is.” And in the end, she did just that. She learned that to keep quiet would do nothing for her, but by speaking out, she would gain the peace and comfort that she longed for.
DeleteIn my opinion I found the title of the book to give Melinda’s worst fear and deepest longing. Throughout the whole story she experiences a constant inner struggle to if it would be best for her to stay silent and pray she can forget what happened, or speak up and make the guilty pay for what he did to her and heal the wound that he created. I read through the novel I found that in the beginning Melinda didn’t really come to terms with the truth of what happened to her at the party, she always came up with kind of excuse as to why it wasn’t what it was. She was denying the truth of matter for as long as she could, but then when she shut herself off from the rest of the world and stayed in her own mind in complete silence she slowly came to terms with what had happened. In short as Melinda delves deeper into her silence she slowly uncovers the truth of what Andy did to her.
ReplyDeleteThus, in my opinion, silence is really what brings Melinda to see the truth of everything, work up the courage to finally find her voice again, and speak out to expose Andy for the sick boy he is. All in all for Melinda to face her fear of speaking out to the world and reveal the truth she had to fall deep into the depths of silence to find the truth for herself first.
The title of the novel, “Speak,” is the perfect title, representing the irony of the situation. Throughout the book, Melinda (can I call her Mel?) speaks as little as she can. Before she was raped, Mel was as talkative as you or I. After she was raped, she was silent, perhaps because she was afraid of speaking the truth, or perhaps because she couldn’t accept the fact that she had been raped. Maybe, Mel thought, if she didn’t speak the truth about what happened to her, then it wouldn’t be true. Maybe she could ignore that fact better if she were silent. On the rare occasion that she talks, it is usually to ask for something. The one time in the book where she actually shouted loudly was when Andy was in her closet with her. The loud “NO!” saved Mel from harms way because it alerted the girls lacrosse team that something was wrong.
ReplyDeleteI find there is significant meaning behind the way Mel initially communicated that she had been raped. She was talking to Rachel, but they were shushed by a librarian, so they started writing. The first time Mel told someone that she had been raped, she wrote it. She didn’t speak it. Maybe she wasn’t ready to tell someone verbally. I think it was easier for her to write it than it would have been if she had spoken it.
Along with being silent at school, Mel also doesn't speak at home. Her not speaking helps her to further herself from her family and helps the family break apart a bit. Communication is vital, and yes, non-verbal communication is used frequently, but vocal communication is needed for a well functioning family.
Flori in my opinion did an excellent job explaining why Mel won't speak. Flori says "After she was raped, she was silent, perhaps because she was afraid of speaking the truth, or perhaps because she couldn’t accept the fact that she had been raped. Maybe, Mel thought, if she didn’t speak the truth about what happened to her, then it wouldn’t be true." Mel definitely has issues with denial. In the book she goes through periods of trying to think it never happened and blaming herself. It is not until the end when she can finally say she was raped and speak the truth. I also like how flori explains the first time Mel tells anyone that she was raped. The trauma of the event was so overwhelming she most likely would not have told Rachel if she did not write it.
DeleteI agree with Flori, Melinda was silent because maybe she thought that if she doesn't think about it or say anything about it, then it didn't happen. I agree with the point that when she wrote it in the library it was easier because she didn't have to be verbal about it.
DeleteThe title, “Speak,” shows how devastating a life can turn out if one keeps all their emotions bottled up. Throughout the book, Melinda conceals to the people around her that she was raped during a party. Melinda feels alone because, not only has her friends abandoned her, her parents don’t understand the pain she goes through. Melinda’s melancholy, dismal life can be set on a new course if she speaks. Without others’ guidance, Melinda will slowly fall into her own, doleful fantasy. Once she begins reaching out to others, her life begins to, perhaps, turn around as new opportunities arise. Her efforts reap rewards when Rachel breaks up with Andy Evans and sets the school against him. The truth of Andy’s actions finally reveals that silence was not the key to Melinda’s happiness.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree with Nevin on a few points, I have to disagree with what he believes the title of the book means. While he thinks that it portrays what may happen if you keep your feelings contained within yourself, I believe it is a message from the author to the reader. Anderson was trying to tell the reader to “Speak.” If you look into the back of the book, or at least the version that I have, you will see where Anderson answered questions from many fans. Many of these have to deal with how to cope with, or what to do in case of a situation like the one Andy put Melinda in. Throughout the book Melinda is silent, and is miserable for the most part. However, when she finally opens up her mouth to speak, she is healed. This occurrence could also be a simple way to explain the title, but I feel as if there is more to it than that. The way that I see it, the title of the book is a command. This command is telling the reader to not withhold their feelings, but to open up to others and allow them to help. Laurie Anderson wants her fans to speak.
DeleteI agree with Nevin completely when he discusses how keeping your emotions bottled up can devastate your life. The evidence is clearly written in the book. Heather briefly mentions Melinda’s “reputation” around school. She seemed strange, odd and even ugly to the students who did not understand what was happening to her, and honestly, none of them did and probably never will understand what she went through that night in August and the fear she has every night. At the end of the book, Melinda finally opens up to her classmates about the rape and almost all of her problems are resolved. She is suddenly popular and her grades improve, or at least in art.
DeleteThe novel “Speak!” is all about talking to people about problems. Melinda has difficulty doing this though, her silence must be broken. The title signifies that Melinda must talk about what happened at the party, the reason she doesn’t is because she thinks no one will believe her. I think the real reason she does this is because she doesn’t know what to say. Being truthful will get Melinda to be more likeable, her peers don’t like her because of what happened at the party in the summer when she called the cops and got everyone busted. Andy a senior raped her, she didn’t know what to do so she called the cops and left before they ever got there people just thought that she called because of the underage drinking.
ReplyDeleteThe title of the novel, Speak, is very significant. At first, Melinda cannot speak about what happened to her. She undergoes losing all her friends and exclusion because she will not admit she was raped. However, the only thing that ends up helping Melinda is speaking. She begins by leaving an anonymous note in Rachel’s locker and writing the note on the bathroom stall. Finally, she gets the courage to write a note to Rachel face to face in the library, but Rachel really likes Andy and does not believe her. When people finally do believe Melinda, after the closet incident, she is finally able to talk to others and finish her tree drawing for art. Silence is what Melinda thinks will help her seem normal to her classmates after the rape, but truth ultimately is what saves her in the eyes of the other students. The silence inhibits her ability to make new friends and make amends for calling the police at the party. When the truth finally comes out, Melinda is popular and finally has the acceptance of the students who hated her for the entire school year.
ReplyDelete