Themes & Symbols In Speak

1. Themes & SymbolsIn Speak Mr. Laurich Reading Fundamentals Information courtesy of litcharts.com

2. Bell Work • What is the maximum number of themes you can usually keep track of in a book and why? • You will need to take notes on this • Yes it’s for a grade • Yes you can use your bell work page • No, you can’t be on your phone

3. 6 Major Themes In Speak • COMING OF AGE • COMMUNICATION VERSUS SILENCE • APPEARANCE VS. REALITY • FAMILY AND FRIENDSHIP • ISOLATION, LONELINESS, & DEPRESSION • MEMORY AND TRAUMA

4. Coming of Age • Books focuses on becoming an adult • Something derails this journey • Melinda acts out childishly • Process restarts as year goes on

5. COMMUNICATION VS. SILENCE • Throughout the book, Melinda finds it harder and harder to speak • The struggle symbolizes what happened before book starts • Other characters have communication problems • Heather talks so much she can’t hear what Melinda is trying to say

6. COMMUNICATION VS. SILENCE • Mel’s parents can’t communicate with each other or Melinda • They leave notes instead of speaking to each other • Melinda’s redemption comes through communication. • Art teaches her there are many ways to speak

7. APPEARANCE VS. REALITY • Melinda’s cynicism due to disconnect between appearance and reality • Sees cracks in the façade of her parents’ marriage • Social climbing of her only friend, Heather • Petty tyranny of teachers who supposedly have her best interests at heart • Believes that concept of family is built upon lies

8. FAMILY AND FRIENDSHIP • Melinda is completely alienated from both family and friends • Parents neglectful & distant, she’s unable to tell them truth • Her friends all abandoned her, believing she snitched on party

9. FAMILY AND FRIENDSHIP • Yearns for friendship & very hurt when Heather ditches her • Pushes away people despite her loneliness • Art teacher and David Petrakis help her trust again

10. ISOLATION, LONELINESS, & DEPRESSION • 1st person POV allows author to vividly portray effects of isolation & loneliness • Continually finds herself rejected & alone. • Mel’s attitude towards her isolation is conflicted. • Believes she chose isolation, pushes away those close to her

11. ISOLATION, LONELINESS, & DEPRESSION • Mel is desperately unhappy & lonely • Self-imposed isolation a symptom of her trauma not conscious choice • Mel is deep in throes of depression not a slacker like parents believe

12. Memory & Trauma • Melinda begins Speak burdened by memory and trauma • Unable to tell anyone what happened to her • As for happy memories, event & what followed it has stained them

13. Memory & Trauma • When she remembers her friends, she realizes they abandoned her • Mel finds it difficult to enjoy anything & views everything with distrust & cynicism

14. Symbols in Speak • PLANT LIFE • BIRDS • MELINDA’S CLOSET @ SCHOOL • MELINDA’S BEDROOM • MIRRORS • LIPS • BLOOD • WATER, ICE & MELTING • WARMTH & SUNLIGHT

15. PLANT LIFE • Plants powerful symbols that represent life, strength, & fertility • Melinda assigned a tree as yearlong assignment in art class. • She fails creating tree many times but never gives up • This shows resilience in the face of her trauma.

16. PLANTS • She first draws dead trees, she believes her life stopped after the event • She eventually creates trees that are alive • As she begins to heal, she starts gardening, showing her coming back to life

17. BIRDS • Symbolize freedom & joy • Mostmemorable appearance is turkey that Melinda’s mother attempts to cook on Christmas. • After her mother ruins turkey & her father mutilates it with a chainsaw they bury it

18. BIRDS • Melinda digs up its bones & creates disturbing work of art • Dead bird represents freedom that Melinda believes she lost • Sculpture represents her trauma and moving past it

19. MELINDA’S CLOSET @ SCHOOL • She turns an unused janitor’s closet into hiding place • Allows her to cut class & avoid peers who mock &despise her • She makes the environment rich and creative with poster and turkey bone sculpture • But it represents prison of silence that Melinda fashioned for herself

20. MELINDA’S BEDROOM • Bedroom is symbol of childhood innocence that she lost • Melinda feels out-of-place and uncomfortable within it • refuses to decorate it • Refusal shows she needs to mature and move forward • Not ready until end of book

21. MIRRORS • Removes mirror from bedroom and puts it in closet • Covers up mirror in janitor’s closet with Maya Angelou poster • Hatred of her own image symbolizes Melinda’s deeper self-loathing • She believes she deserved what happened to her • When she realizes she was a victim, hatred vanishes

22. LIPS • She can’t talk about what happened to her • Melinda hates/mutilates her lips • She can’t stop picking at and chewing on them

23. BLOOD • Blood represents both life and death • Connected to becoming a woman • Frequently (and disturbingly), Melinda reacts positively to the idea of bleeding • Blood is proof that she’s been injured even if she can’t verbally relay it

24. WATER, ICE, & MELTING • Images of water and ice are prevalent in Speak. • Melinda is, frozen in the sense that she has stopped living • Sheis cold to all those around her

25. WATER, ICE, & MELTING • She refuses to do her homework, go to class, go out, or mature in any real way. • As winter turns into springMelinda finds the frozen walls around her mind coming down

26. WARMTH AND SUNLIGHT • Warmth & sunlight represent moments in which she feels as if she’s alive inside after all • As winter turns to spring, & Melinda moves past her trauma, she spends more time outside • Shift that represents her re-engagement with the world around her • The art room, Melinda’s refuge throughout the year, is the warmest, lightest place in school.