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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?
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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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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.
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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?
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5. Melinda has issues with her identity. Find five examples that reveal this conflict.
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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?
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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
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Hairwoman
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Principal Principal
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Spanish Teacher
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Ms. Keen
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Mr. Stetman __________________________________________________________________
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Mr. Freeman __________________________________________________________________
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Second Marking Period (pages 49-92)
Chapters 23- 25: Go__________________(Fill In the Blanks)!, Closet Space and All Together Now
9. What does the closet, Maya Angelou and “spastic laryngitis” mean to Melinda?
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Chapters 26- 28: Job Day, First Amendment and Giving Thanks
10. When Melinda’s survey reveals she could have a job in communications, this is an example of _____________? What is significant about this?
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11. Why is Melinda awe-inspired by David’s ability to stand up to authority figures?
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Chapters 29- 31: Wishbone, Peeled and Cored, First Amendment, Second Verse
12. What does Mr. Freeman’s painting reveal?
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13. What does Melinda’s turkey sculpture reveal?
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14. Why do you think the chapter is entitled Wishbone?
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15. Why is Melinda’s memory of the apple orchard significant?
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Chapters 32-34: Wombats Rule!, Winter Break and Hard Labor
16. What does the chapter “Winter Break” and “Hard Labor” reveal about Melinda’s family?
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Chapters 35- 37: Foul, Coloring Outside the Lines and Poster Child
17. After reading the chapter “Poster Child” when is the only time that Melinda seems to be accepted?
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Chapters 38-40: Dead Frogs, Model Citizen and Death By Algebra
18. Why does Melinda faint when she cuts into the frog?
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Chapters 41- 43: Word Work, Naming the Monster and Rent Round 3
19. How is Melinda constantly tortured by what happened to her?
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20. Why does Melinda cut her wrists?
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21. What is the significance of the title “Rent Round 3?”
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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.
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23. Family communication (p.57-61, 70-72, 86-88).
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?
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Chapters 44- 45: Can It and Dark Art
24. Why does the chapter “Can It” create both sadness and deep anger in the reader?
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25. Why is this chapter called Dark Art?
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Third Marking Period—Pages 92-136
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?
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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)
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Fourth Marking Period— Pages 141—198
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?
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29. Summarize the section entitled Oprah, Sally Jessy, Jerry, and me. Why did the author include this scene in the novel?
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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)?
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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.
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