Outcasts

Author's Note: This is a problem and solution essay about Melinda being an outcast in the novel Speak. I would like feedback on my ability to use good positive and negative parts of each option I listed. Thanks!

How would you feel if you were an outcast, not accepted by anyone? This is exactly what Melinda, the leading character in Speak, becomes after one fatal night at an end of school year party. No one at her place of learning wanted to be associated with her at all. Not knowing how to cope with that, Melinda fades herself into the background, barely even living. What she does not realize, though, is that her problem could have been fixed, in more ways than one. Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a complex novel that shows how a person could change their own issues, if the eff is set forth.

Being an outcast is an awful situation to be placed in. People who are outcasts have feelings of depression, a feeling of not wanting to continue with everyday life. What these outcasts don’t usually discover, though, is that they can make their lives improve. Melinda files neatly into this category, since there were a few options about her situations that she could have put into action. One idea was to start discussing topics with people, join some clubs, and try to become more involved with school life. If Melinda did this, her fellow colleagues might have responded well. She might have discovered it was possible for her to have acquaintances. What Melinda was terrified of, though, is that her classmates wouldn’t have answered gracefully. Being shunned even more, ignored more, was just one topic that might have gone astray. Rumors could have begun, awful comments said to her face and her back, and physical abuse was something that could have started if Melinda tried to make friends. To her, it simply wasn’t worth the liability.

If Melinda didn’t want to take the risk of attempting to put her spirit out into school life, it might have been a wise decision for her to transfer places of learning. Doing so would have provided a fresh, clean slate. At her latest school, she could have changed her whole personality. It would be possible for Melinda to start getting advanced grades, join after-class activities, and create different relationships outside of her family. Everyone there could have accepted her, and she would finally begin to love classes again. Sadly, it might have not turned out that way. At her new academy, students might have already heard from other acquaintances in her older school about what type of person she was, and what have happened to her. The chance of being able to start anew would have been shattered. If that happened, I don’t think Melinda could cope. Her whole world would have collapsed around her in her eyes, and life could not have been lived anymore.

Situations like Melinda’s are such an intense and horrible place to be in. Those human beings feel like they have no way out, no escape. Most of the time, these people are filled with such suffering that they can’t discover they have options to solve their problems. Melinda had at least two ways to fix her life, yet she wouldn’t, literally couldn’t, take those steps, out of fear of what could happen. The repercussions were so terrifying that she wasn’t willing to take the risk. Laurie Halse Anderson’s has written a beautiful piece of writing that is a thought-inducing piece, making you wonder how people could change their horrible situations.

Speak Scene Analysis

Author's Note: This is a scene analysis for when Melinda is hiding from the Heathers in the bathroom. I'm trying to analyze the purpose of this passage, along with its meaning and tone. I would like feedback on my ability to do so. Thanks!

"I hide in the bathroom until I know Heather's bus has left. The salt in my tears feels good when it stings my lips. I wash my face in the sink until there is nothing left of it, no eyes, no nose, no mouth. A slick nothing. -Speak, page 45.

All teenagers have a feeling of not knowing who they are, or what they want to be when they are in high school. No one knows where to go, where they fit in. That's exactly how Melinda feels when in the bathroom of her school. The tone she is conveying is a tone of loss and a tone of wonder. She doesn't know where she should be in life, and she keeps wondering that. It is a tone of loss, since this character is at a loss with the world.The meaning of this scene is that she doesn't know where to go in life, so she's trying to drift into nothing. Thats's what the washing her face in the sink is giving off. Laurie Halse Anderson wrote this passage in the novel with the purpose of showing Melinda's feeling of loss, her feeling of not knowing what to do. Her feeling of not knowing who she should be.

Speak Problem and Solution

Author's Note: This is a piece I wrote about the primary issue in Speak, and possible solutions to that problem. I would like feedback on my word choice. Thanks!

                Everyone in life has their crosses to bear. For some, those crosses are heavier than others. For others, those crosses are borderline unbearable. Melinda, the primary character in Speak, falls into that category. All of her classmates detest her, since she interrupted a summer party by calling the authorities. She has no friends, no one to speak with. Her life is awful. What Melinda doesn’t realize, though, is that this situation could be easily changed, if only she took the first gesture. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a novel that makes you think about issues that teenagers have in their lives, and ways to change the situation.

                In the beginning of Speak, we discover that Melinda is an outcast. She has no friends, no one to head into high school with. This girl was alone. Melinda had called the police on a party at the end of eighth grade, so no one would want to be associated with her. What she didn’t realize, though, was that if only Melinda had spoken about the terrible event that was inflicted on her during this gathering, all of her classmates would have understood the reasoning behind busting them all. Surprising to her, Melinda would more than likely would have been forgiven. Her life would have been much more enjoyable. The largest problem in her life could have been solved by her own action.  

                High school is a struggle for all teenagers. Feeling lost in the world, not knowing what you wanted to become. Feeling lost in the crowd, not knowing where you fit in. Sometimes, like Melinda, you must deal with fitting in nowhere, and having no one want to be around you. What most characters, especially the primary character in Speak, don’t know, though, is that you can change your life, as long as you try. Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a thought provoking novel that shows how people can fix their situations, yet won’t take the crucial steps.  

Fahrenheit 451 Cause and Effect

Author's note: This is a piece I wrote about the cause and effect of Mrs. Blake being burned to death with her books. I would like feedback on my ability to show a cause and effect. Thanks!

Books are a sign of defiance, a sign of not wanting to back down and wash into the background. For Mrs. Blake, a secondary character in Fahrenheit 451, novels are her place of comfort, her escape from the terror that is her world. When the firefighters arrive, prepared to devour her collection, Mrs. Blake would not back down. She would rather be consumed by the flames than lose the only source of freedom. There are many underlying events that led up to this, ideas that don’t seem like they would matter, but they actually do. Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, is a wonderfully written book that shows how a main event in a novel has underlying causes and effects.

In the beginning of Fahrenheit 451, the primary person in this novel, Guy, enjoys his job as a fireman. Or book burner, depending on which way you like to look at it. Suddenly, Guy meets a sixteen year old girl named Clarisse. Clarisse questions the world she lives in, and the government that runs it. Discussing things with Clarisse changes the feelings Guy has about his job. He doesn’t really have a desire to burn novels anymore. Guy actually wants to discover them, to read them and absorb their information. On the night of Mrs. Blake’s home burning, the primary character in this novel doesn’t really want to participate. Seeing his coworkers devouring a woman’s home makes him see the horror of his situation, the horror of what his job does to people. Guy then flees the burning, running as quickly as he dares back to his home, attempting to be unnoticed. This action delivers a consequence of Guy not knowing what happened to Mrs. Blake, of not knowing whether her life was spared. 

Though it seems like this event shouldn’t have affected Guy as a man, and that his life should have continued normally, Mrs. Blake’s murder showed him the horror of the occupation he held. A major event has consequences that not only affect the main characters involved, but other people as well. Ray Bradbury is able to easily convey that. Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, is a great piece of writing that is able to create a world full of events that harms the lives of everyone in the novel, one way or another.

Fahrenheit 451 Comparative Essay

Author's Note: This is a comparative essay about the novels Fahrenheit 451 and Matched. I am comparing the primary characters in both novels, Guy in Fahrenheit 451 and Cassia in Matched. I am trying to show how they are similar and different. I would like feedback on my ability to compare and contrast while using good word choice. Thank you!

Government officials should be caring, loving human beings who have people’s best interests at heart and want us to have our own thoughts and opinions. Sadly, for Guy of Fahrenheit 451 and Cassia of Matched, it just wasn’t like that. Guy’s people of authority wanted no way for their citizens to learn what they didn’t want out into the world, so books, which held that information, were burned to a crisp. In Cassia’s world, your whole life was planned for you. Nothing was of your own choice or doing, from your job to even what you ate. Both characters wanted an escape from their personal nightmares, but didn’t know how. They just wanted to break free, though each person would do it on their own terms.

Every day, Guy would participate in the burning of novels, of the turning of ideas and thoughts into nothing but ashes. Though he always had an underlying feeling of not wanting to, Guy never thought he could act upon it. This is exactly how Cassia, the primary character in Matched, felt. She always wanted to be able to make her own choices in life, yet her life was chosen for her. Both characters had a feeling of hopelessness, and they were so confused with what to do with their lives. How could their life be their own with the government choosing it all?  

Although it seems like the main characters in these stories didn’t know how to change their lives, both had inklings about what to do. For Cassia, she felt that if she disobeyed the order to take her medication that supposedly “distressed” them, Cassia would be able to have feelings and thoughts that belonged to her. Guy felt that quitting his duty as a firefighter and going out on his own could prove to the government that they didn’t own him. Cassia and Guy connected with each other by not responding to the rulers of their lives, by following their own instincts.

Even though these human beings lead you to believe that everything about them is the same, there are factors of their personality that couldn’t be more different. A factor like that is how Cassia and Guy feel about love and relationships. Mildred, Guy’s wife, is so unconnected from the world. She has no feelings about anything, so as an effect, he has no feelings about her. Cassia is the polar opposite. This girl is in love with two men, one that was chosen for her and the one that truly sets her free. Both of them are very connected and in sync with the world, though, unlike Mildred. Guy and Cassia don’t agree on love and how it affects you, and as a result, how it affects the world.

Government control is exactly what drove Cassia and Guy to feel the way they did, and it’s what caused them to commit their actions. Both characters rebelled in their own personal way, and that way had connections and disconnections. Their actions made the whole novel change, and made the government fear that maybe their system wasn’t so secure after all.