Speak+-+8

1. Do you think Melinda just chooses not to talk or that she finds herself unable to talk? Explain.
====2. Do you think the character David will end up doing something significant in the end of the book or do you think he is just there to be Melinda's biology partner? Why or Why not? ====

3. Do you think Melinda's parents are one of the causes that she doesn't speak? Why or why not?
====4. Why do you think Melinda is so uninterested in making friends? Why do you think she hates to do the things that normal teenagers enjoy like hanging out with friends or going to a prep rally? Explain. ==== ====5. Why do you think Melinda is able to express her feeling through art and writing but is unable to say them? Do you think art is helping her heal? Explain. 6. Why do you think Melinda’s old friends don’t talk to her anymore? Do you think they could ever be friends again? Explain.====

10. Why do you think Melinda is able to say no to Andy in the end? Do you think she has finally healed? Why or why not?
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"The Wordler" Olivia Guinta Significance of 10 Words:
 * Speak- Even though this is the title of the book, the meaning of this word is extravagant. The way that I interpret this word is that Melinda really needs to learn how to //speak// up. She’s been through so much and yet she hasn’t even told anybody about her struggles.


 * Void-This word is one of my favorites to describe the story. It has such a deep meaning towards the story and it really stands out to me. The reason why I chose this word is because Laurie Anderson describes Melinda as a girl who is very alone in life. Melinda doesn’t know how to fill that emptiness, or void, in her with something positive. And it goes on for a good amount of the book.


 * Strong- Melinda is a very strong figure in this book. She has really overcome a lot and has been through the unspeakable. At the end of the book, she finds strength and endurance to leave her past behind, even though it will always be there.


 * Rebellion-This word is also one of my favorites because Melinda is rebelling against the norm. In the beginning and middle of the book, she doesn’t trust anyone and just rebels against common nature because of what society has done to her.


 * Seduction- This word is extremely powerful in significance. After everything that happened at the party, the boy Andy keeps silently molesting her. He hasn’t learned to just back off and leave her alone.


 * Cutting- The significance of this word is high. When Melinda needs an escape from the world and all the stress she has in her life, she has no idea how to vent. So instead of just dealing with it, she decides to cut her wrists and give herself temporary fulfillment.


 * Party- This word has extreme significance to the story because everything in this book revolves around this one event that happened at a party last summer. Melinda has been sexually harassed and had no choice but to call the cops. Everybody hated her because the cops had walked in on an under aged drinking party. This caused Melinda to completely rebel against society.


 * Acceptance- After the party and at school, Melinda really didn’t have any friends to go to. She just wanted to be accepted and loved by others.


 * Lunchtime-At school, Melinda has absolutely no friends to sit with at lunch. This turns into a huge issue and as it turns out, she had to eat in the disgusting bathroom stall.


 * Art-Art time at Melinda’s school was essential for her venting. She needed to get rid of the filth that had been building up inside her and finally she had found a way to demonstrate it in a positive way.

Danya Guttman "The Wordler"


 * Depression: This word is significant because throughout the whole story Melinda is just really upset and speaks as little as possible. She hasn't talked to any of her ex-bestfriends since the summer and is taking it all in very difficultly.
 * Rape: Everything that has ever happened in Melindas since that night at the party is all because of Andy raping her. She kept telling him to stop but wouldn't listen, she called the cops because she had no one else to call, which made her the target of hate to everyone. If she never got raped her life would be completely different.
 * Freshman: Going into high school for the first time can be extremely difficult, even more difficult if your hated by everyone. Which is exactly what Melinda had to deal with considering everyone knew her as the girl that called the cops.
 * Uncomfortable: This word is significant because everytime Melinda sees Andy she gets all nervous and goes the other way. She is scared to even talk to him let alone look at him.
 * Heather: This persons significance to the book is very high because in the beginning when she met Melinda in the auditorium they were like best friends right away but Melinda didn't like her but was still nice. Towards the end Heather confronted Melinda and said your the most depressed person I know and I can't sit with you at lunch anymore and just stopped talking to Melinda.
 * Lunchroom: The lunchroom to Melinda is like HELL, because she never had anyone to sit with other than Heather and she didn't even like her. Also, on the first day of school she got food through at her and everyone was laughing.
 * Hide-out: This place is so significant because when Melinda had nowhere else to go, she has this little hide-out in school be-hide a storage closet. No one knows its there so she goes there all the time. That's the place where she does most of her paintings and the only person she showed was Mr.Freeman on the last day of school.
 * Mr.Freeman: This persons significance is so high because he is the only teacher Melinda actually liked and can open up too. She would go there everyday for lunch, and watch him draw and got inspired.
 * Art: This word is significant because it is also another way for her to show her feelings. It was her favorite class plus favorite teacher. Her drawing for the year was a tree, and when she got it she thought it was stupid but then drew the prettiest trees Mr.Freeman has ever seen.
 * Disowned: This word is very significant because Melindas ex-friends just stopped talking to her because she called the cops at the party. She had every reason to call the cops they had no idea what happened to her that night.

"The Talker" Kelly McFarland Recorded from iPod Won't upload on site "The Director" Destiny Giusti http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/12925070