Speak

Maybe I'm just a realist, but Speak was the first novel we've read that really made me think about why some adolescents act the way they do. It made me review my own actions when students have written things in their journals or suddenly changed their attitudes, peer groups, or clothing in the past. I was surprised that it took so long for Melinda's parents, teachers, and counselors to approach her regarding the sudden changes in her life. The fact that she started high school without mention of her friends should have been a red flag to her parents that there was more to the story. When her parents didn't do anything, her teachers should have seen the signs. Some may argue that it was the start of a school year and perhaps Melinda's teachers didn't know her well enough to see that something was wrong, but look at how quickly Melinda was able to categorize her teachers - this quick analysis can go both ways. I find that I'm able to grasp a decent picture of my students within the first few weeks, if not days, of school. I was saddened that this wasn't the case for Melinda.

I enjoyed the links in Speak to Maya Angelou's "Caged Bird" poem, the understated closet Melinda retreats to, and the symbolism behind the title and Melinda's own inability to speak her mind or ask for help from anyone. I have to admit that I had not heard anything about the novel prior to reading it, thus, I had to discover the horror of Melinda's rape solely by the clues Anderson wove into her story. I knew something traumatic had occurred with Melinda prior to starting her freshman year of high school, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It wasn't until the "Nightmare" section began on p. 45 with regards to "IT" did the light bulb go on in my head. Suddenly, I knew why Melinda had been acting so strangely for the first forty-four pages of the novel. A few pages later, Melinda put the Maya Angelou poster up in her closet, and my mind immediately went to the famous poem about Angelou's own childhood rape and the silence she experienced because of it. The title of the novel made sense now - I understood why Melinda felt she couldn't speak out to anyone.

As for the merit in Latham's article analyzing Speak, I was at first a bit hesitant to see the relationship. After a fairly critical reading of the points Latham made about trauma, the closet, the view, and coming out, I can see the relationship between Melinda's struggle and the struggles of the adolescent gay community. Latham's definition of the term, "queer" is helpful in making this connection, as is his breakdown of the symbolic parts of Speak. In terms of a classroom of students reaching the same conclusion, I believe that a gay adolescent reading Speak for the first time would easily make connections to what he or she is dealing with in terms of being an "outcast" in reality. Even though it took me a while to know that Melinda was a rape victim, I was quick to pick up on her struggles and I desperately wanted her to be able to "speak" once again. Anderson mentions censorship in the back section of the novel (at least in my copy - the platinum edition) and it rang quite true with me in terms of how adolescents should be educated. She quotes, "Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance. Our children cannot afford to have the truth of the world withheld from them. They need us to be brave enough to give them great book so they can learn how to grow up into the men and women we want them to be." Now, if that's not realistic, what is?