Speak By: Dee Dee Okotie

Summary Melinda begins her freshman year of high school at Merryweather high school in Syracuse, New York where she spends most of her days in abandoned janitor’s closets-hiding out from the rest of her peers. Before school had started she was raped by a boy named Andy at a summer party. After calling the police-Melinda looses all of her friends and is deemed a social outcast.

Melinda goes on throughout her freshman year of high school-silenced. She has developed several self mutilation practices in which she attempts to cope with the unfortunate cards she has been dealt-She bites her lips and nails. Eventually she is able to finally speak up-She confronts her former best friend of the occurrence and once again with Andy-

With an intent on attempting to rape her for a second time. As she begins to learn to speak up for herself she is praised for her previous episode of silence.

Narrator Who is the narrator? The novel is told in first person- Melinda is the speaker of her own story in a way that can be compared to a sort of internal monologue. The novel reflects Melinda’s thoughts and feelings concerning the outside world and the ways in which they effect her internally.

Characters Melinda: A 14 year old high school freshman who has just been rapes; she struggles to find her voice throughout the year to overcome the unfortunate events that have become apart of who she is. She spirals downward into deep depression. In the end, She learns to speak up for herself- She knows her misfourtune is going to provide for a better future down the road "new growth [of the tree] is the best part" (196)

Andy Evans Andy represents a sort of antagonist of the novel- as a senior in high school he is unable to sympathize with others- his sadistic behavior demonstrates who he really is- Melinda is not his first victim

Heather Throughout the novel-Heather is Melinda’s only friend. She is the complete opposite of Melinda. She goes to all ends to reach a level of popularity- to conform. Unlike Melinda-towards the end of the novel she does not face any sort of growth through relationships- she only attempts to buy friendships through means that provide empty results

Motifs Trees: Trees symbolize life; In speak, Trees symbolize death. Each consecutive day that Melinda retains her deep dark secret; she dies a little more. “Whenever Melinda tries to create her tree in art class, she struggles. Her tree lacks dimension; she "can't bring it to life"” (p. 78). Throughout the novel, Melinda even becomes fascinated by leaves on trees- In actuality Melinda resembles these trees in several ways; she describes the leaves in her front yard as "dead leaves still clinging to the oak branches by the street" (167) -Melinda is like a sick part of a tree;barely hanging on to life; but trying so hard to maintain some sort of grasp. In the end Melinda’s tree is finally breathing again-she moves on with her life through the realization that “perfect trees do not exists” (153)

Motifs Mouths: - Melinda’s lips appear to be be cut, swollen, cracked and bleeding- They appear to be in such bad shape that people question her acquiring of “ a disease or something" (p. 45). - The ugliness of her mouth represents the ugliness and shame she grasps to-The swollenness represents her inability to speak and the bottling up of all of her emotions. - When she confronts Andy- Andy’s “lips are paralyzed” (195)

Themes Coming of Age: The novel is centered around the most difficult part of Melinda’s life- She is entering high school-an already difficult situation- as she has just been raped. As a result- she looses every sort of tie to her peers and family members as she can no longer speak. By the end of the novel- Melinda takes back everything that has been taken from her grasp. She expresses herself through art, drawing, bike riding, and can finally tell Andy “NO” her character transforms from a suffering victim to a strong and independent adult

Themes Identity: Melinda is lost and unable to find her voice; but by the end of the novel she admits that she now has a duty to stand up and speak up against the wrong that has been dealt to her-now she is an activist

Symbols Closets: The closets provide a sense of safety to Melinda-She can go there and be safe-far from any of the things that have hurt her or been painful- simultaneously- those closets illustrate isolation- towards the end of the novel she finally admits “I don't feel like hiding anymore”

Melinda’s Grades Melinda’s grades do reflect what is internally occurring in her life- they show some sort of sign of the trauma or distress that she is dealing with- however no one takes notice. Her grades slowly fall as she slowly falls deeper into depression. She used to get good grades.