Speak Analysis

Cubism Tree

Speak is about a teenage girl named Melinda, who is an outcast at her school. It wasn't always that way, Melinda used to have friends to hang out with. But now, on her first day of high school, Melinda finds herself sitting alone in the auditorium. Her old friends have found new groups-the Jocks, the Nerds, the Artists, the Cheerleaders-leaving Melinda no where to go.  Melinda feels scared and hides behind her hair, not letting a word escape her lips. She believes silence is the only way to get through life without people judging you. As Melinda goes through her freshman year, she meets Mr. Freeman, the art teacher, who assigns her a project to randomly pick a subject out of a globe, and explore the emotion of the subject through different media, such as pastels, painting, and sculpture. Melinda picks her subject, and gets 'tree'.  "I plunge my hand into the bottom of the globe and fish out my paper. 'Tree.' Tree? It's too easy. I learned how to draw a tree in second grade. I reach in for another piece of paper. Mr. Freeman shakes his head. 'Ah-ah-ah,' he says. 'You just chose your destiny, you can't change that.'" (Anderson, 12). This introduces the symbol of the tree for the first time in the book.

Pastel Tree

I believe that the tree is a symbol in the book because it appears not only in art class, but Melinda is constantly thinking about how to create art involving the tree. She struggles with the idea of bringing it to life and giving it emotion. After all, it is a tree, so it shouldn't be able to feel anything, right? Wrong. The tree acts as a symbol in the book. It symbolizes Melinda's struggles and recovery. At first she thinks of the tree as just a project, but after changing the way she creates the tree in art, she thinks about the different ways. At the beginning of the book, Melinda was quiet and felt small. She felt like an outcast that would never be able to fit in. But as the book progressed, she began to grow and change, becoming a completely different person. Much like how a tree grows, Melinda grew.


Without the symbol of the tree in the book, the story may not have showed Melinda's character change in the same way. I felt that it was easier to understand how Melinda changed when she was compared to a tree. A tree starts as a seed, and slowly grows from being small and fragile, to tall and strong. In this way, Melinda's character progressed throughout the text.

Checkpoint #3: Book Recommendation

Thirteen Reasons Why is an exceptional novel written by Jay Asher. As most of you know from my previous posts, this book follows a box of cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, explaining why she killed herself. It not only explains why she killed herself, but how her feelings and the impact of others effected her. The book is set up like a conversation between Hannah's voice on the cassette tapes and Clay, who is listening to the tapes. Right away, it lets the reader be able to see not just the impact of actions of other characters on Hannah, but also the impact of Hannah's reasons and story on Clay. It really helped me to understand the message of the book, which was to focus on making a good impact on others. Hannah explained this meassage through stories that she told about herself, which allowed Clay to respond to these stories and also learn this lesson.

"You can't go back to how things were. How you thought they were. All you really have...is now."
(Asher, 124).

I think that this book is an amazing book. It contains suspense and is, in a way, a sort of mystery. Thirteen Reasons Why is based on a very serious topic, that even some characters in the book can't even bare to mention, which is suicide. Yes, this book brought me out of my comfort zone. I had never even thought about reading a book like this simply because of the topic. However, I am glad that I read this book. Not because of the topic, but because of the lesson. I learned a lot- not just about people in general- but my personal impact on others. Thirteen Reasons Why really pushed me to think about my actions and the way I could impact others. This book is also very relatable for most teenagers because many experience emotions that make them sad, umcomfortable, or angry. I recommend this book to everybody, because I feel that everybody should learn this lesson, and face the harsh reality of our society today.

Soul Alone Analysis

Hannah Baker, the main character in Thirteen Reasons Why, tells the story of her life and why she decided to end it in a series of cassette tapes, which she mailed out to people who she felt needed to hear it. On one of the cassette tapes, Hannah reveals that she loved to write poetry and that it helped her to get her angry emotions out and create something powerful with those emotions. In the text is says, "That's what I love about poetry. The more abstract, the better. The stuff where you're not sure what the poet's talking about. You may have an idea, but you can't be sure. Not a hundred percent. Each word, specifically chosen, could have a million different meanings. Is it  stand-in, a symbol, for another idea? Does it fit into a larger, more hidden, metaphor?" (Asher, 109).  I believe that this method let Hannah learn more about herself and how she felt about certain topics or issues. The poem below is called Soul Alone and it was a poem Hannah wrote to describe her feelings about herself.
 

 

"I meet your eyes

you don't even see me

You hardly respond

when I whisper

hello

Could be my soul mate

two kindred spirits

Maybe we're not

I guess we'll never

know

My own mother

you carried me in you

Now you see nothing

but what I wear

People ask you

how I am doing

You smile and nod

don't let it end

there

Put me

underneath God's sky and

know me

don't just see me with your eyes

Take away

this mask of flesh and bone and

see me

for my soul

alone."

(Asher, 117)

This poem shows the deeper side of Hannah, explaining her fears of others. Hannah uses examples such as a boy and her mother to symbolize her internal struggle with herself. "The poem wasn't about my mom, you said. Or a boy. It was about me. I was writing a letter to myself...hidden in a poem. I flinched when you told me that. I got defensive, even angry. But you were right. And I felt scared, and sad, by my own words. You told me I wrote that poem because I was afraid of dealing with myself." (Asher, 116).  Hannah just wanted somebody to be there for her, and she wanted them to talk to her in a normal conversation. I think that Hannah uses a mask to symbolize a disguise, like she has to hide from others, and just wants people to accept her for herself, the way she is. The use of her words through her poetry helped her to express this need that she had.

Thirteen Reasons Why Predictions

"Hello, boys and girls. Hannah Baker here. Live and in stereo...I hope you're ready, because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why it ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you're one of the reasons why....I'm not saying which tape brings you into the story. But fear not, if you received this lovely little box, your name will pop up...I promise....The rules are pretty simple. There are only two. Rule number one: You listen. Rule number two: You pass it on. Hopefully, neither one will be easy for you." (Asher, 19).

I just started reading a book titled Thirteen Reasons Why, written by Jay Asher. This book follows a box of cassette tapes that were left behind by Hannah Baker, explaining the thirteen reasons why she killed herself. This book isn't the ordinary book, for a couple of reasons. One, being that is about a very sad and uncomfortable topic, which most people can't stand to read about.  However, I have noticed that so far, the book isn't entirely sad. Second, the book is set up as a conversation between Hannah's voice on the cassette tape and Clay's thoughts as he is listening to the tapes. It is an unusual format, but it makes it easy to read and understand. Lastly, it is a wake-up call to reality. It shows that nobody is perfect and the effect that you could have on other people.

Since I just started reading this book, I don't really have enough information to start analyzing the text. However, I have a couple predictions based on what I already have read. 

My first prediction is that Clay will learn a lot about the effect he has on other people, and most importantly, learn his effect that he had on Hannah. Since Clay has gotten the cassette tapes, Hannah had him as a reason why she killed herself. Right now, even Clay isn't sure what he did wrong, especially because everybody calls him the nicest kid in town. "What did I do to you, Hannah?" (Asher, 55) is the phrase that keeps coming back to clay as he listens to what Hannah is saying to him.

My second prediction is that Hannah will reveal some secrets about herself and other people she knew during her life. She will tell Clay some surprising information, and it will most likely be hard for Clay to listen to these revealed secrets, and maybe even difficult for him to look at people the same way again. Clay has recieved the tapes from somebody else who sent them, and Clay thinks about what is happening to these other people involved with the tapes, "I can't imagine what it was like for him to mail out these tapes. To know that he was sending his secret into the world." (Asher, 56). This quote shows that Clay knows that it is tough for people to let their secrets be revealed for them.

My last prediction is that Clay will not tell anybody about the cassette tapes that Hannah sent to him. I think that Clay will not show anybody else, fearing that they may learn something about him or that all of the secrets will be revealed to everybody. I can make this prediction based on Clay's thoughts, "As the stories go by, one by one, I find myself relieved when my name isn't mentioned. Followed by a fear of what she hasn't yet said, of what she's going to say, when my turn comes. Because my turn is coming. I know that. and I want it to be over with. What did I do to you, Hannah?" (Asher, 55). This is constantly coming back to Clay, because he doesn't understand what he did wrong, and he is anxious to know what he did to harm Hannah and cause her to do such a horrible thing.

I know that since this book is about suicide, many teenagers can relate to this book. I'm not sure if I can specifically relate to that topic, but I can relate to the way Hannah felt when she was making the tapes. Clay noticed that Hannah's voice was trembling, and that she must have been sad, or felt angry or alone because of what these people did to her. I know I have been sad before, and I'm sure that everybody in their life has encountered a bully who said mean things to them, so not only I can relate to this book, but I feel that most teenagers can.

I am looking forward to reading the book and getting some of my questions answered.
What did Clay do to Hannah? Why did Hannah make the tapes, other than to share secrets? What made Hannah decide to take her own life?

Beautiful Creatures Review

I recommend the book Beautiful Creatures to any girl who likes adventure, supernatural, and romance.  The author of Beautiful Creatures did an amazing job of incorporating these three genres into one fantasy book. Though many have seen the movie, I promise that the book is so much better.  This book had amazing imagery that freely let me imagine the setting, characters, and emotion is the book. We also see a lot of symbolism in the book, such as the crescent moon, which is Lena's birthmark, the marking on the Ravenwood's door, and the shape on The Book of Moons. But most of all, I enjoyed the plot line, which takes you through the many ups and downs, that not just tells you, but shows you the lesson and theme.  Beautiful Creatures shattered my idea of fantasy, and replaced it with a more unique and creative perspective of the genre. In short, I enjoyed everything about this book, and I know that you will too.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

The theme of Beautiful Creatures is made apparent through character's thoughts, actions, and dialogue. The theme of the book is to take control of yourself, and to be the leader of your own life. Ethan and Lena are struggling with the idea that Lena and her Caster powers are going to be claimed either for the light or for the dark. Lena feels like she has no control over this decision and is afraid she will be claimed for the dark and not for the light. 

However, they keep running into signs that give Lena advice about what to do. For example, they find a message in Ethan's father's study, which they had to decode. "I looked at Lena, and held out the paper...It was as clear as if my mom was standing in the study, telling us with her own words, with her own voice. CLAIM YOURSELF...it was a message for Lena." (Garcia, 307). This message told Lena to take charge of her fate, and to be what she wanted to be. The theme was communicated through the character's actions because the message was an action taken by Ethan's mother.

Another example of this theme was located in Ethan's thoughts. In the text it says, "Whether it was up to us or the stars, I couldn't just sit around and wait to find out." (Garcia, 301). This quote shows that theme can be demostrated through a character's thoughts. The theme is clearly stated in the thoughts of the character, explaining that Ethan wasn't going to let Lena sit around and wait for her to be claimed, rather he wanted her to have her own choice.

Even though the story is about Casters (mythical people with extrordinary powers), and it is a story about Lena being claimed, it can also reflect real life issues of today. A real life issue that this could reflect is people (specifically teenagers) figuring out what they want to do in life, and who they are going to be. The story can also reflect the pressure from society about an individual's choices. The author believes that people should take control of their fate, which is the overall theme of Beautiful Creatures. 

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

The setting of Beautiful Creatures is Gatlin, South Carolina, where nothing out of the ordinary ever happens.  Gatlin is a simple, small town where everybody knows each other and practically everything about each other.  Lena, a very unordinary character, moves to the town and everything changes.  The people of the town insist that she be removed because she is not like everybody else.  They view Lena as an outcast and believe she is dangerous.  This setting is an archetypical setting because it is expected that everybody in a small town knows each other, and these people do not accept outsiders, or those that are different.  It is also expected that a protagonist moves to town and challenges the so-called 'rules' about what is normal and who is accepted into society.  A quote to support this statement is, "Gatlin wasn't a complicated place; Gatlin was Gatlin.  The neighbors kept watch from their porches in the unbearable heat, sweltering in plain sight.  But there was no point.  Nothing ever changed...There were no surprises in Gatlin County...Turns out I couldn't have been more wrong." (Garcia, 6-7).  This quote shows how Gatlin is small and has no surprises ever.  But it also sets up the plot, foreshadowing that something new and different was about to happen.

 

 

Below is a trailer for Beautiful Creatures.  In the beginning of the trailer, it has scenes showing some of the people in Gatlin talking about Lena and how she is different.  Based on what they say in the trailer, we can infer that the citizens of Gatlin are not very accepting of outsiders, making the setting an archetypical setting.

 



 

 

 

 



The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

There were many themes presented throughout The Fault In Our Stars. These themes developed throughout the story, and were communicated by character's thoughts, actions, and feelings, as well as the plot line. One important theme from the book was to not worry about what others may say or do to hurt you, but to be confident in being yourself. A quote that supports this theme is, "You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world...but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices." (Green, 210).  This quote supports the theme because it says that you have a choice if what others say about you will hurt you.  The quote also explains that life will hurt you, and there is no way to escape it.  But, it also states that people shouldn't stress about what others say to bring them down.  Instead, you should build yourself up by not worrying about others trying to tear you down.  Hazel learned this lesson throughout the plot line by meeting new people, and doing what she wanted to, though she felt pressure from others.

The author of The Fault In Our Stars, John Green, talks about his book in this interview.

 

 

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

In The Fault In Our Stars, the main character, Hazel, is a complex character.  In the beginning of the book, Hazel is very quiet, and would rather be reading or watching TV than hanging out with friends.  She feels like she doesn't fit in with them, and that she shouldn't waste her time trying to.  In the text it says, "And I liked Kaitlyn, too. I really did.  But three years removed from proper full-time schoolic exposure to my peers, I felt a certain unbridgeable distance between us.  I think my school friends wanted to help me through my cancer, but they eventually found out that they couldn't.  For one thing, there was no through...In truth, it always hurt." (Green, 39). This quote shows that she believes her cancer is getting in the way of her life, and that because she has cancer, life wouldn't give her a chance anyways.

Though I have not finished the book yet, I have definitely noticed changes in Hazel's character. This means that complex characters change throughout the book, not just towards the end of a book.  Hazel is now accepting life, and is realizing that she may not have so much time left, but that shouldn't stop her from living.  She is also learning to make friends, like Augustus and Isaac.  Hazel has even made the decision to go on a trip to Amsterdam when Augustus offered to take her. "The day before we left for Amsterdam, I went back to Support Group for the first time since meeting Augustus." (Green, 91).  This shows that Hazel is feeling like she can be social, and travel without feeling trapped by her illness.  I predict that Hazel will keep feeling this way and learn to live her life to the fullest.

Hazel is battling cancer in her lungs.  She is required to have oxygen given to her from a tube connected to an oxygen tank, and breathe using a machine at night.  Here is an website to give you more information about her illness:



Lung Cancer Website