Bully

Bully

   Authors note: I want to try to convince readers the danger of bullying in school and outside of schools by relating this piece to Melinda in the book Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. 

   Bullying people can hurt them a lot, especially teenagers. In the book Speak, Melinda Sordino is a fourteen year old girl, who has been physically hurt. No one knows why she looks so depressed and is so quiet, instead of trying to figure out what was making her depressed and why she didn’t talk to anyone they bully her. What they don’t know is that they are hurting her even more. 

   When teenagers bully others it can put a strain on their lives. In the bullies eye’s he or she is not hurting anyone. What the bullies don’t know is that he/she is really making it harder for their self in school and at home. In the person that is getting bullied it is killing them emotionally. The person that is getting bullied can only take so much of getting bullied around. Bullying can lead to only two things and that is fights or suicide. 

   Soon the person that is getting bullied will get tired of being bullied so they will either try to fight the person that is bullying them or they will commit suicide. Most likely the reason they commit suicide is because they will think that whatever the bully is saying to them is true and they will try to solve the problem by suicide. The person that is doing the bullying it is hurting them mentally. 

   Would teenagers bully other teenager if parents and teachers were involved? Would it even make a difference if they were involved? When teachers and parents are involved I believe that bullying would be totally different. The reason I think it would be different is because they can put a stop to it. Most teenagers feel they have to bully others so that they can be popular. If parents and teachers could sit down and talk to the students about bullying and tell them the cusses and effects of it, the students would be more understanding. 

   How would you feel if someone was bullying you or your friend? You wouldn’t like it. What would you do to stop it? You would most likely do all that you can. So why not do all that you can to stop others from getting bullied. When you see someone getting bullied you should tell a teacher or a parent.

Letter to Melinda

   Authors note: This piece is about how characters change throughout the story. In this piece I am writing a letter from adult Melinda to ninth grade Melinda telling her how much she has changed and how she helps others change in the future.

   Most people think that characters in a novel never change, but the ones who do believe that the character will change, the character never turns out how they expect. You can usually tell if a character is going to change by reading the first couple pages of the book where it introduces the main character then connect that to the title of the book. In the novel Speak, Melinda is the main character. In the beginning of the book she is described as a very quit person. Just by reading the title you know that she is going to speak.

   Dear Melinda,

   Hi, I’m writing you to let you know how much you have changed and how you help others in the future. You’re probably wondering who this is. Well I’m you in the future. You are a great person; you will accomplish lots of great things throughout high school. I know that Andy hurt you, it scares you to hear his name now but as you get older you will not fear him anymore. Well let me get to the point. As you grow older and after you tell your parents what happened to you and how Andy hurt you, you become the most admired girl in the high school.

   I am no longer scared to speak my mind. You have done so much great and creative things throughout high school. You became the president of student consol as a sophomore. When you where a junior you started helping other young girls who were like you in the ninth grade. You also helped young boys too. After you let the truth out about Andy you inspired all the other girls to have the strength and courage to reveal the abuse they were experiencing. You helped others realize that they didn’t deserve to be treated that way. You gave so much good advice to others.

   Your old friends Rachel/Rachelle and Ivy are your best friends again. It took them a while to understand your predicament, but they came through. You three graduated top of your class. You and Heather never became back friends. After a while she moved. 

   You are no longer scared to speak your mind. I am so proud of you for what you have done. You have made me a better person the person I am today!

Sincerely, Melinda

Mute

Authors note: I’m writing this piece on a quote I found in the book Speak.

Sometimes people have a lot to say but don’t speak because no one will listen or no one really cares. Can you imagine how it feels to be neglected and ignored? Well I know Melinda Sordino does and its killing her inside.

“It's easier not to say anything. Shut your trap; button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.” This is a quote used by Melinda in her story. What do you think this quote means? Why do you think she said this? Melinda most likely said this because she is feeling neglected and ignored. Everyone she knows or knew doesn’t listen to her; they don’t even take the time to see how she feels not even her parents. When she tries to talk to someone they shut her down. She is hurting inside, after so many times of be ignored you get tired of it; she noticed that she can’t talk to anyone because they cut her off. She figures that it’s just easier to be mute and say nothing to anyone. 

Melinda really wants to be herd but she finds it easier to say nothing.

Prediction

Speak

Authors note: I am writing this to tell what i think is going to happen in this story. 

This story is about a 14 year old girl named Melinda Sordino. This is her first year in high school and she has no friends because she called the cops at a party that happened in the summer. Now her old friends won’t talk to her and the people that don’t know her hate her from a distance. At the beginning of the school year she meets a girl named Heather. Heather is her only friend up until Heather wants to become popular and hang with other people. Heather tells Melinda that she doesn’t want to be her friend because she’s weird. There is this guy named Andy Evens. Melinda is scared of Andy, every time she sees him she tries to run away or make herself unnoticeable. 

Based on how things are going so far in the story I think that something crazy is going to happen to Melinda. I think that Melinda and Heather are going to get into an argument. The reason I think this is because when Heather told Melinda that she doesn’t want to be her friend Melinda was heartbroken. Melinda told Heather that when no one wanted to talk to her at the beginning of the year she was the only one who was nice to her. Also based on the name of the book "Speak", I think that Melinda will come out of her shell and tell everyone how she really feels, and tell why she is scared of Andy. 

Melinda is very depressed and lonely, everyone treats her with disrespect and sooner or later she will speak.

Short Response

Short response

Authors note: I am going to be writing a short response on Thank You Ma’am.

  Thank You Ma'am, has a very important role. This short story explains a moral and is very helpful to some people.

  There was a young boy about 15-years of age. He tries to still a ladies bag, but he didn’t get away with it. The lady tussled with him and kept her bag held tight. Instead of the lady calling the police she took the boy to her home. She dragged him all the way down to her house. Once they were inside the lady told the boy to clean his face. She made little conversation with the boy. She asked the boy why he tried to take her bag. He told her that he was trying to buy a new pair of shoes he wanted. She told him that if he just wanted the money he did not have to try and still from her but he could have just asked. The boy was very surprised that she said that. “I have done things, too, which I would not tell you”. This is a quote that the lady said to the boy. I think this quote means that she has done some bad things also that she is now not very proud of and she won’t tell him because she doesn’t want to put any ideas in his head.

  The lady made the boy dinner. In the process of her bringing him to her home and talking to him, she taught him a valuable lesson.