Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is the use of hints or clues in a narrative to suggest future actions. Foreshadowing is present in the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Mini parts of the story like, Melinda's school grades are clues to the future events/actions. Melinda's different marking period school grades can be found on page 46 (First marking Period), page 92 (Second Marking Period), and page 137 (Third Marking Period). On these pages, you can tell that her grades are getting lower and lower each marking period. This action shows that Melinda is distracted by something, or something is bothering her. Melinda also mentions in the story that she is an outcast because she ended up sitting alone on the bus on the first day of school, and her old friends are not friends with her anymore. That is a huge hint to the main situation (Future action). That can be found on pages 3 and 4. Another huge clue that can be used as foreshadowing is when she mentioned about a party over the summer break. That information can be found on page 27. Melinda and her parent's do not communicate with each other, and they are not family oriented. Melinda's mother prepares dinner in the morning and sticks them in the fridge, but that's not always the case, sometimes, Melinda orders pizza for dinner on her own. That hint led to the thought that Melinda's mother would end up not cooking the Thanksgiving dinner. This can be found on pages 57-61.



Discussion Questions:

1. What are some actions of Foreshadowing?
2. What was the main, future action that the clues/hints led you to?
3. What are a few of the hints/clues that helped build up to the main situation?
4. What are some different statement(s) that you found that is an example of Foreshadowing?


Elizabeth

Diction

Diction is the writer's choice of words; the stylistic element that helps convey voice and tone. The narrator telling the story is Melinda; it is in her point of view. In the story, Melinda is about 13 or 14 years old. Her writing is not complex at all. The story/ writing is a form of a diary entry, and usually, diary entries are not complicated. Most words Melinda uses are not that difficult; she uses words like, untouchable, and argue. The story is told in first person narrative. On most of the pages, you would see Melinda using the "I" form. For example, on page 8, Melinda says, "I see a few friends-people I used to think were my friends-but they look away." This is also an example of how the writing is simple and doesn't use difficult words. Though, you notice that she is well-educated. Throughout the story, Melinda speaks about her feelings and tells the readers directly about what is happening, for example, Melinda would say "Heather has..." On page 42, Melinda says, "I just thought of a great theory that explains everything." That is an example of Melinda telling the readers exactly what happened. Melinda's writing changes throughout the entire story, some sentences are short, and some are long.

Discussion Questions:
1. What are two words you believe are difficult that are in the writing?
2. What is voice and tone?
3. What are your opinions on the choice of words the author uses?

Elizabeth

Theme

The theme of a story is the entire back round and meaning of a story.  The theme of this story is about girl named Melinda who doesn't fit in at her new school, and how she goes through a lot of HS problems. Some of the problems that Melinda goes through are school problems, social problems and more. For example, school problems are a big part of this story. Melinda starts off the year OK, but as we get further into the story, her grades start to slip and her teachers aren't very fond of her. (Especially Mr. Neck) The grades that she id getting are mostly C's and D's, which really aren't good for a first year of HS. But social problems also play a big role in this story. Melinda isn't really the most popular girl in school. Melinda only has 1 true friend and tha is her friend Rachel. Rachel is a very perky and cheery person. Altough very annoying and critical, Rachel is a true friend torwards Melinda. Rachel is pretty much Melinda'a only friend,but she is very loyal and her and Melinda are best friends. 

Questions

1) Why do you think the author chose this topic for the story?

2) What does theme mean?

Katherine Eglezos

Setting

The setting of a story is very important. The setting explains where a story takes place and what time period it is in. In this case, this sory, Speak, takes place at Merrywheather High School.  It also takes place at Melinda's home and at her friend Rachel's home.  Melinda and Rachel's school, merrywheather high, is always full of noise and personality. Sice this story takes place in Syracuse, NY, it can get very loud lik the city, but at other times very mellow and quiet because of the lack of people and location.  At Melinda's house, there is always argueing going. This is because of Melinda's very loud parents. However at Rachel's house, it is usually very quiet. Syracuse is more like the suburbia of NY. It has a little touch of old fashion but a splash of real NY.

Questions

1) Why do you think that the auther had the story take place in Syracuse?

2) Could this story possibly take place anywhere else?

Katherine Eglezos

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Laurie Halse Anderson Bio

Laurie Halse Anderson was born on October 23, 1961. She lives in Potsdam, a very cold place in NY State. She lives with her daughter Stephanie Holcomb Anderson, her husband Greg Anderson and their German Shepard. In the begining, Laurie never saw herself as becoming a writer, she wanted to be a doctor, but apparently fate had other plans for her. Laurie loves to read, mountain bike, write, running in marathons and growing tomatoes in her backyard garden. As a teen , Laurie loved to read, especially fantasy and fiction. Her grades were not so hot, but once her senior year of HS was over, she moved out and wound up on a pig farm in Denmark. Laurie attended Onondaga Community College fopr 2 years. While she was in school , she began to work on a dairy farm, milking cows, and such. After 2 years of C.C, she transferred to Georgetown in 1981. She graduated in 1984 with a B.S.LL. in Launguages and Lingusitics. Laurie loved college basketball and going to her schools games. Some time after all of her school, she met Greg Anderson , a computer nerd who was full of wonders of the 1st Apple 2 computer. In 1985, they had their 1st daughter named Stephanie Holocomd Anderson. 2 years later, they had their other daughter Meredith Laureen. Laurie's first book tha came out was Ndito Runs. In 1999, Speak came out and won an award. The wild heart series was next followed by the Big Cheese. In 2002, YA came out also. From 2000-2006, Laurie traveled the country speaking to teachers, students and librarians about books and stories. After her trip she wrote and came out with her book Twisted. Now her newest book, Chains will be coming out in the fall. In 2002, Laurie was diagnosed with melanoma. Thankfully, this was all removed by doctors. Later, her and Greg divorced. Greg re-married to Susan Kressly and Laurie re-married to Scott Larrabee her childhood sweetheart who tought her how to tie her shoes, after her kids graduate from HS.

Katherine Eglezos