Why Would I Speak? 50-100

Summary
By this point in Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Melinda Sordino continues to feel ostracized from her school community and former friends. Halloween has just passed and she spends the holiday with her only friend Heather. Thanksgiving has just arrived and Melinda detests her mother's cooking. The Sordino family has broken off family bonding and so Melinda feels awkward coming in solidarity. Her father has made morose turkey soup and as an alternative orders pizza on Thanksgiving. Her mother owns a business and on Christmas break requires Melinda to help her reach her goal in selling a lot of merchandise so that she can end the year on good terms. Although Melinda has resumed doing horribly in school, she continues to receive A's in Art class. As a Christmas present, the Sordinos give Melinda a sketch pad with charcoal pencils. They have noticed she has been trying to draw and Melinda begins to speculate they know the truth about what happened last summer. Melinda's emotions exacerbate and she continues to feel trapped in her past. She has no idea how to explain to her parents what happened last summer, and so she continues to hide the secret that has changed her as a daughter, student, and friend. In addition, Ms.Connors, the Basketball coach, noticed Melinda's hidden gift. Melinda is very good at foul shots, and for once receives attention from her classmates for something good. However, in all of her other classes, she continues to get bullied and taunted. Moreover, Melinda discovers she is really good at Algebra and feels sympathetic towards her Algebra teacher. Mr.Stetman feels very passionate for Algebra but the rest of the class seems to not share his same conviction. At last, the Martha Club has ridiculed Melinda's posters and Melinda feels Heather didn't have the effrontery to stand up for her when Siobhan caused such a scene.
Quote:
"I almost tell them right then and there. Tears flood my eyes... This isn't going to be easy. I'm sure they suspect I was at the party"(Anderson 72).
Reaction:
In this here quote, the author Laurie Halse Anderson brings its readers back to the reason why the book Speak was written. Melinda Sordino was a victim of rape and because of stigma and fear, she decided to rather be bullied, ostracized, and looked at differently instead of revealing the truth. In other words, here we have Melinda suffering immensely with her secret and it becomes apparent with Anderson's use of imagery. I can imminently create an image where a young teenage girl has floods of tears flowing from her eyes, and how I as a teenager could be in and have been in that position. Sometimes we as individuals are very quick to judge, but we don't all walk a mile in those we judge's shoes. In fact, I would have  right away labeled Melinda as the psycho girl who ruined my fun at a summer party but  not as the girl who was raped and needs my attention and support to prevail through such agony. In addition, Anderson uses a great variety of figurative language especially similes and metaphors to make the reading more realistic and engaging. All in all the quote that personifies this part of the book is the American proverb,"Don't judge a book by its a cover" which is what I would have done when Melinda called the cops.