Speak By: Laurie Halse Anderson Ashley Taylor

“ It is my first morning of high school. I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate, and a stomachache. (2)” Melinda is trying to fit in to the school and get some new friends but she has trouble because all her friends that she new are all different and they have changed in drastic ways. These events reveals that the girls don’t like Melinda because she is weird and she likes to stick to herself.

“ Here at school we fall into clans: Jocks, Country Clubbbers, Idiot Savants, Cheerleaders, Human Waste, Eurotrash, Future Fascists of America, Big hair Chicks, the Martha’s, suffering Artists, Thespians, Goths, and Shredders. (4)” In this setting Martha has now got to her new school and she has no friends and she is naming all the clans and she is trying to fit in but is still Clanless. This action reveals that the characters are stubborn and that they have no feelings for Martha, they don’t even give her a chance.

“ Rachel is with me in the bathroom, edit that, Rachelle is with me in the bathroom. She has changed her name because she is reclaiming her European heritage by hanging out with the foreign-exchange students. (20)”. The text reveals that the narrators attitude toward the character, subject, or the audience is that she doesn’t like this girl Rachel because of how she changed. She is picking on her and making fun of her.

The Purpose Of My Novel!! The Author’s purpose of this novel is to show girls and boys that if you are new to any kind of school then you should have confidence and if you don’t then you wont get anywhere. Another one is that you should let someone come up to you because even though you wouldn’t expect them to even talk to you they could become your friend. And never judge anyone that you don’t know because they could become your new best friend. One example is that she didn’t have any confidence and she got nowhere at first. Another one is that all her friends changed and never talked to her so one person came up and talked to her. One other one was when she was eating alone she had someone come up to her and eat with her.