Figurative Style In Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak

The doll represents lives lost too soon, children who never got to grow up. In this way, the reader knows that the town of Holcomb has lost the virtue they didn’t realize they had before. With the innocence of the Clutters taken from them and murderers on the loose, how would they ever return to

44 percent of rapes are people who are under 18, what if you were in the 44 percent? That's what the book “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson depicts. In this book a girl named Melinda was drunk and got raped at a back to school party. And all she can do is think to call the police for help, but she doesn't realize that she is about to get almost everyone in there school busted for drinking. Everyone finds out she called the police at the party and everyone neglects and hates her for getting them in trouble.

Macy Scharpf Chin Honors English 9, Period 4 23 January 2023 Past events can often define the actions someone takes and who they are in the present. If society takes the time to analyze these actions, individuals can figure out the feelings of one another in a certain moment. “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson delineates the thoughts and feelings of a teenage girl, Melinda, as she navigates the highs and lows of high school, while carrying the weight of a past traumatic event. In the passage from the book, “Speak”, author Laurie Halse Anderson uses different types of figurative language such as similes and metaphors, as well as repetition to reveal Melinda’s negative thoughts on her past and current feelings about high school.

In the novel this quote “I pop the head off the Barbie doll…… I place a piece of tape over the Barbie’s mouth. ”(63) was an example of figurative languages. The figurative languages was a metaphor. Though Melinda the main character did not make the connection about her and the doll by her doing those stuff to the doll shows the reader that, that 's how she feels about herself and her ability to speak (communicate). It communicates a feeling better then it would if the metaphor was just written plain out saying that she hates herself and feels like her silents controls her.

Helen Keller once said "...although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it." This quotation means that in life, you come to find yourself in many struggles, but there is always a sense of accomplishment over such problems. The reason I agree with this quote is because such triumph can only be accomplished after the fact of the occurrence of a struggle. The realistic fiction book, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a perfect example of my interpretation of the quote. The author uses conflict, figurative language and characterization to show that this quote is true.

The story tells the reader about how two girls, each owns a Barbie doll with their one outfit piece and they made a dress out of worn socks for the dolls. One Sunday, they both went to the flea market on Maxwell Street, where the dolls of the other characters in Barbie were sold with lower price as a big toy warehouse was destroyed by fire. They did not mind to buy the dolls at the flea market even though the dolls were flawed, soaked with water and smelled like ashes. Barbie is widely pictured as a successful girl, who is perfect in every way; with her beautiful face, a slim body, nice house, secured job and a handsome boyfriend which is the fancy of every girl. The story tells the reader of the expectancy for women to have this immaculate figure, ignoring the fact that each person has different body fat percentage and body mass index which may affect their sizes and weights.

In modern day, some teenagers may be put into a conflict in which they cannot let their voice be heard. In the novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, her protagonist Melinda Sordino faces the same problem. In her character’s voice, she speaks as a shy, intimidated teen, which eventually branches out to woman of confidence and strength. With the use of diction and tone, Anderson is able to construct a developing voice for Melinda.

The freedom of being able to change Barbie’s clothes into her various wardrobes sold gives the young children playing with her the sense of individuality. Although Barbie has brought a lot of controversy to the table within the years it has been on the shelf, her portrayal has not changed because after all she is just a doll,

In this chapter, Melinda decides to bring the bones of the turkey that she dug up to art class to make a memorial, after her Thanksgiving evening went horribly wrong. Mr. Freeman, her art teacher, encourages her to work on this project and so she makes this scarily eye-catching piece. She puts a Barbie head on top of the bony carcass of the turkey, makes knives look like legs, and puts tape over Barbie’s mouth. Mr. Freeman analyzes Melinda’s piece and notices that there may be something going on in her

The poem Barbie doll by Marge Piercy is about a little girl who grows up only to kill herself for not living up to society’s standards. The speaker shows how she had a normal childhood and was happy playing with here baby dolls and toy stove. However, during puberty, her body changed and everyone noticed. She was criticized for her “fat nose and thick legs”. She tried to change by dieting and exercising, but soon tired of doing so.

Barbie dolls extend girls an invitation to a ‘‘plastic society’’ that doesn't accept the genuineness each of us possesses. They present a role model impossible to accomplish. The characters didn't have names, they could hold a symbolic representation of society’s judgment. The girls had the first dolls just like they wanted, but they desired to cover all of the imperfections on the dolls damaged in the fire with new clothes such as the ‘‘Prom Pink outfit’’ (Cisneros). Thereupon, no one would notice the

Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” takes a sarcastic approach to backlash at society and send the reader a message about what beauty really is. In “Barbie Doll”, A Barbie doll is used to show and symbolize what society views as what a female should aspire to become “perfect”. “Barbie's unrealistic body type…busty with a tiny waist, thin thighs and long legs…is reflective of our culture's feminine ideal. Yet less than two percent of American women can ever hope to achieve such dreamy measurements.”

In this essay, I will explore the themes of various poems from “Kinky”, by Denise Duhamel. The poems “The Limited Edition Platinum Barbie” and “One Afternoon When Barbie Wanted to Join the Military”, reflect upon the oppressive beauty standards and gender expectations in our culture and hyperbolize them to a dystopian point. Duhamel uses Barbie as a metaphor throughout these poems, and addresses our culture’s misogyny, while making Barbie a first person character and giving her a voice. The poem “The Limited Edition Platinum Barbie” critiques our culture’s narrow standard of beauty. Our society is consumed by the fantasy and perfection of the idealized body.

Although Barbie has conveyed many beliefs through the clothes and jobs she has had, the most controversial belief has been body image. Since first being brought out into the world, Barbie has had an unreasonably shaped body, with a small waist and large breasts. All of Barbie’s body features have impacted the way society expects women to look. But in 2016, Barbie had a dramatic makeover, she was released in different heights and body shapes, making her more suitable to the way women actually look. Barbie’s new look has made a positive impact on young girls and potentially society’s unrealistic expectations of

But where did it all start and how did you get to this position? You’re five years old when you receive your first Barbie doll. Your innocent mind looks at the plastic figure as just a symbol of inspiration or a relatable toy used on the playground