Talk:Speak (Anderson novel)

Comments

I'm deleting the reading comprehension questions posted on this page. The talk page is for discussing the article, not a place to post homework assignments. --djrobgordon 23:10, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

I changed the part of the synopsis about the ending, it got confused with the movie. It actually said that at the end of the wiki about the movie, the difference in endings. --71.245.125.124 02:41, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

I think it's also been translated into German as Sprich (written small on the cover I've seen on amazon.de). And into Hungarian as Hadd mondjam el... It means "let me tell (you)"; I think the title is the novel's last sentence, but I don't have the book with me now. Kletta 04:25, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Who raped the synopsis? and also, "Habla" in Spanish can be translated to the command "Speak". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.161.184.63 (talk) 23:05, 30 November 2010 (UTC) I was so confused at the begging of the book, it was........ every.... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.113.191.3 (talk) 13:27, 2 December 2011 (UTC)

Symbolism

Poorly written, not needed, etc...deleting for now, if anyone wants to revive and change it, go ahead. Djdorama (talk) 21:26, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

I added the symbol of the tree underneath this section because I felt it was a vital part of this story. Please feel free to add. Laurmeliss27 (talk) 17:35, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

new segment: As I was researching this extraordinary book I stumbled against something magnificent it turns out that there is tons of symbolism in this great piece of art for instance, her last name Sordino really means mute in Italian thus she not being able to "speak" over her case scenario and now i shall let you figure out the rest! sincerely J.A.G —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.196.140.230 (talk) 18:04, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

wow

i love this book but i hate andy evans he is a mean nasty person and should be locked up.because he rapes her and tramatises her for life although i agree with that, maybe he didnt know how wrong it was. maybe it was how he was raised, he can do anything to anyone. maybe he didnt mean to hurt her or truely believed she wanted to.--70.190.50.211 (talk) 10:32, 15 December 2010 (UTC)--70.190.50.211 (talk) 10:32, 15 December 2010 (UTC)Italic text —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.204.254.239 (talk) 21:06, 12 October 2009 (UTC)

'Anderson's book changed me as a person, and as a reader. ' — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.104.11.14 (talk) 21:31, 26 September 2011 (UTC)

Edit Plot Summary (Wikipedia 3)

There is a little too much information right off the bat about the book. I think that a good chunk of this can be narrowed down and/or taken out completely. Doing this would help with heightening interest in the novel

Dmbfan85 (talk) 01:25, 21 February 2012 (UTC)

Translations?

It seems to be more trivia than anything. Usually the number translations is simply noted in the lead section (see, for instance, The Hunger Games). It is insignificant what the title is translated as, since we can assume it is translated roughly as Speak. I would absolutely venture that we remove the Translations section altogether in favor of a one-sentence rewrite in the lead. Thoughts? Roseclearfield (talk) 01:09, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Speak, my favorite book

Speak is an overall great story. It's a little frightening at first and reminds me of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones (another great book). This book changed my life. The main character, Melinda even reminded me of myself. I'd highly recommend this book to eighth grade and freshmen girls who love to read.

What I learned from this story: 1. It's okay to get help 2. You can be creative with the same thing over and over again (the tree projects in art class) 3. Not everyone trusts you, so who've gotta trust yourself first :) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.104.11.14 (talk) 21:36, 26 September 2011 (UTC)

Page Edit Suggestion

• I think the most important thing this page is lacking is a lead. Although it has a great plot summary, the readers need to know more about the author, what provoked her to write the novel, and more details about the WHY readers would want to read this book in general. As Professor Wadewitz said, most people don't read past the lead -- it needs to be much more interesting than what it is at this moment. ELL1015 (talk) 07:35, 20 February 2012 (UTC)

Under the plot summary section, the page says that "Melinda denies that she was ever raped, blaming herself for being 'drunk and stupid,'" but in reality she doesn't flat out deny it. She may be in denial, or unable to communicate her problems, but she doesn't blame herself for most of the book. During the sections about Andy (IT), it is pretty clear who is to blame. Kida5887 (talk) 20:45, 17 February 2012 (UTC)

We can't synthesize why a character does something in the plot. The Plot (section) exists only as a synopsis of what happens. When we say why a character acts a certain way we're conducting original research. Achowat (talk) 20:52, 17 February 2012 (UTC)

Reception/Interpretation

Both sections either need more information or to be cut from the page entirely. Grapefr00t (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 05:00, 20 February 2012 (UTC).

Revision Sources

I plan on improving this article, using the following sources:

• Alsup, Janet (Oct. 2003). "Politicizing young adult literature: reading Anderson's Speak as a critical text: critical texts confront difficult topics. Students need to read, write, and talk about these relevant issues". Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 47.2: p.158. Retrieved 5 March 2012.

• Latham, Don (2006). "Melinda's Closet: Trauma and the Queer Subtext of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak". Children's Literature Association Quarterly 31 (4): p.369-382. doi:10.1353/chq.2007.0006. Retrieved 5 March 2012.

• Tannert-Smith, Barbara (2010). "'Like Falling up into a Storybook': Trauma and Intertextual Repetition in Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak". Children's Literature Association Quarterly 35 (4): p.395-414. doi:10.1353/chq.2010.0018. Retrieved 5 March 2012.

• McGee, Chris (2009). "Why Won't Melina Just Talk about What Happened? Speak and the Confessional Voice". Children's Literature Association Quarterly 34 (2): p.172-187. Retrieved 5 March 2012.

• Burns, Tom, ed. (2008). "Laurie Halse Anderson (1961-)". Children's Literature Review (Cengage Learning) 138: 1-24. ISSN 0362-4145. Retrieved 5 March 2012.

• O'Quinn, Elaine J. (2001). "Between Voice and Voicelessness: Transacting Silence in Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak". The ALAN Review 29 (1). Retrieved 5 March 2012.

• Halse Anderson, Laurie (2000). "Speaking Out". The ALAN Review 27 (3): 25-26. Retrieved 5 March 2012.

• Detora, Lisa (2006). "Coming of Age in Suburbia:Sexual Violence, Consumer Goods, and Identity Formation in Recent Young Adult Novels". Modern Language Studies 36 (No. 1): p.24-35. Retrieved 5 March 2012.

• Ames, Melissa (2006). "Memoirs of a Bathroom Stall: The Women's Lavatory as Crying Room, Confessional, & Sanctuary". EAPSU Online: A Journal of Critical and Creative Work (3): p.63-74. Retrieved 5 March 2012.

• Franzak, Judith; Noll, Elizabeth (May 2006). "Monstrous Acts:Problematizing Violence in Young Adult Literature". Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 49 (8): p.662-672. doi:10.1598/JAAL.49.8.3. Retrieved 5 March 2012.

EmWriter90 (talk) 19:02, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

Revision Outline

The following is my proposed "plan of attack" for improving this article

• Remove
  • Translations Section - to be briefly mentioned in the lead
  • List of Characters Section
  • Interpretation Section - incorporate into Reception Section
• Rewrite
  • Lead - metion:
    • genre, publication, and translations to date
    • theme
    • brief plot summary
    • symbolism
    • awards and reception (censorship)
    • film adaptation
  • Plot Summary - reword
  • Censorship
    • more sources
    • Laurie Halse Anderson's response
  • Reception - include:
    • awards
    • criticism
    • brief mention of censorship
    • teaching tool
  • Film Adaptation - elaborate with more sources
  • Novel Cover - find 1st Ed. cover
• Add
  • Genre Section
    • YA novel, problem novel, trauma fiction,"Postmodern Revisionary Fairy Tale", etc.
  • Style Section
    • reflection of trauma
  • Theme Section
    • victimization and recovery
  • Symbolism Section
    • interpretations, Maya Angelou, Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, etc.
  • PTSD Section
  • External Links
• Organization of Article

1. Lead
2. Plot Summary
3. Genre
4. Theme
5. Style
6. Symbolism
7. PTSD
8. Reception
9. Censorship
10. Adaptation
11. References
12. External Links

EmWriter90 (talk) 15:35, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

This looks very good! I can't wait to see your improvements! Wadewitz (talk) 17:54, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Feedback It seems like you have a really good and ambitious idea of how you're planning on revising this article: you should definitely focus on cutting out long portions of unsourced plot description and any excessively long lists--most of that information can come from simply reading the book! How have reviewers responded to this (other than the one review listed here)? This novel includes some difficult thematic content that has surely been covered in the press and possibly by professional sources: have any psychologists or therapists discussed this novel and its portrayals of violence? Has there been substantial news analysis of the attempts to ban the book? Has anyone discussed how realistic its description of rape is using sociological data? —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 04:11, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Suggestions for Improvement

Overall, this article is very well-written. The sources all seem to be reliable. They are clearly cited and placed in the article. I don't see any problems with your sources. The article flows well and I like the order of the sections, however I think that some of the sections should be expanded on. The sections entitled "Reception" and "Censorship" seem like they can be added to. Also, the section entitled "Pedagogical Uses" is very tiny. I think it should be expanded, put in a different section, or possibly deleted. Other changes that you might consider revising is the "Plot Summary." Although very well-written, it is very detailed and very long. According to what Professor Wadewitz said in class today, the plot summary should be brief and only a couple of paragrapghs. As far as the writing and grammar, it is very well-written and easy to understand. I look forward to reading this when it is finished! CamMarie (talk) 23:14, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

I'm wondering if the "Pedagogical Uses" section would fit well in the "Reception" section? Perhaps as a subsection? What do you think? Wadewitz (talk) 13:46, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

I think it would work better as a subsection if anything. It just seemed to small to have an entire section devoted to it. And it would make sense to put it under the "Reception" section. CamMarie (talk) 01:44, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Suggestions for Improvement

Overall, a good article. Some of the wording/phrasing throughout the article needs some work. For example, in the first paragraph it says "has faced censorship..." when it could easily be "faces censorship." Also, the second paragraph begins to go into plot summary, when there's a section fully dedicated to plot summary right below the introduction. I'd keep the plot in one place rather than spreading it out like that. I also agree with the previous editor in that the Pedagogical Uses section should be dealt with differently. I think it'd be good to incorporate it into another section. Development in all the smaller sections would be nice to see. I can't wait to see the full article. Rowenator (talk) 01:03, 10 April 2012 (UTC)

Spoiler in the Introduction?

Hey guys, I know the rape is the whole point of the novel, but it's still a detail that's kept hidden until quite within the book. As such, I would consider it a spoiler and leave it out of the introduction. Thoughts?--Valkyrie Red (talk) 01:30, 28 May 2014 (UTC)

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Needs cleaning up

This page has strange headings like "Luke" where a synopsis would go and "black people" in a paragraph concerning something like themes. This latter section also has non glaring sequiturs. Xandrajane (talk) 00:14, 17 October 2019 (UTC)

It looks like a lot of this was vandalism that has since been addressed, or at least mostly addressed — I just edited out what I think was the last of it, though it may need another set of eyes. Leyarburns (talk) 18:25, 23 October 2019 (UTC)

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This article is the subject of an educational assignment at Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis supported by the Wikipedia Ambassador Program during the 2011 Q3 term. Further details are available on the course page.

The above message was substituted from {{WAP assignment}} by PrimeBOT (talk) on 15:59, 2 January 2023 (UTC)