Ever wondered about the reason why people are the way they are? Many people call this identity. This is seen best through the book, Speak. The main character, Melinda, goes through a continuous journey through high school, trying just to survive. But what shapes her identity through that journey? Melinda’s identity is shaped by school and friends. Melinda’s identity is shaped by school, but more importantly her school experiences. An example of this would be a quote from Principal Principal that says, “Those are your friends?” (Anderson 116). This quote means no one knows who Melinda’s friends are. This shapes Melinda’s identity because she herself realizes she has few to no friends. Therefore, Melinda’s identity is shaped through school experiences.
“The summer sun was not meant for boys like me. Boys like me belonged to the rain.'' This novel represents the LGBTQ+ community with two young boys falling in love in a world with a vast and unaccepting culture towards their sexuality. The book “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe '' by Benjamin Alire Sáenz shows themes of identity. In the book Aristotle shows this through him struggling to figure out his belonging.
Self-identity is something that many young children/teenagers struggle to find, and this can be for a variety of reasons. In Sandra Cisneros’ Eleven, Rachel, the main character of the story, struggles finding her identity due to a lack of self-confidence, this is presented through the red sweater that she is “forced” to come to terms with. Through techniques such as tone, repetition, similes, and a first person perspective, Cisneros presents the theme of finding one’s self-identity to the reader.
List 4 examples of these motifs from the book. 1 Death A) Allan 's death Motivated Anne to commit suicide B) JS death encouraged David to forgive him for all that he has put him through, and put that chapter of his life behind him. C) Wanuk banishes people to the fringes out of fear (mass sterilizations) that their reproduction would lead to the death of the true Human Form.
A person’s identity changes much over time. The reasons may vary, from life experiences, friends, or merely growth, people go through a multifold of changes during his or her lifetime. In the novel Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, we accompany thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle, as she walks her late mother’s footsteps to Lewiston, Idaho in an attempt to better understand her. As Sal travels throughout the country, she tells us her best friend Phoebe’s story, which in truth is just a cover for her own, or as she says “The reason Phoebe’s story reminds me of that plaster wall and the hidden fireplace is that beneath Phoebe’s story was another one. Mine.”
How important is truth, love, and identity to a novel? After I completed James Dashner’s The Maze Runner, I began to read his book The Scorch Trials and I am currently on page 244. The Scorch Trials begins right where The Maze Runner left off. In the book starts with the group of boys known as the gladers being bewildered and Teresa nowhere to be found, then they meet a man who tells them that they are infected with the flare which is a disease and they have to travel across “the scorch” in two weeks to get to a “safe haven” to get the cure. In most successful and interesting books moments of truth, love, and identity tend to be present.
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.
Identity In order to assess the effect of interpersonal relationships on Laura’s identity, it is necessary to trace the development of her identity throughout the short story. In a social psychological approach, the researches Tajfel and Turner analyzed the behavior of individuals within a group and accordingly developed theories which conceptualize the formation of an identity. The aim of Tajfel’s and Turner’s social identity theory, is the analyzation of developing group identities and group dynamics.
” I can’t believe she was my best friend”(Anderson 22). Melinda went from having such great and amazing friends, to having no friends the next year. Therefore, she was changed negatively, she was lonely when she lost her best friends. Secondly, she goes through changes caused based on home conflicts too.
The novel Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about a girl named Melinda, who shows signs of depression throughout the story. She has no friends and is hated by people she doesn’t even know. This is because she called the cops at a party, where she was raped. Anderson includes literary elements to show how Melinda is depressed. Throughout the novel, she uses many different literary elements to show Melinda’s conflict.
The environment in which an individual grows up in can affect life greatly. Our surroundings influence one’s personality, self-expression, and individuality, otherwise known as identity. Finding one’s true self is the most grueling stage of life and expectations of family and society make the process even harder. One’s true identity can sometimes clash with hopes of others, thus breaking tradition and/or family ties. Pressure to change will always be present, but staying true to uniqueness will prevail.
Speak, a novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a memorable story about a girl who overcomes a horrific experience, rape, and with it, injustice. Melinda, the main protagonist, has an emotional journey, and with the help of her art teacher, Mr. Freeman, survives through this excursion. As Mr. Freeman says, “‘Welcome to the journey’” (12). Mr. Freeman assists Melinda, by constantly questioning her emotional being, turning an art project into a pool of her feelings, and forcing Melinda to see the light in her heart. With Mr. Freeman lifting her emotional baggage, Melinda can finally be free and with that, experience happiness once again.
The environment people live in has a subliminal ability to change their behavior to allow them to adapt to those around them. This can be best described through people’s unconscious actions that come as a result of who or what they are currently associating themselves with. In the short story, Mother Tongue, when Amy Tan is around her mom, she opts out for a dumbed down version of English to better suit her mother’s needs. Yet when around others, Tan uses a more scholarly version of English as a facet of her representation. Even more, Amy goes to great heights to change herself as a person just for the sole motive of acting in accordance to her environment.
Eric shows signs of insecurity, because of his parents relationship is so unhealthy, he doesn’t believe he will ever have one, that good relationship are impossible. Not having anyone to support him emotionally while growing up he doesn’t know to make friends, this insecurity is also due to that fact his been unstable, his changed many schools, not giving him a chance to interact with others. And because all of this he is not sure about his sexual orientation, which makes him really anxious to not know the answer in the movement. He feels lonely, he mentions when he was little he always tried to please his father, but that never seemed to work. Causing him a lot of pain, and that’s also why he doesn’t to much to interact with others so he doesn’t
In Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why, the passage quoted above helps support the major theme of the story: identity. The narrator Hannah Baker expresses her anger and frustration that her identity is limited to stereotypes. Close friends gossip about her, leading others to harass and take advantage of Hannah or to spread more rumors from the lies they have heard about her. Hannah often copes with these incidents as they occur and attempts to make new friends and find new activities of comfort. Through this, she tries to show how her actual life is the exact inverse of the reputation perceived and accepted by others.
As I mature, my perspective of life and what it is to be a unique individual is ever changing. I believe that an individual’s environmental and surrounding contributes to their identity greatly. The culture in which one grows up in is a element that shapes one’s beliefs. When I was younger, my friends aided to shape my identity. My peers had a great influence on how I defined myself in early childhood because I deeply valued and cared about what others thought of me.