For the past few weeks we have been reading the book Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. The book is about a girl named Melinda Sordino, who mostly refused to talk or interact with others after she was raped at an end-of-summer party before the start of her freshman year of high school. Since she was raped, she has completely changed. However, I think it shows signs of improvement during the second half of the year. After the party, Melinda rarely spoke to anyone, including her parents. However, I noticed that in the second half of the year he spoke a lot more. “Okay, but you said we needed to put emotion in our art. I don't know what that means. I don't know what I should feel.”(p122). This quote is from the third grading period, when Melinda was talking to her art teacher, Mr. Freeman. I don't think he would have said anything if it had been earlier in the year. "Stink. It was a mistake to subscribe to the art. I just couldn't see myself working in a carpentry shop.”(p.146). This quote is another example of Melinda talking, this time to Ivy in the mall. I think these quotes show that Melinda starts to talk more as the year goes on. At the beginning of the year I noticed that Melinda wasn't very active or social. For the most part he avoided most social activities. She seemed to prefer being alone in her closet. But during the second semester I noticed that the situation started to change. “I begin with the leaves that suffocate the bushes” (p.166). This quote describes Melinda going out and doing yard work on her own without being asked, which I don't think she would have done before. Another example is when she asked her father to bring her some flower seeds (p.168). These quotes demonstrate that Melinda definitely becomes more active during the second half of the year. At the beginning of the year, Melinda did poorly in school. He often used stolen passes and rarely did his homework. By the end of the year the situation was very different. In the third marking period, Melinda talks about how she showed up to class every day for the entire semester, did some homework, and didn't copy any tests. I consider it a big improvement.