Speak: First Marking Period

Analyze Melinda’s feelings toward the first day of high school. Why is she so afraid? Why does she label herself as an “outcast”?

Why is everyone angry with Melinda at the beginning of the novel?

Identify the type of figurative language used in this quote from the text: “The school bus wheezes to my corner” (Anderson 3).

• Simile

• Metaphor

• Personification

• Hyperbole

Melinda gives her teachers fake, funny names like Hairwoman and Mr. Neck. Mr. Freeman, her art teacher, is the only one she calls by his real name. Why do you think this is? What might Mr. Freeman symbolize for Melinda?

What object does Melinda draw as her focus for her project in art class?

• Mirror

• Brain

• Clown

• Tree

What bad habit does Melinda develop?

• Biting her lips

• Popping her knuckles

• Biting her fingernails

• Lying

Identify the type of figurative language used in this quote from the text: “Clink, clink, clink—he drops ice cubes in a heavy-bottomed glass” (Anderson 16).

• Metaphor

• Onomatopoeia

• Simile

• Personification

Where does Melinda go to escape the people and thoughts she doesn’t want to deal with?

• Art class

• Janitor's closet

• Her room

• Heather's house

How do Melinda’s parents typically communicate with her?

• Phone

• Shouting through her bedroom door

• Email

• Notes left on the kitchen counter

Identify the type of figurative language used in this quote from the text: “A block of ice freezes our section of the bleachers” (Anderson 28).

• Metaphor

• Hyperbole

• Simile

• Onomatopoeia