Melinda is passing through a lot of problems.  Not only that she has conflict with the people around her but she also has inner conflict.  Her character changes greatly from the beginning of the book to the end of the book.  She comes from scared of talking to anyone and also scared of society to finally speaking and saying what really happened.  Even after she told everyone what happened, she was still not relieved.  It took some stress and conflict away but it did not take out the fact that she got raped.  She will always remember when she got raped because it is a nightmare to her.  After all, I respect Melinda Sordino for being a strong person and character for still keeping her head up high and living even after she got raped.  Even when life was hard for her and she had no friends, she still tried to make the best out of it and kept on going to school instead of doing drugs or other bad things.

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLUIi2UeYBI

It is good that Melinda Sordino did not commit suicide and kept on trying to make the best out of what was happening.  She was depressed but did not commit suicide even when she had no friends.

                                                              Protagonist? Antagonist?

               In the story, suspense keeps on building up.  Andy Evans is being treated as the protagonist while Melinda Sordino is being treated as the antagonist because no one knows what had happened at the party.  Andy Evans raped Melinda, so she called the cops and the cops had to close down the party.  Since Melinda was still in shock since she had just gotten raped, she was not able to “speak” and say what happened.  She was then hated and Andy Evans got out of the picture.  So Melinda stayed as the “antagonist” to everyone until the end of the story when she finally spoke to say what really happened.  At last, Melinda became the protagonist and everyone knew that Andy Evans was the antagonist and hated one.  Speak is a book to read!!!

Speak is a very special book.  At first, the title contradicts itself but at the end of the story, you see how the title reflects on the narrator, Melinda Sordino.  After reading the book, you can realize how bad it is to keep problems to yourself without expressing them because you do not only build a conflict with the people around you but you build conflict with yourself.  Keeping things bottled up is not good for your well being because it ends up giving you more problems then you would have then if you faced them.

            I chose this image because it really relates to my book.  It symbolizes the inner conflict that Melinda Sordino had.  I truly recommend this book to whomever that likes to read dramatic and suspenseful stories.