The
novel Speak, by Laurie Halse
Anderson, should be a must-read book because it addresses a controversial
issue, teaches an important lesson, and shows people how bad the real world can
be.
Laurie
Halse Anderson talks about her book Speak in an interview at the back of
the book. She says, “Speak is not
just a book about rape. Speak is a
book about depression. Today’s teens have to cope with massive amounts of
stress and conflict. Way too many of them understand the pain of not feeling
like they can speak up. This book reflects their experience and offers them
hope.” (Anderson Speak interview). In writing this book, Laurie Halse Anderson wanted to
address the “experience[s]” of teens to show that they have “massive amounts of
stress” and “depression.” This is a controversial issue in our society today
because many people do not understand the feelings of teens and how they do not
feel like they can “speak up.” Anderson wanted to show that “Speak is
not just a book about rape,” but a book that teaches of the struggles of teens
that so many people today seem to overlook. Anderson says that she wanted to
write this book to put an emphasis on teen depression and stress. She wanted to
show from the perspective of a teenage girl how hard it is for teens to speak
up about their feelings and talk about their problems to other people,
especially adults. Teenagers today are afraid to open up to adults because they
think that they will not be understood and that adults will just think they are
making excuses. The reality is that the majority of teens have more stress than
the majority of adults. All of these thoughts were addressed through the
controversial issue of rape in the book.
I liked how you took a different approach on this story. Most would say that this book is just bad and immoral, but you saw a different side to it. You also related it to issues today, which makes it very interesting to think about. This even can pertain to people in our age group, which makes it very easy to relate to.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this post very much because you looked into the perspective of the author, relating it to what the author says about teenagers, and addresses the controversial issue as a lesson. You also put good perspective on how issues similar to rape is hard to open up to others because these perspectives are all very personal to each individual. Along with the ways teens face the issue of rape or other issues, you mentioned how this book offers them hope which you clearly explained how the book did by the author's perspective. As a reader and a teenager, this book offers insight to what teenagers today in our world experience so that maybe other teenagers can help those who face these issues relating to rape, depression, or stress.
ReplyDeleteThe points that you make in this analysis I feel do in fact relate to the teenagers point of view about stress. Many adults cannot understand the stresses of today's society through teenage eye. having to balance school, social life and extracurricular activities can something that puts an extreme amount of stress on a teenager. Also the point about it being hard to discuss this with adults is something that I feel relates to most teenagers today. Overall I feel that the points made are all true and relevant to the teenage society.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really good view and explanation on the story. I agree with you when you say that teens have a lot of stress but are to afraid to say anything. This is really sad but
ReplyDeleteI think that a book like speak will help teens cope or get help when they need it. When you say that this is from a perspective of a teenager it makes me want to read it because they might be able to relate better and know what we feel better then an adult. I think that I would enjoy reading this book.
Your analysis for the quote definitely gave me a better understanding of what this book is about and gave me a lot of helpful information about the book itself. I also agree that this book should be a must read because it allows people (specifically teens) to speak up and talk to other people. It instructs teens on how to express how they really feel, whether it be relating to stress or depression. This is very important for people to know how to do, along with how to ask for other people's help as well.
ReplyDeleteFrom reading this post I definitely agree that this is a must read book not only for teens to relate, but for adults as well so they could get just a tiny glimpse of what present-day teenagers have to go through. I like the fact that your analysis emphasized the need for adults to read this because teens now do not speak up, which is true. Seeing how the main character in this book over comes her trials would be a way to fix the problem of teens not "speaking" up. Although most teens do not go through the tragedy of being raped, this book would seem to stress the stress teens go through. Speak seems like the ultimate way to get both points across.
ReplyDelete