Speak, an award-winning novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, tells the story of a young girl, Melinda, who was raped the summer before her freshman year of high school by a fellow student class in a party. She didn't really understand what had happened to her; she kept it to herself and stopped talking. Symbolism was prevalent throughout the novel to further the development of Melinda's emotional, social, and physical struggles caused by what happened to her the summer before freshman year. One of the many symbols Anderson used compared Melinda to the tree she had to draw. Trees were mentioned in almost every chapter. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Near the beginning of the novel, Melinda was assigned a year-long project in art class. Each student had to choose a piece of paper from a globe with an object on it, then they would have the whole year to make a drawing of it. “I plunge my hand into the bottom of the globe and retrieve my paper. 'TREE.' TREE? It's too easy. I learned to draw a tree in second grade. After starting the project, she struggled to bring her tree to life. This event represents the desolation and depression she faces every day. Towards the end of the novel, Melinda's father says that the tree in his garden is sick and dying. He then hires men who cut off the diseased and dying part so that it does not infect the entire tree. This symbolizes "the danger Melinda faces in letting pain take over every aspect of her life." She stopped talking to everyone and no one knew what happened. The tree was sick and dying, about to take over the rest, just as depression and pain were about to take over what Melinda was. She had to face what happened and accept it. Finally, after all the pain she endured, her tree is now alive and breathing. “My tree is definitely breathing; small shallow breaths like the ones that just burst out of the ground this morning... One of the lower branches is sick. She now knows that she cannot forget the rape. “There is no way to avoid it, nor to forget it.” Her art teacher is very impressed with her tree and she receives an A+ for her project. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay To conclude, Anderson has used symbolism in a very appreciable way. , omnipresent manner. The tree helped to better perceive Melinda's progress from "not being able to bring her tree to life" to "a living, breathing tree." Melinda went from saying nothing to anyone to telling what happened to better accepting it. Works Cited: Clemmitt, M. (2014). Homeschooling. CQ Researcher, 24(42), 1005-1028. Liu, F. and Shrum, L.J. (2002). What is interactivity and is it always such a good thing? Implications of definition, person, and situation for the influence of interactivity on advertising effectiveness. Journal of Advertising, 31(4), 53-64.Online, blended and distance learning in schools. (2015). Routledge.Ray, B.D. (2017). Look up facts about homeschooling. National Home Education Research Institute. Riley, K. J. (2015). The costs of homeschooling. Phi Delta Kappan, 97(3), 54-58. Smedley, T. C. (2018). Advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling. Nova Science Publishers. Thomas, J.B. (2016). Homeschooling: pros and cons. Global Journal of Human-Social Science: E Economics, 16(6).Wichers, M. (2001). Qualitative research, 11(1), 23-42.