Melinda Sordino - Speak

In life, fear is considered as one of the most difficult obstacles faced. James A. Lafond- Lewis has stated that “People who act in spite of their fear are truly brave.” This quote means that it takes a lot of courage to overcome your fears. I agree with the statement that I have interpreted. In the text, Speak, Melinda Sordino shows her bravery by facing her fears against Mr. Neck and Andy Evans.

One example of Melinda’s bravery is when she defies Mr. Neck. This example is the conflict between Melinda against Mr. Neck which may be considered as man vs. man (woman). Melinda does not have any advantages against Mr. Neck but does have disadvantages such as not being able to speak. Melinda’s inability to speak gives an advantage to Mr. Neck so he changes the project’s rule by making everybody read it out orally. In the text, Speak, there is evidence of her bravery being shown “But I’ve written a really good report and I’m not going to let an idiot teacher jerk me around like this.” (Anderson 155) This text shows that her bravery helps face Mr. Neck by giving out copies of the project instead of reading it out to the class. Thus, Melinda shows her bravery by standing up to Mr. Neck and facing her fears.

Similar to her conflict with Mr. Neck, she also shows her bravery when she faces Andy Evans. In the text, Speak, Andy Evans is an example of the term symbolism because he represents Melinda’s biggest fear. Andy Evans is the biggest fear