SPEAK Essays - Fiction, Literature, Films, Speak, Melinda Sordino

SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson ANTICIPATION GUIDE Before reading Speak, read and respond to the statements below. Think about each statement carefully before writing agree, disagree, or unsure in the Before column. When we finish reading Speak, we will revisit these statements and you will write agree, disagree, or unsure in the After column. |Before |Statements |After | | |1. The pressures of fitting in at high school are greater | | | |than any other point in one's life. | | | |2. Students who are depressed are simply afraid to deal with| | | |their real or perceived problems. | | | |3. There is a difference between being quiet and being | | | |withdrawn. | | | |4. Students should not tell teachers about their personal | | | |problems, no matter how serious. | | | |5. A girl who dresses provocatively deserves any negative | | | |attention she gets. | | | |6. Girls are more likely than guys to say they have been | | | |sexually harassed. | | | |7. Whatever happens at a party should stay at the party. | | | |8. If someone is drunk or high, she or he is not responsible| | | |for her or his actions. | | | |9. Parents simply don't understand the problems teenagers go| | | |through. | | | |10. People who are quiet have something to hide. | | Compare your Before column to your After column. Have any of your opinions changed? If so, which ones and what made you change your opinion? If not, why do you think your opinions stayed the same? Book Structure: No numbered chapters. Four Marking Periods: First Marking Period - pages 2-46 Second Marking Period - pages 47-92 Third Marking Period - pages 93-137 Fourth Marking Period - pages 138-198 Plot Overview: Melinda Sordino is a freshman in high school (grade 9). She attended an end-of-summer party where she experienced a traumatic event, and called the cops. The cops busted the party, so everyone is mad at Melinda. Her old friends won't talk to her, and people who only know of her think she is a snitch. No one knows the real reason Melinda called the police. Melinda now has no friends and is not close to her parents - she feels completely alone. She starts skipping school and speaking very little. She is basically mute, except when she absolutely has to speak. Speak is about how Melinda struggles through her first year of high school and how she learns to cope with what has happened to her. Themes: Adolescence Growth Communication Depression Point of View: First person narrator from Melinda's perspective Characters: Protagonist: Melinda Sordino Antagonist: Andy Evans Setting: Place: Merryweather High School in Syracuse, New York Time: occurs over the course of a full school year Conflicts: Character versus Character(s) Character versus Self Character versus Circumstances Character versus Society First Marking Period Questions: 1. If something is ironic it is happening in a way that is opposite to what is expected. Think about how Melinda (and perhaps many other students) think about high school. Why do you think the name Merryweather High might be an ironic name for a high school? 2. On page 4, Melinda lists the groups (cliques) at Merryweather High school. Each group has its own special interests and characteristics that are different from the other groups. Why do you think members of different social groups often insult each other? 3. After she lists the social groups of Merryweather High, Melinda puts herself in a category she calls "Outcast." What does it mean to be an outcast? Look up the meaning in a dictionary, or infer the meaning from the text. 4. Think about how Melinda feels in Art class. Why is Mr. Freeman an appropriate name for the Art teacher? 5. On pages 5 and 6, Melinda list the "First ten lies they tell you in high school." Write out one lie you agree with and one lie you disagree with. Explain why you agree or disagree with each lie. 6. Is Heather a good friend for Melinda? Explain why you think she is or isn't. First Marking Period Journal Response Write a journal response about your reaction to the first section of Speak. You may use one of the prompts provided, or you may choose to write about something else that moved you. Try to fill all of the lines with your thoughts. Prompts: . Think back to your

Dubliners, death and paralysis Essay Example

Dubliners, death and paralysis Essay Example Dubliners, death and paralysis Essay Dubliners, death and paralysis Essay even Mr Duffys face is brown, the brown tint of the Dublin streets. a symbol of a decaying Mr Duffy and a decaying Dublin. When Mrs Sinico and Mr Duffy start to meet up enjoying each others company reading, listening to music and talking, Mr Sinico pays no attention to the relationship forming between his wife and Mr Duffy He had dismissed his wife so sincerly from his gallery of pleasures that he did not suspect anyone else would take an interest in her. This showed the death of the Sinico marriage they were just co existing together. When Mrs Sinico advances her hand in intimacy to Duffy, but he retreats repulsed by her failure to understand, and he breaks off the relationship. When Mr Duffy is sitting in a cafe four years later and he finds the article called a painful case which is on buff coloured paper (a yellowish brown. ) Showing the death of her character, Mr Duffy then began to feel guilt and wonder did his rejection of her four years ago result in her sucide? He automatically turns it around to feel sorry for himself, when really he should be feeling sorry for Mrs Sincio or her family. Joyce as we know from the picture of the priest in Eveline, uses the colour yellow for corruption and brown for death, meaning that she has died a corrupt and weak woman, Mr Duffy also shows digust in her behaviour and her death and digust that he allowed himself to get clost to such a woman. Then he has a moment when he thinks of her in pity, pity for her loniness, however because of his selfcentred nature he starts to think of his own loniness and realises that he is not content with his hermitic lifestyle to which he has become accustomed to. We know this by his reaction to the couple in the park, who are having sex and making him feel even more alone in the world. He realises that his concern with orderand rectitude shut her out of his life, and this concern stops him from living fully, he is not interested in begining a new phrase in his life, but instead he bitterly accepts his loneliness. Mr Duffy seems incapable of genuine feeling and emotion and this seems to be inpart to blame for his painfull insularity and his obession with his predictable life costs him a golden chance at love and happiness. A painful case ended where it began with Mr Duffy alone. Corley and Lenehan refuse to grow old in Two Gallants, trapped in the paralysis that Joyce saw central to Dublin, therefore this story belongs to the adolscent stories of the Dubliners, even though the two are in their thirties. Corley and Lenehan are leeches, to give this story the title two gallants Joyce was using this title as a form of ironry because neither Corley or Lenehan are gallants. (gallants meaning to be brave or herotic. Corley takes advantage of the women, that he seduces, Lenehan does the same to friends, bartenders and Corley also. Donald Torchiana suggests that the stroy is on allegorical tale about the Anglo-Irish Ascendency and the culture or parasitiam and exploitation which they bred in Ireland. Their is evidence to support this theory, which would be in the referneces to the ascendency in the Kildare Street Club and in place names such as Shelbourne Hotel. The girl could be seen as a symbol of Ireland, representing Irelands depraved condition under colonial rule. Ireland is being prosituted by her English conquerors. This ambiguous connection between Lenehan and the harp is a national reference. When Lenehan enjoys his meal later on in the story his meal has the colours of the Irish flag the green peas and the orange ginger beer symbolishing the flag of Ireland and therefore in Joyces view Lenehan is a steorotypical Dubliner. At the start of the story Joyce describes Dublin as having a warm grey evening air and a gaily coloured crowd. Which Joyce is using colour to show the decay in Dublin the city itself and the people in it. Lenehan and Corley are both spirtualy dead in this story, they are scamming to get what they want, which in my opionion Joyce thought was quite typical of the people of Dublin using betrayel to make money, duping maids into stealing from their employers. Every main character in the three stories that I choose had deep moral and spritual paralysis and spritual death, with each character having a decision or situation which either inhibitits their well being or self estem and prohibits their ability to move forward. All three stories that I studied didnt have a happy ending, Joyce saw Dublin to never have a happy ending so he shows this in his stories. Dubliners are paralysed from acting or living decisively or even consciously. Joyce once told his brother stonislaus the city is suffering from hemiplegia of the will (Stuart Gilbert, ed. the letters of James Joyce, Faber 1957. ) He also described his intention to write The Dubliners as the desire to betray the soul of the hemiplegia or paralysis which may consider a city. The theme of praralysis and death is evident in every story in the Dubliners which I have come to the conclusion that this the way Joyce sees Dublin as a dead city diseased with paralysis, a city which one would want to escape from.

SDLC methodologies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

SDLC methodologies - Assignment Example In recent scenario, it is applied within the organizations, as it facilitates time-efficient strategy. This paper intends to provide a brief explanation related to the advantages and disadvantages of these applications in the modern day scenario within a technological project. Advantages and Disadvantages of JAD Advantages JAD delivers optimum satisfaction to its customers by accelerating the design of the product. The application of JAD within any technological project ensures quality and fosters effective team work with the customers. Furthermore, JAD is implemented to create a new product design on the basis of customer’s perspective. This particular software facilitates reduction of developmental and the maintenance costs. Additionally, JAD assists the facilitator in collection of high quality information within a short tenure. Any inconsistency can be resolved easily with the help of the mechanism provided by JAD. Furthermore, JAD implementation assist in deriving multipl e opinion as it encompasses ‘Customers Decision Makers’ and IS staff, which enhances the quality of the particular technological project (Rosenblatt, 2013). Disadvantages The organization using the JAD process must have a clear knowledge of its usage. It can only ensure effective and useful results, when the concept is clear to the users of this program. This process requires ample amount of labor in planning and its application. For performing various activities related to this process, technically trained employees are required. In order to facilitate efficient usage of JAD, it is the responsibility of the organization to impart training to the required staff. Additionally, the stakeholders of the organizations must ensure sufficient time and labor towards the implementation of the process. In comparison to the traditional method, JAD is quite expensive and burdensome (Rosenblatt, 2013). It has been ascertained that if the team extends the size of the project, JAD app lication becomes complex in nature. In essence effective application of JAD software ensure qualitative product, which is to be acquired from the concerned technology project. Advantages and Disadvantages of RAD Advantages Application of RAD initiates accelerated speed during the process, which reduces the deliverable time. RAD increases the speed by incorporating ‘Computer Aided Software Engineering’ tools, which facilitate conversion of required material within a short period. Furthermore, implementation of RAD ensures qualitative deliverables. Additionally, RAD ensures quality deliverables by inculcating the users within the analytical context and the design stage. Moreover, RAD identifies lesser risks involved in the project due to the prototyping method Applied within (Core Partners, n.d). Disadvantages Although RAD being a very cost efficient project, it cannot be applied for the smaller projects as, cost determination in this particular application remains ambigu ous.. In this process both the customers and the developer’s participation is needed. If not done then the entire process would be unsuccessful. The major drawbacks of this process starts with the initiation of prototype and lasts till the application runs. Furthermore, to implement RAD, it involves a huge amount of resources and costs, which might not be possible to be afforded by the small and the medium-scaled organization (Core Partners,