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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What has Melinda started in art class at the end of "Second Marking Period"?

2. What does Melinda's mother tell her in a note in "Second Marking Period"?

3. What is Melinda's reward for the thing she does for a whole week?

4. What does Melinda do in her clothes closet at home?

5. What does Melinda do at her father's office?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Melinda happen to go to a party where there are alcohol and older students in the past?

2. What touches Melinda emotionally on Christmas Day and what happens?

3. What do Melinda's parents decide about her Christmas vacation, so what does Melinda do?

4. What has Melinda been doing more frequently in "Third Marking Period", and where does she end up one day?

5. What does Heather tell Melinda in "Third Marking Period" that upsets Melinda?

6. What does Mr. Freeman believe is Melinda's problem in art class, and what does he do about it?

7. What is Melinda's response to Heather's talk in "Third Marking Period"?

8. What book does the class begin to study in English, and what is Melinda's response to it?

9. What does the physical education teacher discover about Melindal and what is the result?

10. How does Melinda hurt herself in biology class?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Speak could be said to be a "bildungsroman" of Melinda Sordina, the narrator. Discuss the following:

1. Define the concepts "bildungsroman" and "coming of age."

2. Thoroughly trace and analyze Speak as a bildungsroman of Melinda Sordino. Give specific examples. What does Melinda learn? How has she changed? Is the change for the better?

3. Why do you think many novels/stories written for teens are "coming of age" stories? Do you think it is good for teens to read this genre? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Melinda is a ninth grader (about age 13) throughout the novel. Discuss the following:

1. What are some ways that Melinda seems like an average 13 year old? Give examples and why you say the activities are average teen activities.

2. What are some ways that Melinda seems older than her age of 13? Give specific examples and discuss whether they seem consistent with the character of Melinda as she is developed throughout the book.

3. Is it realistic to think a 13 year old can handle the trauma of rape alone? Where do you think Melinda could have turned to for help?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss one of the following:

1. Define irony in literary terms. Discuss the irony of the situation whereby Melinda chooses to make an abandoned closet her safe space because she herself has been abandoned by her friends. What other examples of irony can you find in Speak? Do you think irony enhances the book? Why or why not?

2. Define symbolism in literary terms. Discuss the use and meaning of five symbols you choose to analyze from Speak. What do they symbolize? Is the symbolism obvious? Effective? Does the symbolism contribute to the enjoyment of reading?

3. Discuss five literary devices that occur in Speak and how they are used. Are they effective? Do they add or detract from the reading of the book? Why or why not? Some possible devices: Allusion, connotation, denouement, dialogue, flashback, figurative language, motif, metaphor, narrator, point of view, simile, mood, and puns.

(see the answer keys)

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