Speak, an award-winning novel, by Laurie Halse Anderson told the story of a young girl, Melinda, who was raped the summer before her freshman year of high school by a classmate at a party. She didn't fully understand what had happened to her; he kept it to himself and stopped talking. Symbolism was prevalent throughout the novel to help develop 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 was the comparison between Melinda and the tree she was assigned to draw. Trees were mentioned in almost every chapter. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Near the beginning of the novel, Melinda has been assigned a year-long project in an art class. Each student was asked to choose a sheet of paper from a world map on which an object was depicted, then they would have all year to complete a drawing of it. “I dip my hand into the bottom of the globe and take out the paper. 'Tree.' Tree? It's too easy. I learned to draw a tree in second grade. After starting the project, he struggles to bring his tree to life. This event represents the desolation and depression he faces every day. Toward the end of the novel, Melinda's father talks about how the tree in his yard is sick and dying. So he hires some men to cut away the diseased and dying part so it doesn't infect the entire tree. This symbolizes “the danger Melinda faces in letting grief take over every aspect of her life.” He stopped talking to everyone and no one knew what happened. The tree was sick and dying on the verge of taking over everything else, as depression and grief were about to take over what was Melinda. He needed to face what had happened and accept it. Finally, after all the pain he has been through, his tree is now alive and breathing. “My tree is definitely breathing; small shallow breaths, as if it had just emerged from the ground this morning... One of the lower branches is diseased. Now he knows he can't forget the rape. "There's no way to avoid it, to forget it." Her art teacher is very impressed with her tree and receives an A+ for her project. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get Custom Essay To conclude, Anderson has used symbolism in a very appreciable, omnipresent way. The tree helped me better perceive Melinda's progress from “not being able to give life to her tree” to “a living, breathing tree.” Melinda went from not telling a single person to telling what happened to better accept it. Works Cited: Clemmitt, M. (2014). Home education. Researcher CQ, 24(42), 1005-1028.Liu, F., & Shrum, L.J. (2002). What is interactivity and is it always a good thing? Definition, person, and situation implications for the influence of interactivity on advertising effectiveness. Journal of Advertising, 31(4), 53-64. Online, blended and distance education in schools. (2015). Routledge. Ray, B. D. (2017). Research facts about homeschooling. National Homeschooling 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). Home school: advantages and disadvantages. Global Journal of Human-Social Science: E Economics, 16(6). Wichers, M. (2001). Qualitative research on homeschooling. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 3(3), 1-17.Wizner, S., 11(1), 23-42.