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Post by Chelsea Catarelli on Aug 17, 2014 21:33:38 GMT
In the book speak the protagonist is a ninthgrader named Melinda. Melindas firs year of high school does not start out on the right foot. Over the summer she called the cops on a house party. All her friends believed it was to get them in trouble and nobody would listen to her when she tried to tell them exactly what happened. Her first day of school was rough has she realized everyone she was friends with hated her. She was immedatley labled as an outcast. She has only made one friend and it was a new girl who mooved from a different state.
Melindas american dream is to have a her normal life back. She wanted to be able to speak up about what happened that summer. Through out the book we see how Melinda has changed from not wanting to talk about what happened that summer, to talking about it and telling everyone what has been on her mind all year. Melinda finally found her voice at the end of the story to talk about her fear. Melinda also comes to the realization of a non-perfect life and that is how life will always be and she realizes that there is no such thing as "the perfect life".
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Post by opalmello on Aug 17, 2014 21:44:43 GMT
In the novel "Speak" by: Laurie Halse Anderson, the main character is very introverted. Melinda's American Dream is to be able to be heard and live a "normal life". She wants to ability to speak up. Melinda is an incoming freshman at Merry Whether High. The summer before ninth grade Melinda made a mistake that changed her high school career. Melinda was raped by an upper classman that did not care about her. As the book goes on, Melinda describes to the reader how she lost every friend she had just for calling the cops. Calling the police was the only way Melinda knew how to react. She was drunk at a party and to everyone there, they thought she was crashing the party. No one had a clue that she had been raped. Melinda was a quiet, self kept girl. She didn't show much emotion, and it worried her parents. Melinda didn't care about school and her grades were awful. She skipped class, and was an outcast. Her only get away was the janitors closet that she had started to clean up and make her own hideaway.
Art class was the only thing Melinda was really interested in. Melinda was given a year long project to portray a tree in different medians of art. Art was when Melinda showed her true emotions. It wasn't until the very end of the book that Melinda came out and started to speak up. She had warned her ex best friend about the boy that had raped her, but no one had believed her. In the last few pages of the book, the boy was caught once again trying to rape her in her own hide away. After almost facing another disaster, people started to believe her and Melinda accomplished her want of speaking up.
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Post by Zoie Griffin on Aug 18, 2014 0:13:26 GMT
The protagonist in the book "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson is Melinda. In the beginning of the book, she is completely shut out by everyone around her. She is depressed, lonely and feels hurt. Her American Dream is to be accepted and to have the past be the past and to also have her friends back. Throughout the book, Melinda breaks through her shell and become less of an outcast. In the end, she stand up for herself and becomes a different person. She realized that she can't let people push her over and that she needs to keep her head up high.
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Post by John Cautero on Aug 18, 2014 0:28:37 GMT
In the novel, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, the protagonist is Melinda. The book is the journey of her American Dream. She wants to have a normal life with friends and a supportive family. She wants to fit in with her friends and family, but she struggles to do it.
Melinda is starting 9th grade. She has lost all her friends because she called the police to a summer party. No one knows that she was raped at the party. She starts school hoping she might fit in somewhere, but she feels like an outcast. The boy who raped her, Andy Evans, continues to harass her, and he is now dating her old best friend, Rachel. She meets a new girl named Heather, but Heather ends up leaving her for the "Marthas" which is a clique at school. Now she feels more abandoned than ever. She struggles with school except for her art class. Her art teacher, Mr. Freeman, seems to help Melinda. Her home life is not any better. Her parents get on her and argue a lot. She feels a responsibility to do better.
She wants to be heard about many things in her life, but she is afraid. It is only when she speaks to Rachel about the rape that things start to change. Andy Evans tries to hurt Melinda again, but this time she fights him off and says no. She realizes she has a voice and and does not need to hide from the truth.
Melinda may not have achieved the American Dream she sought in the beginning of the book, but I believe she achieved something better. She found her voice.
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Post by Sayler Rodriguez on Aug 18, 2014 0:30:23 GMT
In the beginning of Article 5, Ember (the main character) wants to find her mother who was taken by the FBR (Federal Bureau of Reformation or the MM as Ember calls it) and to live free of all the strict rules or Articles as they call them. Her mother is taken away and put on trial because she violated article 5 and Ember is put in a rehab center and taken away from everyon she knows. Ember is rescued from the center by her long lost love Chase Jennings who just left the MM knowing if he gets caught he will be killed. The two travel across the futuristic america to get to a safe house where Embers mother is supposed to be waiting. They run into people who ae part of a resistance and Ember finds out that her mother is actually dead, she runs away and is caught by the MM. Chase comes to save her and they escape together and continue to work with the resistance to stop the cruel MM. Embers dream does change throughout the novel as she grows and becomes stronger. She will always miss her mother but she is moving on and now dreams to work with the resistance and her love Chase to take down the people that took her dream away.
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Post by Logan First on Aug 18, 2014 0:34:37 GMT
In the novel “My New American Life” by Francine Prose, the main protagonist is a 26 year old Albanian women living in New York. Life has been rough on her, her parents died in a NATO bombing, her working Visa is about to expire and she is taking care of a rebellious teenager. The setting takes place in a post 9/11 world. She first works at La Changita a mexican restaurant as a cocktail waitress, living in fear of getting deported while staying with a friend at a community house. When she meets Mr. Stanley, a Wall Street Executive who needs someone to watch his struggling son Zeke, her life start turn around. He suggest Don Settebello, a immigration worker to help her with her expiring Visa. One day three Albanian Men show up. Giving them names such as Hoodie, Leather Jacket and Cute one ask her for a favor, to hold a gun for them, and having to hide it from Mister Stanley. Throughout the novel, she realizes the struggles of the American Dream, and through the help of the immigration worker suggested by Mister Stanley she is able to achieve her dream by staying in the United States. Unfortunately she has to lie and manipulate others to, to obtain her dream.
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Post by Hunter Tuazon on Aug 18, 2014 0:45:08 GMT
The novel, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, is written from the perspective of a girl named Melinda. Melinda, being the protagonist, begins the story by describing the first day of high school. As a ninth grader being brought into a new territory, stress has already built on her. However, the traumatic, scarring experience of her sexual assault at a party has already produced a load of negativity within her. With what she has been through, she settles on a vision that she hopes to come true: the “American Dream.” Melinda’s American Dream is split into three parts: to live the flawless lifestyle that has no trouble in school, to have a supportive family with no drama, and to belong in a group of friends who treat her with respect and stick by her.
To begin with, Melinda identifies herself by stating, “I am Outcast.” She sees the education system as a division amongst the students as everyone splits up in the auditorium. She continues her observation as she mentions that “We fall into clans: Jocks, Country Clubbers, Idiot Savants, Cheerleaders… I am clanless. I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don’t have anyone to sit with.”
She sees IT around school many times. "IT" referring to her rapist Andy Evans. Whenever Andy saw her, he would alienate and irritate her with little acts. For example, " When Mr. Neck isn't looking, Andy blows in my ear." Also when he spotted her in the school parking lot, he jokingly offered her a bite of his doughnut. She runs away fast, wondering why she didn't run like this when he was going to rape her. After her confrontation with IT, she decided on skipping school. She finds out one day that her ex-bestfriend Rachel/Rachelle is dating Andy. She does not know at first how to approach this situation so she writes Rachel an anonymous note telling her that Andy is trouble. Then one day she finds herself in the library with Rachel and they begin to write notes to each other
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Post by Alex Tallman on Aug 18, 2014 0:54:24 GMT
In the book "Article 5", by Kristen Simmons, we meet Ember Miller, a 17 year old girl living in the wraths of a post-apocalyptic America, were half of the continent as been wrecked by war. Because of this war, the government has become very strict and religiously structured. Ember despises the way that the government runs, and laws (called articles) that are enforced. When her mother violates one of the articles (Article 5, to be exact: Couples may not have a child if they are not married), Ember shows her hatred even more for the Moral Statues, and her American Dream is discovered.
Ember's American Dream is to have a less strict and more free government. Her mom is taken away and ultimately killed because of the government, which shows that Ember wants it changed. Ember mentions many times throughout the book of her hatred of the MM (the nickname she gave to the government). "With every new Statue issued, the MM became more powerful, more self-righteous". Ember joins the resistance to fight against the MM after she finds out her mother was killed. By joining the resistance, Ember shows that she has taken enough of the governments prosecution and wants it gone.
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Post by Tyler Zeemer on Aug 18, 2014 1:12:24 GMT
Article 5 by Kristen Simmons begins with the protagonist, seventeen year old Ember Miller, living a normal life in post war America. After her mother is accused of Article 5 she is taken away by the Moral Militia, within the group is Ember's neighbor and best friend, Chase Jennings. Ember is brought to a reformatory school for girls where she is forced to live by the schools rules. While attending this school Ember is faced with internal conflicts of anger, confusion, and disconnection from her mother. Soon Ember's American Dream becomes saving her mother at the expense of other people, Ember believes that her mother can't live without her and worries for her safety. In order to save her mother Ember plans to escape by blackmailing her roommate, this blackmail is about the roommate "seeing" a guard after curfew, this means death for the guard.
After being smuggled out of the reformatory by Chase, Ember's American Dream begins to alter and she wants to revolt against the Moral Militia. Chase reveals the truth about Ember's mother's death and this inflames her hatred toward the Moral Militia. While "on the run" Chase and Ember found refuge at an apartment full of people that rebel against the Moral Militia and their laws, this influences Ember's American Dream to live in a world before the war and without the Moral Militia.
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Post by abeaudro on Aug 18, 2014 1:40:52 GMT
In the novel My New American Life by Francine Prose, the protagonist is Lula. Lula is a twenty six year old Albanian woman that is living in America on a tourist visa that is soon to expire. Her goal and dream is to get her green card and become and American citizen. When Lula meets Mr. Stanley and starts working for him as a caretaker for his son, Zeke, she moves one step closer to achieving her dream. Don Settebello, her lawyer, also brings her another giant step closer to getting her green card. In the end, she does achieve her dream. There were a few bumps in the road though. She hit a rough patch when her somewhat boyfriend and fellow Albanian, Alvo, ends up in court. Mr. Stanley is angry because Lula had brought Alvo into the house. At first, you think that she'll get in trouble and not get her green card. But really, it helps Lula. It gives her an excuse to distance herself from Mr. Stanley and Zeke and discover what she really wants to do with her new life.
Lula's dream never really changed throughout the book. The only thing that changed was her perception of America. At first she acts like an outsider looking in and comparing everything to Albania. But then as the story progresses, Lula becomes more comfortable in America. She starts to view it as where she belongs. By the end of the novel, Lula is comfortable in America and seems to see it as a new beginning in her life.
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Post by Jimmy Sampey on Aug 18, 2014 2:16:55 GMT
In the book “We Were Here” the protagonists name is Miguel. Miguel is a kid who lives in Stocktown. In the book he accidentally killed his own brother by stabbing him. He then goes to detention center then goes to a home for kids. He runs away from the home and goes into hiding. The American dream for Miguel is to not remember the past but only look into the future. The majority of the time on the run is spent trying to forget the past. At the end of the book he can't live with what he has done so he goes back to the home and serves his time. His new american dream becomes living with his mom and accepting what happened.
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Post by hunterp99 on Aug 18, 2014 2:41:55 GMT
In the novel "Where the Heart Is" by Billie Letts, Novalee's "American Dream" is to live in anything "fixed to the ground" because she had always lived in place with "wheels under it". Her "American Dream" also includes having "old quilts and four poster beds", "copper pots and blue china", "sleeping Lassies curled on bright rugs, and walls covered with family pictures in gold frames," which suggests she wants a real family too. Novalee does achieve her dream, she is able to buy "a home without wheels, a home fixed to the ground," with the gold pictures frames with pictures of family in them, "Novalee's had hung the pictures on the living room wall before the paint was dry," and "The house Novalee's had only dreamed of was hers." Novalee also received the true family she desired, "a child named Americus who would teacher her to trust happiness..." , "a man in a stocking cap who would teach her about love..." , and countess more. But her dream did cost her a great deal. In order to reach her dream Novalee first had to become pregnant, "a girl seventeen, pregnant, alone," and be abandoned in the town of Sequoyah, Oklahoma. Novalee had to live in the town's Wal-Mart for a few months, where she eventually gave birth and became famous for a short time.
While living in Wal-Mart, Novalee made new friends who would eventually become her best friend, mentor, lover, etc. Novalee had to endure through her daughter Americus being kidnapped and some of her friends, for example Sister Husband, being killed in a tornado. All of those hardships led her to fulfilling her "American Dream" , "she left it all to you Ms. Nation. The land. And the trailer... Eight thousand... 'Have you made any plans,'... 'No. I'll be staying here. Staying home." Those difficulties in her life led her to friends who helped her through multiple troubles, a place to call home, and a family, all which helped complete her dreams. But her main "American Dream" didn't change she still always wanted a permanent home and family throughout the novel, only the people who she shared that dream with changed. At first Novalee was going to spend her life with Willy Jack in California where they would have their family and purchase a house, "It was the chance she had dreamed about, the chance to live in a real home. She and Willy Jack had been staying in a camping trailer park...... She knew a job with the railroad would guarantee she would not have to live on top of wheels ever again." However after Willy Jack deserted her she acquired new people to share her dream with like Lexie, Mr. And Mrs Whitecotton, Forney Hull, and numerous other individuals.
By:Hunter Pease
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Post by Rachel Boone on Aug 18, 2014 2:55:45 GMT
In the book "Where The Heart Is" by Billie Letts, the protagonist, Novalee Nation is a seventeen year old girl who is seven months pregnant. From the beginning of the novel you can see that Novalee has a very clear "American Dream" that she stays true to throughout the whole story. "I hope we can get a two-story house with a balcony that over looks the ocean... I want to get one of those patio tables with an umbrella over it where we can sit with the baby and drink chocolate milk and watch the sun go down". As said in the story all Novalee wants is a beautiful, secure home and a place to live and to call her own with her family. Due to her poor and hard childhood, she never lived in a place without wheels under it and all she wanted was a place to live for the rest of her life. In the start of the novel Novalee has big hopes that her and her boyfriend, Willy Jack, will move to California and strike it big working for the railroad with Willy Jacks cousin and then her "American Dream" could come true. But things don't go as planned and her hatred and superstitions about sevens soon changed her life.
On their way to California, Novalee decided to stop at a Walmart in Sequoyah,Oklahoma while Willy Jack waited in the car for her. After purchasing a few items she received her change, seven dollars and seventy-seven cents. "She knew he was gone, knew before she reached the door. She could see it all, see it as if she were watching a movie. She could see herself running, calling his name-the parking space empty, the Plymouth gone". Willy Jack had left Novalee stranded at Walmart with no place to go and very little to her name. She managed to live in Walmart for as long as she could and even delivered her baby who she named Americus Nation there. After this experience she was able to meet some amazing characters who help take care of her and give her a home, friends, and family. As Novalee and her baby girl grow through the rough trials of their new life in this town they are able to learn from their mistakes and truly find a home and a place where she has family, where she belongs. Her "American Dream" becomes completely true and Novalees life couldn't be any happier.
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Post by tristanwycallis on Aug 18, 2014 3:20:59 GMT
Identify the protagonist’s American Dream. Does the protagonist achieve that dream or not? At what cost? Does the dream change throughout the novel? Cite specific examples from the text to support your answers.
In the book Speak, the main character Melinda Sordino, begins her freshman year at Merryweather High School in Syracuse, NY. She feels seperated due to the fact that at a party she called the cops and now everyone despises her. There is only one major detail she left out, she was raped at the party. She is scared to tell her family and friends. She takes up a hobby in art. She likes to work on a project for art,various interpretations of a tree. Whereas in during classes, with her now former friends, or when there is a teacher she doesn't like, she hides out in the abandoned janitor's closet. She has stolen late passes to eventually go to that class. She occasionally sees senior, Andy Evans, who is the one at the party who raped her. She slowly faces what he did to her, and starts ditching whole days of school. She eventually tells herself that Andy raped her. She starts to recover and tells her former friend Rachel because she is worried if Andy might attack her next. Even though Rachel doesn't think it to be true. She feels more free in speaking up for herself. She is forced to face Andy in the janitor's closet. She defends herself and by the end of the year she tells her art teacher what happened. I think that in the end, she accomplished her American Dream of speaking for herself, and I don't think it changed much in the end.
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Post by bkristof on Aug 18, 2014 3:29:52 GMT
The protagonist of the novel “Where the Heart Is” by Billie Letts is Novalee Nation. This novel focused on the idea that the number seven brought bad luck to Novalee every time she came into contact with it. For example, when she was seven Novalee’s mother left her at her birthday party and Novalee was forced into the foster care system because she had no other guardians. In fact, Novalee never really had a family after that until she met Willie Jack later on. Another instance the number seven brought bad luck was when Novalee became seven months pregnant with Willie Jack’s baby, they left for the coast and Willie Jack left her. These two instances of the number seven in Novalee’s life are just two of many that affected her and what she wanted out of her life.
Novalee always wanted her version of the American dream out of the life she was living. She wanted a family who cared, and a house of her own. Novalee would stop at nothing to acquire these things because she knew that she had grown up without them, but she didn’t want the same thing for her own child. Along her journey, Novalee met many inspiring people, such as Forney Hall and Sister Husband. Sister Husband helped Novalee with her daughter, Americus, and even lets them live with her. Forney is a person she met when she would go to the library. In these two people, she finally got the love of her life in Forney and a real home with people who cared for her and she cared for in return, completing her American Dream by the finish of the novel.
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