Speak up or else

Jennifer Noel-Fils

December 5, 2012

Speak by Laurie Anderson

In Speak by Laurie Anderson Melinda the main character is put into a situation where she is shunned by everyone in school because of something she did in the past. After she realizes that she is being ignored by everyone including her own best friend she decides to start talking to a new girl named Heather. Since Heather has no other friends she talks to Melinda but as soon as Heather becomes popular, she starts ignoring Melinda causing her to have no one at all. In school even her teachers don’t like her and the only one that does is her art teacher because he feels that she has potential in becoming an artist. At home her parents are arguing a lot more and after they find out that she’s not going to all her classes, they start yelling at her more and start having meetings with the guidance counselor. She then becomes mute and doesn’t talk to anyone at all.

The book then switches to the night when Melinda went to a party and got drunk and eventually got raped by this senior named Andy who she refers to as IT. After she got raped she called the police causing people to think that she is a party pooper and that’s the main reason why she is shunned throughout the year but they don’t know the real reason behind her actions. The book then jumps back to the present where one day while Melinda is in her secret place aka an old supply room, Andy comes in and is mad about how she told people about the rape. He then proceeds to try to rape her again but she speaks up for herself by screaming causing people outside to hear her and come to her rescue.

Quote

“I am Outcast” (Anderson 5).

When I read this quote I felt bad for Melinda because she didn’t say she was an outcast she said she is outcast meaning that she made that way by everyone. Deep down she knows the reason why she is outcast since she keeps referring to the night that made everything the way it is now.

Behind the Scenes: Confessions of a Video Vixen

Behind the Scenes: Confessions of a Video Vixen

Title: Confessions of a Video Vixen

Author: Karrine Steffans

Date of Publication: 2005

Publisher: HarperCollins

Summary:

            In the beginning of the book, the narrator, Karrine Steffans, starts off by flashbacking to her weakest point in her life then proceeds to talk about how horrible her childhood was. Even though her childhood was bad since her mother would continuously abuse her, it got worse when she got raped around the age of thirteen. One day she got tired of the way her mother was treating her so she decided to run away; eventually got caught by the police and was sent to live with her father. After moving out of her father’s house, she realized she needed a job so her boyfriend’s mother introduced her to the life of a stripper and soon after she started to make a lot of money; more money than her boyfriend’s mother did which caused her to get jealous and kick her out her house so once again Karrine Steffans was on her own.

            During the middle of the book Karrine Steffans lived with her boyfriend Kool G Rap who abused her every day they were together. She couldn’t get away because she didn’t know how but after she gave birth to their son Naiim, she felt that now she had the motivation to escape and she finally left that house January of 1999. The last part of the book was set in Los Angeles where she spent most of her life by either getting jobs or by trying to take care of her son with the help of others. At the end, Karrine Steffans finally realized that she wasn’t living a good life and changed it for her and her son’s well-being.

Quote:

“I lived the kind of life which could easily have killed some people and driven many others insane “(Steffans 204).

Quote Context:

In this quote, the narrator is explaining how the life she went through was so bad that most people wouldn’t be able to take it or make it out alive and that she made it out safe with a much brighter future.