Speak

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Art as Expression”

In this activity, students will create a piece of art that expresses Melinda’s character development using symbols from the book and then explain and support their choices in an artist’s statement.

In this activity, you will create a piece of art that expresses Melinda’s character development throughout the novel and that borrows a symbol or motif from the novel. Then, in an artist’s statement, you will explain your artistic choices and what they reveal about Melinda’s journey throughout the novel. While the activity is open to creative interpretation in terms of product, it must convey Melinda’s character over the course of the novel and borrow a theme or motif from the book, such as a tree, seasons, or predator and prey.

Teaching Suggestion: Students may benefit from prior discussion of Melinda’s character arc and characterization throughout the novel and from listing and discussing possible symbols and motifs.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students with organizational or executive functioning differences, graphic organizers or step guides may be beneficial, particularly for writing the artists’ statement. To include more learning styles and cultures, consider allowing options for group work and opening up the term “art piece” to include nonvisual mediums such as music or performance art forms, video, written form like poetry, or oral response forms such as a monologue.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Though Melinda remains aloof for much of the novel, supportive people help her cope.  

• What is the importance of supportive influences and listeners in the healing process? (topic sentence)
• Explain who provides support for Melinda and what impact this support has on Melinda’s ability to heal.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain what lesson the novel teaches about the importance of supportive influences and listeners.

2. Throughout the novel, Melinda refers to herself as an outcast and loner.  

• To what degree is Melinda’s isolation a choice, and what might this show about the complications of grief? (topic sentence)
• Make an argument as to whether Melinda’s isolation is due to pushing others away or being pushed away by others, and explain how isolation exacerbates her grief.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, explain what Melinda’s struggles reveal about her response to trauma and the need for supportive contact with others.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by textual details, and a conclusion.

1. While people notice Melinda’s silence, they do not notice her other forms of communication. How does Melinda communicate her distress throughout the novel? What modes of expression does she adopt in the absence of words? Why do these forms of communication fail despite how obvious they seem to Melinda? What might the author’s message be regarding listening as well as speaking?

2. Choose a symbol or motif and explore its development through the course of the novel. Where does it appear, and what does it reveal about the plot, conflict, or characters? What does it mean concerning Melinda’s character? What messages does it convey related to deeper themes?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What does Melinda’s social studies teacher’s nickname, Mr. Neck, imply about him?

A) His neck muscles are tense due to the stress he causes for students.

B) He is intimidating and more muscular than intelligent.

C) He is more comfortable in his role as the basketball coach.

D) He has no problem snatching late students by the collar for detention.

2. What is the subject of Melinda’s year-long art project?

A) Basketball

B) Seeds

C) Trees

D) Clowns

3. What roles does Heather play in terms of the narrative?

A) She is Melinda’s foil.

B) She is the antagonist.

C) She is the sidekick.

D) She is a minor character.

4. What does seeing Heather’s bedroom make Melinda realize about herself?

A) She realizes what a messy person she has let herself become.

B) Her family has other priorities than having a showroom-style house.

C) A bedroom does not have to be a reflection of a person’s identity.

D) Her bedroom has no personality, and she does not know who she is anymore.

5. What identity does Heather’s new clan The Marthas embody?

A) They are preppy and aggressively fashionable like Martha Stewart.

B) They are helpful do-gooders like Martha from the Bible.

C) They are wealthy and vacation in Martha’s Vineyard every summer.

D) They have a vintage look, taking their name from The Beatles’ song.

6. How is Melinda’s Thanksgiving fiasco a metaphor for their family dynamic?

A) Her mother does all the work, showing a gendered division of labor.

B) They order pizza instead, revealing how little it matters to them.

C) It is unconventional and disorganized but holds itself together somehow.

D) Every dish becomes a four-alarm fire, like their family conversations.

7. Which of the following is a result of the bone sculpture project? 

A) Melinda realizes she is not a complete failure.

B) Melinda and Ivy begin talking again.

C) Melinda can finally get the praise she deserves in art.

D) Melinda can safely explore her pain.

8. How do the adults in Melinda’s life respond to her silence, ditching, and self-harm?

A) Her parents recognize her cries for help and recommend treatment.

B) Adults misinterpret her actions as defiance and become frustrated with her.

C) Adults are too preoccupied with their own problems to notice.

D) Her parents threaten her with military school.

9. Why does Melinda refuse to go to David’s party even though she likes him?

A) She is late, and her parents will be worried.

B) She is late, and her parents will be angry.

C) Rachel will be there, and she cannot face Rachel.

D) She feels parties are unsafe.

10. Narratively, what connects Melinda’s biology and art classes?

A) Themes of pain and suffering

B) Symbolism related to life and growth

C) Motifs related to the passage of time and calendars

D) Conflicts related to each that drive the plot

11. What advice from David helps Melinda gain the courage to speak to Rachel about Andy?

A) She cannot expect to make a difference if she does not speak up.

B) If she refuses her voice, those in power will speak for her.

C) The suffragettes would be disappointed in her.

D) She should be more like David and stand up for herself.

12. What do her imagined conversations with the talk show hosts when she is sick reveal?

A) Melinda has a remarkably high fever and is hallucinating.

B) Hallucinations are a result of the stress she is under rather than sickness.

C) She has minimized her own sexual assault experience, but the hosts set her straight.

D) She identifies with the trauma of the guests on each show.

13. What does her choice to do spring yard work show to Melinda’s parents and herself?

A) She still cannot talk with her parents and must communicate with her actions.

B) She is ready to repair her relationships and grow from her past.

C) Her parents are too busy to pay proper attention to her or their overgrown yard.

D) She and her father discover the dead tree in the yard.

14. Why is both Ivy’s dislike of Andy and the bathroom thread so important to Melinda?

A) She gets validation for her emotions and sees she is not alone.

B) She can use the information to prove to Rachel that she is not jealous.

C) She realizes she can be friends with Ivy again.

D) She can take the information to the school board and get Andy expelled.

15. How are Melinda and the family oak tree similar?

A) Both have been victimized by others.

B) Both have been reduced to a stump.

C) Her father’s negligence is responsible for both their suffering.

D) Removing the diseased parts will allow them both to grow back stronger.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating textual details to support your response.

1. Why is Melinda’s task to work with trees for the year fitting?

2. Why might the author have given Melinda a second face-off with antagonist Andy Evans when statistics show that rape cases go underreported and victims are often left without closure?