Since I will be presenting on Wednesday, I will be discussing Speak as a novel. It has been a little while since I have read it, so a few things are a little foggy, but I remember a lot of the main ideas. I enjoyed reading this book. Although it appears to be a downer, I thought that it was written very well. There are a lot of interesting themes in this novel, however I really do not want to share to much, because that is part of our lesson and I do not want to give anything away.
I thought the part dealing with the art teacher and the tree was very interesting. It brought out many important ideas in the novel.
As far as teaching this novel in my class, I think I would like to try it. I would probably send a permission slip home with students stating that the novel had the idea of rape in it, but that it did not over take the novel. The main point of the novel was about this girl not speaking, and how she overcame this idea at the end.
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I loved the parts dealing with Melinda's struggle with her tree assignment - it was a good way to intermix the symbols in the novel. Also, I think everyone can relate to that one teacher from high school that was a bit different...I enjoyed the realistic aspects of this novel.
ReplyDeleteIt might even be interesting, as future teachers, to examine the way "teachers" are viewed or portrayed in this book through the lens of an adolescent.
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