Speak Essay

Sarah Broge
Ms .Johann
LA 8 Hr.4
December,17,2009
Speak Essay
Speak

At the end of the summer there is always a party. But also there is always someone who calls the cops. That’s what Melinda’s last day of fun was like. The end of the summer party went horribly wrong and she called the cops because she needed help. No one believed her and everyone hates her. Now as a freshmen in high school everybody knows what happened that night to Melinda Sordino.
It was dark outside and the moon was shining. Everyone was having fun, dancing and laughing the night away. As on coming freshmen join in the seniors are drinking even more because this is their last year of high school. So many things can go wrong at parties like these. Unfortunately the most common one is rape. It happens to almost 80 percent of girls around the world. Most of them don’t do anything about it and just let the fear and the torture bottle up inside until they either commit suicide or go into a deep depression about it. Rape is a serious problem. How many more of these horrible crimes have to be committed for someone to actually take a stand and say no.
A lot of the people, both boys and girls, don’t say anything because they are too afraid of what their rapist might do to them to harm them or to cause them mental pain. Some of these people start to alienate themselves or do things to them that might hurt them physically to try and deal with the pain. A couple of reports to police have stated that it has been a couple of years since the rape and they can’t do anything about it. That doesn’t give the victim peace of mind. Their rapist still might be out there and might find them again. But does the law care about that after a period of time? No.
Some people tell someone right away. It doesn’t mean that they are stronger that the people who don’t it just means that maybe they knew the person or they have faith in what their family and the legal system will do for them. Speak shows the way a girls’ life is after her attack. She starts to alienate herself from the world and starts to hurt herself physically and mentally. She has the time to open up and say something before it was too late. She is brave and she is overpowering in the way she starts describing things in her point of view.
Melinda Sordino used to be an outcast. But now she has her old friends back and is finally getting the attention that she needs to be free and open within her like all the people in her situation should.