Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson is a great novel to be taught in a young adult
classroom. The novel explores
issues that many teenagers face in their middle and high school years. Mellie is a complex character with many
personal struggles and difficulties.
BECAUSE she was raped by Andy, she called the police at a party which
resulted in the loss of her friends [POW 2, start a
sentence with a “because” clause].
Mellie suffers through her freshmen year alone and with a dark
secret. She does not open up to
her closest friends who now shun her.
NOR does she tell her parents what happened to her at that party [POW 1, start a sentence with ‘”nor”]. Mellie also faces challenges with her
schoolwork, family, relationships, and fitting in. As her freshmen year begins, she becomes more detached from
her those around her, and even from herself. She falls into such a slump that she is unable to find any
happiness at all. She was provided
with the opportunity to play basketball and be part of a team. However, because Mellie did not
participate in her classes she had very bad grades; because her grades were
bad, she was unable to play on the basketball team. [POW
6, use of semicolon to mirror sentences]. Mellie becomes detached from the world around her, THOUGH
she still is very aware of people making fun of her [POW
4, use of “though” to interrupt main sentence]. The only person who seems to be somewhat of a mentor
to Mellie is Mr. Freeman. He
encourages her in class, believes in her artistic talent, and offers a
listening ear and compassionate words; he wants to help Mellie [POW 5, longer sentence; shorter sentence]. Finally, towards the end of the school
year, Mellie begins to take an active part in her own life. First, Mellie starts trying harder in
her classes; second, she warns Rachel and other girls about how dangerous Andy
is; third, she stops Andy from assaulting her again; and fourth, she starts
talking to people again and telling the truth about the party [POW 7, use of semicolon as a super comma]. I think that this novel is a great for
young adult readers BECAUSE it deals with real issues and emotions that young
people encounter [POW 3, end a sentence with a “because”
clause].
Awesome post! Plus, I'm in YA Lit right now, so I understand what it's about!
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I noticed was for POW 4 (use of "though" to interrupt a main sentence). You used though as a subordinate conjunction (I think) to end the sentence, not to interrupt it. For example, if you wrote this it would make "though" an interrupter:
"Mellie becomes detached from the world, though still aware of people making fun of her, she's practically oblivious to everyone around."
It creates an aside to the reader, like parentheses or dashes might.
Other than that it looked good to me!
good catch, Estelle, and excellent explanation. Your example, though, is off: that "though" is also like "although," a subordinating conjunction rather than an interrupter.
Deletegood work, Heidi--
ReplyDeleteCorrect = starting with "Because"
Correct = starting with "Nor"
Correct = semicolon connecting mirror sentences (just needed a comma after "because Mellie did not participate in her classes,…")
X = "though" here is equivalent to "although," so it isn't an interrupter
Correct = semicolon as supercomma
Correct = end with "because" clause
Missing = semicolon connecting long and short sentences.