Blogger #6 - Wilson Chen - Period 5 - 2/24/21 - Day B

 Aim: How can active reading be applied to interpret writers' choices that create a narrative voice?

DO NOW: What does it mean to you when you hear the phrase: "to come of age"? 

For this DO NOW, we had a whole class discussion. The two things that came to mind when I saw the phrase was capability and responsibility. Usually, when I hear someone say that they have “come of age,” I assume that they have reached the age where they can do something that they could not have done before. For instance, driving is something that you would have to “come of age” before doing because as you age, you grow more responsible which is very important when it comes to driving. This does not only apply to driving, but also many other responsibilities in life, such as living by yourself or owning your own bank account. 

When we discussed this topic as a class, many of the responses revolved around the idea of maturity. Everyone had similar beliefs and added on to each other's responses. 

Double-Entry Journal

Next, the class was introduced to the Double-Entry Journal. A Double-Entry Journal is a note-taking strategy that many people use when actively reading a text. In the journal, students analyze quotes and phrases from the text and connect personal experiences with characters from the passage. We went over some sentence starters that you would use in a Double-Entry Journal such as “I really like / dislike this part because…” and “This reminds me of the time when I…” I find this strategy very helpful as it helps me gather my thoughts as I am reading a book. As Mrs Peterson had said during the lesson, it does not matter how fast you read the book if you do not understand what you are reading.

Narrative Voice

After the introduction to the Double-Entry Journal, we watched a three minute video about narrative voice. The video was brief, but it mentioned many important points. It went over three different types of narrative voice that writers create. Sometimes, the writer would make the narrator a character in the story. In this case, the narrative voice is in first person. Other times, the writer would make the narrator an observer who is not a part of the story. This would be known as third person narration. In the video, there isn’t much information disclosed about second person narration. However, at the end of the video, the pronouns used in second person were displayed along with the pronouns used in first and third person.

Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHl7mDZzfDw&ab_channel=mistersato411

Next, we read an excerpt from the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. In the excerpt, it is the first day of high school for the narrator, Melinda. As we read together, each student was responsible for highlighting quotes that they believed were significant. Students paid particular attention towards diction, imagery, and syntax used in the text.

On my document, I chose to highlight quotes that were related to diction green, imagery purple, and syntax blue. Anything else I found that I related to or was significant in general, I highlighted yellow.

From Speak

by Laurie Halse Anderson

1   I find my locker after social studies. The lock sticks a little, but I open it. I dive into the stream of fourth-period lunch students and swim down the hall to the cafeteria.

 

2   I know enough not to bring lunch on the first day of high school. There is no way of telling what the acceptable fashion will be. Brown bags—humble testament to suburbia, or terminal geek gear? Insulated lunch bags—hip way to save the planet, or sign of an over involved mother? Buying is the only solution. And it gives me time to scan the cafeteria for a friendly face or an inconspicuous corner.

 

3   The hot lunch is turkey with reconstituted dried mashed potatoes and gravy, a damp green vegetable, and a cookie. I’m not sure how to order anything else, so I just slide my tray along and let the lunch drones fill it. This eight-foot senior in front of me somehow gets three cheeseburgers, French fries, and two Ho-Hos without saying a word. Some sort of Morse code with his eyes, maybe. Must study this further. I follow the Basketball Pole into the cafeteria.

 

4   I see a few friends—people I used to think were my friends—but they look away. Think fast, think fast. There’s that new girl, Heather, reading by the window. I could sit across from her. Or I could crawl behind a trash can. Or maybe I could dump my lunch straight into the trash and keep moving right on out the door.

 

5   The Basketball Pole waves to a table of friends. Of course. The basketball team. They all swear at him—a bizarre greeting practiced by athletic boys with zits. He smiles and throws a Ho-Ho. I try to scoot around him.

 

6   Thwap! A lump of potatoes and gravy hits me square in the center of my chest. All conversation stops as the entire lunchroom gawks, my face burning into their retinas. I will be forever known as “that girl who got nailed by potatoes the first day.” The Basketball Pole apologizes and says something else, but four hundred people explode in laughter and I can’t read lips. I ditch my tray and bolt for the door.

 

7   I motor so fast out of the lunchroom the track coach would draft me for varsity if he were around. But no, Mr. Neck has cafeteria duty. And Mr. Neck has no use for girls who can run the one hundred in under ten seconds, unless they’re willing to do it while holding on to a football.

 

8   Mr. Neck: “We meet again.”

 

9   Me:

 

10 Would he listen to “I need to go home and change,” or “Did you see what that bozo did”? Not a chance. I keep my mouth shut.

 

11 Mr. Neck: “Where do you think you’re going?”

 

12 Me:

 

13 It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.

14 Mr. Neck makes a note in his book. “I knew you were trouble the first time I saw you. I’ve taught here for twenty-four years and I can tell what’s going on in a kid’s head just by looking in their eyes. No more warnings. You just earned a demerit for wandering the halls without a pass.”

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After reading this passage, I found that I related to Melinda. I was put in a similar situation in third grade where it was also my first day of school as a transfer student. I hardly knew anyone, but everyone else knew each other. I acted very quietly, often rambling in my mind about what would happen if I did something embarrassing. 

Breakout Room Activity

We were tasked with filling out a Double-Entry Journal using four of the quotes they highlighted in the passage. Then, we would share their document with their teammates and comment on each other's quotes. Our team consists of two girls and three boys so we decided to split the team into a duo and a trio. Coincidentally, we were given four quotes to comment on, so we were able to split the work evenly as a trio.

The Double-Entry Journal should end up looking similar to this:

The book says…	I say…	Comments from your partner Partner’s Name: Lawrence Li & Gabriel Wasserstein
“Brown bags—humble testament to suburbia, or terminal geek gear?”	The diction in this quote is informal as shown by the word “geek”. This really matches with the narrator’s character as we are told that she is a new student at a high school.	Not only does the diction in this quote proves that she’s a new student at a high school, but it also shows that she's well informed about the stereotypes about packed lunches and school lunches
“A lump of potatoes and gravy hits me square in the center of my chest. All conversation stops as the entire lunchroom gawks, my face burning into their retinas.”	The imagery used in this quote helps the reader visualize what it looked like as the narrator was hit with mashed potatoes and gravy. It also emphasizes on the embarrassment that the narrator felt by including phrases such as “all conversation stops” and “my face burning into their retinas”.	If this was me, my face would also be hot red as being the pinnacle of cafeteria gazes would be embarrassing.
“Or I could crawl behind a trash can. Or maybe I could dump my lunch straight into the trash and keep moving right on out the door.”	This quote suggests the anxiety the narrator felt as she was walking across the cafeteria. In her mind, she was thinking of all the things she could do to avoid embarrassment.	I agree, you can see how the narrator kept going through different options trying to do anything she could do to escape that scenario. You can tell how frantic she was cycling through her options and how desperate she was.
“ I motor so fast out of the lunchroom the track coach would draft me for varsity if he were around.”	This quote uses imagery and figurative language in order to show how embarrassed the narrator was as she ran out the lunchroom.	People in varsity are very fast and experienced runners, so if she went out that fast it shows how much her embarrassment gave her an adrenaline rush.

Individual Activity

For this individual activity, students had to choose three quotes that represented a typical teen’s voice. These are the quotes I chose and why I thought they fit this description: 

Quote #1: “It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.”

The quote demonstrates the moodiness and crankiness teens usually have when they talk to an adult such as their parents. The aggressive tone Melinda uses is one of the aspects that makes this quote a representation of a teen’s voice. Melinda is expressing her anger in this scene as she chooses not to speak considering the fact that the teacher probably wouldn’t care either way.

Quote #2: “Would he listen to “I need to go home and change,” or “Did you see what that bozo did”? Not a chance. I keep my mouth shut.”

The informal diction that Melinda uses is a major aspect that makes this quote important. The use of the word “bozo” to describe the boy who threw mashed potatoes at her also shows the aggressiveness in her tone. Additionally, this quote is an example of the many times she has been shown thinking about what she should do in a particular situation. This expresses her insecurity, a common problem that teens usually face.

Quote #3: “I will be forever known as “that girl who got nailed by potatoes the first day.”

The wording in this quote suggests that Melinda probably cared much about her image to others. This links back to insecurity because she is afraid that people will begin to make fun of her for something that she could not control.

After we chose three quotes, we had to answer two questions based on the narrative voice the author created. Below are the questions and my thoughts about them.

1. Does Melinda’s sarcastic interior monologue seem authentic? Why or why not? 

Melinda’s sarcastic interior monologue seemed authentic. The way she frantically thought about what she should do to avoid attention from other students demonstrates her fear of a bad reputation amongst students. This goes back to insecurity as she is constantly scared of people making fun of her. Additionally, the sarcasm adds to the traditional teen behavior since teens use sarcasm in jest often.

2. What inferences can students draw based on her voice? From her voicelessness?

I think it is safe to say that Melinda is a very shy person. Throughout the excerpt, she barely spoke to anyone and tried to avoid social interaction. In addition, students can infer that Melinda probably cares a lot about her image. Based on her voice, you can tell that she was very humiliated when she was hit with a lump of potatoes. Not only does her voice show the importance that she places on her reputation, her actions do as well. For instance, she bolts out the door as fast as she can to avoid further embarrassment.

Reflection

Through Speak, I was able to use active reading strategies to understand the author’s choices as they created a teen’s voice in the story. The Double-Entry Journal definitely assisted me in doing so; it was a great way for me to organize my thoughts on different parts of the text. By using the Double-Entry Journal, I was able to make inferences about the author’s choices as they created a narrative voice. For instance, I was able to conclude that the narrator was a very timid character based on the diction and word choice used. These are all things I noted on my journal as I was actively reading. Another strategy that we used to organize our thoughts was annotating/highlighting. By highlighting words or phrases in the text, I was able to pick out the quotes that I thought were most important. This made my job easier when it came to writing my thoughts down on the journal. Furthermore, it directs my attention to the parts that signify the writer’s use of diction, imagery, syntax, or generally anything else that I found interesting. 

To conclude, this lesson has taught me the importance of active reading and how it should always be used. In the case where you do not actively read, the text may seem boring and monotonous. In the future, I plan to continue to annotate and utilize the Double-Entry Journal as I read other passages.

Blogger #5- Selina Chen- Period 5-2/24/21-Day B

 Aim: How can active reading be applied to interpret writers' choices that create a narrative voice?

DO NOW: For the Do Now, we had a whole class discussion on the question-What does it mean to you when you hear the phrase to “come of age”? Some said it could signify the transition between your childhood and adulthood. It comes with many responsibilities of adulthood that you wouldn’t have before your coming of age and requires much more maturity. In simpler words, it's when someone reaches the status of an adult. For some it means when they are no longer a minor but others can vary. There are also cultural ideas revolving around the coming of age such as a Bat Mitzvah or a Confirmation. 

DOUBLE ENTRY JOURNAL: 

We were introduced to a double entry journal which was new to many people. This is a note taking journal used to make note taking easier and help to better your understanding of the text you’re reading. You are allowed to bridge your own thoughts on the events and character developments and share your own experiences and connections with what’s stated in the text in the journal. We use this later on in the lesson for the Speak.

NARRATIVE VOICE

Narrative voice is the perspective the story is told in. In first person narration, the person telling the story is part of the story and uses pronouns such as, “I, mine, me, and we.” In the video, they didn’t talk much about 2nd person, but it’s when the reader is addressed directly, often used to draw the reader in and make them seem like a character in the story. When writing in this POV, the words, “you, and yours” are used. When the writer chooses to write in third person, they make the narrator tell the story from the outside. Third person uses pronouns such as, “he, she, it, hers, his, and/or hers.” An example of this is, “He waited and tried to maintain his calm”. The pronouns “he” and “his” gives it away that the narrator is not in the story, but is rather telling it from a distance. Here is the 2 minute video that explains all of this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHl7mDZzfDw&ab_channel=mistersato411

SPIRIT READING: 

In the following scene from Speak, the narrator, Melinda, is dealing with a new experience: the first day of high school.

DIRECTIONS: As we read, we were to highlight quotes in the text that made us think. The use of diction (word choices), imagery (words to create sensory details), and/or syntax (complexity of the sentences) in a particular sentence would also be something to highlight. Then we use the chart to create different responses to the text. We later discuss the responses after the spirit reading. 

From Speak

by Laurie Halse Anderson

1   I find my locker after social studies. The lock sticks a little, but I open it. I dive into the stream of fourth-period lunch students and swim down the hall to the cafeteria.

 

2  I know enough not to bring lunch on the first day of high school. There is no way of telling what the acceptable fashion will be. Brown bags—humble testament to suburbia, or terminal geek gear? Insulated lunch bags—hip way to save the planet, or sign of an over involved mother? Buying is the only solution. And it gives me time to scan the cafeteria for a friendly face or an inconspicuous corner.

3   The hot lunch is turkey with reconstituted dried mashed potatoes and gravy, a damp green vegetable, and a cookie. I’m not sure how to order anything else, so I just slide my tray along and let the lunch drones fill it. This eight-foot senior in front of me somehow gets three cheeseburgers, French fries, and two Ho-Hos without saying a word. Some sort of Morse code with his eyes, maybe. Must study this further. I follow the Basketball Pole into the cafeteria.

4  I see a few friends—people I used to think were my friends—but they look away. Think fast, think fast. There’s that new girl, Heather, reading by the window. I could sit across from her. Or I could crawl behind a trash can. Or maybe I could dump my lunch straight into the trash and keep moving right on out the door.

5   The Basketball Pole waves to a table of friends. Of course. The basketball team. They all swear at him—a bizarre greeting practiced by athletic boys with zits. He smiles and throws a Ho-Ho. I try to scoot around him.

 

6   Thwap! A lump of potatoes and gravy hits me square in the center of my chest. All conversation stops as the entire lunchroom gawks, my face burning into their retinas. I will be forever known as “that girl who got nailed by potatoes the first day.” The Basketball Pole apologizes and says something else, but four hundred people explode in laughter and I can’t read lips. I ditch my tray and bolt for the door.

7   I motor so fast out of the lunchroom the track coach would draft me for varsity if he were around. But no, Mr. Neck has cafeteria duty. And Mr. Neck has no use for girls who can run the one hundred in under ten seconds, unless they’re willing to do it while holding onto a football.

8   Mr. Neck: “We meet again.”

9   Me:

10 Would he listen to “I need to go home and change,” or “Did you see what that bozo did”? Not a chance. I keep my mouth shut.

11 Mr. Neck: “Where do you think you’re going?”

12 Me:

13 It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.

14 Mr. Neck makes a note in his book. “I knew you were trouble the first time I saw you. I’ve taught here for twenty-four years and I can tell what’s going on in a kid’s head just by looking in their eyes. No more warnings. You just earned a demerit for wandering the halls without a pass.”

GROUP WORK:

In the breakout rooms, we each choose four of the highlighted quotes (a variety of types, of course), record them down, and react to them in the chart. After this is done, we were to pick a partner to exchange the document to, within the groups. We wrote responses to our partner’s comments and explained our own reaction to the quote and/or feelings about the partner’s response. So in simpler words, did we see things similarly to our partner or not? 

One of the quotes I chose were, “All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie.” I chose this quote because it expresses a harsh reality. Whatever the media and TV say about speaking up and/or communicating to express your thoughts may be true but they left out an important piece. It’s not easy to speak up for yourself especially when you know they will not care about what you have to say or even believe it. My partner overall agreed and said it exemplified the difficulties of speaking up, and believing that sometimes speaking up would do more harm than good. 

Another one of the four quotes I chose were “..but four hundred people explode in laughter”. Although there may have not been 400 people all laughing together at her expense, in the moment it was what she felt, with reason. This use of figurative language portrays the girl’s pure humiliation as she is harassed by a “popular” guy, along with the stress of trying to fit into the crowd and not be singled out. Instead it horribly backfires and instead becomes the laughingstock of the lunch period. The embarrassment exemplifies a thousand times when she sees not one person bothering to stand up for her, and instead laughs at her. Some may ask why she didn’t say anything, but if you really look at it, would it even help? If anything, the audience would most likely laugh even harder. My partner also agreed and she added that the fact that it was the 1st day of school made it even worse, as we know there is a lot of stress implemented on the start of a new year.  

INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY 

After the group work, we had an activity to do individually. Anderson was 38 when Speak was published, but she still imposes a teenager girl’s voice and thoughts through diction, syntax, and imagery. Diction is the writer/speaker’s choice of words, syntax is order, placement, and formation of the words in the sentence, determining its meaning and complexity. Imagery is the language and words the writer uses to vividly convey an experience, and the figures of speech used to express ideas and feelings. We had to choose three quotes that we thought sounded particularly authentic to a teenager’s voice and respond to the two bullet points:

• Does Melinda’s sarcastic interior monologue seem authentic? Why or why not? 

• What inferences can students draw based on her voice? From her voicelessness?

My response was that Anderson was able to impose a sarcastic inner monologue and make it seem authentic because it really captures the mentality and outlook of a highschool teenager. The quote, “Buying is the only solution. And it gives me time to scan the cafeteria for a friendly face or an inconspicuous corner” shows the mentality of someone who tries to not stand out in such a judging crowd of high schoolers. Everything matters, even lunch, which much older people would not think is such a big deal. Teens spend much of their years obsessing over every mistake or thing that makes them not the norm. This also brings out the idea of social norms where there are certain accepted behavior in social groups and if you happen to fall out of line, they will judge you for being different. This showcases a real struggle many teens face. “All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie” is another quote showing the authenticity of Anderson’s writing. Most teens do not really value communication as they believe no one really cares or believes what they are to say. Even if they do manage to muster the courage to speak up, there always will be others who judge you for standing against an idea or the norm. In her case, she was in trouble with a teacher and instead of explaining why she was wandering the halls and what happened in the cafeteria, she chooses to go along with it. This was because she knew he wouldn’t believe what happened, and even if he did, he probably wouldn’t care and say she was still wandering the halls. An inference that can be made is that Melinda feels she must not be seen or stick out of the crowd in order to survive her high school days. She also feels her thoughts and voice is invalidating which was proven multiple times as she decides to stay silent. 

REFLECTION:

Throughout today’s lesson I’ve learned the different ways a story can be written and how the story is delivered and has a huge influence on the reader’s connection to the characters and events in the story. If a story is told in first person, they focus mainly on the feelings and thoughts of the narrator, allowing a deeper insight to the character. Anderson was 38 when she wrote Speak, but still managed to capture all the thoughts and feelings a teenage girl would have during a situation like that and allowed the targeted audience to be able to sympathize with Melinda. Although I learnt what diction, syntax and imagery were in the last lesson, I saw an example of what it looked like in a short story and deepened my understanding of these three devices of literature. I also learned that imagery could just simply allow the reader to experience something rather than it just being a visual. I also learned how to use the double entry journal strategy to strengthen my understanding of an excerpt and how it would help in not just this class, but any that requires an understanding of a concept/text.

Blogger #4 - Kelly Chen - Period 5 - 2/24/21 - Day B

 Aim: How can active reading be applied to interpret writers' choices that create a narrative voice?

Do Now: Class Discussion

Our first task for this cycle was to consider the question: What does it mean to you when you hear the phrase “to come of age”? To come of age has several meanings although the most common response is gaining maturity and crossing the bridge between childhood and adulthood. Likewise, we obtained enough knowledge to experience the real world and make our own decisions. In other words, we reached adult status. Coming of age could also mean that we developed self-awareness; we learned to express ourselves and voice our opinions. Someone spoke of the coming of age milestone in relation to different cultures. Depending upon your religious background, you may celebrate Bar and Bat Mitzvah, Quinceanera, or Sweet 16, all at different ages. The bottom line is that “to come of age” signifies growth. 

The Double Entry Journal

A double-entry journal is a note-taking strategy that enables students to record their responses to the text they read. It gives them a way to interact with the content, by reflecting on and writing about their understanding of the material they are reading. While processing the information and connecting to the text, they enhance their reading comprehension. 

This strategy is composed of a two-column journal. In the left column, students write a piece of textual information, such as a quotation or phrase, which they want to expand upon, understand better, or question. Students are to interpret this information and note their reflections, reactions, ideas, or analysis in the right column. The table below is a template.

“Text” (The book says...)	Analysis/Question/Opinion (I say...)
	If you are having trouble thinking of what to write, try using these stems:  I really like/dislike this part because…  I wonder why…?  The diction/imagery creates a tone of…  This quote shows the narrator's / character’s voice by…  I predict that…  This reminds me of the time when I…  If it was me, I would… Wow! I can’t believe...

Narrative Voice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHl7mDZzfDw&ab_channel=MrsReid

Narrative voice refers to the perspective the story is told from. The writer should choose a narrative voice carefully, as it determines the character and reader’s response. 

3 Types of Narrative Voice:

First Person:

• In first-person point of view, the story is being told from the perspective of the narrator.

• Pronouns: I, me, my, we, us, our

Second Person:

• In second-person point of view, the story is being told from the perspective of the audience.

• Pronouns: you, your

Third Person:

• In third-person point of view, the story is being told from outside a single character’s perspective.

• Pronouns: she, he, her, his, they, it

Spirit Reading

Following the video, we had a spirit reading session on an excerpt from Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. As we read, we were to highlight and annotate the text for diction, imagery, and syntax.

Diction: the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing

Imagery: 

1) the actual language that a writer uses to convey a visual picture or representation of a sensory experience 

2) the uses of figures of speech to express abstract ideas

Syntax: the arrangement, ordering, grouping, and placement of words within a sentence

From Speak

by Laurie Halse Anderson

1   I find my locker after social studies. The lock sticks a little, but I open it. I dive into the stream of fourth-period lunch students and swim down the hall to the cafeteria.

 

2   I know enough not to bring lunch on the first day of high school. There is no way of telling what the acceptable fashion will be. Brown bags—humble testament to suburbia, or terminal geek gear? Insulated lunch bags—hip way to save the planet, or sign of an over involved mother? Buying is the only solution. And it gives me time to scan the cafeteria for a friendly face or an inconspicuous corner.

 

3   The hot lunch is turkey with reconstituted dried mashed potatoes and gravy, a damp green vegetable, and a cookie. I’m not sure how to order anything else, so I just slide my tray along and let the lunch drones fill it. This eight-foot senior in front of me somehow gets three cheeseburgers, French fries, and two Ho-Hos without saying a word. Some sort of Morse code with his eyes, maybe. Must study this further. I follow the Basketball Pole into the cafeteria.

 

4   I see a few friends—people I used to think were my friends—but they look away. Think fast, think fast. There’s that new girl, Heather, reading by the window. I could sit across from her. Or I could crawl behind a trash can. Or maybe I could dump my lunch straight into the trash and keep moving right on out the door.

 

5   The Basketball Pole waves to a table of friends. Of course. The basketball team. They all swear at him—a bizarre greeting practiced by athletic boys with zits. He smiles and throws a Ho-Ho. I try to scoot around him.

 

6   Thwap! A lump of potatoes and gravy hits me square in the center of my chest. All conversation stops as the entire lunchroom gawks, my face burning into their retinas. I will be forever known as “that girl who got nailed by potatoes the first day.” The Basketball Pole apologizes and says something else, but four hundred people explode in laughter and I can’t read lips. I ditch my tray and bolt for the door.

 

7   I motor so fast out of the lunchroom the track coach would draft me for varsity if he were around. But no, Mr. Neck has cafeteria duty. And Mr. Neck has no use for girls who can run the one hundred in under ten seconds, unless they’re willing to do it while holding on to a football.

 

8   Mr. Neck: “We meet again.”

 

9   Me:

 

10 Would he listen to “I need to go home and change,” or “Did you see what that bozo did”? Not a chance. I keep my mouth shut.

 

11 Mr. Neck: “Where do you think you’re going?”

 

12 Me:

 

13 It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.

 

14 Mr. Neck makes a note in his book. “I knew you were trouble the first time I saw you. I’ve taught here for twenty-four years and I can tell what’s going on in a kid’s head just by looking in their eyes. No more warnings. You just earned a demerit for wandering the halls without a pass.”

Think/Pair/Share Breakout Rooms

Think-Pair-Share is a collaborative learning strategy where students work together to analyze and reflect on an assigned reading. This technique requires students to think individually and share ideas with their peers.

In our breakout rooms, we were first instructed to choose four of our highlighted quotes and record them in our graphic organizers independently. We, then, were to note our initial reactions, thoughts, or analysis on each quote we chose. Once completed, we exchanged our documents with a partner and responded to each other’s comments. 

The book says…	I say…	Comments from your partner Partner’s Name: Kelley Kwok
“There is no way of telling what the acceptable fashion will be. “	This goes to show how insecure the narrator is. Since she has no friends to talk to about the latest trends in order to fit in, the narrator is shown as an outcast. The MC’s mood is pessimistic and dejected as she does not fit into any of the groups.	I agree, and especially since it’s her first day of high school, so the narrator seems really self-conscious and worried about what’s acceptable and how she will fit in
“And it gives me time to scan the cafeteria for a friendly face or an inconspicuous corner.”	While the narrator is aware that she is rejected by her peers, she still attempts to search for a friend. The narrator feels unsafe and watched everywhere she goes. She tries to be invisible and isolate herself to keep safe. If I was in her place, I would do the same to avoid attention and humiliation.	I definitely agree and would like to add on that she doesn’t know whether she should sit with someone or sit alone. The narrator makes it seem like whatever decision she chooses is really important
“This eight-foot senior in front of me somehow gets three cheeseburgers, French fries, and two Ho-Hos without saying a word. Some sort of Morse code with his eyes, maybe. Must study this further. “	Although the MC is silent and cold on the outside, she has a rich interior life. I find her funny and perceptive.	Her narration in this sentence reveals part of her personality, that she is perceptive and has a slightly ironic humor.
“It is easier not to say anything. Shut your trap, button your lip, can it. All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.“	I can relate to this entirely. I think there are benefits to silence, especially when one’s talking back or expressing their opinion. It prevents an unnecessary quarrel and other complications.  This quote’s strong and cynical tone shows that Melinda does have a voice, she just does not want to use it outside of her own head.	I also resonated with this quote since it points out that no one actually cares what you have to say, and no one wants to know your feelings or opinions, most of the time, they just want you to agree with them. It’s much easier to stay quiet, especially since it seemed like Mr. Neck was going to punish her anyway.

Based on the graphic organizer above, my partner and I shared similar ideas and reactions. While agreeing with my thoughts, she also expanded on and revealed new interpretations that had never crossed my mind. 

A scene that caught my eye was, “This eight-foot senior in front of me somehow gets three cheeseburgers, French fries, and two Ho-Hos without saying a word. Some sort of Morse code with his eyes, maybe.” In the excerpt, Melinda is displayed numerous times as silent and cold on the outside, yet we see that she has a rich interior. The narrator always seems to be deep in thought and as readers, we got to know and understand her better through her mind. For instance, I found Melinda quite amusing and perceptive in the scene above. 

Individual Activity:

To sum up the lesson, we explored Anderson’s voice as a teen girl and discussed the authenticity of Melinda’s interior monologue. From my standpoint, Melinda’s sarcastic commentary is genuine and relatable. We understand more of her personality through her thoughts while her voice reveals nothing. Based on Melinda’s voicelessness, I can infer that she suffered from grief and traumatic events. Due to fear, she drowns in her own sea of silence and loses her ability to express herself. All things considered, Anderson does an excellent job capturing a teen’s voice in Speak.

Reflection:

Throughout today’s lesson, I learned and gained a deeper understanding of many things. Notably, how to create and utilize a double-entry journal effectively. The application of this note-taking technique helps me to process specific information, reflect on the material, and enhance my reading comprehension. Furthermore, I acquired a knowledge of narrative voice and how it is essential in shaping our understanding of the narrator and their relation to the story. I realized that through diction, imagery, and syntax, we can create narrative voices and view their perspectives. In Speak, we got a better sense of how Laurie Anderson was able to capture the voice of a teenage girl. Not only could we relate to the narrator, but the narrative voice adds to the understanding of the author: their purpose, language, and writing techniques. Ultimately, the narrative voice plays an important role in shaping a reader’s attitude and the story overall.