But I see pain, suffering, war's fatal blows.
I see pure hatred coursing through veins.
The hatred of another.
The hatred of the enemy.
Some say war is fought for justice, for good.
But really, war is just fought for power, for fury, the petty grudges of civilizations.
War is humans turned against each other.
War is not pretty, or meaningful.
Whoever succeeds over the other doesn't matter.
There will still be war at some point in some time.
Fire, bloodcurdling screams of pain, gunpowder, debris everywhere.
Is this the world we want to live in?
The world with no peace, with no imagination.
A world wrought with destruction and slow, torturing deaths.
A planet about to consume itself.
A planet with a different way of supernova.
Or will it stop there?
Will other planets, solar systems, galaxies, even universes be caught up in the fires of war?
A simple art piece called "The Edge of England" by Cornelia Parker tells us all this.
It gives a warning, that if we do not heed, will exert pain, the suffering, wars fatal blows.
Speak
"Welcome to Merryweather High" is the first line in the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. It's
ironic because the school is not merry at all and it's called Merryweather. Speak is about a teenage outcast named Melinda going into her freshman year when she crashed a party in the summer. Something happened at that party that made Melinda scared and friendless As Melinda finds out, however, it's better to speak then to keep a deep dark secret inside you.
Melinda is one of the characters in this novel and is probably the most scared. Besides being
scared, Melinda is lonely and sad because she doesn't have any friends and she freaks out whenever she sees Andy Evans. Andy Evans is brutish, big, and intimidating. Melinda nicknamed him "The Beast" because something happened over summer break that included him. Another character is David Petrakis, a nerd that doesn't ever get into trouble except in Mr. Necks' class when he sound records the class so Mr. Neck follows the constitution. Melinda likes David because he stands up to his teachers. Another important character is Heather. Heather is the new kid that is trying to fit in, since she doesn't know about the incident in the summer, so she is Melinda's only friend. However, Melinda thinks Heather has fit in the wrong group, the Marthas which are super popular models.
The super popular Marthas are one of the symbols in Speak. They symbolize popularity and hope
because Heather and Melinda want to be just like them. Another symbol is the tree, which symbolizes hardship because Melinda can't figure out how to draw a good tree. Then Ivy tells her not to erase the bad spots on the tree, but cover them up with leaves. Still another symbol is the mirror in the janitor's closet. Melinda can't look at the mirror because she can't face herself so the mirror symbolizes disappointment in herself. The last symbol is the ho-ho. The ho-ho symbolizes what people think or say.
The ho-ho is in the conflict arising part of a comedy. The first part of a comedy is the normal
everyday life which is before the party. Then it goes to a conflict arising which is Melinda getting raped and Melinda's life spiraling out of control. Next it goes to the conflict being realized by the main character, and it's kind of obvious that Melinda realized she became a super un-popular person. The next part of a comedy is a resolution occurring. This happens when Melinda finally tells Rachel that she got raped by Andy and so Rachel dumped Andy and Melinda finally got friends. It goes back to normal everyday life because Melinda got friends back and her life back.
Melinda got her life back because she finally spoke. She let out her secret and good things came
from it. Mr. Freeman, Melinda's art teacher, said "You've been through a lot haven't you." How true that is.
