Speak Blog Posts – Ms Hogue's Online English Resources

You must have your book with you on blog post days, discussion days, and any other day when you might need it.

Speak Blog Posts
You will write two separate blog posts for Speak. These are to be 250-300 words, typical length for a blog post. The topics are below. You need to support your opinions with direct evidence from the novel. The page numbers given below are only the beginning; they refer to the page that made me think of these topics. But that doesn’t mean your evidence won’t come from other pages.

(14) Family communication: How does communication break down in Melinda’s family? What could each person do to improve it?
(15) What does Melinda’s room say about her?
(32) Are we sometimes different people on the outside than we are on the inside? Which characters from the novel fit this description? Why is this true about people, do you think?
(39) Melinda’s parents tell her that she’s too old to go trick or treating and she pretends to be mad. Why do you think Melinda is both relieved and sad not to go trick or treating? What does it feel like to leave childhood traditions behind?
(42) Who are the Marthas and how is their club both good and bad? What qualities should a service club have? How would you “fix” the Marthas?
(54) Who is a “real” American? What do you think of Mr. Neck’s opinion? Going by his definition, are some of you not really Americans? How does that seem to you?
Why is it that people sometimes “like us” more when they can get something out of us? Are the Marthas good friends to Heather? Why or why not?
(83) What should we value in other people? What qualities are important in a person? What do you usually notice first about someone? Does that matter or not?
(109) Melinda wishes her science teacher would teach them about love and betrayal instead of about the birds and the bees. Where do we learn about things like that? Can we learn about love from a book? Explain?
(118) Mr. Freeman tells his class, “You must walk alone to find your soul.” What does this mean? Is it true? What is a soul?
(122) Mr. Freeman also says that “art is about making mistakes and learning from them.” What else is like this? Explain.
(153) Mr. Freeman, again! He tells Melinda that “nothing is perfect. Flaws are interesting.” He’s literally talking about a drawing of tree, but what do you think he really means?
(159) David is a true friend to Melinda, but he tells her something she may not want to hear. He says that people have to speak up for their rights, referring to the suffragettes. What should his words mean to her?
(187) Melinda’s father explains to her that the arborists are cutting off disease and damage to make it possible for the tree to grow again. How can the pruning of the tree be compared to Melinda’s life?

Propose your own topic. You must get your teacher’s approval first.

Commenting on another’s blog post/
A comment will be a full paragraph, not just one line or sentence. In your comment, you will respond to what another student has written. Choose one or more of the following to help you with your comment./

Quote a bit of what the writer has said as a starting point for your comment. Do not quote the entire post, just a small part. You could write, When you write that “quote goes here,” it makes me think . . . .

Agree with the writer and explain why. Use evidence from the text to support your opinions.

Disagree with the writer and explain why. Use evidence from the text to support your opinions.

Extend the argument beyond the novel. Show how the idea is also true for _____. Use evidence from the text , from your knowlege, and/or from your experience to support your opinions.