STUDENT EXAMPLES FOLLOW ORDER OF RUBRICS

CS:
Melinda has made many choices throughout this book. I think the really big choices she
made was some really good choices she made. Melinda chose to tell Rachel why she called the
cops at the party. Then Melinda chose to fight back against Andy Evans. Which I think these
choices are both really good choices that Melinda has made in the book. With Melinda talking to
Rachel about what happened at the party and why she called the cops. Rachel then goes on to
confront Andy on what he did. Which I think that is a good thing because then someone knows
the truth of what happened at the party. They say Rachel and Andy argued during a slow song.
(Anderson 191)During a song at prom Rachel confronts Andy about the party, without Melinda
telling Rachel what happened that would of never happened. So I think that was a really good
choice on Melindas side of this.
Out of all the choices in the book this choice was probably the best. After Melinda told
Rachel what happened Rachel went on to tell Andy. Andy finding out this news he got angry.
With that Andy wanted to confront Melinda. So while Melinda was walking to her closet Andy
wasnt far behind. NNNOOO!!! I follow the sound, pushing off the wall, pushing Andy Evans
off-balance, stumbling into the broken sink. (Anderson 194) Melinda stood up for herself, Andy
had raped her before and Melinda was not going to let that happen again. Melinda fought back
and kept yelling and screaming. Someone is pounding on the door. I unlock it, and the door
swings open. Nicole is there, along with the lacrosse team- sweaty, angry, their sticks held high.
Someone peels off and runs for help. (Anderson 195) With Melinda fighting back people came
to rescue her from the torture she was being put through.
Some people dont agree with me that the choices Melinda made were bad choices, but
I will explain why they are wrong. With Melinda telling Rachel; Rachel did get mad at Melinda
and told Melinda that she is just jealous. I cant believe you .Youre jealous. Youre a twisted
little freak and youre jealous that Im popular and Im going to prom and so you lie to me like
this. (Anderson 184) Yes Rachel did get mad but once Rachel told Andy she realized that it
was not a lie and she dumped him right there. It is a good thing Rachel realized he was a bad
person and now some people know why Melinda called the cops at the party. Some people
think that Melinda shouldnt of fought back because she got hurt badly because Andy was too
strong. Some people think that she should of just screamed. But if Melinda didnt fight back and
just screamed no one would be able to unlock the door for Melinda. Melinda pushed Andy back
and somehow got to the door to open it for help.
In conclusion I think Melinda did a good thing in fighting back against Andy Evan. I also think
she did a good thing in telling Rachel what happened to her at the party. Melinda has made
some good choices and some bad choices throughout the book. Melinda in my eyes has done a
good thing by trying to recover from the accident. Which I know that is something really hard to
do and Melinda really works on self-improvement throughout the book. So in the end Melinda is
finally ready to speak.

JD:
David Petrakis is a very important character in the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.He
has made many choices that impacted the book. Some of his choices have been good and
some of them have been bad. He has done many things and most of them have been important.
One choice David Petrakis made was to stand up to Mr. Neck. I agree with David Petrakis
decision to stand up to Mr. Neck. It affected him positively because it made people look up to
him because he was courageous. Melinda even said David Petrakis is my new hero. I also
agree with his decision because it inspired Melinda to also stand up to Mr. Neck. Even though
he got in trouble for it I think it was still a good decision because he fought for what he wanted.
Another decision David Petrakis made was to help Melinda with her speech. I believe that It was
a good choice. I think it was a good choice because it gave Melinda the power to stand up for
herself. Even though Melinda got a D because of what he helped her with I still think it was a
good decision because it helped change Melinda in a good way.
David Petrakis has made many decisions in the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Even
though he has made some bad decisions the main ones in the book have been mainly good.
David Petrakis decisions where very impactful on Melinda and the book and they are very
important.

RD:
David Petrakis has been a good guy character throughout the story speak, he has made
many decisions that has contributed to the story in a positive way, helping the other characters
with his decisions and making the story interesting.
Such as the decision to stand up to Mr. Neck. Though most kids wouldn't of done it, he
did it and it took some guts. it was a good decision because It inspired many students to speak
and inspired them to stand up for themselves. Even if he is a teacher. David did what the other
kids wanted to say, but were too afraid to say. So with David standing up to Mr. Neck like that in
front of the class helped them be able to speak for themselves.
It was a good thing that David stood up to Mr. Neck because he was wrongly accusing
another race of something that's going on in his son's life. as said on page 53, my family has
been in this country for over 200 years, we built this place, fought in every war from the first one
to thee last one, paid taxes, and voted. Referring to how Mexicans apparently haven't done any
of those things, pointing out that they don't deserve to be here. And Just as David Petrakis said
on page 56 i am protesting the tone of this lesson as racist, intolerant, and xenophobic
Though you may see David Patrakis as nothing more than a youthful rebellion just
looking for trouble, but thats not the case. Because in this situation Mr. Neck was pressing his
beliefs on the other students and was trying to persuade the students that he is right, as Mr.
Neck said on page 53, so tell me why my son cant get a job. He blames Mexicans for the
reason his son cant get a job, though was proven by David Patrakis that he was racist,
intolerant, and xenophobic.

In conclusion, David Patrakis is a good character and greatly contributed to the story speak he
made good decisions all throughout the story. He has helped out many of the characters in the
story especially Melinda. He taught a lot to the students of his class and showed them how to
stand up for themselves. David Patrakis is a great character in the story speak and i agree
with his decisions entirely.