ENG1P Speak

Speak – Questions (Worksheet #1)

First Marking Period:

“Welcome to Merryweather High”, “Our Teachers are the Best”, “Spotlight”

(pgs 3-9)

Instructions: Answer the following questions in complete sentences on a separate sheet of paper.

1.  Mood à the feeling in a book at a particular time (examples: angry, sad, nervous, excited)

After reading the first few lines and paragraphs of the book, what mood does the narrator create? Can you find some words she uses to show this mood? (Use a page reference in your response).

2.  In your own experience using the bus, who usually sits in the front? The middle? The back? Who stands?

3.  What are some normal feelings on the first day of school? Does this narrator have normal feelings for the first day of School? Explain your answer using examples from the book.

4.  Foreshadowing à when hints are given about something that will happen later in the book.

Find two examples of foreshadowing in the first 3 pages of the novel (pages 3-5).

5.  The narrator describes many groups that are found in her school (examples: jocks, thespians). What kind of cliques or groups can be found at Merivale HS?

6.  What does it mean to be an outcast?

7.  First person narrative means writing from the “I” point of view; third person narrative means the use of “he” or “she” to describe the main character. What form of narrative is used in Speak?

8.  Identify the first metaphor you see in the section entitled “Spotlight”. Rewrite the line (don’t forget to use quotation marks).

9.  The narrator believes that it is better for people to not talk because nobody really wants to hear someone else’s problems. Do you believe this? Why or why not?

10.  Have you had any experience with a teacher judging you before he/she knew you? How did that make you feel?

11.  What are some similarities so far that you can find between the movie “Mean Girls” and these first few pages of the novel Speak?

12.  The narrator lists 10 lies that students are told at school. For each lie, state whether or not you believe this is also a lie told at Merivale HS. Then for each lie, write what you believe to be a truth that goes with it.