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Melinda is studying and drawing birds. Mr. Freeman notices something on Melinda's drawing and then he says the quote. Melinda knows that he noticed something and gets very anxious and nervous. But, Mr. Freeman offers her some advice.

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This quote is saying to do whatever you have to do to get things back to normal.

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"Be the bird. You are the bird. Sacrifice yourself to abandoned family values and can yams" (Anderson 62).

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Melinda is seeing mirrors throughout the story. They start to gain meaning after Andy Evans raped her. She starts to feel very bad about herself because of what he did to her every time she looks in the mirror. She ends up using the piece of mirror that broke off to defend herself from Andy.

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Melinda is being confronted by the guy who raped her. She feels worthless and becomes very self conscious because he raped her. Now that she spoke up, she feels like she can defend herself.

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"I hit the wood against the poster, and the mirror under it, again. Shards of glass slip under the wall and into the sink. IT pulls from me, puzzles. I reach in and wrap my fingers around a triangle of glass. I hold it to Andy Evans' neck. He freezes" (Anderson 195).

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The tree is an important pert throughout Speak. It has many different meaning throughout the story but for this quote, it symbolizes Melinda's growth as a person after everything that has happened to her.

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This quote is talking about Melinda's healing and growth. After everything that Melinda has gone through, she finally feels a little bit more confident in herself and feels like nothing is holding or weighing her down anymore. The tree is "breathing" and now, so is she.

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"My tree is definitely breathing; little shallow breaths like it just shot up through the ground this morning... The new growth is the best part" (Anderson 196).

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The mouth and lips are symbolizing how people, specifically teenagers, hide their feelings from the world. They also symbolize how Melinda never speaks out about how she was raped and decided to hold it in until she healed mentally from the trauma it cased her.

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This is describing when Melinda sees her lips and starts to become very self conscious about the way she looks and her body.

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“I pushed my ragged mouth against the mirror. A thousand bleeding, crusted lips push back" (Anderson 125).