a sexual predator. Overall, Melinda wants to emotionally heal, to go back to being a popular student, and to prevent Andy Evans from causing harm again.

Melinda lives her life the same way as prisoners do: one day at a time. Given her troubled psychological state, it's impossible for her to see beyond the next 24 hours. If she can somehow survive until the dawn, then that's progress.

However, this proves easier said than done. Starting at high school presents more than its fair share of problems. Adapting to these new surroundings would be hard enough to begin with, but for someone like Melinda—damaged, friendless, and alone—it's virtually impossible. So all that's left is to get through each day the best way that she can.

However, despite everything, Melinda still has sufficient motivation to complete her painting project. She seems to realize that the completion of her painting is important to the healing process: the only way that she can express herself and her feelings. The painting gives Melinda something to live for, some sense of stability in a life riven by disorder and constant upheaval.

Melinda's goals are pretty simple - she wants to survive.  The story begins with the beginning of school, and Melinda's observations show the simplicity of her goal:

"It is my first morning of high school. I have seven new notebooks, a skirt I hate and a stomachache." (First Marking Period)

Melinda has not interest in being at school, but there is a clear sense that she knows she has to be.  She wants to get through the year, to survive and move on.  She has not allowed her rape to destroy her, but she has allowed it to control her, and all she wants to do keep surviving.

As the year progresses, though, Melinda's goals quickly begin to change.  She begins to want to take control of her life back, though she clearly is having trouble with that.  Her reaction to Rachel, who has withdrawn from her, shows this:

"I don't want to be cool. I want to grab her by the neck and shake her and scream at her to stop treating me like dirt. She didn't even bother to find out the truth-what kind of friend is that?" (First Marking Period)

It is the Fourth Marking Period that her forward movement becomes clear and her goal is achieved:

"IT happened. There is no avoiding it, no forgetting. No running away, or flying, or burying, or hiding. Andy Evans raped me in August when I was drunk and too young to know what was happening. It wasn't my fault. He hurt me. It wasn't my fault. And I'm not going to let it kill me. I can grow."

Melinda Sordino is a traumatized, cynical teenager. She is ostracized during her freshman year after she called the police to a summer party. Melinda was raped by Andy Evans at this party but was too afraid and stunned to disclose any information about her attack to the authorities, her parents, or her friends. As a result, Melinda begins her freshman year as an outcast who does not have any friends and is bullied by her peers. She even stops speaking for an extended period of time, trying her best to suppress her negative feelings.

Melinda simply wants life to go back to the way it was before the incident. Melinda desires to be popular again and have a tight-knit group of friends. She wishes to live a carefree life and not have to walk the halls of her high school as an outcast or live in fear that Andy Evans might assault her again. Melinda also wants people to know that Andy Evans is a rapist. She hopes to one day recover from her traumatic experience, find her voice, and stand up to Andy Evans by informing others about his attack. Melinda also desires to improve her self-esteem, love herself again, and form meaningful relationships with her peers.

This question doesn't likely have a singular, neat answer. Melinda is a very mentally and emotionally distraught character. She is a rape victim, and nobody knows about it. Andy Evans, a high school senior, raped Melinda at a party over the summer, and Melinda called the police in response. The party was ended, and everybody blames Melinda for being a complete killjoy. Nobody knows what happened to her at the party; therefore, I think that one thing that Melinda wants is for people to know what happened to her and understand why she called the police. For most of the book, she is a social outcast because of her phone call. I believe that Melinda would like people to understand why she made that phone call. Achieving that goal would also let Rachel know that Andy Evans is definitely somebody that should be avoided at all costs. For any of these things to happen, Melinda ultimately needs to find enough confidence to speak out. Much of the book is about her struggle to find the courage to speak out against Andy, be an advocate for herself, and speak honestly about what happened to her. I think Melinda wants, more than anything else, confidence in herself and acceptance from everybody else.

Melinda ultimately wants to find her voice and grow as a person. After being blamed for calling the police and ending a summer party, her classmates abandon and bully her.  Melinda never revealed that the real reason for her 911 call was that Andy Evans, a popular senior boy, had raped her at the party. Throughout the story, she withdraws and chooses not to communicate with anyone. Melinda is only at peace when she is alone. Eventually, she begins to express herself through art class. Her art teacher tells her “I think you have a lot to say. I’d like to hear it.” Melinda finally speaks out when she attempts to warn Rachel, her former friend, about Andy. Realizing that other girls feel the same way about him, Melinda becomes more empowered to stand up for herself. When she finally stands up to Andy, she finds that she has the support of others who will listen to her. Just like the trees that form the focus of her art project, Melinda grows and finally finds her voice.

Melinda's journey in Speak is to find a voice taken away as a result of being sexually abused at a party the summer before her first year of high school.

The sexual assault Melinda suffers at the hands of Andy Evans takes her voice away.  The trauma she experienced in addition to everyone in her social group blaming her for calling the police and breaking up the party where the rape took place contributes to her silence. As high school begins, Melinda finds herself socially ostracized.  She is unable to fit in anywhere and with anyone.  As a result of social and psychological marginalization, Melinda is unable to "speak" in a literal and symbolic way.

Reclaiming her voice constitutes her journey.  She has to navigate many different obstacles in her path such as uncaring teachers, even more unfeeling students, and, of course, "IT."  She must voyage through the painful condition of nothingness in order to find her voice: "I wash my face in the sink until there is nothing left of it, no eyes, no nose, no mouth!  A slick nothing!" Melinda finds some sources of assistance on her journey, such as the sage-like words of her art teacher:  

When people don't express themselves, they die one piece at a time.  You'd be shocked at how many adults are really dead inside- walking through their days with no idea who they are, just waiting for a heart attack or cancer or a Mack truck to come along and finish the job."  It's the saddest thing I know.

Melinda's journey takes her through intellectual stopping points, such as comparing herself to Hawthorne's heroine, Hester, in The Scarlet Letter: "...S for silent, for stupid, for scared.  S for silly.  For shame."  Her quest requires her to recognize the obstacles in the outside world and rise above it: "It is easier not to say anything... Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say." 

As her first year of high school comes to a close, Melinda is able to find her voice.  She emerges to this point as "tears dissolve the last block of ice" which blocks her ability to speak.  She is able to experience the "dripping shards of ice that vanish in a puddle of sunlight on the stained floor. Words float up."  Her confrontation with "IT" one last time is when Melinda comes full circle in her journey.