Speak

Cole Thomas

Period 2

March 11, 2010

According to William James and his article in “The Social Me”, I have as many different selves as people I come in contact with. But I know myself better than anyone will ever no me. I am Cole Thomas I go to University High School and like to play soccer. Those are things that everyone knows about me but Cole Thomas is so much more than a student at University High School. I know things about myself that I would never share with anyone, not because they are bad things but because I feel that if someone would know everything about you than you would no longer have your own identity. You are who you are because of the experiences you have had in the pasts. People cannot take those experiences away from you and you will always remember them if you don’t block them out of you mind. These experiences control how you act and react in different situations. Because everyone had had different experiences in their pasts people will always be different from each other. Some people may have similar characteristics but that is only because they have had experiences. Bullying is a perfect example of how people are different. Mr. Napier talk about how bullies had parents who were unable to subscribe constant punishment. The parents were unreliable on how they would punish their son. Because of the bullies different experiences with their parents they turn out different then another kid who had parents that were able to punish their child with acceptable and constant punishment.

In the Novel Speak Melinda is who she is because she was raped. If Melinda was never raped she would have had the chance to still be friends with Rachelle and many others who she never even meet. Melinda’s mind works the way it does because she does not want to come a decision to except what has happened to her. The reason Art is the only class that she has an A in is because that is the only class that is relating to her at that point in her life. Melisa has her own mind and it is impossible for her to progress in life if she doesn’t get over what happened to her over the summer. Melinda is lonely because she will not let other people into her life and others won’t let her into theirs. This makes her, her because her personality has changed because she is scared that she might be raped again.