Speak: Task 2

The Main Character (Melinda)

After Melinda gets raped she withdraws from her family and her only two friends she has. She wants to speak about that what depresses her but she can’t negotiate to do. So the only place for her to be alone is in her head. In School Melinda tries to make friends although she knows that everybody hates her for that what she has done.

Also Rachel, her ex-best-friend which has done everything together with Melinda does not want to have something to do with her. She is the only person Melinda can speak to. Rachel is not the only person which turns away from her. All Melinda’s friends from elementary school are in their own clan. Only David Petrakis supports her all the time. In contrast to Heather, who breaks off the friendship because Melinda is depressed and not speaking David wants to help her. He says she should not be afraid to speak but he does not get any success.

At home Melinda is alone the most time ‘cause her parents are working very much. So they do not speak much together. The main way of communication is writing a letter and pinning it at the fridge. If her parents are at home she is mostly in her room or watching TV. Though they know that something is wrong with Melinda they do not really do something against or try to talk to her to solve the problem.

Also the teachers do not notice Melinda. They are not friendly especially Mr. Neck is very hostile to her. Except Mr. Freeman likes and speaks with her because he notices very soon what is up with her. That is reason why Melinda’s best mark is in art and in all other subjects she gets very bad marks.

Speak: Task 1

Speak

Laurie Halse Anderson was born on October 23, 1961 in Potsdam, New York. She has four children and lives with her family in New York City. Speak is one of her most successful novels she writes and leverages to her break through.

It is summer-vacation. Melinda Sordino, a 13 years old girl, is at a party of a friend of Andy Evans. After half time something happened to her and she calls the police so that they all get busted, but she can’t tell them why she called the cops. Since this party Melinda speaks hardly anything and backs out. Then school starts again for her in high school. There she has no friends because everybody hates her for what she has done. Only the two schoolmates Heather and David Petrakis become friends of her. Also in school Melinda can’t speak up what she wants to except in art and all her marks are getting worse. Some time later Heather breaks off the friendship to her as Melinda would be depressive. Only David is supporting her but also say that she should come out of her by speaking. In the meantime she isn’t able to keep her thoughts for her. She wants t speak but she can’t. Only as Heather comes back to her looking for help she breaks the blockade. So she communicates by writing at a notebook with her ex-best-friend Rachel about the happenings at the party. Rachel feels very sad for her until Melinda says that Rachel’s boyfriend Andy raped her. Rachel doesn’t believe her and gets angry though she’s afraid that Melinda could be right. Soon the rumour spreads in the whole school. Consequently also Andy hears of that. The result is that he attacks Melinda and wants her to acknowledge that she has lied. Not like at the party Melinda can resist and threats him with a sharp glass “I said NO!”

My opinion about this book is that it is written a little bit too boring. It is very interesting but thrilling parts should be more detailed. Except for this it is a really good book.

Globalization

1. Globalization affects employment of Austria:

At the one hand the market in Austria became better because of the enlargement to Eastern Europe, where the economy booms and Austria is directly situated at the border to this region. On the other hand many Austrian companies displace their places of production to other countries for saving money.

2. Austrian multinationales

· Liebherr:

… is one of the leading concerns for cranes worldwide and employs 26.337 people around the world. In 2006 they obtain 6.473 Mio. €.

· Rauch:

…and Fohrenburger have more than 1000 staff members and export into more than 50 counties. In 2003 Rauch made more than 483 million € earning.

· Doppelmayr:

…has built more than 13.700 installations in over 78 countries. So it is the world’s leader in ropeway engineering.

3. Groups against globalization

Anti-Globalization: That is a social movement which is strictly against globalization and tries to reduce the global complexity.

4. How can we support Fair Trade?

If you buy products marked whit the Fair Trade logo you support this organisation. These products, which are exports from Developing Countries and Third World Countries are a bit more expensive than local product but so more than 1,4 million farmers profit.

5. Opinion about globalization

In my opinion globalization has good and bad sites. It’s good that the world grows together and we can communicate with all people of the world because of the internet but it’s bad that everything is produced somewhere and is transported through the whole world. We should produce the things we need in our own country though it is cheaper in China or India.