Stand Up and Speak Up
After reading “The Journey” written by Mary Oliver, I have noted that the author of the poem was suggesting a few different themes and ideas. One of which is that although there will be countless things dragging you down in life, you must stay strong and carry on. From line four to line seven, the author mentioned that bad advice was shouted at you, and the entire house began to tremble. They represent the people who tell you that you will never succeed and the awful things that are dragging you down. In spite of all the negativities in your life, you have to pick yourself up and move on. Another idea that the author wished to express through “The Journey” is that you must speak up and let your voice be heard. Between…
Numerous writers have written books and poems to encourage readers to speak up and stand up for themselves, including “The Journey” and “Speak”. They both pass along the message that if you don’t let people know how you feel, what you have gone through, and what you stand for, you are not going to reach anywhere in life. In the novel “Speak”, Melinda never told anyone that she was raped at the party, therefore people in her school misunderstood her action. At the end of the story, She decides to tell her friends about the incident. People now understand her and she was accepted by others as a result of her speaking up. People are not mind readers; they never know what’s going through your head unless you tell them and express yourself. Another valuable lesson that we all can learn from “The Journey” and “Speak” is that no matter how much people doubt you or how much your life is going against you, you must to pick yourself up and carry on. In “Speak”, Melinda dealt with several problems in her life at once, including her grades, her social life, and the terrible memories of what happened at the party. In spite of all the things that are dragging her down in her life, she stayed strong and beared through the school year. When Andy Evans tried to attack Melinda, she fought back by stabbing him with a piece of glass. She earned…
