The Speak Cover

Literal

Face

On the Speak cover there are many literal hints, they also come up in the book. First of all there is a Dark open eye that only has a little white to it. There is only one on the cover. Underneath the eye it is dark, and the eye looks a little watery like Melinda just cried. Also a dark green leaf is covering where her mouth would be. To add on to that, on the other side of the cover, where it is light, it looks like a leave is covering where her other eye should be. Melinda’s skin color on her face is of the same dark green shade of the leaves and branches. The lightness of the cover only lets you see a portion of her face.

Tree

There are two main leaves, one is dark the other is half dark and half light. The leaves are small and the shade of dark green. The branches are very thin and seem to be easily broken. Some of the branches are half dark while the other half is the light. It looks like (on the bottom right corner) there is a trunk of a tree. The trunk looks thin like the branches, and the first branch out of the trunk is extremely thin. The leaves are the same shape as her eye, the two main leaves. It looks like there is more branches but they are covered by the light.

Figurative

The leaf is covering her mouth, this is representing her inability to speak and communicate through out the novel. The mouth leave is dark and on the dark side showing that in the awful beginning she is sad, depressed, and has dark feelings. It also looks like Melinda can almost choose a side the light, with much more happiness or the dark while she continues to hold all her feelings in. The emotional mood changes that goes on through out the novel of her being sad but at other times peaceful. The tree in the cover is a direct metaphor to the book. At first in art class, her tree is dead and has no life to it. As Melinda keeps drawing they get more life and by the end it is filled with life. That also is showing the light like a sun at the end light and life is filling the tree. The light and life is instead of darkness and death. The cover shows in the tree that it can either be dying or just starting a new life. The tree has very few leaves you can see, and the leaves that you can see are covering part of her face. You can see by the eye she is sad and that continues on in the book, of her emotional face.