Speak (Novel)
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50 free Speak (Novel) trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson's 1999 novel, follows Melinda through a freshman year in which she hardly says a word. Told across four marking periods, it is funny, angry and painfully honest about what silence costs, which is why so many middle and high school classes read it. This quiz covers the whole year: the first marking period's new school and lost friends, the second marking period's holidays and art projects, the third's long winter and the fourth marking period's turning points. Along the way it asks about the symbols and figurative language that carry the story, the teachers and classmates Melinda nicknames, and the film adaptation. It is written for students revising before a test, teachers who want a quick check on a reading assignment, and readers curious how much has stuck. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so a wrong guess teaches something too. Be aware that the novel deals with sexual assault, and some questions refer to it.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which subject does Melinda pull from a broken globe in Speak and have to turn into art all year?
A tree
A tree is Melinda's subject, and her attempts chart her recovery: her early ones are lightning-struck and nearly lifeless. Her art teacher wants every piece to carry emotion.
Q 02In Speak, what did Melinda do at an end-of-summer party that turns her old friends against her?
Called the police
Melinda called the police, which is all her classmates know: the party was broken up and some students were arrested. Nobody knows a senior had just assaulted her.
Q 03Which abandoned space at Merryweather High does Melinda turn into her private hideout in Speak?
A janitor's closet
A janitor's closet in the Seniors' Wing becomes her refuge after she ducks inside to escape Mr. Neck. She steals late passes from Hairwoman's desk so she can slip away to it during class.
Q 04Which character in Speak does Melinda refer to only as 'IT' for the first half of the school year?
Andy Evans
Andy Evans is the senior who assaulted her, and for months she cannot bring herself to use his name. She finally names him when he turns up at her cafeteria table to flirt with an older girl.
Q 05After a ruined Thanksgiving dinner in Speak, what does Melinda pull from the trash for art class?
Turkey bones
Turkey bones, glued to a piece of wood and topped with a Barbie doll's head, become her first work to win real praise. Her mother's job kept phoning until the bird was ruined, so Melinda and her father ordered pizza.
Q 06Which writer's poster does Melinda hang over the mirror in her school hideout in Speak?
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou watches over the hideout, and the choice is pointed: Angelou too was silenced after being attacked as a child. Melinda brings books from home to please the portrait.
Q 07Which classic novel does Hairwoman's English class study in Speak, to Rachel's loud annoyance?
The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter gives Melinda a mirror: as Hester Prynne wears an A, she imagines wearing an S for silent, scared and shame. Rachel insists the symbolism is invented, earning the class an essay.
Q 08Which actress played Melinda in the 2004 film of Speak, a low-budget production filmed in 21 days?
Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart starred opposite Steve Zahn as the art teacher, on a budget of about $1 million. The film premiered at Sundance and later aired on Showtime and Lifetime on the same day.
Q 09Which clique of matching outfits and charity projects does Heather strive to join in Speak?
The Marthas
The Marthas took their name from a Martha in the Bible but now follow a famous homemaking guru, living for good deeds and a preppy look. Heather joins on probation and ends up as their errand girl rather than their friend.
Q 10In Speak, which group is the subject of the report Melinda refuses to read aloud for Mr. Neck?
The suffragettes
The suffragettes inspire her silent protest, but David Petrakis says she missed their point: they fought to be heard. "You can't speak up for your right to be silent," he tells her after she gets a D.
Q 11Which teacher does Melinda finally tell her whole story to on the last day of school in Speak?
Mr. Freeman
Mr. Freeman, her art teacher, has just praised her finished project and said he knows she has had a tough year. He was the one adult who kept telling her she had a lot to say.
Q 12In Speak, which part of herself does Melinda bite until it bleeds, a habit tied to her silence?
Her lips
Her lips are chewed raw within weeks, and she turns her bedroom mirror to the wall rather than look at them. The damaged mouth matches her vow not to say what hurts most.
Q 13In Speak, which state has Heather just left, where she insists getting involved was never this hard?
Ohio
Q 21Which mascot wins the school-wide vote in Speak, a result announced at the Winter Assembly?
The Wombats
The Wombats beat the Bees, the Icebergs and the Hilltoppers on the ballot, and Melinda enjoys picturing cheerleaders hunting for a rhyme. The name is scrapped months later because the costume costs too much.
Q 22What topic does Mr. Neck write on the board in Speak before David Petrakis walks out in protest?
Immigration
Immigration is the topic because Mr. Neck is bitter that his son failed to get a firefighting job, and he ends the debate once it turns against him. David calls the lesson racist and xenophobic and leaves.
Q 23Which Christmas gift from her parents in Speak almost moves Melinda to tell them her secret?
Ohio sticks to her name: Melinda first knows her as "Heather from Ohio", a fellow loner at freshman orientation. Their bond is one-sided from the start, with Heather talking and Melinda listening.
Q 14In Speak, cutting into which lab animal makes Melinda faint as memories of the party rush back?
A frog
A frog is pinned motionless before her, and its helplessness sends her back to the night she was attacked. She hits her head as she falls and needs stitches.
Q 15In which class is David Petrakis the lab partner of Melinda in Speak, a subject taught by Ms. Keen?
Biology
Biology is one class where Melinda pays attention, drawn in by the microscopes and by David, who is brilliant yet never bullied. She wonders what his secret is.
Q 16Which mascot has Merryweather High just dropped as Speak opens, after complaints that it was lewd?
The Trojans
The Trojans give way to the Devils as the school sign is repainted on Melinda's first day. It is the first of several mascot swaps that year, a running joke about a school unsure of its identity.
Q 17What food hits Melinda in the chest in the cafeteria on her first day in Speak?
Mashed potatoes
Mashed potatoes hit her as she scans the room for somewhere to sit, and when she tries to flee Mr. Neck hands her a demerit. The 2004 film makes the hit deliberate rather than an accident.
Q 18Melinda's list early in Speak is titled 'The First Ten' what 'They Tell You in High School'?
Lies
Lies top her list because Melinda trusts no one in authority, mocking her teachers with nicknames like Mr. Neck and Hairwoman. Her sharp inner voice shows she is far from weak, only unwilling to talk.
Q 19In which upstate New York city is Speak set, a detail the 2004 film changed to the Midwest?
Syracuse
Syracuse is home ground for its author, who went to high school in a suburb of the city. May finally brings warm weather there late in the novel, and Melinda starts clearing the yard.
Q 20What is the surname of Melinda, the narrator of Speak, which is also an Italian musical term?
Sordino
Sordino is the Italian word for a mute, the device that muffles an instrument: a score marked con sordino tells musicians to play with one. It suits a narrator who has almost stopped talking.
A sketchpad and charcoal pencils
A sketchpad and charcoal pencils show that her parents have noticed her drawing, and she tears up. She stays quiet because the truth would also raise where each of them was on the night of the party.
Q 24When gym class moves indoors in Speak, Melinda turns out to have a surprising talent for what?
Foul shots
Foul shots drop so easily for her that Ms. Connors tries to recruit her for the basketball team, then finds her grades are too low. Asked to coach a boys' team player at the line instead, Melinda cannot say no.
Q 25What does IT whisper in Melinda's ear in Speak as she hangs posters for a canned food drive?
Freshmeat
Freshmeat is all he says, and she drops everything and runs. She had hoped that being seen doing a good deed for Heather might repair her reputation.
Q 26Which canned food do the senior girls scold Heather for donating to their food drive in Speak?
Beets
Beets break the clique's rule that members give only food they would eat themselves, and Heather's posters are called childish too. Melinda, who helped with them, is hurt that Heather says nothing.
Q 27Which art style does Melinda try in Speak after her teacher hands her a book, earning his praise?
Cubism
Cubism grabs her in a book on Picasso after his earlier work bores her, and her teacher says she is finally moving forward. Its fragmented style echoes her own scattered thoughts.
Q 28Which animal does Melinda become in a recurring metaphor in Speak, freezing whenever IT comes near?
A rabbit
A rabbit that goes rigid and hopes not to be seen is how she pictures herself outside the bakery, and again when he sits beside her at school. Keeping motionless fails: he notices her anyway.
Q 29In Speak, what does Melinda decide stands for cold and silence, hushing 'as still as my heart'?
Snow
Snow is her answer when Hairwoman asks the class what it meant to the author they are studying: "Nothing quieter than snow." Winter is when Melinda is at her most withdrawn.
Q 30Which mascot does Merryweather adopt midway through Speak, even though Melinda is allergic to them?
The Hornets
The Hornets arrive on the principal's say-so, then draw complaints from the PTA once the cheerleaders' chant turns suggestive. The student council counters that a year without a fixed identity is doing harm.