Ollie the Fish

Ollie the fish is significant because he connects to Melody.  Ollie jumped out of his own fish bowl, which according to Melody he just swam around the small bowl in circles.  I think Ollie felt trapped and tried to escape.  Just like how Melody feels inside her head.  She feels trapped not being able to talk or move.  It’s like Ollie and Melody each have their own type of prison.  Ollie was trapped in a small circular bowl and Melody was trapped in her head.  Melody was very frustrated that she wasn’t able to tell her mother and had to scream to get her attention.  Melody I bet was also angry at her mom for not getting there sooner and not being able to save Ollie.  I have a feeling Melody felt annoyed and angry for not being able to tell her mom what happened, therefore her mom thought she knocked over the fishbowl herself.

Quiz Team

I think Melody tried out for the quiz team first because she wanted to and second because she wanted to show people her disability doesn’t define her knowledge.  Some of her classmates and Mr. Dimmings didn’t believe she could do it even after she scored a 100% on the practice round of the quiz.  On top of that she was the only one in her class to achieve a perfect score.  Melody has to look past all the comments from her peers and study constantly.  She studies with Mrs. V, her parents, Catherine, and by herself.  She even had to convince the teacher to even let her take the test.

Friendship

The inclusion program has made life at school more enjoyable for Melody.  Now she looks forward to going to school the next day.  The program has made some positive and negative impacts in Melody’s life.  She has been able to make a new friend, Rose.  She is learning on a higher level than what she repeatedly learns in H-5.  In the book, Melody even learned all the Presidents and their Vice- Presidents. Even with these good things there of course are some bad.  Molly and Claire constantly make fun of Melody and the other kids with disabilities.  For example, when she went with Rose to the aquarium Claire and Molly were there too.  They couldn’t believe that Rose actually wanted to be with Melody.  In class Melody gets frustrated because she can’t answer the questions she knows the answers to.   She couldn’t participate in the vocabulary bingo in Mrs. Gordon’s class when she knew all the definitions.  Melody needs a friend that understands her and keeps her company.  Having a friend gives her something to look forward to at school and ensures she isn’t lonely.  A true friend is someone who is loyal and trustworthy.  A true friend always has your back and is willing to make sacrifices for you.  Friendship is one of the most important things in the world.  Having a friendship with someone can make you feel loved, included, give you self-worth, and make you feel like you have a place in the world.

Non- Verbal Conversation Reflection

We made a communication board just like Melody has.  We used our thumbs to “talk” using the communication board to have a conversation.  The board was limited to only 50 words with the alphabet and number chart above.  We did this activity to build empathy for Melody and her situation.

I used words like homework, teacher, and your.  These are words I thought would be used in a scenario like the one me and my partner did.  If I had the opportunity to do this again I would be smaller words on the board like what, not, and is.  Since I wrote in mostly big words on the communication board and a small amount at that it was hard to communicate easily.  I mostly had to spell out words and it made understanding what I was saying more confusing for my partner.

Sometimes it was easy to understand what each of us was saying if it included words we wrote on the communication board. It was okay if we had some words written on the board and then had to spell some out.  It was difficult when we just had to spell the words out since they weren’t written on our board.  I thought it was very frustrating because it was slow to get out a sentence and even then we sometimes couldn’t understand what the other was saying.

I’m surprised Melody has made it this far with limited amount of words to say.  I would have gone crazy by now and she has been able to do it for years.  It feels like you have to much to say or and overload in your mind not being able to talk.  I feel bad for Melody and understand how she feels never talking her whole as opposed to me not talking for 2o minutes.  If Melody starts to get angry that she can’t talk or express herself in the story I won’t judge her.  I wouldn’t blame her for being frustrated that she doesn’t have a voice.

Melody’s Diagnoses

The discussion on the power of words and language is important to the story because the main character, Melody, is unable to express herself using spoken words.  It captures the reader’s attention when Melody refers to words a gift and makes you realize you are lucky.  Melody has never spoken a word and she is “almost eleven years old”.  I predict that Melody will continue to be frustrated because she can’t talk and say what she is thinking.  I also predict that because of her diagnoses others will think that Melody is “retarded” or unable to learn.  I infer that Melody’s mind is smarter than majority of the characters in the story.  In the book Melody says she as a photographic memory and absorbs everything.  I also infer that Melody’s mind is like a prison and her body and diagnoses is preventing her from escaping.  So therefore she is stuck in her mind with all her thoughts and words crammed around her.