How does identity relate to Melinda’s life?

As a coming of age novel, Speak has a strong focus on adolescence, identity and the problems and desires associated with them. Despite Melinda's unusually traumatic experiences, almost every reader can connect to the world she lives in. Melinda lists the cliques that the ninth grade class has broken into: "Jocks, Country Clubbers, Idiot Savants, Cheerleaders, Human Waste, Eurotrash, Future Fascists of America, Big Hair Chix, the Marthas, Suffering Artists, Thespians, Goths, Shredders" (4), familiar high school groups. Many readers will also understand Melinda's feeling of adolescent social isolation. Her negative reactions to certain aspects of the school day, such as gym class ("Gym class should be illegal. It is humiliating" [18]) and lunch ("Nothing good ever happens at lunch. The cafeteria is a giant sound stage where they film daily segments of Teenage Humiliation Rituals. And it smells gross" [104]), are not unique to someone suffering from post-traumatic stress. Furthermore, Melinda exhibits a typical adolescent reaction to authority figures and rejects them by giving them ridiculous nicknames.