101 pages • 3 hours read
Out of My Mind
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Chapters 16-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 16 Summary
When Melody brings the Medi-Talker to school with her, a whole new world of communication opens up. Despite the occasional errors that occur—typos, pushing the wrong buttons, moving smoothly through various levels—Elvira gives Melody the opportunity to have the class’ attention positively for the first time.
The responses of most people around her are heartwarming. Catherine is thrilled for Melody and laughs when Melody teases her about her lack of fashion sense. Connor, a popular student, declares the computer cool, and so most other students in class let it alone. Claire, however, makes her usual rude comments, and Miss Gordon reprimands her. Despite these small setbacks, Melody can tell the class jokes and says she finally feels “like I’m part of the group” (142).
When Claire states that “it just never occurred to me that Melody had thoughts in her head” (142), Miss Gordon approaches the insult positively, making it a teaching moment for the whole class by remarking that Melody has always had thoughts, but no way to express them. Best of all, Rose thinks that the computer is amazing, and when Melody says “Friends?” (143) through the computer, Rose agrees immediately, making Melody extremely happy.
Chapter 17 Summary
The advent of Elvira makes school more pleasant for Melody, but it hasn’t changed everything. She still sits alone at recess, and her classmates don’t engage with her outside of class. The exception is Rose; she will stop to visit Melody only briefly before joining her other friends.
One day in history class, Mr. Dimming announces that the school will field a team for the annual Whiz Kids competition held downtown. He holds a practice quiz round in class, and the students all participate, including Melody. The kids are given 50 questions, and they must write down the letter for the correct answer. When she finishes the quiz, Melody pushes the button to print out her responses, and Catherine brings the sheet up to Mr. Dimming.
After checking all the answers, Mr. Dimming announces that Melody has won the practice competition and candy prize. The class is stunned, and immediately Molly and Claire accuse Melody of cheating because she has an aide to give her the answers. In anger, Catherine storms over to the girls’ seats to say she did not give Melody any help. Claire says she can’t believe a person who can’t even sit up on her own could be smart, and Catherine points out that smarts and physical prowess aren’t always linked together. She insults Claire by telling her to look in the mirror, and she’d know.
Mr. Dimming congratulates Melody for getting all the questions right and gives her the candy prize, but the upset over Melody’s win has soured the experience for her. Catherine tells Melody how proud she is of her, but Melody is sad that the students think her mind is like her ineffectual body. Catherine is determined to help Melody be part of the Whiz Kids team, even though Melody doesn’t believe it will happen.
The class ends on a backhanded insult, with Mr. Dimming saying that he will create the hardest practice questions possible, because, “If Melody Brooks can win the first round, then my questions must not be difficult enough!” (155). Melody is heartbroken.
Chapter 18 Summary
After school, Melody is hurt and angry, and she takes it out on Mrs. V and Penny by turning off the computer and refusing to speak to them. Penny, too young to understand, continuously tries to get Melody to interact with her, and Melody angrily wants her to “just shut up! Talking all the time. Walking all the time. Jumping and bouncing and singing” (157). She tries to brush Penny’s Doodle toy off her tray and ends up knocking Penny to the floor.
Catherine calls Mrs. V and explains what happened in Melody’s history class. Mrs. V is furious at what Mr. Dimming said and asks Catherine to call Melody’s parents later to explain the situation to them. Mrs. V then comes over to Melody, and instead of hugging her, as Melody expects, she provokes Melody into talking to her about what happened. Melody’s feelings are hurt, as even Rose had laughed at what Mr. Dimming said.
Instead of feeling sorry for her, Mrs. V continues to question her about the quiz and is determined to help train Melody so that she is the best possible student to have on the Whiz Kids team. Despite Melody’s doubts, Mrs. V claims, “They’ll need you, Melody. You are going to be their secret weapon” (160). They spend the rest of the afternoon studying and practicing world geography until Mr. Brooks arrives to get the girls. Mrs. V asks if Melody can stay longer and have dinner so they can continue to study.
In school, Catherine picks up where Mrs. V left off by helping Melody study during lunch. When she asks Melody if she is still upset about Mr. Dimming, Melody says, “Deleted the memory—need room for facts” (164). The only trouble Melody has in her practice is with math, causing her to lament, “Words float easily into my head. But numbers seem to sink to the bottom like rocks” (164). Eventually, by using imagery and with Catherine’s assistance, the math questions become easier. Melody decides not to take part in the inclusion classes and instead stay in her classroom to study. No one in the school seems to notice that she is missing.
Chapters 16-18 Analysis
The Medi-Talker allows Melody to communicate the way she’s always wanted to, but it doesn’t change that she’s a social outcast. Her classmates still see her as “other.” When Claire marvels that Melody actually has thoughts in her head, and Mr. Dimming assumes that his test isn’t hard enough if Melody can pass it, they’re both displaying their bias against disabled people. As Melody’s confidantes in the first-person narrative, the reader knows that Melody is just like any other girl her age inside, if not more intellectually remarkable; we’re able to see the bias knowing full well that Melody is brilliant and their claims are unfair and untrue. Were the story told from Claire’s perspective—someone who doesn’t hear Melody’s inner narrative and never sees Melody communicate for herself—we might also assume that Melody isn’t intelligent, having (up until the Medi-Taker and test results) no proof to the contrary. This bias also appears in the rest of Melody’s classmates when she easily passes the test, and her classmates accuse her of cheating. Draper’s intent here is to have the readers question their biases against people who are different than themselves.
Mrs. V and Catherine’s responses to the bullying suit Melody’s character. Rather than letting her sulkily quit trying to improve herself at school or interact with others, they encourage her to prove her classmates and Mr. Dimming wrong. Melody’s character often perseveres in difficult situation, and the Whiz Kids competition is no exception; while it would be easier to forget the Whiz Kids and go back to her usual routine, Melody has found a way to communicate her strengths and intends to use it.
Melody studies, recognizing that no one seems to miss her from her inclusion classes. Her recognition and dismissal of this thought suggests that Melody realizes she will never gain total acceptance in these classes, but she intends to strive for personal improvement anyway.
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By Sharon M. Draper
