Week 6

"I am a hearing student (or deaf student) assigned the book Train Go Sorry in my Introduction to Humanities Class. Other readings assigned in this class include several essays from the book My California. In both books and film, we examined the cultures of California that form a microcosm of the U.S.; and the U.S. forms a microcosm of the world. In this essay, I will incorporate 4 required questions.
1. What does Train Go Sorry mean (who in the book is this referring to; there is a specific person, include his name and his outcome. Remember that good college writing assumes no one has read the information and you must present it or 'teach' it by giving us details.)?
James goes to see his brother in Riker’s Island Penitentiary seven months after he has been sentenced. He arrives at the jail and is told that Joseph, his brother is on court today. He summarizes this information as “Train Go Sorry” as in he missed the boat. The book tells us that this is the deaf peoples way of stating that the missed an opportunity or a connection of some sort. It is from ASL (American Sign Language) in this situation James is told to wait for the bus to head home as he is not able to visit his brother this time. James tried again to visit his brother in March after the Honors breakfast and again he is told his brother, Joseph was in court. He decided to try again, for the third time in late spring and this time he makes it further. He tells us of smashing a cockroach on his shoe during this visit. On this third attempt he finally gets to see his brother. From the reading it does not sound like his brother is very excited to see him. James tells him select information about home life and Joseph tells James of life in prison. James informs Joseph that jail has made him ugly. James leaves the jail and thinks to himself that Joseph had missed the boat this time, not him as a result of his choices in life.
2. What pair of 'shoes' do you think the main person in the book is walking in and what did she learn? In other words, who or what culture does she want to belong to and why?
The “shoes that are being walked in here are of a hearing person who has grown up in a Deaf world. The person we are referring to here is the author herself, Leah Cohen. Leah has grown up around Lexington School for the deaf. She has learned the language of the hearing and deaf world. Her parents are hearing people as well but her grandparents were deaf. She has wanted to belong to the Deaf community even though she is a hearing person as that is what she has grown up around and that is what she is ultimately familiar with. She longs to fit in to this group and even went as far as to put pebbles in her ears to represent hearing aids. They move away from living in the school when she is a little girl. She signs to isolate herself when she is sad or upset.
3. What is one image you won't ever forget? Draw us a picture in words to explain this. What chapter is it in?
One image I will never forget is in the beginning of chapter 10 titled “Stupid English” where the students are in English class. It is a completely normal chaotic scene. The reason it stands out to me is there is so much talk of the differences between the deaf and hearing world I just perceived the environment as so different. The scene is the students are sitting around the table, one shakes a box of M&M’s and one of the girls, Juanita, buys it. She opens the box and spills the candy. In the midst of this Tamara rolled a bottle of nail polish to Sofia and then Sofia asks to borrow Patti’s lip gloss. Patti then digs through her gym bag to find it. It is just a picture that stands out as typical normal high school and it contrasted to me that aside from the deaf can’t communicate in the exact fashion we can they are really pretty normal.
4. What are 5 facts about ASL or Deaf culture you think everyone should know after your reading of this book?

80% of deaf people attend regular public school, but unemployment rates exceed 60% pg 56
There is no clear definition of “sign language” It is a mix of ASL to combinations of languages. Pg 115- To me this is interesting as I thought it would be a more uniformed language, I do understand that is like reiginal dialect where everyone has a spin on main ideas.

Recently Albany decided ASL satisfied their foreign language requirement for high school. The deaf students were excited about this thinking ahead to the future. There will be disappointment when they come to find out that they most likely will not be eligible for the jobs as few possess the requirements needed to obtain a deaf teaching certificate. Pg 206

Many deaf people have been told to reign in their laughter as it sounds strange and scary. Pg 240- This is a sad fact to me. I think people sould be open and free to express their emotions.

ASL interpreters are the only interpreters who interpret their native language into another language learned later in life. Pg 262- I think this has to be a challenging yet rewarding job. It has to be interesting to think in your native language and then have to translate into a very different language.

Waiting on the world to change- This video was really neat. This video opens up with a bunch of quotes that talk about the differences of deaf people. It also shows a bunch of different people signing the lyrics to the song “Waiting on the world to change” I thought that quotes it opened up with are from ignorance. My next door neighbor was deaf and he was one of the sweetest people I ever met. It is sad that there is such a misunderstanding about deaf people. I agree with the man who said “deaf people can do anything that normal people can except hear.” I was touched by the little girl signing. I thought that was cool that they put different people from all walks of life in the video.

Deaf West Theatre Clip 1- This video shows a play like production of people singing a musical number that looks like it is farm hands and some more formal ladies. They are singing dancing and signing. This was a good clip of the theater part. There is not much difference from a hearing production and a deaf production except for the signing. If anything it enhances the production adding more to it. I also was impressed by the talent of these actors and actresses singing, dancing, and signing at the same time.

Dancing With the Stars: Interview with Marlee Matlin- The first link did not work as it had been removed by youtube. I watched the interview on the second link and she said she is really inspired and that she is impressed by her costars dancing. She also agrees that they work very hard to learn a routine in 4 days. I can only imagine how much harder it is to learn a routine when you cannot hear. You have to have a person who signs translate the instructions, the feedback, the step counts and it goes on. I think she is very graceful and does a good job with her dancing. I was sorry to see her get eliminated.

VSAI day of the arts at the Indiana Deaf School- This video took us to visit the day of the arts that was hosted on the grounds of Indiana Deaf School. They had dancing, performance, clay, visual arts, teachers, and it continues. There were more than 400 students from multiple school that participated. The state representative gave the kick off speech for the day in addition to ISD Superintendent, VSAI president, and the student whose design was on the festival t-shirt. They did a balloon release as well to signify kick off. The students also were all able to see the performing group and they also made a piece of art to be installed on campus. I think this festival is great! It is a shame that there is not more of these festivals that happen. It seemed to be a great day for the students and the community as well.

NetSignNews.com- This video is a news clip of an actress who cannot hear the director’s calls. She speaks of how she has to make sure her lines are coordinated and precisely on time with the body language of others. She goes on to say she loves being deaf and hopes that more people will learn sign language. I think that it is wonderful she embraces her difference instead of being at odds with it.

I learned that the deaf culture is one of many faces. I think it is a very unique and creative culture. I have had many interactions with deaf people as I mentioned my neighbor was deaf. He and his friends who were mostly deaf also were the nicest friendliest people. I think that it is a culture that has not been understood therefore creating a fear of the unknown. I think it is great they have school and programs for the deaf community. I enjoyed this assignment as it provided a new aspect to think about how the world is seen.