I am a hearing 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, we examined the cultures of California that form a microcosm of the U. S. In this essay, I will incorporate 4 required questions.
In the book one of the deaf students that the author follows is James. One day he ventures to Rikers Island Prison to visit his brother. The journey begins with a bus ride, once at the prison complex James takes his cue as to what to do next by watching the other visitors. After many procedural nuances, i.e. first check in, waiting, second check in, more waiting, James is finally told that his brother is not at the prison that particular day, he is in court. What goes through James' mind is the phrase "train go sorry". When deaf people miss out on an opportunity or have connections that have been missed i.e. a bus, this is their phrase. In American Sign Language (ASL), it is the equivalent of the English language phrase "you missed the boat". James knew what days and hours he could visit the prison, what he was not aware of, were court dates. James will eventually connect with his brother on another day.
The author of the book is part of the hearing community, however, she has deep ties to the Lexington School for the Deaf. Her grandfather attended the school, both parents worked there, her father eventually became superintendent and for the first seven years of her life her family lived at the school. The many staff members were her extended family. She feels a deep connection and understanding of the deaf culture as well as the realization that it was not the community she could be a member of even though she desired to be. As she states "cultural identity is fixed" (pg 17) and this was not the culture she was part of.
James came to Lexington as a fourteen year old pre-freshman. It is now his graduation day. He has gone from a truant student to the honor roll. He was co-captain of the wrestling team, and the President of the Black Culture Club. He lived a life on the edge with a single struggling mother trying to survive, he knows he could have fallen off the edge anytime, yet his own pride and Lexington kept him on track. In the last chapter of the book, as he accepts his diploma he takes a bow and a flash from a camera allows him to see his family cheering and he smiles.
The five facts that I feel everyone should know regarding the Deaf Culture or American Sign Language are that sign language was not accepted as a legitimate language until the 1950's. Prior to that it was considered an inferior language and a sloppy english language substitute, and people who promoted oralism, felt that signing actually brought people to the level of animals. There is more to sign language than the hand movements, grammer is included in body language as well, this includes but is not limited to, eye contact, pacing, facial movements, lips, brows and the placement of the hands on the body. The equivalent of clapping hands is to raise the arms, with fingers splayed, and oscillate the wrists. There is one passage in the book that sum's up ASL beautifully "Its very existence is a testament to people's will to communicate. It pays tribute to our determination to make connections in the face of incredible odds" (page 274), last Deafness is a cultural identity not a disease and while over two million Americans have hearing impairments of those only two hundred thousand are culturally deaf (at the time the book was written in 1994).
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
4c - Reflection
1. Who is the classmate, what is the component, what is the name of the choice?
Anthony Frye, World Cities Component, San Francisco and San Diego
2. What is something similar this classmate said about the choice?
Both Anthony and I described San Francisco as home to liberal people and San Diego as more conservative.
3. What is something different this classmate said about the choice?
In Anthonys' differences he indicates that San Francisco's weather is cold and foggy and San Diego is warm and sunny, yet in his statistics he states that the average mean temperature in SF is 59 degrees and SD is 64 degrees. That is only a difference of 5 degrees. While the fog does roll in off the bay, San Francisco is not always cold and foggy. It has neighborhoods that see fog more frequently and some that are warmer than other parts of the city. Overall, I don't disagree with anything that Anthony has indicated in his description of the cities.
4. How would you relate this to Freire's ideas regarding dialogue? What new idea emerged from this process?
Reading a blog can be considered informal education. We become familiar with someone else's consciousness and this can transform our idea to form a different opinion on the subject. In this practice, we have to be respectful of other people's opinions and this creates a social network which is important in Freire's ideas.
Anthony Frye, World Cities Component, San Francisco and San Diego
2. What is something similar this classmate said about the choice?
Both Anthony and I described San Francisco as home to liberal people and San Diego as more conservative.
3. What is something different this classmate said about the choice?
In Anthonys' differences he indicates that San Francisco's weather is cold and foggy and San Diego is warm and sunny, yet in his statistics he states that the average mean temperature in SF is 59 degrees and SD is 64 degrees. That is only a difference of 5 degrees. While the fog does roll in off the bay, San Francisco is not always cold and foggy. It has neighborhoods that see fog more frequently and some that are warmer than other parts of the city. Overall, I don't disagree with anything that Anthony has indicated in his description of the cities.
4. How would you relate this to Freire's ideas regarding dialogue? What new idea emerged from this process?
Reading a blog can be considered informal education. We become familiar with someone else's consciousness and this can transform our idea to form a different opinion on the subject. In this practice, we have to be respectful of other people's opinions and this creates a social network which is important in Freire's ideas.
Monday, April 13, 2009
4b-Reflections
I read the work submitted by Michelle Piscitello and with the first story we read, I found that we both think that planned communities have too many rules and looking just like your neighbor (home) is not that important. An interesting point of view that she had was regarding the pool key that the author described. I didn't think that not losing the key was so important to them because they love the pool so much, in fact, I didn't think that the parents ever went to the pool, I just thought that they valued their money so much that they did not want to ever pay to replace the key.
In Cotton Candy Mirrors we both were reminded about growing up during a time that we were allowed to play outside and that parents did not fear for our safety 24/7. We both had the same point of view with this story.
I agree that the story Berkely reminds us that we are lucky to live in this area and all the opportunities we are given. I also did not realize everything that Berkeley has to offer before reading this story.
I couldn't relate to the story California Honky Tonk yet Michelle thought of the passion people have to do the things they love when she read this story and that is true.
Monica S. Badgley read The Big Valley by Arax and in her review I learned that fig roots never leave the ground. In Transients in Paradise by Liu, I found out that Beverly Hills does not have hospitals. I had never heard of the Owens River or that it exists off Hightway 395 in the San Gabriel Mountains before reading her review of Showing off the Owens by Jefferson-Parker and in The Distant Cataract About Which We Do Not Speak by Mary Mackey I learned that some people in Sacramento kayak to work and that there are 75,000 russians living in Sacramento County.
Through Elisabeth Laxton's work, I learned that foreign speedways have a lack of traffic etiquette and laws (Ode to Caltrans by Hector Tobar), that California has myths that interest non-residents and spark nostalgia in native Californians which has shaped California into the only state of its kind (Montalvo, Myths & Dreams by John Steinbeck); that Seal Beach has been a hold out as a town that has maintained its small town charm and feeling and has not been overtaken by chain stores (The Last Little Beach Town by Edward Humes); and Mavericks used to be the sight of illegal alchohol smuggling during the Prohibition Era (Surfacing by Matt Warshaw).
In Cotton Candy Mirrors we both were reminded about growing up during a time that we were allowed to play outside and that parents did not fear for our safety 24/7. We both had the same point of view with this story.
I agree that the story Berkely reminds us that we are lucky to live in this area and all the opportunities we are given. I also did not realize everything that Berkeley has to offer before reading this story.
I couldn't relate to the story California Honky Tonk yet Michelle thought of the passion people have to do the things they love when she read this story and that is true.
Monica S. Badgley read The Big Valley by Arax and in her review I learned that fig roots never leave the ground. In Transients in Paradise by Liu, I found out that Beverly Hills does not have hospitals. I had never heard of the Owens River or that it exists off Hightway 395 in the San Gabriel Mountains before reading her review of Showing off the Owens by Jefferson-Parker and in The Distant Cataract About Which We Do Not Speak by Mary Mackey I learned that some people in Sacramento kayak to work and that there are 75,000 russians living in Sacramento County.
Through Elisabeth Laxton's work, I learned that foreign speedways have a lack of traffic etiquette and laws (Ode to Caltrans by Hector Tobar), that California has myths that interest non-residents and spark nostalgia in native Californians which has shaped California into the only state of its kind (Montalvo, Myths & Dreams by John Steinbeck); that Seal Beach has been a hold out as a town that has maintained its small town charm and feeling and has not been overtaken by chain stores (The Last Little Beach Town by Edward Humes); and Mavericks used to be the sight of illegal alchohol smuggling during the Prohibition Era (Surfacing by Matt Warshaw).
Monday, April 6, 2009
4a Group #3
1. Write the story title and author name.
Bienvenidos a Newport Beach by Firoozeh Dumas
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary.
The story is of an eleven year old Iranian boy moving for the eighth time. This move would take him from a lowerclass neighborhood in Whittier, California to the posh area of Newport Beach.
The first six years of his life he lived in Iran, then in the next five years his family moved six times. This move is to a planned community with an active neighborhood association. The association has rules for everything i.e. no cars overnight on the street; exterior paint color must conform; trash cans outside no more than 24 hours in advance etc. All these rules are a far cry from the Whittier location, where rusted cars were parked on front lawns and neighborhood dogs routinely left "deposits" on their lawn. With the move to Newport Beach they felt they had found heaven.
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)?
"Sometimes you have tolive in a house facing the Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket before you can appreciate a clean pool" pg 92
4. What did the reading make you think of?
The story reminded me of a song called "Little Boxes" - describing homes on a hillside that all look the same. The way he describes the community reminds me of the planned communities like Oakmont - I imagine these have the same rules.
5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know?
Not fluent in Spanish, I did not know that Vista Suerte meant view of luck.
**********************************************************************************
1. Write the story title and author name.
Cotton Candy by Devorah Major
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph
In this story, the author describes in vivid detail the summer days spent at Playland at the Beach. She describes how one can spend the day on the rides that were there, from bumper cars to the ferris wheel, the arcade games and the best of all was the Fun House with its maze of mirrors, the rolling barrel, the silver disk that spun until you sled off, and the wooden slide. It was the mirrors though that made a lasting impression in her life. From those mirrors she learned "not to take reflections too seriously as the real thing."
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph
"Summer was a time of education and character building and though there was time to waste, there was not too much time, because fall was always just around the corner." pg 102
4. What did the reading make you think of?
The story reminds me of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Both Playland and the Boardwalk were next to the ocean and the smell of slat water and cotton candy permeated the air there. The rides were basically the same and one can still experience what she describes today (with the exception of the slide, it was removed long ago), by going to the Boardwalk.
5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know.
At the end of the story she writes "But it was the summer learning, the lessons on when to jump and when to stay still, when to show courage even when you didn't have it, when to use a surprise attack to throw off your opponent - it was those classes that helped us in ways we didn't expect, so that we could surmount the trials that faced us in, and out, of the official educational institutions of our childhood."
This passage made me look back at those childhood memories and some are really tough to remember because of the lesson they did teach, and I didn't realize it until I read this passage, how much those summer life experiences lead us to become the people we are today.
************************************************************************************
1. Write the story title and author name.
Berkeley by Michael Chabon
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph.
Michael Chabon has lived in many places from Puget Sound to Key West and now lives in Berkeley. In this story he describes to perfection the City of Berkeley. Berkeley is a city of approximately 100,000 people with an additional 30,000 students. It is a melting pot of geniuses, neurotics, collectors, etc. He admits that he loves the town yet it drives him crazy. The people are not afraid to tell you how they feel, in fact, they feel it is their duty to inform you.
He believes that as small towns dwindle in years to come, that Berkeley, because of its people will be "the last town in America with the infgrained perversity to hold onto its idea of itself".
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph.
"One of the remarkable things about Berkeley is that, in spite of its decided inferiority to its great neighbor across the Bay in clout, preeminence, population, notoriety and fame, it has never seemed to dwell in San Francisco's shadow (unlike poor old Oakland down the road)." pg 108
4. What did the reading make you think of?
Some of the things he writes made me think of Sonoma - especially this line "And all of the things that drive me crazy are the very things that make this town worth knowing, worth putting up with, worth loving and working to preserve." The town and the people can drive you crazy, I guess that can be said of any small town. Compared to Berkeley though, Sonoma is small. I totally understood what he was saying, he both loves the town and abhors the town, yet we remain.
5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know?
That the town of Berkeley which basically started in the 1880's and boomed after the 1906 earthquake with people that were leaving San Francisco. In the twenty years that followed it grew to its borders.
**********************************************************************************
1. Write the story title and author name.
California Honky Tonk by Kathi Kamen Goldmark
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph.
Over 3o years ago the author was a young folksinger with a thrown together band, who was given a real gig at a bar. The only problem was that they weren't a real band, with all the necessary components and they didn't even have enough material. To prepare for the event, they decided to do research by having one of them stake out the bar to determine what the most played song on the jukebox was. The song happened to be "Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw" by Jimmy Buffet. On the way to the gig they realized they didn't have a name for their band and chose "El Rancho Motel" - simply because they were driving by it. They were basically young and innocent, and she was obsessed with putting rhinestones on everything. When they arrived at the bar, a regular took one look at her then brought her into the ladies room for a makeover (lots of makeup, a lace camisole under her now unbottoned shirt). What they did not expect was the gang of motorcycle riders that appeared, who didn't want to hear the songs they had - they were looking for the Allman Brothers and Skynrd. The natives were getting restless when they remembered the new song they rehearsed. The song quieted the place, they the crowd got into the song, dancing started and the leader, all 400 pounds of him, grabbed her off the stage, intending to do just what the song suggested only to be saved by the woman who made her up in the beginning of the evening.
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph.
"But bruises heal, and sometimes even turn into good stories". pg 120
4. What did the reading make you think of?
This is a story that although interesting, I can't relate to it. I have had no life experience similar to it and it doesn't make me think of anything.
5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know.
Having no musical talent whatsoever, I didn't realize that you had to have a rhythm section to make a band.
Bienvenidos a Newport Beach by Firoozeh Dumas
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph; be specific in your summary.
The story is of an eleven year old Iranian boy moving for the eighth time. This move would take him from a lowerclass neighborhood in Whittier, California to the posh area of Newport Beach.
The first six years of his life he lived in Iran, then in the next five years his family moved six times. This move is to a planned community with an active neighborhood association. The association has rules for everything i.e. no cars overnight on the street; exterior paint color must conform; trash cans outside no more than 24 hours in advance etc. All these rules are a far cry from the Whittier location, where rusted cars were parked on front lawns and neighborhood dogs routinely left "deposits" on their lawn. With the move to Newport Beach they felt they had found heaven.
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph (include entire quote; use quote marks and page number)?
"Sometimes you have tolive in a house facing the Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket before you can appreciate a clean pool" pg 92
4. What did the reading make you think of?
The story reminded me of a song called "Little Boxes" - describing homes on a hillside that all look the same. The way he describes the community reminds me of the planned communities like Oakmont - I imagine these have the same rules.
5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know?
Not fluent in Spanish, I did not know that Vista Suerte meant view of luck.
**********************************************************************************
1. Write the story title and author name.
Cotton Candy by Devorah Major
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph
In this story, the author describes in vivid detail the summer days spent at Playland at the Beach. She describes how one can spend the day on the rides that were there, from bumper cars to the ferris wheel, the arcade games and the best of all was the Fun House with its maze of mirrors, the rolling barrel, the silver disk that spun until you sled off, and the wooden slide. It was the mirrors though that made a lasting impression in her life. From those mirrors she learned "not to take reflections too seriously as the real thing."
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph
"Summer was a time of education and character building and though there was time to waste, there was not too much time, because fall was always just around the corner." pg 102
4. What did the reading make you think of?
The story reminds me of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Both Playland and the Boardwalk were next to the ocean and the smell of slat water and cotton candy permeated the air there. The rides were basically the same and one can still experience what she describes today (with the exception of the slide, it was removed long ago), by going to the Boardwalk.
5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know.
At the end of the story she writes "But it was the summer learning, the lessons on when to jump and when to stay still, when to show courage even when you didn't have it, when to use a surprise attack to throw off your opponent - it was those classes that helped us in ways we didn't expect, so that we could surmount the trials that faced us in, and out, of the official educational institutions of our childhood."
This passage made me look back at those childhood memories and some are really tough to remember because of the lesson they did teach, and I didn't realize it until I read this passage, how much those summer life experiences lead us to become the people we are today.
************************************************************************************
1. Write the story title and author name.
Berkeley by Michael Chabon
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph.
Michael Chabon has lived in many places from Puget Sound to Key West and now lives in Berkeley. In this story he describes to perfection the City of Berkeley. Berkeley is a city of approximately 100,000 people with an additional 30,000 students. It is a melting pot of geniuses, neurotics, collectors, etc. He admits that he loves the town yet it drives him crazy. The people are not afraid to tell you how they feel, in fact, they feel it is their duty to inform you.
He believes that as small towns dwindle in years to come, that Berkeley, because of its people will be "the last town in America with the infgrained perversity to hold onto its idea of itself".
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph.
"One of the remarkable things about Berkeley is that, in spite of its decided inferiority to its great neighbor across the Bay in clout, preeminence, population, notoriety and fame, it has never seemed to dwell in San Francisco's shadow (unlike poor old Oakland down the road)." pg 108
4. What did the reading make you think of?
Some of the things he writes made me think of Sonoma - especially this line "And all of the things that drive me crazy are the very things that make this town worth knowing, worth putting up with, worth loving and working to preserve." The town and the people can drive you crazy, I guess that can be said of any small town. Compared to Berkeley though, Sonoma is small. I totally understood what he was saying, he both loves the town and abhors the town, yet we remain.
5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know?
That the town of Berkeley which basically started in the 1880's and boomed after the 1906 earthquake with people that were leaving San Francisco. In the twenty years that followed it grew to its borders.
**********************************************************************************
1. Write the story title and author name.
California Honky Tonk by Kathi Kamen Goldmark
2. Summarize the reading in one brief paragraph.
Over 3o years ago the author was a young folksinger with a thrown together band, who was given a real gig at a bar. The only problem was that they weren't a real band, with all the necessary components and they didn't even have enough material. To prepare for the event, they decided to do research by having one of them stake out the bar to determine what the most played song on the jukebox was. The song happened to be "Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw" by Jimmy Buffet. On the way to the gig they realized they didn't have a name for their band and chose "El Rancho Motel" - simply because they were driving by it. They were basically young and innocent, and she was obsessed with putting rhinestones on everything. When they arrived at the bar, a regular took one look at her then brought her into the ladies room for a makeover (lots of makeup, a lace camisole under her now unbottoned shirt). What they did not expect was the gang of motorcycle riders that appeared, who didn't want to hear the songs they had - they were looking for the Allman Brothers and Skynrd. The natives were getting restless when they remembered the new song they rehearsed. The song quieted the place, they the crowd got into the song, dancing started and the leader, all 400 pounds of him, grabbed her off the stage, intending to do just what the song suggested only to be saved by the woman who made her up in the beginning of the evening.
3. Which was your favorite sentence or paragraph.
"But bruises heal, and sometimes even turn into good stories". pg 120
4. What did the reading make you think of?
This is a story that although interesting, I can't relate to it. I have had no life experience similar to it and it doesn't make me think of anything.
5. What is one thing you did not know before you started the reading that you now know.
Having no musical talent whatsoever, I didn't realize that you had to have a rhythm section to make a band.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)