Week 6

1. answer questions regarding Train Go Sorry
(This will help you with your essay. Feel free to use any of this in your essay)
Questions Book:

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.)?

I have read the book Train Go Sorry, there are so many connections that we miss when we communicate with the deaf as individuals that hear. We must understand the gift of recognizing the uniqueness of this group of people. In American Sign Language the term “Train Go Sorry” means “Missing the Boat” in which I described what that statement truly means above, James Taylor is the young man this book is referring to. He is deaf, young and from a poor family and lives in a poverty neighborhood. The meaning missing the boat can apply on both sides of deaf and the hearing, but in this particular instance it is that James Taylor had several places in the story where he missed the connection with the hearing society, especially his brother, Joseph. But, this story has a very traumatic situation where roles reverse and Joseph finds himself in trouble facing prison and James could have been there as well, if he had not taken his opportunity to attend the Lexington School for the deaf. James realizes he will not be visiting Joseph again, in prison on his third attempt he realized prison turned Joseph ugly. In this moment when James gets ready to leave, Joseph says to James, “you stay here, I’ll go home”, James knows that Joseph “missed the boat” this time.

2. What does it mean to 'walk in someone's shoes'? What pair of 'shoes' do you think the main person in the book is walking in and what did this person learn? In other words, who or what culture does this person want to belong to and why?

An amazing place Leah Hager Cohen has the opportunity to walk in deaf persons shoes, which happens to be the shoes of her grandfather Sam who also attended Lexington School of the deaf. Leah Hager Cohen is the main person of this story, her father was the principal and later the superintendent of Lexington school where she attended school as an outcast and left out hearing person in a deaf school. She often felt the miss-connect of hearing and not having the privilege of closeness and bonds of the other deaf children because of what they had in common. She longed to be a part of the bonded culture but only spoke the Teacher’s language and that set her apart. She did many things to protest this and try to be a part of the deaf children such as putting pebbles in her ears, but later she realized as a hearing person she would never belong to the deaf community.

3. What is one image you won't ever forget? Draw us a picture in words to explain this. What chapter is it in?

Chapter 6, Sofia a young deaf girl from Russia attended Lexington I was drawn to this part of the story because it is about a mother who is embarrassed about her deaf daughter wanting to give a Bat Mitzvah speech in public. Sofia wakes up with her period the morning she is to give her Bat Mitzvah speech, her mother proceeds to inform her she cannot give the speech being on her period it is impure. Sofia worked hard for this speech and denied throughout her life to practice her religion and wanted to be a part of America. Sofia went against her parents beliefs and learned the Hebrew language in preparation for this ceremony. She was not about to miss the ceremony and consulted her Rabbi, who told her having her period didn’t matter. Sofia felt she had missed so many connections in life and was not about to miss anymore, she wanted to recover pieces she lost as well as fill holes that left impressions of missed opportunities for her. Sofia reminds me of myself and my own life and overcoming obstacles to achieve what your heart needs to patch empty holes and to prevail and this is why I am drawn to the image of the Bat Mitzvah speech that Sofia worked so hard to give.

4. What are 5 facts about ASL or Deaf culture you think everyone should know after your reading of this book? Provide an example of how language and culture interact with one another using an example from the book.

• Most deaf people feel they belong to their own culture I learned even though they can accomplish the same as hearing people.

• To the Deaf, deaf is not a disability

• I learned that kids in the story that came to Lexington with no language system took to sign language because they had not other form of language.

• The Deaf relationships and communications are much closer and detailed than those who hear.

• Lastly and most important, things I learned you can only learn to communicate with the deaf by learning their language and opening your heart and minds to them respecting their unique culture.

2. essay tips -- essay questions

• Starting early and budgeting your time is important: I know we all tell ourselves this and have heard it thousands of times, but it is easy to lose track of assignments when juggling classes. Reading should be started on as soon as possible and gotten out of the way. Starting early doesn’t just help in getting through the work, but also helps ideas form in your brain.

• Clarity of thoughts writing concisely and clearly to express your thoughts. Communicating your words and sentences effectively and consistently to make sure the language flows.

• Take notes; write many drafts along the way, to get your ideas on paper. Review and rewrite as you go.

• Don’t plagiarize; you have tools and opportunities to find help in how to change and exchange words and sentences so you are not copying someone else’s work. Also make sure and keep track of quote and citations to include in your bibliography to note where they came from and they are properly sited.

• Clearly organize your thoughts and materials as you are making sure you understand the assignment. Analyze the requirements and topics thoroughly, underline key areas and make sure you have clarification in areas you are not sure. Make sure you have plenty of time set aside for yourself to accomplish the assignment on time. So you can be organized and you can gather your thoughts so they flow in an outline format.

3. 5 page double spaced (2.5 pages single spaced, or 250 words per page) essay re Deaf Culture as a Case Study of a Language Minority and Cultural Group of the US and Train Go Sorry from your perspective as a hearing or deaf or HH or Deaf or blind individual

Assignment: ESSAY
Write the equivalent of a five page paper essay. The following are requirements that include knowledge of book info:
Start your essay with the following:

"I am a hearing student (or deaf student or Deaf student) assigned the book Train Go Sorry in my Introduction to Humanities Class in which we examine cultural contributions of diverse minority groups in the U.S. Other readings assigned in this class include Paulo Frere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, diverse theoretical frameworks in studying the Humanities, several essays from the book My California. My California is an example of a microcosm of the U.S.; and the U.S. forms a microcosm of the world. In this essay regarding Deaf culture and Train Go Sorry, I will explain why Deaf culture should be treated with respect as one of the many cultures of the U.S. as provided by a hearing (or Deaf or deaf) student's perspective." Then proceed with your essay. Incorporate anything you've seen this semester or anything that you have experienced to convey your message.

Word count starts:

Deaf culture does not include all deaf people; it is not considered a condition that needs to be fixed in their culture. The majority of the time, the deaf feel they are second class citizens or unimportant members of society, it is important that we honor, show value and demonstrate our respect for these individuals who are deaf as much as it is important that the deaf recognize and except their differences.
The deaf community lives culturally, linguistically complex lives and they should be listened to out of an issue of respect we should not treat deafness as a disability but respect it as a language of beauty.

To communicate with the deaf you must not treat them differently or stupid, in my opinion we should all respect each other and live together in peace. In exploring Deaf Culture and education I realized how important it is for me to learn Sign language and be an active member of the deaf community, because I do suffer from a disability although being deaf is not considered one they do receive government disability benefits.

In reading the book Train Go Sorry, it provided me with an exposure to the deaf culture and I felt this book was able to give me a marvelous insight so accurately. This book was a fascinating examination into the deaf culture and the educational needs of deaf children as well as it gave me a new perspective inside the deaf world and the importance of being fluent in this language that has a closeness and bonding involved in it that is amazing. My understanding of sign is a movement or practice using waving hands as a form of understanding or appropriating the language. Train Go Sorry, presents a perspective that deaf people are considered a cultural minority group and it takes you inside a deaf world of self-esteem and social interactions between the deaf and the hearing.

How can we as the hearing such as myself help to empower the minority such as the deaf community, I believe learning to communicate with them and genuinely understanding their language. There are so many diverse cultural elements in the United States that have been stereotyped but if we can approach the strengths and weaknesses of diversity and start to contribute and provide attention to the development of the United States cultures of society this will begin to help empower these minority groups. I believe if we begin in the classroom where it starts we can infuse the culture diversity among us. By incorporating the relevant social sciences into child development we can better rationalize the prediction of the theoretical framework aspects. If we can cut through these diverse social behaviors then we can focus on a more universal foundation.

If we can concentrate on initiating forming values in our family landscape first we can essentially improve the issues we have between minority groups in our evolutionary framework and the diverse community settings. People will potentially begin to blend more and be more willing to examine feelings and attitudes and recognize change needs to take place among us. We can go back to the justification for the pedagogy of the oppressed in our readings and the contradiction between the oppressors and the oppressed. How Paulo Freire differentiated between the two positions and overcame the problems of humanization by a new relationship between teacher, student and society.

Word count ends: 566

3. Reference Library and MLA citation in reference section of essay
you will incorporate information I provide in Instructor Facilitator Lecture Notes of week 5.

A.) Cohen, Leah Hager. Train Go Sorry: inside a Deaf World. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994.

B.) R. Mayberry. "Scientific American : Sign Language and the Brain." Sign Language and its culture : Reader. San Diego, CA; University of California, San Diego Bookstore, 2007. http://findarticles.com

C.) Guerrini. "Week 5 Instructor Facilitator Lecture Notes." SRJC Human 7 Summer 2010. Blogger, 2010. Web. 22 July 2010. .