Chapter 62

Deaf literature. I thought this chapter was interesting. I didn’t know if there would be like ASL literature or something like that. I think that people who are Deaf would enjoy any types of literature if that is something they are interested in. There are types of literature that I am interested in and others that I am not interested in. It’s not because they are written in a different form of English, although I’m not a fan of Shakespeare but that’s because I don’t understand it. I guess that would be a good example though. Some people LOVE Shakespeare and totally get it and I do LOVE to read, I don’t like Shakespeare. I think that goes along with people who are Deaf and ASL literature. Some people who are Deaf may only like ASL literature, while others may like all kinds of different literature. I don’t really know if this makes any sense but I think it just depends on the person when it comes to likes and dislikes. 

Chapter 61

I found this chapter slightly…boring. I know I shouldn’t have because it should be a really interesting chapter to read but all it talked about was different books and TV shows that are negative towards people who are Deaf. Now I was very surprised and thought this was horrible but since it just gave a lot of examples and told what the stories were about, it didn’t capture my attention for very long. I think after reading most of this book , I understand how ignorant people can be about others. With the United States history in every race or every “disability” you could think of, I don’t think anything would surprise me. Look at what the US did to the Native Americans, African Americans, Gays, etc. I mean, I think that more people need to just mind their own business and stay out of other people’s lives. 

Chapter 60

I think the internet would help Deaf culture, not destroy it. If you look at all the things people who are Deaf can do with technology now, it is amazing. There is facetime, skype, etc. All these different ways that people who are Deaf can communicate with parents and friends openly. As the book talks about TVs now will have subtitles. I think that more movies should have options for this because it would be nice to go to a movie at the theater and be able to understand what they are talking about. It’s great for ASL learners to have all this technology and access to different internet sites that can help us with ASL. But I could see where this type of technology could hurt as well; you never know if you are getting the right information. I think you have to be very careful when using the internet to look up information about ASL because of those sites that are not accurate. Also, when looking up certain signed words, sometimes it depends on the context of what you are saying on how you use that word. 

Chapter 59

I found this chapter really hard to follow. I didn’t really understand where they were going with the ghetto and Deaf culture. After reading through it a couple of times, I understand it a little better but it is still odd. I guess they are trying to talk about how segregation is and that the Deaf culture may be like that? I don’t feel this way because Deaf culture enjoys having their own world, at least I think they do. I think they like to have their own piece of the world that no one can really touch. It would be difficult though, if people tried to step into that world and started trying to take control. Like Alexander Graham Bell tried to do with sign language. In my opinion, the “ghetto” is not the best place to be. It has that stereotype that is poor and run down type of feel. I don’t feel that the Deaf community is like that, at least not in most. There are, of course, exceptions to every statement but for the most part I think that ghetto is not something that should be associated with the Deaf community. 

Chapter 58

Physically, deafness is a disability. In school, that would be listed under their physical disabilities. I feel like the word disability is thrown around so easily now that saying I have a disability could be a numerous of things. I like that they talk about how people who are deaf can cope with their disability. It does feel weird saying disability, doesn’t it? Can I say though, wow, about the “please do not call us the hearing impaired community”. I don’t remember it saying anything about that in the book and feel like the author kind of just threw that comment out there. It was a little surprising. I like that the book says that people who are deaf still want their schools and their education opportunities for children who are deaf. I don’t feel like those should be taken away from people but I do feel that other students should be welcome to join. It sounds silly, I know, but still. It shouldn’t be only allowed for a certain type of people. I think that children whose parents are deaf should be able to go to these schools if they wish or children who have siblings that are deaf should be able to go to these schools as well. 

Chapter 56 & 57

Chapter 56

I feel like this chapter was basically the same as the last chapter. I think it depends on your knowledge of the culture. I’m not going to sit here and write articles about the ocean because I don’t know enough information about it. It would be a very basic article and not very well informed. If you are going to start writing pieces about things then I believe that you need to be well informed and be able to write information that is accurate. Again, I feel like this chapter was the same as the last. 

Chapter 57

Finally we hear about Alexander Graham Bell! Apparently he almost succeeded in wiping out Deaf Culture. He basically sounds like a really crappy guy. Bell was an oralist and he wanted to get rid of Sign Language. I don’t really understand why you would want to get rid of a language but he seems like a jerk so that might be why. He was a phonetics teacher and was very good at sign language. When I read about this part I was even more surprised. If I became fluent at sign language I don’t think I would want to get rid of the language. It is such a pretty and expressive language. It’s a means of communication and would be completely wrong to get rid of that. Yes speech is important but so it communication. If you can’t hear what someone is telling you, how are you able to have that key communication skill. I really hate oralists (bad to say, I know) but goodness! Communication is huge in how we live in society! 

Chapter 55

Studying Deaf culture would be really fun, I think. I’m afraid that sometimes I don’t get the right information from these chapters. Or maybe I read into them differently than most people. I would love to get more involved with the Deaf community and become fluent in the language. This being said, I know that it is important to get information from inside the Deaf community and people that are on the outside looking in. Before making an statement, I think you need to be able to look and understand both sides of the argument. Now, it doesn’t mean that you have to agree or even see their WHOLE side but at least know where they are coming from. Not everyone lives in the same world as you do, some people are raised completely different than you. Everyone should be able to understand that most people will have a different opinion.

I don’t think that it would be right for people to criticize one another but it is going to happen whether we like it or not. I think that sometimes we’re just going to have to take it in stride. Now, disrespecting someone’s entire culture is not acceptable by any means. I just think that sometimes people are going to say things that you don’t like to hear and those things shouldn’t be said but people are ignorant.