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 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.
In the book “Train Go Sorry” by Leah Hager Cohen, Cohen explains that she grew up in a school for the deaf even though she is not deaf herself. Her father is the superintendant at Lexington School for the Deaf, which her grandfather also attended. Growing up at this school taught Cohen a lot about the deaf and the struggles that they have to deal with everyday, it also taught her about he culture that comes from within the deaf community. Throughout the book Cohen tells the stories of herself going up at the Lexington School for the Deaf and her experiences she go tout of it. She also feels the stories of two other students at the school. In this essay I will talk about the meaning of “Train Go Sorry” and what character this connects to and what it means to walk in someone else’s shoes. I will also tell you my perspective on the book and some facts about ASL and Deaf culture.
The title of the book “Train Go Sorry” means, “missing the boat”, this translation is also known as a metaphor meaning a missed connection between the deaf world and the hearing world. This is why there are so many misconceptions about the deaf; one example is the misconception that deaf people are not as intelligent as hearing people. If there was not this missed connection between the deaf and hearing cultures there would not be these misconceptions. In the novel “Train Go Sorry” this focuses on a boy named James Taylor who does to Lexington School for the Deaf. James grew up with a large family and he was the only deaf one out of them all. Before he attended Lexington School for the Deaf James had a hard life, he did not perform well in school because of bad living conditions at home. James rarely attended school because of the fact that he needed to catch two busses and two trains just to get there. For two weeks James went missing at school and he was found at his house and found living in conditions that were very poor so he was offered free housing at Lexington and he accepted. Once at Lexington James decided to visit his brother who ended up in prison after committing several crimes. After many attempts to visit his brother James went one day to visit him and traveled three hours to get to the prison and was searched to find out his brother had court that day and would not be having any visitors. After this experience James decided he needed to buckle down and finish school because he did not want to be in prison along with his brother. James ended up earning his high school diploma and graduated with his class at Lexington.
To “walk in someone’s shoes” means to experience life from someone else’s point of view. In this book the author, Leah Cohen stepped into the shoes of people in the deaf community. Cohen found herself immersed in the culture of the deaf. She grew up around Lexington School for the Deaf and experienced the life of the deaf, she began to learn sign language at a very early age. Cohen also took physical matters into seeing into this culture, where she stuck little stones into her ears to have the look of a hearing aid. Later on in life Leah Cohen also found herself dating a deaf man. During that time she learned many lessons on what deaf people have to deal with everyday. Along with another large lesson which is what couples that consists of a hearing person and a non hearing person have to deal with everyday. Communication was obviously a very large portion of these lessons, and that lead to Cohen's understanding of the deaf community, in other words, a "walk in someone's shoes". Although Cohen got to experience what it was like to walk in the shoes of a deaf person, she realized that she would never be able to actually see and experience what it was like to really be deaf.
One part of the book that really stood out to me was in chapter five. When Cohen was walking with her grandfather on a hot night. She explains that she stayed back with her grandfather instead of walking with the rest of her family home from a coffee shop. What made me love this section of the book is the detail that is in the paragraph explaining how it was a hot night all the way until Cohen explained how she was breathing in the same pattern as her grandfather. I think it is very important to cherish loved ones while you have them and not regret that you did not spend enough time with them while they were here.
There are five facts that I think everyone should know about ASL or Deaf culture. The first fact that I think everyone should know comes from the title of the book "Train Go Sorry" or the missed connection between the Deaf and hearing cultures. I believe everyone should know that there is a distinct culture that the deaf belong just like the American culture. The second fact that I think everyone should know is that trying to put deaf students in a mainstream school will take away this culture that was in the first fact that I mentioned. The third fact that I want everyone to know is that although it is thought that every deaf person wants to hear this is not true, some deaf people have no desire to hear at all. The fourth fact that I have is that to be involved in the Deaf culture you do not need to be deaf, you just need to be immersed in the deaf culture enough for you to understand it and be surrounded by deaf who are in touch with their Deaf culture. The final fact that I have is about ASL, there is not one single form of sign language there are many different languages of sign just like there are different languages of talking for the hearing people.
______________
1. Ben..referring to lucky ASL said This was just absolutely amazing to watch the two signing their parts so enthusiastically and in unison
2. Jeffery..referring to VSAI day of the Arts at the Indian Deaf School said What a great organization. I thought it was great that such a large group of school aged and high school students are brought together for a common cause and to help each other.
3. Jacob..referring to 1 year old baby signing said I have no concern with a child being taught multiple languages nor do I feel it oppresses them in any way for further language learning.
4. Lori..referring to Deaf West said the performers in this clip do not appear “deaf”, they are performing just as they would as a non-deaf person
5. Jerad..referring to Waiting for the World to Change said I feel that deaf people can contribute to our society in so many ways. After taking an ASL class at the JC, I have learned that they can do so much and the word disability really isn’t the right word.
6. Diana..referring to The Forest said I thought it was awesome how the animation is so realistic and clear when signing; I enjoyed the story also.
7. Eric..referring to Waiting for the World to Change said I'm surprised that such a fundamental lack of understanding between two people living in the same country can still exist today.
8. Lena..referring to Deaf West said If you watch instead of listen you pay attention to all the detail in emotion rather than just listening and watching the production as whole instead of paying attention to each individual person.
9. Mary..referring to Schools for the Deaf said I think it's better to send deaf kids to schools where they can learn sign language and make lasting friendships with other deaf kids.
10. Gabby..referring to The Forest I found it a little hard to pay attention to the signing and read the captions at the same time so I had to watch it a couple of times with the captions and without the captions.
No comments:
Post a Comment