Week 6 Due 7/23, Train Go Sorry and Video Summaries

"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."

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.)?

In American Sign Language, the term "Train Go Sorry" means "Missing the boat." What this means, is that there are many connections that are missed between the deaf and the hearing, and a failure to recognize that deaf people are members of a unique culture. The person in the story that the term "Train Go Sorry is referring to is a young man named James Taylor. A young deaf man who came from a poverty stricken neighborhood and family, Taylor had found himself at Lexington School for the Deaf where he was truent a lot in his first year. He was invited to live in the dorm at Lexington in his second and continuing years to encourage better attendance and slowly began to excel until finally passing all of his tests and earning his way into Camden County college. There were several references in the story of how James Taylor had "Missed the boat," or the connection with the hearing society-including his brother Joseph. In Chapter 7, James becomes frustrated as he is sent back and fourth between the hospital and the audiologist when being tested for his hearing devices, because of his struggle to communicate his needs with his hearing counterparts. Upon leaving the audiologists office, he encounters a man on the street who asks him if he'd like to buy a token for a dollar. It was raining; water was dripping off the mans lips and he could not read them, so he shook his head and walked on. Another man approached him on the subway steps of the train station, and asks James about the train. He says, "Uptown number one?" James stares hard at this mans lips with his eyes; trying to understand them, but found himself staring at the man with his lips moving; trying to form the words. The man thinks James is mocking him, and walks away disgusted. In chapter 12 titled "Train Go Sorry,"James makes two unsuccessful attempts to visit his brother, Joseph, in prison. Unable to make a call to the prison, he goes there and gets through the visiting process just to learn that his brother was in court. On his third trip though, he is able to visit Joseph. He recognizes that prison has made his brother an ugly person. He realizes the distance that is between them and their lives. He knows that he'll never go back to visit Joseph again. James believes that if he were not deaf and hadn't gone to Lexington, he may have been with his brother on that fateful day that he and a group of boys pulled a gun on a women in an apartment building. He believes he might have been in prison too if it had not been for being deaf. When James gets ready to end his visit, Joseph says to him, "You stay here and I'll go home." James replies "No." Joseph tells him, "It is better at home than in jail." At that moment, James feels it is Joseph that has "Missed the boat" this time.

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 main person in the story, Leah Hager Cohen is walking in a deaf persons shoes. She is walking in the shoes of her grandfather Sam, who was deaf, and also attended Lexington School for the dead; she was walking in James and Sofia's shoes. Leah's father, Oscar, is the was the principal and later the superintendent of Lexington School for the deaf where Leah grew up and attended school. Leah, and hearing person, felt left out and an outcast from her deaf peers during activities at school. She wished that she had been deaf like the other students. She felt at the time that the privilege of being able to hear was nothing compared to the closeness and the bonds that the other deaf children at the school shared because of what they had in common. The fact that she spoke the "Teachers language," she felt set her apart the most from the other students. She wanted so much to belong to the this bonded culture, that she put pebbles in her ears in protest, and she longed to take speech classes. It wasn't until later that Cohen thoroughly realized that her status as a hearing person would forever restrict her from belonging 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?

One image in this story that I will not forget, can be found in chapter6, when Sofia (A young deaf girl from Russia who attended Lexington,) wakes up to her period the day before her scheduled Bat Mitzvah. Her mother, who didn't agree with her Bat Mitzvah is the first place was quick to tell her that she could not proceed with her ceremony during her period because it was considered to be impure. Sofia had been denied to practice her religion of choice in Russia and had worked hard here in America to prepare for this ceremony. She was already older than most that choose to have this ceremony, she went against her parents beliefs, and learned the language of Hebrew. She wasn't about to forget about her ceremony and consulted with her Rabbi, who informed her that it was okay to be on her period for her Bar Mitzvah. Sofia had decided that to many connections have been missed for her. It was time for her to start recovering the pieces that she had lost; it was time to filling in the holes (Pg. 91.) It turns out that her mother was more embarrassed of others hearing her deaf daughter speech during the ceremony, than the actual ceremony itself. Sofia worked hard to overcome her adversities, fill the empty holes in her heart, and to prevail and this is why I was drawn to the image of Sofia and her Bat Mitzvah in the story.

4. What are 5 facts about ASL or Deaf culture you think everyone should know after your reading of this book?

I learned that although their were early attempt to teach sign language to students, most hearing people considered sigh language to be primitive.

Another important fact that I learned was that even though deaf people can accomplish anything a hearing person can, most deaf people feel they belong to their own specific culture.

There were many references in the book that stressed that mainstreaming the deaf into the hearing society was more harmful to the overall health and feelings of self-worth of the deaf than beneficial.

Many of the bi-cultural kids that came to Lexington from other countries came with no language system at all, signed, spoken, or written because many of them had been schooled with mentally retarded children and had never seen another blind person at all.

One of the most important things I learned from reading this story, is that a hearing person like Oscar or Leah Cohen can not only learn to communicate with the deaf by learning their language, but also by opening up their minds and hearts to them, and respecting their unique culture.

Finally, what are your final thoughts regarding this entire assignment:

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book "Train Go Sorry," and watching the selected videos. The book offers an intimate look into the lives of amazing deaf individuals such as Sofia and James. You go through their struggles and triumphs with them. You learn to appreciate them and their culture through the eyes of loving and accepting hearing individuals such as Oscar and Leah Cohen. This story gave me a new perspective into to culture of the deaf. I've never met a deaf person before, therefore, I have never really thought about the stigma and the culture that surrounds these unique individuals. Though I have never met a deaf person, I have always been fascinated with sigh language. I had already planned to take American Sign Language to fulfill my foreign language requirement at the JC, but now I'm more inspired than before to take the class.

Videos:

Big River Montage-Deaf West Theatre Clip:

In this clip are men and women that look like they are from all different statures and ethnic backgrounds. Through their movements and their acting, they are expressing that they can't wait for the light to shine, because they are tired of living in the darkness; tired of being suppressed and closed of from the rest of society.

Marlee Matlin: Dancing with the Stars:

Marlee Matlin is a beautiful, positive, upbeat women that happens to be deaf. She Is an American actress and Academy award winner who has been deaf since she was eighteen months old. I could not watch the video because the link was removed, and I didn't see her dance on her season of Dancing with the Stars, but I have seen her acting in other movies and television show, and she is amazing. The level of speech, and mastery of sign language is amazing.




Indiana Visual Arts Day:

The video shows the Indiana Visual Arts Day to be a special celebration of the arts at the Indiana school for the deaf. The event included bilingual and bi-cultural themed events for the children. The event included VSAI and ISV teacher artists that offered clay arts, dance, theatre, percussion, and ASL story art lessons. Deaf children from several different schools attended this wonderful event, and they were treated with a special concert from the nationally known deaf band Rathskellar.

Waiting for the World to Change:

In the beginning of the video, there were some shocking quotes by people considered to be of high standard. The first quote was by Aristotle, who said, "Those born deaf are incapable of learning." Another quote by St. Augustine read "Deaf children are a sign of sin." On a more positive note though, a quote in the video by Jessie Jackson expressed that "The problem is not that the students don't hear. The problem is that the hearing world does not listen." One thing I really liked about the video, is that it offers information recognizing deaf citizens in society who have become highly successful. Among some of those people listed are: William Hoy-Major League baseball player; Nellie Willhite-first deaf pilot; and Marlee Matlin-Academy Award winner. I learned from this video and from the book 'Train Go Sorry,' that ASL was first recognized in 1960. I also learned that the National Theatre of the Deaf was established in 1967. It is sad that it took so many years for society to realize that the deaf are a highly capable and intelligent people. It is mind boggling to read that hearing people like Congressman Elihu Washburn once thought that "Higher education of the deaf is useless." Many deaf people suffered, and were isolated from society; from their hopes and dreams, because of the ignorance of some hearing people.