His Eyes and Ears: A Life Experience Essay

The documentary, Through Deaf Eyes, is a two hour film that focuses on all things related to Deaf life over the span of 200 years. The documentary includes interviews of people who have made a significant impact on the Deaf community, including actress Marlee Matlin and various people who work or either have worked at deaf schools such as Gallaudet University. Before watching this documentary or even before signing up for this ASL course I knew a little bit about Deaf culture through my own personal experience. After watching this documentary I have learned so many different interesting facts and now I have a whole new perspective on the Deaf culture.

In “Through Deaf Eyes” you will find a range of perspective on the question what is deafness? This film is a balanced presentation of deaf experience. I believe that the film does a good job of revealing the struggles and triumphs of deaf people in society throughout history. The documentary covers a span of close to 200 years of deaf life in the United States. You will see experiences among deaf people in education, family life, work, and social activities.

This semester, I am taking Intro to Sociology and we have been looking at different perspectives of our society. One thing we are studying is how from at such a young age, we are taught to assign gender roles. In Patricia J. Williams’ magazine article, “Are We Worried about Storm’s Identity- or Our Own”, an essay taken out of the Nation magazine (June 2011), she tells a story about Storm, whose parents choose not to reveal the sex of their baby. She is a legal scholar and examines issues related to law and culture. Williams focuses on all the stereotypes that we associate with gender, how we as a society find social order in assigning gender roles, and the need to have the proper pronouns so that we know how/what to label a person. The author’s use of ethos and logos really brings the point home that we need to be more open about all the possibilities associated with gender and pronouns.

Cantigny Park is an eye opening experience that provides visual aids which give a better understanding of WWI and its significance to Robert R. McCormick. The McCormick family altered the grounds of their home to become a public park to show the legacy that the McCormick family left behind. Robert R. McCormick served in WWI, which had a great impact on his life that is shown through the grounds of Cantigny Park. He served as the editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune for forty-four years, at which he made it a media giant by adding it to television stations and putting it on the radio. The mansion that the McCormick family occupied is a museum itself on the grounds, with its extravagance and countless artifacts. While the actual museum on the grounds takes the public back to the war, where it gives a better understanding of what the war was really like. The trip itself was very well put together, but could have had some improvements to make the learning experience even better. The Cantigny Park grounds is a memorable trip due to the better understanding one can have of WWI and the personal touches added by Robert R. McCormick himself.

I thought that Silent Ears, Silent Heart was an excellent book. It really gave you a full prospective of what a family and a person has to go through living a life without being able to hear sound it also helps you realize what someone has to go through that can’t hear what is going on around them. The book starts off with a couple named the Clines there’s Mr. Cline who is Jack who runs his own multimillion dollar business in a glass production. His dream is to have his son at his side and follow in his footsteps and run the family business someday. Then there’s Mrs. Cline who is Margret who is a stay at home wife that is waiting the arrival of their child.

“Is it a boy or a girl?” is a question that is commonly used in a world where roughly 350,000 babies are born each day. Questions such as the one previously stated are what helps to determine what gender a child would be. “Learning to Be Gendered” by Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell-Ginet focuses mainly on the factors that potentially influences gender. These factors can include names, colors, voice change and the societal norm of what a boy and girl should be. Eckert’s main argument is that being gendered isn’t something one can to gain based off of physical characteristics but rather on their own and through their interaction with society. Names and clothing are just a small part of the symbolic resources used to support a consistent ongoing

As a Childlife volunteer at Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA I felt the warmth and fulfillment of helping others during times of ill-health. Every week I would join a team of volunteers to spend time with the children and give their parents someone to talk to. Jacob, a soft-spoken 6-year-old, stays particularly close to my heart. Living in the hospital for numerous weeks had seemed to extinguish his childish exuberance. Whenever I tried to engage him he would simply turn away with a glum look upon his face. Making sure not to reveal my inner thoughts of pity, I

I clearly remember the night before your first day of kindergarten. After we had packed your snacks and lunch, laid out your outfit and tucked you like a mummy into bed, Dad and I sat on our bed talking about the school years to come. We were excited for you, of course, but I was also emotional. I started crying, telling Dad that I was afraid to let you go out into the big world by yourself, afraid that people – kids – might be mean to you and I wouldn’t be there to protect you. Dad, in his usual way, reassured

“Through Deaf Eyes” is another world that introduces to hearing people educate them about “deaf world” or “deaf culture” and how those deaf and hard of hearing people experiences in their world and their history happened in the past.

I wait in the lobby of Edinboro Elementary for my younger brother, surrounded by vibrant colors, and drawings of what the children who attend there want to be when they grow up, coupled with adorably misspelled descriptions underneath. I walk over to glance at one, depicted is a squiggly-drawn superhero and underneath it reads“Wen i grow up i want to be A superhero.” It reminds me of how innocent and simple life is when you are young. Before I managed to read another poster I notice my brother running down the hall in his blue, Pokémon shirt, with a smile that spans from ear to ear, which could only mean that it is Friday. When we entered my car I ask him the usual, “How was your day? Did you have fun at school today? Did you learn anything

It had been weeks, no- months since you had started to get the visions of an eye-patched man inviting you into the Avengers Initiative, and you could feel that today was going to be that day. You hadn't blinked in ten minutes, your eyes fixed on the door.

Begging my father to let me walk to school turned out to be a lost cause. With a gloomy beginning, I sat down in the seat next to the driver's and hugged my backpack to my chest. Determined not to exchange a word other than "good morning,"  I allowed my eyes to gaze out of the  window and avoid further contact.

Let me give you a scenario; It’s 3:00am. Rushing down the halls of a hospital you are on your way to support a person who is doing one of the most beautiful and complex things in life. Giving birth. You are the doctor in the room. Cutting the umbilical cord you hand the mother her child. She smiles up at you with tear rimmed eyes and you wrap the child up in a blanket and hold out to her a beautiful baby _____. Boy or girl? It doesn’t really matter which you say so long as you say one or the other, right? Within a few moments after birth and a quick scan between the legs of the child will enable you to develop a gender label for the child that they will carry for the rest of their life relevant to their sex.

It was the first day back at school for a new year. Many of us still longed to be on holiday, carefree and careless. It showed on our faces as we grumpily and wearily made our way along the corridors to our House Room. This year our form (11) had a new student. When we walked in we all just looked at him, scrutinizing, mentally noting anything unusual. There was something about him though, but I couldn't quite see it. Nobody interacted with him at first - the teachers were all around him, then he was set free, for us students to talk with him, I didn't talk to him myself, rather I just listened to the questions of others, which, he answered them faintly. They ask him questions to get him talking, to get him relaxed, but he simply answered

The first day of two-week camp arrived in a flash. We began camp with a name game, involving a myriad or goofy gestures to help kids break out of their shells. We stood in a circle, and my eyes immediately drifted toward a little guy standing just outside the group. He gazed at the floor dully. When it was his turn to introduce himself with a goofy gesture, he vanished further into the shadows. Fellow volunteers persisted for a moment, but soon passed the boy by when he failed to acknowledge their coaxing. My heart hurt. I so wanted the child to join in and have fun like the other kids.