Week 6

Questions about Train Go Sorry

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.)?
"Train go sorry" means "missing the boat," or missing connections and losing opportunities. This phrases refers to the character James Taylor. James has had a long life of difficulties, lost opportunities and missed connections. The instance being referred to with this phrase is when James travels to visit his brother in prison only to find that his brother is in court for the day and James will not be able to see him. Though he is trying to build that connection with his brother, he is unable to despite his efforts.

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?
To walk in someone else's shoes is to try to allow yourself to understand what they are going through from their point of view. In this book, Leah tries to put herself into the other deaf student's shoes. Just as many people in the Deaf community feel alienated for their hearing loss, Leah feels alienated because she can hear. She tries to identify with the students she describes here, like Sofia and James, because she so longed to be like them.

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 I won't forget is when James is trying out for the play in the third chapter. At one point the character that he is trying out for lays on the ground before he is brought back to life or awoken by a beautiful princess. Usually, the person playing this character would hear the actress playing the princess call to him and that would be his cue to get up. Since James cannot hear and his eyes are closed so he cannot see her he cannot know his cue, thus making him deaf and blind. It is amazing to realize how much our sight is relied upon and even though this book is about deaf culture, it shows so many other cultures as well.

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.
-ASL was based on French Sign Language. The first English sign language began at Martha's Vineyard.
-Losing any one sense forces one to more heavily rely on their other senses, however, each sense that is taken away shows how very important each one is, especially when multiple senses are taken away.
-Having a hearing loss does not make one hearing impared. As said by the former president of the Gallaudet University I. King Jordan, "Deaf people can do anything but hear."
-Language and culture go hand in hand. Every culture has different body languages and different meanings of words, because Deaf is another culture with its own language it can be hard to understand ASL is you don't speak the language just as it can be to understand English or French.
-"Train go sorry" means "to miss the boat" or to miss out on a connection or opportunity. Everyone in the world, no matter what race they are, culture they come from, or language they speak can relate to this point. Everyone has their similarities and differences, but there are common life lessons we all must learn, and this is one of them. Take chances and push yourself and others so you don't have to experience "train go sorry" as much.

Essay Tips
Prewriting Your Essay:
-Write down your own ideas. Ask yourself: What else do I want to say about this topic? Why should people be interested in this topic? Why is this topic important?
-Organize your facts and ideas in a way that develops your main idea. Once you have chosen the most important point of your paragraph or essay, you must find the best way to tell your reader about it. Look at the facts you have written. Look at your own ideas on the topic. Decide which facts and ideas will best support the main idea of your essay. Once you have chosen the facts and ideas you plan to use, ask yourself which order to put them in the essay. Write down your own note set that you can use to guide yourself as you write your essay.
About a Research Essay:
-Take care in selecting your thesis. This is really a type of persuasive essay, but you don't want to be stuck either just repeating someone else's opinion, or citing all the same sources. Try to come up with an original thesis or take an aspect of someone's thesis and develop it.
Writing College Essays:
-You don’t need to have started a company or discovered a lost Mayan temple. Colleges are simply looking for thoughtful, motivated students who will add something to the freshman class.
-Start early and write several drafts. Set it aside for a few days and read it again.


Student Questions From Last Week
1. American Sign Language (ASL) is an official full visual-spatial language that uses:

• a. facial expression
• hand shape
• hand movement
• hand placement and body to convey meaning
• all of the above*
(Daye)

2. In the story, Returning after fire, where was the fire?
a. Oakland Hills
b. Hollywood Hills
c. Painted Cave Fire
d. San Diego Hills *
e. Santa Ana Fire
(Erin)

3. What are the two reasons Dumas won't be seen with her cousin's wife's relatives?
A) They are crazy and hairy
B) They wear Speedos and are rude
C) They are hairy and rude
D) They wear Speedos and are hairy*
E) No of the above
(Maria)

4. Visual art and theatre arts all help the Deaf in which ways?
a. To feel and be a part of the music and acts*
b. their ear tones come in
c. They help their immune systems
d. makes them happy
(Ashley)

5. In the story, 909, what kind of animal did Percival ride through the desert on?
A) a horse
B) a mule*
C) a llama
D) a camel
(Olivia)

6. Is it true that many deaf couples hope for deaf children?
A. True*
B. False
C. They don't care
D. None want children
(Renee)

7. How far back can Sign Language be traced?
A. Anciet Rome
B. Midevil Europe
C. World War II
D. The Native Americans
E. The first English Colonists in the 1600's **
(Summer)

8. What is a gesture?

(1) It's a movement of the hands to indicate something

(2) it is not part of an official language

(3) a part of an official language

(4) a and b *

(5) a and c

(Pui-yin)

9. The first school for the deaf opened in

a. 1952

b. 1901

c.1817*

d. 1860

e. 1883
(Dana)

10. What does Broca's and Wernicke's Area represent , respectively?

A. Speech comprehension ; speech production

B. Speech production ; speech comprehension **

C. Visual perception ; spatial perception

D. Spatial perception ; speech production
(Kristine)