Dancer GSR

Dancer by Vickie Sears

When I read this story, it reminded me a lot about my childhood life. Apart from dancing, I used to see a lot of young children playing bicycle on the sides of the road in my small village in Fiji. I learnt so much from them, their bicycle movements. I asked mum if she could buy a bicycle for me, she agreed and took me to a home-made furniture store and bought a cool, black and flashing bicycle for me. With excitement, I rode and rode around and around the village. My balance skill has been improved well whilst riding my bicycle. I was the one who was an expert at riding the bicycle without my hands using the bicycle handle. That was similar to Clarissa as she grew into a good dancer because she learnt so much in the dancing class during her childhood.

The agency folks said she was “sociopathic” because she was acting like an adult. In science, it means a person who has anti-social personality disorder. But the care-taker convinced that it was not that condition, Clarissa has. Her care-taker thinks Clarissa is like a normal child who ran just like any other kid. In my childhood experience, I was very mischief which all of my family members didn’t like. They were upset because they thought that I, being deaf could affect my behavior a lot rather than normal children. Clarissa was anciently from the tribe “Assiniboin” which people of that tribe believed that the old Eagle woman spirit could help her to achieve the things she wanted to learn for example moving feet well when dancing.

I felt sad when reading this story because nowadays many mothers left their small children to a foster home where the care-taker looks after them. Real mothers should have thought twice before sending their kids off to a foster home.

But the positive thing about the care-takers was that they allowed the kids to take whatever they wanted to learn. Every child has the right to do opportunities if given. Like the lady allowed the girl to attend the dance class to learn Owl dance, Friendship dance and a couple of Circle dances. I was delighted with the little girl’s performance.

A House of My Own and Saturday at Canal

"Leaving Home"

A House of My Own by Sandra Cisneros

It is a short story about a boy/girl or a student who lives quietly in a single room.
"Not a flat. Not an apartment in back. Not a man's house. Not a daddy's. A house all my own" It symbolized that the person is not staying either at her/his parent's or friend's house. She/he wanted to own everything such as books, a beautiful room, her favorite pictures, and books.
It seems she/he has a lot of siblings in her/his family which means she/he wished to have a cool room for him/her.
The quote, "My books and stories" ,symbolized that she/he was a student staying at a school dorm. There was a lot of space in his/her house for walking and playing around.

This topic is talking generally about the property/ownership of the house. I wish the poet could describe something deeply about his/ her emotion in the story as the story is very short and I don't have any idea what it is trying to say.

In my experience, it occurred to me too. I always wanted to own a small house for myself where I could study quietly without the people interrupting me everyday.

Saturday at the Canal by Gary Soto

I find this very interesting and comparing with the other story. It is a short story about a poet who was very optimistic and happy about turning seventeen years old. The quote, "And feeling awful because San Francisco was a postcard on a bedroom wall", obviously showed that the poet found very boring at school and wished that she/he could visit San Francisco. "Stank of poor grades and unwashed hair'. At school, the teachers were not good at that time and the students used to get poor grades which mean that they have not washed their hair yet.The poet was identified as a female because she said "our hair was shoulder length" which means her hair is long over her shoulder. This topic is generally about the school stuff unlike from the 'A House of My Own' story.

On Saturday she used to go to watch the water at the canal with her friend when they were boring."We didn't drink or smoke" .It showed that she decided that she and her friends didn't smoke and drink because of age difference.
In my high school, not all students have washed their hair. Some of them are not very interested with their academic stuff.

Language Crossings (Susan Stocker, Margie English, Christopher Jon Heuer)

Source: (http://www.google.com/imgres)

Introduction

When I read the “Learning My Native Language” story, Stocker really wanted to share her difficulties she had faced in her childhood life in the hearing world. Her dad was not totally accepting his daughter’s disability. She was hard of hearing and she could not make the differences by producing some words by speech e.g. “Eggs and Legs”. In a mainstream school, she found hard to differ the words when she hears what other hearing students and teachers said. At Gallaudet University, she was unsure of which neither world she is belonging to (neither hearing nor deaf world).

In the “Recollections” story, Margie English is the first deaf child of Deaf parents. Her parents were so proud when they found out that they had a Deaf daughter. While at home, it was easier for her to communicate with her family, but however, she was struck with the different second language, English she learnt from schools due to the ASL as her first language. Through frustration, she had a lot of patience to learn English for long so that she could achieve her dream of becoming a student of both languages. She believed that there will not be a communication problem if she marries a Deaf guy. That means she has already fallen in love with Deaf culture. Later on at Gallaudet, she realized that she has to be careful in choosing the right words to write when she translated from ASL.

In “the Hands of My Father” article, the poet, Heuer described his reaction towards his father who is a farmer and he called his father, a “drought” because he did not like the way, his father do. But later on, when the father passed away, the connection with him became stronger which means that he showed his good reaction towards his late father. It happened to me too.

Comparison and Contrast

There are many comparisons I have seen in all stories. The main thing is that Stocker is hard of hearing and her parents are unhappy with her because both of her parents are hearing, whereas English is Deaf and her parents are overwhelmed, thrilling with her because her Deaf parents wished to have a deaf extended family.

Not like English, Stocker had to practice herself hearing all the difficult words in any area, she was up to herself whether she likes to practice or not at any circumstances. English has the strong charisma to learn more about Deaf culture and her second language, English but Stocker has not. Stocker did not really belong to the deaf community, in comparison; English was very fond of the Deaf community due to her Deaf-identified generation.

When I read the poem made by Heuer, I felt very sympathized and guilty because I sometimes used to ask my parents why they are uneducated well and got a low-paid job. After reading this emotional poem, I realized that I should have respected my parents a long time ago because they made me successfully where I am today.

Conclusion

There are many things I have learnt from these different stories; Stocker’s, English’s and Heuer’s experiences. That made me aware about the differences that a Hard of Hearing person and a Deaf person do.

Edward P. Jones "The First Day"

When reading this story, I imagined when I was a little child; I used to cry when my mother walked away after dropping me at an elementary school (just because my mother and I have a strong relationship). In old days, my family found very hard to communicate with me because my family did not know sign language much. Therefore, my mother brought me to a special school in the small town of Fiji. After spending a decade at that same school, my family moved to a city where I attended the special school. I learnt a lot from that new school and realized that my old special school was not very similar to my new school due to the education curriculum.

On page 16, the author demonstrated that the mother has learned that the money is the beginning and end of everything in this world. My mother always told me the education is very important to me for survival in despite of my disability and lack of financial problem. She tried to make sure I am educated properly. After I graduated from high school, I was surprised to know that my mother has just finished her grade 10, not graduating from high school and college. Also the same thing happened to my father, he had not finished high school and college. At first I felt unhappy due to the lack of educational support from my parents because they couldn’t understand what the information said about on my exam papers. That made me more struggled to ask many people, including my friends, teachers for assistance. But later on, I feel good and happy to help my parents when they are in need. My parents can’t afford to pay college fees here in Washington DC. That is why my parents advised and helped me looking for a scholarship to support me. Finally I won a scholarship to study here at Gallaudet University. Therefore, I am learning not to be ashamed of my parents.

When I read this story, I realized it was an old-fashioned story from 1950’s because in the story, the girl’s mother has spent some time, plaiting the girl’s hair. Plaited hair shows a good symbol of time-line. Also, the mother offered fifty cents to the woman who helped her filled out the form for her daughter. In old days, people used a small amount of money to trade with something else. Now days, people have to pay expensive fees for the paperwork.

Here's the link for a blog video in ASL version

Introduction

Hello! I am originally from a family of five in a small village, Korotogo, of Sigatoka, Fiji. When I was in my final year of school I realized that accessing tertiary education will be harder for me due to the lack of support services in Fiji so I decided to pursue a course at Unitec New Zealand–Certificate in Information Technology (Computing). I believe communication is the vital part of the Deaf people's lives. The course appealed to me because it allowed me to study different technologies where Deaf people could apply in their daily lives in order to have an effective communication. I’d always wanted to go to New Zealand, and the idea of studying in another country sounded really helped me a lot not only by socializing with Deaf Community and learning their culture but preparing myself well by becoming a member of Unitec Community. Right now, I am beginning my first semester here at Gallaudet University.The one thing you need to know about me. I LOVE GALLAUDET!!