I was drawn to El Deafo because I have a few family members that have hearing impairments. I was interested in Cece Bell’s story and how she would portray it via graphic novel. El Deafo was the first graphic novel I read. I was apprehensive before reading it because of this and I was not sure how they could be used in the classroom. After researching graphic novels, I understand how they can be useful. El Deafo opened my eyes to a new medium of storytelling. One of the strengths of this novel is its versatility within the classroom. While it may be difficult to use as a read-aloud due the details in the images, it could be used in small groups or with the whole class. I think I would use it as a whole class book because each student could look at the images and text as closely as they like. Additionally, discussion about the book would be most beneficial if the whole class was able to contribute. Discussion topics could include overcoming challenges, respecting each …show more content…
We thought this medium was not as familiar with our peers as other media, which affected how we planned our presentation. We found a wealth of information on Scholastic’s and American Library Association’s websites. I think these sites will continue to be beneficial during my teaching career, and I am glad I learned about them now. Besides increasing our peers’ self-knowledge about graphic novels, we wanted to facilitate discussion about El Deafo. We hoped many of our peers would compare El Deafo with Out of My Mind because both focused on overcoming challenges due to physical disabilities. As group leaders, we wanted our peers to interpret and apply what they read in Out of My Mind to El Deafo and empathize with Melody and Cece. Lastly, we wanted our peers to explain how they understood and interacted with the novel based on it being a graphic novel. These three objectives helped us create our
... Interpreters there to help also. The people who should read this book are families that have been identified to have deafness. This is a helpful resource for them to be able to see that things have changed and help is available. Most of all I think that everyone should read this book, and be able to see what the deaf community is about. So they do not judge them because they are different. Society tells us all that we have to be the same, look the same, sound the same, and do all the same things, no one can be different or they are looked down on. This book says that it is okay to be different. I really think that this book put all these things into a different perspective for me and will for other families that might come across this situation themselves.
I learned a lot about Deaf people, ASL, and/or Deaf Culture after reading this book. Deaf people are normal just like anybody else and they should not be treated any differently. Some people treat Deafness as a disease that needs to be cured, but it's not. If a parent comes to learn that their child is deaf they react very crazily and act like their child is dying and that deafness is some fatal disease. Deaf people should be treated just like anyone else and no differently. They are not disabled and can do great things in this world.
After reading Deaf Again I learned a lot of new things about Deaf culture and was drawn in by the story of Mark Drolsbaugh. "The hardest fight a man has to fight is to live in a world where every single day someone is trying to make you someone you do not want to be" e.e cummings. I was brought into the book immediately from this quote and realized how difficult it must have been for Mark to find his identity. He was trying to hang on to his hearing in fear of going deaf as if there was something wrong or not proper with being deaf. It took him a long time, twenty-three years to realize that the Deaf culture is receiving and it was there for him to embrace the entire time. It would be difficult to be able to hear and then slowly lose your hearing while having to communicate in the world we live in. Both his parents Sherry and Don were Deaf and I enjoyed reading the part where Mark was brought into this world through childbirth and the signing and conversation that was going on inside while the process was taking place. Like the anesthesia machine not working, which had to have been painful.
For my culture paper I decided to write about a film, the film is called “Aqui Entre Nos” (Between Us). Throughout the paper I will discuss how the concepts of family and communication are portrayed in the film.
In the following chapters, there is an extensive amount of knowledge to learn about how Deaf culture is involved in our modern world. The pages assigned give us an outlook of how Deaf people are treated in our daily life, and how we should learn from it. Its gives a clear line between what are myths and what are facts, to those who are curious about the Deaf community or have specific questions. This book has definitely taught me new things that I could put to good use in the near future. In specific chapters, my mind really opened up to new ideas and made me think hard about questions, like “why don’t some Deaf people trust hearing people,” or “do we need another ‘Deaf president now’ revolution?” I realized many new things in the course of reading this book, and have recommended this to my family.
The people that should read this book are families that are just diagnosed with deafness, this is a helpful resource for them to see and also it will give them an idea of what is out there for help. I think that everyone should read this book and be able to see what the deaf community is about so they do not judge them because they are different in our society, which tells us all that we have to be the same. With this book, the reader can see that we are sometimes different. I really think that this book puts all these things into a different perspective for me and for other families that might come across this situation themselves. Works Cited Spradley, T. S., & Spradley, J. P. (1978).
Paul Scearce’s De’VIA piece titled “Deaf Alien Visitors from Eyeth” is a great example of a piece of resistance artwork. The scene depicts several themes prominent in De’VIA such as the misconceptions of deaf people, the judgmental behaviors of those who do not understand deaf culture, a lack of communication, and the lack of a sense of belonging in the community as well as the alienation of deaf people and the negative view on ASL. There are also a few more subtle themes that relate to affirmation, such as the deaf people’s search for Eyeth, and their attempt to educate others about the merits of ASL for deaf individuals.
Deaf Again is another eye opening book about what it is like to grow up deaf in a hearing-dominant world. It showcases the struggles experienced by the Deaf, and shows the reader that the Deaf cannot be made to fit into their hearing world. The Deaf, once they find their identity as Deaf with a capital D, don’t want to fit into the hearing world. Being Deaf isn’t a bad thing. Deaf again has further shown me just how difficult life can be when you are deaf.
I chose to read and comment on Barbara Kiefer’s “Envisioning Experience: The Potential of Picture Books.” Kiefer’s main point in writing this essay was to get the message across that children enjoy picture books that allow them to identify and make connections with the characters or the plots, and that while reading and analyzing the pictures, they gain a better sense of aesthetics and how to interpret them.
Stone, D., Patton, B., & Heen, S. (1999). Difficult conversations: How to discuss what matters most. New York, NY: Viking Press.
Throughout the course of the semester, I have gained a new understanding and respect of Deaf culture and the many aspects it encompasses. The information supplied in class through discussion, movies, and guest lecturers since the previous reflection have aided in the enhancement of my knowledge of Deaf culture and nicely wrapped up all of the information provided throughout the semester.
With that knowledge the deaf character gained more confidence when communicating and was able to achieve bigger goals in their life then when they had little to no knowledge of how things worked in society. Reading about these characters just gave me a small insight into the deaf community but with the documentary ”Through Deaf Eyes,” has open my mind and eyes that they are people who can thrive in and change the world just as anyone can when they put their mind to
In week 7 our seminar leader allocated us into smaller groups of six to work together, get together and to start preparing for the mock debate in week 9 and the debate in week 10. When we started to get alone with each other, it was seen that it is not going to be easy to achieve our goals, not just because in our group had a strong activist, reflector, theorist and pragmatist, but we also needed to face some solvable difficulties as our first meeting of the week was cancelled by problem like the lack of communication, miscommunication and the ability to listen to another.
Graphic novels are a necessary part of high school curriculum in order to help encourage student read. High School students have a very difficult task of balancing their social
Hurley, Thomas and Juanita Brown. “Conversational Thinking: Thinking together for a Change.” Oxford Leadership Journal 1.2 (2010). http://www.oxfordleadership.com/journal/vol1_issue2/olj_vol1issue2.pdf