The Dancer

When I was reading the story, “The Dancer.” I was thinking it must be an Native American story. At first I thought it meant going to a dance play or something then I realized the author, Sears said powwow and I immediately know it was Native Americans. There were weird names like old Eagle woman and Kicking Woman that was connecting it more to the Native Americans.

Anyways, the foster mother takes in a little girl that came from broken home  to a home where everyone was loved and nurtured. Sears mentioned that the little girl was a real loner and that she had screaming nightmares  a lot. They go to more dances and she observes the other dancers. The little girl finally asks to dance so they practice dancing. Sears sew a dress for the girl’s first dance. As she danced, a spirit swooped down and went inside of her and filled her with spirit’s love of dance.

The little girl’s self esteem is starting to improve and she is interacting with others more and more.  I applaud Sears for taking the girl in to love her and showing her it is possible to be loved and have a family to share with. She didn’t have to do that but I guess she has a good heart and doesn’t want any children to grow up with out a mother or a father.

House of My Own and Saturday at the Canal

        I enjoyed the short story, “A House of My Own,” because the author, Cisneros talks about her first house of her own to call it a home. She is becoming an independent woman and learning the meaning of the word home. It is a house that only have has a woman’s touch, not a man’s or a father’s. She has her own things that make it cozy and comfortable and pretty.  She is happy that she has her own home and doesn’t have to pick up after anyone. I guess the author enjoys coming home to the quietness. My sister got her first apartment few months ago. It is pretty nice and she did all for herself without a man’s touch or father’s touch. She has a job and a car and a sports bike. She is a responsible person. Some day in the future I will own my own home and be independent too, preferably after I graduated from college and get the job that  I really want.

        To me, the story “Saturday at the Canal” is about Soto when he was around 17, I think he when he is a senior. He says that the teachers are too old to understand the teenagers because their culture and language is different than the teens. Soto is reminiscing about him and his friend sitting at the canal talking about wanting to get out of their town to San Francisco. They wanted to be with the people that understood them and wanted to do something with their life instead of regretting it and not doing anything. I am guessing that Soto and his friend is sitting on the Canal years later wondering why they never got out of their town, when they could have had the chance. It makes me think that sometimes the choices I make I will regret later. Currently I am on the right path to my future of becoming a teacher. But every once in a while I do think of getting away for a while and do the things I wanted to do like backpack through Europe. Sometimes I just want to get away from my daily life because I feel like society tells us what to do; go to school, graduate, go to college, graduate, find a job, find husband/wife, have kids, retire. We are made to have fun and be yourself, not what the society tells us to be. Suppose you are a senior in high school and you were rebellious. Do you want to get out of your town and just get away from all the rules and just start fresh somewhere?

Language My Native Language

When I was reading the story "Learning My Native Language, I was thinking she has been through so much! She went through school without an interpreter and relied heavily on lip reading. When she said that she called her teacher Miss Queer and it upped her social level, I laughed because I know she didn’t mean to say that but it made her friends. It was good to see as I was reading she was overcoming her obstacles.

         I felt empathy for her because I grew up in a mainstream school but the last two years of my high school in a deaf school. I don’t know how I became Hard of Hearing. It was either when I was born I had the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck or I got sick when I was few years old. I only had hearing aids to support me. I had to read everyone’s lips but I could hear a little. I struggle a little in elementary school because I couldn’t understand some things. In middle school I had a teacher that helps me with all my homework and he could sign. He helped me a lot. In high school I was struggling just a tad but I pulled through and then I moved to a deaf school. It felt easy for me and I had good grades. When I got to Gallaudet University I felt awkward because I used mostly home signs and was still learning ASL. My family mostly talks loud around me so I can hear them. All my life people ask me why I talk so funny or why I have an accent. I would then tell them I don’t know or I say I’m from Florida. Others would say I talk good for a deaf person.

         At the end of the reading, I still felt empathy for her. I know what she went through because I have been through some myself. Her native language is English, just like my native language is English. I grew up speaking and sometimes interpreting for my brother because my family knows a little bit of signs. She is an professor at a hearing college I think because she mentions she lets the students know that she will sometimes ask to repeat their questions or comments. I think it is cool because I want to be a teacher at either a public school or a deaf school. She can do anything and so can I.

Leaving Home, the First Day

I thought the story, The First Day was a good story and it touched me. The mother wanted her daughter to go to this one school but it was out of her area so she couldn't go. She end up going to the new school. When she had to fill the forms out she actually had to ask to fill them out because she couldn't read or write!  I think she was either an immigrant, alien or someone that was poor growing up and didnt learn. I thought it was a good story because it tells people about the recollection of the girl’s first day at school and letting us know that the mother didn’t know how to read or write.

When the little girl was reminiscing about her first day, I was thinking, "I don't remember my first day."  The earliest school memory I remember was in preschool. I was crying when my father left me for a bit. In the article by August Gribbon of Washington times he said, "Many of the nearly 1,000,000 newcomers who legally enter the nation each year and an unknown number among the estimated 300,000 illegal aliens find it exceptionally difficult to learn English because they can't read or write in even their native language." I agree with this quote because it is the same concept of some deaf students are good at ASL  but they struggle with the proper grammar and have elementary level reading.I think that the immigrants should learn to read and write in their language first then switch to English. It might be a little easier for them. Perhaps fate has bought them to the new school for a reason, maybe she would later take classes to learn to read and write. One thing I did not understand was that the girl was ashamed of her mother.

I do not know anyone that couldn’t read or write but I feel empathy for them. My step mother is from El Salvador. She can read and write but she is still learning English. Sometimes I have difficulties understanding what she says because of her accent. If there was no accent then I would probably understand her more. She used to take night class to learn but she stopped because she had a baby. Since then, I have heard nothing about her going back to night classes. I think it is because she is busy working. In the end I enjoyed reading the story and having flashbacks to my school days.

Citation: http://www.scottbomb.com/english.html

Introduction

Hello! My name is Brandi McGowan. I was born in N.C and then moved to Va for a bit. Then I moved down to Fla for 5 or 6 years. After that I moved back up to Va and still live there. I went to West Virginia School for the Deaf for the last 2 years of my hs and graduated there.
I am currently a sophomore here at Gallaudet. My major will be education. I want to be a teacher at either elementary or middle school. One thing about me: I love sleeping! :) I will be using this blog for English when Dr. Pajka tells us to.