I Am Deaf Essay -- essays research papers

Otherness Project Exceptional Learners I am deaf. I am at Starbucks. I want to order coffee. I have to do it on paper rather than out loud because I speak so poorly, I don’t like to try. I intend to write it down and show it to the barrista, but I am nervous. I don’t know if I am more nervous because I am not really deaf and I feel guilty or because I am different from the other customers and I will be labeled as disabled. I am not looking forward to placing my order. I order a medium decaf coffee by holding up a notebook with the phrase â€Å"Medium Decaf Coffee, Please.† The young man at the counter does a quick transformation from a confident good looking guy to a bumbling embarrassed guy. He says,† yes sir† three or four times. He spends a long time giving change from a five dollar bill for a coffee. Then, he hands me $4.27. (The bill was $1.73) He seems hesitant and confused, and I’m thinking that he’s too worried about hurting my feelings to reconsider if he has the cor rect change. I shake my head: â€Å"no.† He goes thru an explanation (that makes absolutely no sense) of why it is the correct change. Then, he hands it back to me, and I again shake my head: â€Å"no.† He then thinks a second, and he gives me $2.27 change, shorting me a dollar, and then as an afterthought he finally corrects it and gives me the right change. He is clearly addled. And I feel bad for causing him anxiety, especially since it is all a drama for the paper. But, I am trying to maintain my position as a deaf man. I am trying not to respond to sound stimuli. There’s no crime in looking though—for a deaf man. In fact, I enjoyed a heightened sense of sight as I drove without radio accompaniment in my car. I am not talking to anybody. And if they are talking to me, I am avoiding their eyes because I am so busy looking at the words coming out of their mouths. Though I am a bit excited by my isolation, I am also of course, just plain lonely to be so apart from others and their community. I notice I have a message on my cell phone, and I am not supposed to answer it, because I am not able to answer it at this time. I answer it anyway thinking it may be someone I love or it may be someone I work with that will give me money. I am so fortunate to be able to communicate by cell phone with such ease when my alter ego that is deaf is unable to do so. In fact, my alter ego can us... ...fic and up the driveway of the parking lot on the other side of the street. As he makes his way across I think of going to him and asking him out, and how that would infuriate my boyfriend. I think of how confident he is and how skilled and strong. I think of how able he is. And I remember how I was feeling at Starbuck’s knowing that the cashier was trying so hard not to hurt my feelings, because he was apparently certain how sensitive I would be to social discomfort regarding my condition of deafness. I felt offended and hurt and disappointed that the cashier did not recognize my talents. I’m deaf but I’m still an astrologer, numerologer, massage therapist, meditation instructor, teacher, and businessman. I am a well rounded person with an added dimension due to my lack of hearing. I have perspectives that come to me entirely from my deafness that no one but a deaf person can access. Will he recognize my strengths? Will he recognize my completeness, my whole ness, the synthesis of all my individual parts? Right now he doesn’t. These are the things I thought of as I watched that attractive man make his way across the street, while I wished that I was trotting along beside him. I Am Deaf Essay -- essays research papers Otherness Project Exceptional Learners I am deaf. I am at Starbucks. I want to order coffee. I have to do it on paper rather than out loud because I speak so poorly, I don’t like to try. I intend to write it down and show it to the barrista, but I am nervous. I don’t know if I am more nervous because I am not really deaf and I feel guilty or because I am different from the other customers and I will be labeled as disabled. I am not looking forward to placing my order. I order a medium decaf coffee by holding up a notebook with the phrase â€Å"Medium Decaf Coffee, Please.† The young man at the counter does a quick transformation from a confident good looking guy to a bumbling embarrassed guy. He says,† yes sir† three or four times. He spends a long time giving change from a five dollar bill for a coffee. Then, he hands me $4.27. (The bill was $1.73) He seems hesitant and confused, and I’m thinking that he’s too worried about hurting my feelings to reconsider if he has the cor rect change. I shake my head: â€Å"no.† He goes thru an explanation (that makes absolutely no sense) of why it is the correct change. Then, he hands it back to me, and I again shake my head: â€Å"no.† He then thinks a second, and he gives me $2.27 change, shorting me a dollar, and then as an afterthought he finally corrects it and gives me the right change. He is clearly addled. And I feel bad for causing him anxiety, especially since it is all a drama for the paper. But, I am trying to maintain my position as a deaf man. I am trying not to respond to sound stimuli. There’s no crime in looking though—for a deaf man. In fact, I enjoyed a heightened sense of sight as I drove without radio accompaniment in my car. I am not talking to anybody. And if they are talking to me, I am avoiding their eyes because I am so busy looking at the words coming out of their mouths. Though I am a bit excited by my isolation, I am also of course, just plain lonely to be so apart from others and their community. I notice I have a message on my cell phone, and I am not supposed to answer it, because I am not able to answer it at this time. I answer it anyway thinking it may be someone I love or it may be someone I work with that will give me money. I am so fortunate to be able to communicate by cell phone with such ease when my alter ego that is deaf is unable to do so. In fact, my alter ego can us... ...fic and up the driveway of the parking lot on the other side of the street. As he makes his way across I think of going to him and asking him out, and how that would infuriate my boyfriend. I think of how confident he is and how skilled and strong. I think of how able he is. And I remember how I was feeling at Starbuck’s knowing that the cashier was trying so hard not to hurt my feelings, because he was apparently certain how sensitive I would be to social discomfort regarding my condition of deafness. I felt offended and hurt and disappointed that the cashier did not recognize my talents. I’m deaf but I’m still an astrologer, numerologer, massage therapist, meditation instructor, teacher, and businessman. I am a well rounded person with an added dimension due to my lack of hearing. I have perspectives that come to me entirely from my deafness that no one but a deaf person can access. Will he recognize my strengths? Will he recognize my completeness, my whole ness, the synthesis of all my individual parts? Right now he doesn’t. These are the things I thought of as I watched that attractive man make his way across the street, while I wished that I was trotting along beside him.

Comparison of the Great Gatsby, Leisure Class, and Teaching in Tehran Essay

Class differences in society are a major impact on the lifestyle of people. Even today we can see how it effects how a person experiences their life. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we can clearly see how Gatsby’s social status changes while in Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi we can see how class differences effect the opinions of the people in the class. The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen also demonstrates the philosophy and the dynamics of the differences between the rich and the poor. In these three works, status is portrayed as a dominant force in shaping one’s educational and/or social experience. In The Great Gatsby we can see how one’s status effects a person’s educational and/or social experience. Gatsby was born into a poor family and so he wasn’t able to get a proper education. Instead he worked as a clam-digger and a salmon-fisher, unlike Tom and Nick who had the best education due to their higher status and abundance of money. Gatsby had a different social experiece from Nick who was raised as a wealthy young boy who knew of his status. This acted as a confidence booster, one that assured him of his identity. Nick’s father once said to him â€Å"‘Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone†¦ just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had† (1). Gatsby, on the other hand, had a different social experience. Gatsby wasn’t spoiled and became mature at a younger age. However, when Gatsby moves to West Egg, his educational and social experiences now differ from his past due to him being a higher status. Gatsby, now a wealthy man, is able to pursue an education with more confidence. He is also able to experience a new social standing. An example of him excercising his new wealth and position in society is his hosting of popular parties in which he is able to observe how higher class people interact. Despite this he is always uncomfortable with the rest of the higher class and is only a spectator of his parties. He never really fits in because although he is now a higher class, he grew up poor with different ideals. Growing up in a different environment made Gatsby think that with money he can achieve anything – even his goal of attaining Daisy’s love. His naivety with money shows distinct class division between poor and rich. Interaction between men and women in Tehran make women dependent on men. Gender plays a role in determining staus in Tehran. No matter how poor a man is he is seen as having more status than most women. In the excerpt Reading Lolita in Tehran, we can see the different educational and social values between men and women. Since men are raised thinking they have the superior status and their outlook on women are all similar. Unlike men, women are forced to be dependent on the male because of Tehran laws. This restricts women to do what men want to. Educationally both men and women were taught in this excerpt ,but how they perceived education was different. For a very religous man like Mr Nyazi, The Great Gastby as a book goes against eveything he believed in. Religon and his beliefs made him more narrow-minded and unable to look at the whole picture, making his argument biased. Mr. Nyazi argued, â€Å"West is our great enemy, it is the Great Satan, not because of its military might, not because of its economic power, but because of its sinister assault† (126). For a woman in Tehran to be able to argue back to a man was a big deal. Zarrin had a less biased view than Mr. Nyazi arguing how he wasn’t reading critically enough. Zarrin said, â€Å"An inablility to read a novel on its own terms. All he knows is judgement, crude, and simplistic exaltation of right and wrong† (128). In this particular society, gender is a status that is even more difficult to break through than wealth. Being born into a wealthy family meant that you have many advantages. In The Theory of the Leisure Class we can see how the standards of the wealthy are very different from the poor. Being born into a higher class also comes with social pressure to be like everyone else and be different from the poor. Thorstein speaks of some guidelines wealthy people follow to show off their wealth to say I’m not poor ,but rich. At this tage of wealth consists chiefly of slaves benefits accruing from the possesions of the riches and personal service and the immediate products of personal service†(1). What the wealthy experience is very different from the poor. The wealthy has more freedom of choice, having more leisure time to do what they please, while the poor must work everyday to survive. Whether through status or gender ,these roles in society inevitably effect the experiences and oppurtunities that are offered. Gatsby being how he changed from the lower class to the higher class or even how Zarrin viewed The Great Gatsby versus Mr. Nyazi’s view.

The Moral Dilemma And Hypocrisy Of Slavery Essay - 1907 Words

On May 29th, 1856, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech in which he addressed the moral dilemma and hypocrisy of slavery. â€Å"We cannot be free if this is, by our own national choice, to be a land of slavery.† President Lincoln’s rhetoric reflects the challenge to define freedom in America; moreover, it reflects his morality and commitment to upholding personal freedom. It justifies why he does not ignore slavery, as well as why he did not see slaves as property, but as a group of humans who had been abusively denied freedom, and stripped of their humanity for no reason other than avarice personal gain. Slavery was coerced labor that relied heavily on intimidation, brutality, and dehumanization. Regardless that it was once a legal and cultural institution integral to the economic development of the early American economy, slavery was and always will be one of the most horrific violations of human rights. With that in mind, slavery infected American culture in the 17th centu ry, and unfortunately lasted several hundred years. Over the course of that time, slaves produced narratives that sought to garner popular support for bringing an end to slavery. Of the prolific abolitionist narratives published, notably, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl were praised for how their rhetoric challenged slavery. These narratives, combined in Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s TheShow MoreRelatedThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mr. Mark Twain929 Words   |  4 Pagesuneducated, fourteen year old boy, with no knowledge of the â€Å"proper ways† of his society in this particular era. 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