Thanks

I just wanted to say Thank You to Dr. Sharon Pajka-West for answering my email about this project, sending me information for my article and allowing me to use her interviews with some of the authors in my reviews. I know this is linked to my blog site but it bears repeating, if you need any information on this please visit http://pajak.blogspot.com.

Review of article "Perceptions of Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature"

After reading Perceptions of Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature by Sharon Pajka-West, I think that I will need to find the rest of the books that she mentions and read them for my self. I also need to keep in mind the insider/outsider debate for most of the positive feedback from the study showed that the hearing authors created more interesting and numerous deaf characters in their novels. Where as the deaf authors created only one or two deaf characters, usually the main character was deaf and the rest of their small world was hearing. Pajka-West gives a possible explanation for this by stating “With fewer deaf characters, it is nearly impossible for the various ways of being deaf to be included in the book. Thus, the preference for the books by the hearing authors may be connected to the preference for a variety of deaf people represented.” (p44) Having read Deaf Child Crossing and Nick’s Secret I did notice this to be true. There was only the main character Nick who was deaf, and signed some with his mom and then read everyone else’s lips. The same goes for Deaf Child Crossing, the main character Megan is deaf but the minor character of her friend at summer camp Lizzie is Deaf. If you are looking to show your full Deaf students’ characters in books that are the same as they are it will be more difficult to find in deaf author books, especially if the characters are female. Many of the male characters got positive comments if several of the books but the female deaf characters were said to be “weak and, at times pathetic.” (p42) Most of the deaf adults that read the books for Pajka-West’s study claimed that these deaf female characters “could be seen as positive role models for their numerous successes; yet, their behavior appears as outliners and makes them unrealistic and unbelievable.” Overall, after reading Pajka-West’s article I think that she uncovered a central theme in many of our studies in multicultural literature and what teachers should put into their classroom libraries; to read the books and look at all the criteria, not just is this written from an insider perspective, but to make sure that the story and characters are shown in a realistic light. I could not agree with Pajka-West more when she says “If an important purpose for dear characters in fiction is educational and informational, then I suggest there is a need for the characters to be presented as realistic models of deaf people. If not, the readers of such fiction gain inaccurate information about deafness including reinforced negative stereotypes, as can occur in any other literature portraying cultural minorities.”(p40)

I you would like more information about this topic and a reading list to get you started with deaf characters in teen’s literature then please go to Dr. Pajka-West’s blog site at

www.pajka.blogspot.com

Summary of critical article

Perceptions of Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature

Sharon Pajka-West- Written for the ALAN Review Summer 2007, vol 34,3 page 39.

This article reviews several books that have teen deaf characters in them, some are main characters and others are only minor but are interesting enough to be mentioned. The study that Pajka-West proposed was to examine six novels, three from deaf authors and three from hearing authors. The six books that were selected were Apple is my Sign by M. Riskind(hearing); Of Sound Mind by J. Ferris (hearing)(two characters); Finding Abby by V. Scott (deaf); A Maiden’s Grave by J. Deaver (hearing) (two characters), Deaf Child Crossing by M. Matlin (deaf); and Nick’s Secret by C. Blatchford (deaf). The study had adults read two of the six books to gage their response about the deaf characters in the books. The adults were put into three categories, adults who where deaf, adults who had friends or associated with deaf and adults that had never had exposure to the deaf world. Pajka-West then goes through the list of deaf characters in the different novels and breaks down each adult category and what they thought about the characters. Pajka-West originated this idea for a study on this topic when a former student asked her for a reading list with characters like her (the student was deaf). Pajka-West then thought about a possible reading list and asked the question-because more deaf characters are appearing in books are they really quality characters? So Pajka-West started the study and then printed her findings in ALAN magazine.

Book review "The Printer"

The Printer

The Printer written by Myron Uhlberg and illustrated by Henri Sorensen is a wonderful picture book about a young boy whose father worked in a large newspaper printing room. The boy explains that his father would type the letters into words and set the printers to ready the paper to print. Every day the boy’s father would come home from work with that day’s paper and make him a newspaper hat just like the ones that he would wear at work. Then the boy tells us that his father is deaf. This was a common job for many deaf men in the larger cities during the early to mid 1900’s. One day at work the father noticed that there was a fire that was spreading quickly and he knew that he needed to warn the other workers. With the printing machines being so loud the hearing workers would still not hear him if he screamed. So what did the father do? He jumped onto an ink drum and waved his arms until he got the attention of a fellow deaf worker across the room and signed to him that they needed to tell the hearing worker that they need to get out. So sign language and the father save the day and everyone’s lives. Uhlberg took many ideas for this story from his own life; his father was deaf and did work for a major newspaper in the 1940’s. Uhlberg does a good job describing the sometimes loneliness that the deaf worker feels when it is difficult to communicate with your co-workers. Uhlberg’s insider perspective gives him unique advantage to seeing life through a child’s eyes when you have deaf parents. The story is simple yet at the same time informative about deafness and the relationship between father and son and the co-workers. Sorensen’s paintings that accompany the text only adds to the authenticity of the work and helps create a feeling for the story and the time frame in which it is set. When asked what readers will take away from his books, Uhlberg replied “The world of the deaf is invisible to the larger hearing world-invisible in plain site. It is only when the hands of the deaf come alive and begin to speak the beautiful language contained in them that the hearing are aware of the deaf world.” The authors note has some explanations about his own father and printing in the mid- 1900’s. There are also instructions on how to make a newspaper printers hat.

Book review "Deaf Child Crossing"

Deaf Child Crossing

Marlee Matlin’s debut novel Deaf Child Crossing is a decent first attempt at writing a fictional piece, in which certain events were loosely based on her own childhood. Although an insider (Matlin lost her hearing at eighteen months of age) it is apparent that Matlin sometimes struggles with not only English grammar but also at times with expressing the frustration that the main character, Megan, feels at being deaf and living in a hearing world. Megan uses her hearing aids, lip reading and some sign language to communicate but Matlin does not capture the true frustration that many deaf people feel in social situations when there is a communication barrier present. Most of the time Megan just comes off as being angry at the whole world and at times an egocentric nine year old with a short temper. Matlin does paint a clear picture of new friendship with the ups and downs of making new friends and the testing the boundaries of those friendships. For example, when Megan and her new best friend Cindy decide to go to summer camp together, everything is fine until another deaf girl Lizzie shows up. Lizzie only uses American Sign Language (ASL) and does not voice, so Megan and Lizzie sign all the time and leave Cindy feeling left out. This is a frequent feeling for Megan herself; deaf people are quite often left out of conversations and sometimes what is going on in the hearing world around them; so this is something that Megan should be aware of and from there trouble ensues at summer camp. Matlin however does not make that connection very obvious in the novel. A frustration that I had (being an interpreter that took years learning ASL) with the book was that Cindy started to learn sign language and picked it up rather quickly. After only a week or two she is interpreting for Megan at a shopping mall. Over all Deaf Child Crossing is a good idea and starts out strong but it is not pulled together through the middle and the end and most of the characters are not given enough depth.

Book review T4

T4

Ann Clare LeZotte’s first novel is a breathtaking new look at World War II and Hitler’s killing machine known as Tiergartenstrasse 4. The Nazi’s elimination of persons who did not fit the mold of a “perfect race” first started with the killing of anyone with disabilities; including all deaf persons, adults or children. LeZotte creates a strong emotional connection to her main character Paula Becker, who is a thirteen year old deaf girl. Deaf since sixteen months old when she had a high fever, Paula and her family finally accepted her deafness after trying several homemade remedies to cure her. I a time when many disabled children were not educated, Paula learns to write and read, learns lip reading and, sign language from a local clergyman. Because of her deafness her parents agree to let their local priest Father Josef move Paula to a safer area of Germany. When asked what readers will take away from a book about the Holocaust from a perspective of a person with a disability, LeZotte, deaf from birth, replies “I hope readers will realize that Deaf and Disabled people have been the victims of the most horrible kinds of persecution, and that we still live on, and value and enjoy our lives.” What makes this novel even more potent is that these sometimes dark and sometimes hopeful facts are written about in verse. Not since Nikki Grimes’ Masquerade Bronx has verse been used to capture such a stirring message. In a verse titles “A Knock on the Door” a portion reads:

That was the night

Terror came into our home

Although I was so young,

I knew that moment

Was a dividing line

Between my childhood

And whatever came next.

More GLBT questions

Just a quick word. We seem to have a lot of comments about the GLBT topic so I thought that I would throw out another question. I was flipping through the channels last week (when we were on break) and came across a Dr. Phil show. I'm not a big watcher of this type of programming but there was the topic at hand. There was a panel discussion about the recent decision in California to over turn the same sex marriage being allowed. The panel raised some interesting questions; one of the biggest for me was the idea that this was a civil issue not a religious issue, so there for we need to remember there is a separation between church and state. So that begs the same question in our schools, if there is a separation between church, state and school then why is this such a big deal to mention same sex relationships in our teachings? Just something to ponder.

Deaf Literature

I has been a fun time finding some of the references for this final project for this literature class. There are many books out there that show deafness or explain what it is and the tools associated with it (hearing aids, cochlear implants, interpreters) but finding good books written from an insiders perspective that has some merit has proven to be a little more difficult. There has been some books written that just have a deaf character put in there but without any good information about that character; like how or why they are deaf, what method do they use to communicate? Finally, after searching for "literature with deaf characters" I found several websites that mention lists of books that are suitable for research purposes. One site was a blog from a masters graduate that has some good information about deaf character books and some interviews with several authors. If you want to check it out it is at Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature at http://pajka.blogspot.com
She has some interesting stuff on there.

GLBT

After our class read Boy Meets Boy byDavid Levithan we had many very interesting discussions about this topic. We talked about the book itself, about some of the articles we read on the same subject and general topics about the gay/lesbian community.
After reading the book and the article that Levithan wrote, I must agree with him when he said
" We've reached the point where you don't have to read a gay or lesbian book just because it's a gay or lesbian book. You have to read it because it's a good book in its own right, about something important." And this is true with Boy Meets Boy, you could put the name of any character the place for Noah or Paul and it would still be a good story about high school teen angst and young love.
Another topic that was mentioned in class was the Katy Perry song Ur So Gay, and what the lyrics were. I remember reading an article in a GLBT newspaper (Between the Lines) a while back, so I looked it up again to see what the newspaper itself had to say about this topic. The overall feeling from the article was that the writer, Chris Azzopardi, was not offended by the song even calling the lyrics " a politically-incorrect stab at a metro sexual ex." If you want to read the full article, you can find it online at www.pridesource.com under back issues. The Katy Perry interview is in issue 1628 and there is a small mention of MSU students gathering to discuss the future of gay rights mentioned in issue 1640.

4Real

Have you ever had a time when the universe apparently wants you to know something? Well, I think that the universe wants me to be learning more about American Indian cultures at this moment in my life. Why? It just keeps tapping me on the head and putting it in my face. I know that there is a lot on this site about American Indian information, but that just seems like the direction that I am to travel at this point in my life. We have studied it many times in class and have had discussions about what we have seen out in the world in reference to this subject. On this past Sunday I had been busy with schoolwork all day when I decided to make some dinner and sit for a moment to relax. I clicked on the T.V. and what was on? The station that was on the T.V. when it came on was a show called 4Real. It takes celebrities and cameras to different parts of the world and introduces them to people who are making a difference in youths lives. This show had Casey Affleck and he went to meet Crystal Echo Hawk and her group called NVision. They were on the Pawnee Nation reservation. It was really interesting to see how this group used day long workshops to show the youths that there was more to life and that they had a lot to be proud of with their American Indian culture. If you want to check out this episode or any others go on to the website www.4real.com it shows the air times and stations.

Too Many Award Groups?

After reading the articles "Slippery Slopes and Proliferating Prizes" by Marc Aronson and "Awards That Stand on Solid Ground" by Andrea Davis Pinkney, we had an interesting discussion in my diverse literature class. We researched awards for Jewish people, Asian/Pacific people, African-American people, Middle Eastern people, GLBT people, and Latino people. I can see Aronson's view that it is a possibility that there will continue to be more and more different categories created until every book falls into a category for an award. But more importantly, I agree with Pinkney when she states " these awards provide a solid ground upon which authors and illustrators of color and the library and publishing community can stand. These awards are a gateway to progress." If the playing field were level, one would think that more authors and illustrators of diversity would be winning the major literary awards as well, instead of only a handful in the 80 year history of the Newberys. If these separate awards get good writers and artists noticed by more of their peers and the community then I say more power to them. If more well written diverse books get children to open a book and take an interest in reading then these books are doing their job; and as future teachers we need to do our jobs to read through these award winning books for possibilities to add to our classroom libraries.

On a different note, my class discussed the fact that we had never heard of a award for American Indians and if one even existed. The award for outstanding American Indian literature was started in October 2006. You can find information at the American Indian Library Association website at www.ailanet.org

Masquerade

When I first picked up the book Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes I thought to myself "I'm either going to love it or hate it." I sat and read it in one afternoon! I loved the way that Grimes took a different approach in getting the message across to teens that we really don't know what is going on in a person's life just be outward appearances. Grimes does a wonderful job in connecting all of the characters together with the poems that they have to write for English class. There is so much more going on beneath the surface of these characters and they come to realize that the grass is not greener on the other side for all of their classmates. Grimes chose an interesting title too. All of the characters are playing a part, putting up a front or a masquerade so that no one will really get to know them or any of the pain that they have been hiding I will be very interested in looking up some of her other writings as well.

Debate/Movie

Like most in our class, I found the debate to be interesting. It was difficult to define what a true insider would be. It was also difficult because it appeared that both sides of the debate were essentially wanting to make the same point. I very much enjoyed the movie "In Whose Honor" that we watched in class. I do remember hearing about and discussing that situation in other classes when we were talking about stereotypes. I went on Debbie Reeses' site and poked around a little. There is so much information on that site, it is really power packed! I will definitely bookmark that site and refer back to it when looking for a class library in the near future.

Insider/Outsider Multiculturalism

This week we read several articles about multiculturalism from various authors and points of view. Some of the discussion was the definition of multiculturalism and if only an "insider" in that culture could write about that culture.
Patrick Shannon states that he is the "cannon" , the very thing that is not multicultural at all. After reading his article I could see this argument from his perspective; although I did not like the term "the others" when speaking about anyone who was multicultural.
Then came the responses to Shannon from several authors that he mentions in his article. The responses made me look at his article in a different light. I went back and reread his article after reading all of the material and realized that he could be considered part of the problem. Shannon states that both Rudine Sims Bishop and Violet Harris think that multiculturalism is only about race. Both take offense to this comment and reply that they wrote books to look at only one small part of what multiculturalism is, and that is the discussion of minority race. As Bishop states "That is the chunk of multicultural literature that I have choose to focus on, and I've tried to be clear on that." Both authors agree that most of the time people from that culture do write more accurate stories, but not always. Harris says that "The most egregious assertion Shannon makes is that I imply that only a person who is a part of the culture can write about that culture because the chapter authors write only about their groups. This is an error." Harris that goes on to discuss authors that write outside their culture group and do it well.
I am inclined to agree with Harris, write about what you know. If you have studied and lived within a culture and even have input from that culture then write about it. As long as the information is honest and the author truthful then I do not think that you have to only be an "insider" to write about a culture.
I found it interesting that both Bishop and Harris mentioned that Shannon could take some teachable moments with his students when they all snicker at a part in a story he is reading about fried chicken, beer and watermelon from Tar Beach.
One ending quote from Bishop that I really liked was "This problem is not going to be solved as long as people excuse themselves from confronting it."