Deaf Literature
We all have ways of expressing ourselves and
literature is one of the many ways that most
cultures express themselves. The Deaf culture is
unique in its way of expressing through literature.
As most of you know, ASL is a visual language
and a lot of the literature is express through ASL
rather than in print. This unit will explore the
various expressions the Deaf people have done
through literature such as short stories, plays,
and poetry and you will have the opportunity to
learn how to use literature to express yourself as
a Deaf person. There are numerous sources on
the internet so I will utilize technology also so
you can have the opportunity to explore what is
out there.
"Silence" by Sandi Inches Vasnick
Ann Weis
Itinerant Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
St. Paul School District
© Copyright 2002
9th Grade
Activities
You will be doing the following
activities for this unit:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
© Copyright 2002
“Butterfly” by Karen Jerzak
Engage in the readings of literature written by deaf people.
Incorporate journaling into the activities.
Read a short story written by a deaf person.
Role-play a scene from a short story.
Do “body-sculpting” of a scene.
Do an “ABC” story.
Read a poem written by a deaf person.
Write a poem about a piece of art done by a deaf artist.
Ann L. Weis
St. Paul, MN
Short Story
You will read one of the selected short stories in
No Walls of Stone.
•
Read one of the stories: The Seawall, Inner Ear, Christmas Cheer, or
Selections from I Didn’t Hear the Dragon Roar.
•
In your journal free-write your responses or reaction to the story you
read. What were you feeling as you were reading the story? Did you
identify with the main character(s) in the story?
© Copyright 2002
“Three Southwestern Signs”, 1999
(Fish, bird, butterfly) by Tony McGregor
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Activities Page
Ann L. Weis
St. Paul, MN
Role-Playing
For this activity, you will read one of the short stories in
No Walls of Stone.
•
You can use the same story you read
for the last activity or you can read
another story listed in the last activity.
•
In your journal, write down what scene
you pick to role-play and how you
would do it.
•
In class, we will pick a few scenes and
do some role-playing.
“LOVE” by Charles Wildbank
© Copyright 2002
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Ann L. Weis
St. Paul, MN
Body Sculpting
For this activity, we will do “body-sculpting”.
•
One person will start the body-sculpting by
finding a position that he or she will be will stay in
that position for remainder of the body-sculpting.
•
The next person will add a “position” to the first
person that would tell a story.
•
One half of the class will each add to the body
sculpture/story. The other half of the class will
discuss how they perceive the story the
sculpture is telling and the “sculptors” will give
them feedback.
•
We will repeat this with the other half of the
class.
© Copyright 2002
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“Family Dog” by Susan Dupor
Ann L. Weis
St. Paul, MN
ABC Stories
One of our favorite pastimes is telling
a story using the alphabet. This is a
very unique way of story-telling that is
popular in the deaf culture.
”Left and Right" by Chuck Baird
•
In class, we will watch a couple of ABC stories from the video ABC Stories.
•
Go to the ASL in Literature website. Read “The Haunted House” and “Car Race”.
•
In your journal, explain how you would tell the story like how would you use your
expressions, how you would use pauses between the alphabets, and what kinds
of body movement you would use. Also in your journal, brainstorm some ideas of
telling your own ABC Story, using either an experience you’ve had , from another
story you’ve seen or read, or make up one. Use your imagination!
•
In class, you will have the opportunity to perform one of the stories. We will then
discuss how each person told the story differently.
•
Write your own ABC story and include notes on ways to tell this story.
© Copyright 2002
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Ann L. Weis
St. Paul, MN
ASL Poetry
We will explore ASL Poetry and you will have the
opportunity to perform your own ASL Poem.
•
In class, we will watch a couple of signed poems from the ASL Poetry video.
•
Go to the ASL Poetry website and read the article and the poems below it.
• In your journal, answer the following questions and explain
how you would interpret one of the poems.




What is the key characteristic of ASL?
Where is the area of highest visual acuity of the signer?
What language is ASL structured more like?
What does ASL emphasize when using facial
expression?
 What are the non-manual markers?
”Theory of Language"
by Paul Johnston
© Copyright 2002
•
Pick one of the poems and practice how you would sign it.
•
In class we will have you sign it to the class and discuss
what are some of the differences of poetry in sign as
opposed to written English.
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Ann L. Weis
St. Paul, MN
Art as Poetry
For this activity, you will use your poetry knowledge and
interpret art in a written poetic form.
•
Pick an artwork from this presentation
or from the “...seeing through deaf
eyes…” Website that you like and, in
your journal, write down your reactions
to the artwork and how you would
describe it poetically.
•
Devise a poem describing the artwork
you like. (Write the title of artwork and
name of artist. If you choose one from
the website, be sure to also include the
website address.)
•
In class, you will have the opportunity
to present your poem.
© Copyright 2002
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"Art is My Eye" by Harry Williams
Ann L. Weis
St. Paul, MN
Resources
Congratulations! You’ve completed the Deaf Literature unit!
Resources used for this unit:
•
http://www.newsport.sfsu.edu/archive/s96/planetnews/deaf/persp/index2.html
(“Silence” & “Art is My Eye”)
•
No Walls of Stone: An Anthology of literature by deaf heard of hearing writers;
Jill Jepson, editor; Gallaudet University Press, Washington, DC; 1992.
•
http://home.earthlink.net/~aslclay/DeafArt.Club.html (“Butterfly”)
•
http://www.csun.edu/~djg47571/ (ASL Poetry)
•
http://www.geocities.com/deafeyes2001/
(“LOVE”, “Left and Right”, “The Decisive Moment”)
•
http://www.tonymcgregorart.com/gallery/gourds/gourd.html
(“Three Southwestern Signs”)
Other resources that you can check out:
•
http://www.zak.co.il/deaf-info/old/poems.html (Poems)
•
http://www.deafart.org/ (Art)
•
http://handson.org/ (The Arts)
•
http://www.artslynx.org/heal/deaf.htm#General (Art resources)
•
http://aslstories.deafbase.com/ (‘Live’ stories and poetry)
•
http://archive.shadowpoetry.com/collections/deaf.html (Poems)
•
http://raymondluczak.com/bio.html (Poems & “mini-essays”)
•
http://www.sdc.uwo.ca/writing/webresources.html (Writing help)
•
http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/WorldAroundYou/index.html (Deaf teen magazine)
•
http://iwlc.csumb.edu/asl/projects/202_1_98/Depaolo/jennifer.html (ASL in Literature)
•
http://deafness.miningco.com/cs/deafculture/ (Deaf culture resources)
© Copyright 2002
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Activities Page
”The Decisive Moment"
by Mary Kielbus
Ann L. Weis
St. Paul, MN
Evaluation
Grading Criteria
Exemplary: (4)
Proficient: (3)
Apprentice: (2)
Novice: (1)
Activity 1: Short Story
The student clearly demonstrates the
thought process involved in the
analysis of the short story read.
The students identifies
most of the key points of
the story.
The student identifies
some of the points of the
story.
The student identifies
some unimportant
points of the story.
The student isn’t clear on
the analysis of the short
story and doesn’t identify
the key points of the story.
Activity 2: Role-playing
The student identifies the
characteristics of the character
portrayed in the role playing.
The students identifies the
important characteristics
of the character portrayed
in the scene used for roleplaying.
The student identifies
some of the
characteristics of the
character portrayed in
the scene used for roleplaying.
The student identifies
characteristics that
unimportant.
The student didn’t have the
knowledge of the
characteristics of the
character used for roleplaying.
Activity 3: ABC Story
The student uses the appropriate
elements for signing the ABC story.
The students correctly
demonstrates all or most
of the elements of the
ABC story.
The students correctly
demonstrates most of
the elements of the ABC
story.
The students correctly
demonstrates some of
the elements of the
ABC story.
The students doesn’t
demonstrate the elements
of the ABC story correctly.
Activity 4: ASL Poetry
The student creatively demonstrates
the signed poem and uses the
elements of ASL poetry correctly.
The student uses his own
creativity to demonstrate
the signed poem and uses
all or most of the elements
of ASL poetry correctly.
The student uses some
creativity to demonstrate
the signed poem and
uses some of the
elements of ASL poetry
correctly.
The student’s creativity
is limited in
demonstrating the
signed poem and uses
few of the elements of
ASL poetry correctly.
The student doesn’t use his
own creativity to
demonstrate the signed
poem and doesn’t use the
elements of ASL poetry
correctly.
Activity 5: Art as Poetry
The student creatively uses poetry to
interpret an artwork and uses the
elements of ASL poetry correctly.
The student uses his own
creativity to interpret the
artwork through a signed
poem and uses all or most
of the elements of ASL
poetry correctly.
The student uses some
creativity to interpret the
artwork through a signed
poem and uses some of
the elements of ASL
poetry correctly.
The student’s creativity
is limited in interpreting
the artwork through a
signed poem and uses
few of the elements of
ASL poetry correctly.
The student doesn’t use his
own creativity to interpret
the artwork through a
signed poem and doesn’t
use the elements of ASL
poetry correctly.
Journaling
The student documents his thoughts
in analyzing the literature in each
activity.
The student clearly
demonstrates the thought
process involved in
analyzing the literature in
each activity.
The student
demonstrates some
thought processing
involved in analyzing the
literature in each activity.
The student’s
demonstration of the
thought process
involved in analyzing
the literature in each
activity isn’t very clear.
The student doesn’t
demonstrate the thought
process involved in
analyzing the literature in
each activity.