The main debate in the movie was about whether or not a cochlear implant should be utilized in order to hear. A cochlear implant is a device that is placed on the surface of the brain and is hooked up to a hearing aid on the outside of the head. It allows those that cannot hear the ability to hear. This surgery is an invasive one; physically, emotionally, and mentally.
The deaf world and the hearing world are two very different worlds and it is hard for those that are able to hear to recognize. In McFarland, there are no deaf students, maybe very hard of hearing, but not deaf. The documentary, "Sound and Fury" helped me realize how complex this culture is. There are so many aspects to these two worlds that it is hard to understand exactly what the other has or doesn't have. The two families, Peter's family and Chris's family, have children that are deaf.
Heather is four and is interested about getting an implant and having the ability to hear. Her parents don't agree because they want her to be a part of the deaf culture. Being able to hear will change her identity and will confuse her on her status, her status in the deaf world and hearing world. Her family is very proud of the deafness, but feel that she would be afforded more opportunities with the implant.
Peter is a newborn twin that is deaf. No one in his immediate family is deaf and getting the implant will make his life much easier, that is what his family believes. His parents turned to the implant right away. It was not supported because many thought that they were ashamed of his deafness.
These two views caused a lot of tension in the families. Some discouraged the implant, some encouraged it. Those that encouraged it were able to hear, those that disagreed with it were not able to hear. The family that was opposed to the implant was more adjusted, so to speak, with the deaf culture, while the family that wanted it wasn't as exposed to that lifestyle.
These debates involved a lot of definition and commonplace. Chris's family wanted to give their son the ability to hear because they had never experienced deaf life themselves. Peter's family was opposed to it because all that they knew was a deaf life. They wanted to keep it that way. Deafness was a part of their identity.
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Fictional Worlds
Fictional means not real, correct? I spend the majority of my free time, if there is any, reading fictional stories or watching fictional movies or TV shows. These story lines intrigue me and are a part of who I am. The stories that are very far fetched (sci fi, fantasy and dystopian) are the ones that I tend to read or watch, but also try to stay away from. The most prominent, creepy stories are The Walking Dead, Divergent, or a books series titled, The Dead and the Gone. All Disney cartoons, and other in that genre, are fair game, however. All of these stories have a 99.99% chance of happening, but still give me the willies.
Regardless of the chances, I will forever fear the possibility of myself getting caught in these stories. The tension in the story and the characters scare me because I am set on the fact that if I was put in these situations, I would not make it. Nothing gets more irrational than this; because it is fictional! Meaning, the story is untrue and is purely a figment of the author's imagination. None of the events or people or ideas are real, so why do I fear them? How I would react if these situations became non-fictional is beyond me. It would not be pretty.
On another note, I would be thrilled to be placed in a Harry Potter setting and most of the Disney stories as well, but the scary situations (and you know what I am talking about) are a no fly zone.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
'Blurred Lines' is Lot of Things
This conversation, the one about what 'Blurred Lines' is truly about and how it can be perceived is one that could be stretched and dissected for a long time. With all of the songs out there that highlight sex and parties one wouldn't pay much attention to the lyrics, but many have. I, myself, didn't think much of this song because for me, if it's catchy, I like the song. Upon listening to the lyrics more closely last year, I quickly discovered what it was about. I shied away from it on the radio and gave it a thumbs down on Pandora, partially due to to the fact that it was overplayed and then because it just made me feel uncomfortable because I was paying attention to the lyrics more at that time. Until last week, when we started to dive deeper into the song, did I realize that it may have a rapey feel.
The essay by Tricia Romano is highlighted with the comments from other essays. It exemplifies the title and the feel. The title, 'Blurred Lines' is viewed as the line between consent and rape and many of the feminist writers feel that it gives the notion of rape and male bravado. On the other hand, Jennifer Lai talks about how cocky it is, but not rapey. Lai gets at the fact that while it has phrases that sound very assuming, they do not go beyond the boundaries to say, "'I know you want it, and I'm going to force you to have it.'" This gives a very bad rep to cocky men and their assumptions. But this author doesn't feel like it is something to concern yourself with.
I do agree, with both points. You need to choose for yourself if this is something to worry about and to talk about. I will not worry about this topic of discussion, but I do feel, as an individual, that this is a song that I do not want to hear. But I also won't condemn it. This song is just another song in our music industry. As much as a feminist I may be, I will not get too opinionated because the two essays tie up the perception. The song's message is about how you perceive it, just as it is with all forms of art.
The essay by Tricia Romano is highlighted with the comments from other essays. It exemplifies the title and the feel. The title, 'Blurred Lines' is viewed as the line between consent and rape and many of the feminist writers feel that it gives the notion of rape and male bravado. On the other hand, Jennifer Lai talks about how cocky it is, but not rapey. Lai gets at the fact that while it has phrases that sound very assuming, they do not go beyond the boundaries to say, "'I know you want it, and I'm going to force you to have it.'" This gives a very bad rep to cocky men and their assumptions. But this author doesn't feel like it is something to concern yourself with.
I do agree, with both points. You need to choose for yourself if this is something to worry about and to talk about. I will not worry about this topic of discussion, but I do feel, as an individual, that this is a song that I do not want to hear. But I also won't condemn it. This song is just another song in our music industry. As much as a feminist I may be, I will not get too opinionated because the two essays tie up the perception. The song's message is about how you perceive it, just as it is with all forms of art.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Autobiography of a Face
I know a book is good if it leaves me stumped. The book, "Autobiography of a Face," by Lucy Grealy, left me thinking even a month after I had finished turning it's pages. This story is heavy, not in the physical state, but the contents. It's a hard thing to describe to someone that hasn't read the book. I think that is why I am still thinking about it, the book has a complexity to it's story. Any story about pediatric cancer, disfigurement, the concept of beauty, and a yearning for self acceptance will have layers upon layers to it's story.
There are very few books that I have read that have caused me to underline, highlight, and tab the pages. There are so many things in books like these that come to my attention. I was very impressed with the book, because while it is truly non-fiction, it didn't seem like it. It is a very beautiful work of literature that was written very well. In the afterword, written by her very good friend, Ann Patchett stated, "She wanted her book to be judged on it's literary merit and not its heartbreaking content." She also made it very clear that while she is writing about her life, she didn't remember it to every minute detail. She made her point, "She was making art, not documenting an event." Maybe I haven't read much non-fiction, but I do know that most non-fiction books document something, not tell a story. She didn't want to be an inspiration, she wanted to write.
It is clear that she spared the readers a lot of pain and suffering. A story about one's life can never be fully written. If all of the details about her life were included in the book those that read it would be crushed by it's weight; this is what I mean by saying that the book is heavy. When Lucy Grealy added a note that she found her disfigurement more of a hardship than a cancer that was essentially terminal, you knew her life was a difficult one. It is very clear that one of her greatest joys is the publication of this book.
There are very few books that I have read that have caused me to underline, highlight, and tab the pages. There are so many things in books like these that come to my attention. I was very impressed with the book, because while it is truly non-fiction, it didn't seem like it. It is a very beautiful work of literature that was written very well. In the afterword, written by her very good friend, Ann Patchett stated, "She wanted her book to be judged on it's literary merit and not its heartbreaking content." She also made it very clear that while she is writing about her life, she didn't remember it to every minute detail. She made her point, "She was making art, not documenting an event." Maybe I haven't read much non-fiction, but I do know that most non-fiction books document something, not tell a story. She didn't want to be an inspiration, she wanted to write.
It is clear that she spared the readers a lot of pain and suffering. A story about one's life can never be fully written. If all of the details about her life were included in the book those that read it would be crushed by it's weight; this is what I mean by saying that the book is heavy. When Lucy Grealy added a note that she found her disfigurement more of a hardship than a cancer that was essentially terminal, you knew her life was a difficult one. It is very clear that one of her greatest joys is the publication of this book.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Logic Has Nothing To Do With Oppression
Oppression and logic; two things that are not normally brought together. But the two essays composed by Margaret Fuller and Gloria Steinem bring them together; and very well, seeing as the essays were written over 100 years apart. This is a pair of essays that have very feminist themes. The essay on the Jim Crow laws covers the struggle for Civil Rights, "The Great Lawsuit," and "If Men Could Menstruate" rightfully highlight Women's Rights, which deserve a place in our history and current lives as much as the next one.
Margaret Fuller's, "The Great Lawsuit," is something that still has relation to the current era, regardless of the publication date, 1843. Women's Rights wasn't something that was widely spread at the time, and I'm not just talking about Suffrage when I mention Women's Rights, I'm talking about the right to divorce, work, equal pay, and non-domesticated lifestyle. While we currently have those rights, Women's history is something that needs to be noted. And to any that whine about Men's history and their rights, well that's all of American History and then the rest of the world. There is one line that I noticed in the essay that is still not fully solved. "When not one man in the million, shall I say, no, not in hundred million, can rise above the view that woman was made for men." Men seem to have a sense of entitlement when I comes to those sort of things and the tables are turned in the next essay.
When I say tables turned, I mean that men have to experience menstruation. I, however, soon realized, that if men did have that misfortune, the table will turn upside down and menstruation would be something celebrated, not dreaded. The author, Gloria Steinem shared, throughout her essay, what would potentially happen if this were to happen. The line that stuck with me the most was towards the end, "I leave further improvisation up to you." There are, like all other works of literature, many ways to improvise on what is put on the paper, that's what the authors want. But this one requires more improvising, more thinking about what is now labeled as 'Gender Equality,' because it probably isn't as equal as one might think.
Margaret Fuller's, "The Great Lawsuit," is something that still has relation to the current era, regardless of the publication date, 1843. Women's Rights wasn't something that was widely spread at the time, and I'm not just talking about Suffrage when I mention Women's Rights, I'm talking about the right to divorce, work, equal pay, and non-domesticated lifestyle. While we currently have those rights, Women's history is something that needs to be noted. And to any that whine about Men's history and their rights, well that's all of American History and then the rest of the world. There is one line that I noticed in the essay that is still not fully solved. "When not one man in the million, shall I say, no, not in hundred million, can rise above the view that woman was made for men." Men seem to have a sense of entitlement when I comes to those sort of things and the tables are turned in the next essay.
When I say tables turned, I mean that men have to experience menstruation. I, however, soon realized, that if men did have that misfortune, the table will turn upside down and menstruation would be something celebrated, not dreaded. The author, Gloria Steinem shared, throughout her essay, what would potentially happen if this were to happen. The line that stuck with me the most was towards the end, "I leave further improvisation up to you." There are, like all other works of literature, many ways to improvise on what is put on the paper, that's what the authors want. But this one requires more improvising, more thinking about what is now labeled as 'Gender Equality,' because it probably isn't as equal as one might think.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Flaws in Our Lifestyle?
The author of this essay, Nicholas Carr, while he was published in The Atlantic Online and I respect his knowledge, he seemed to whine throughout this publication. While there are flaws with the technology in this era and technology is being used quite ruthlessly, the good that it is doing is being overlooked. The article itself states many positives; "research that once required days in the stacks or periodical rooms of libraries can now be done in minutes," and "the advantages of having immediate access to such an incredibly rich store of information are many." I am very skeptical of his skepticism of the current technologies. Yet I find a lot of truths in what he is trying to say.
I am very skeptical, mainly because this was written six years ago. Our mind is more adapted to this usage of technology and it isn't as new as it used to be. When things like time, maps, printing press, telephone, and calculator were invented we adapted and benefited, with some flaws, but now the internet has taken all of these inventions and made them accessible in one place. They talk about 'artificial intelligence' and 'the human brain is just...' It is mentioned how an un-natural brain would leave you better off than what you currently have. That the brain is just and outdated computer. The human brain is not JUST anything. It is an amazing tool that is benefiting and adapting to the tool we have created and been given in this lifetime. With the skepticism that I am bringing up with this essay there are some obscure things that I agree with.
The fact that Literature majors and professors can't engage in a book or long article or blog post concerns me. I, being part of the technology hungry generation, do not have that problem. I believe that it is because I am so used to technology and the way the Internet is run that I didn't have to adapt, because I don't know anything different. We are most definitely doing more reading than the average person in the 1970's, that is a given. It is also clear that reading is a learned skill that is not natural at first. All of the major inventions in the past centuries were accepted, but people were worried. But one fact about the human nature remains very true, change scares people. It always has, and always will. So until something that will never change goes away the skepticism will always remain and it will be a part of this life. I am curious about what the next big area of questioning will be; robots?
I am very skeptical, mainly because this was written six years ago. Our mind is more adapted to this usage of technology and it isn't as new as it used to be. When things like time, maps, printing press, telephone, and calculator were invented we adapted and benefited, with some flaws, but now the internet has taken all of these inventions and made them accessible in one place. They talk about 'artificial intelligence' and 'the human brain is just...' It is mentioned how an un-natural brain would leave you better off than what you currently have. That the brain is just and outdated computer. The human brain is not JUST anything. It is an amazing tool that is benefiting and adapting to the tool we have created and been given in this lifetime. With the skepticism that I am bringing up with this essay there are some obscure things that I agree with.
The fact that Literature majors and professors can't engage in a book or long article or blog post concerns me. I, being part of the technology hungry generation, do not have that problem. I believe that it is because I am so used to technology and the way the Internet is run that I didn't have to adapt, because I don't know anything different. We are most definitely doing more reading than the average person in the 1970's, that is a given. It is also clear that reading is a learned skill that is not natural at first. All of the major inventions in the past centuries were accepted, but people were worried. But one fact about the human nature remains very true, change scares people. It always has, and always will. So until something that will never change goes away the skepticism will always remain and it will be a part of this life. I am curious about what the next big area of questioning will be; robots?
Friday, July 11, 2014
Do the Wrong Thing for What Is Right
While many African Americans headlined the fight for equality in the 1960's, many more were contempt to take the blows and get by. They just wanted to live; they didn't want to make the news, they didn't want to be outspoken, and they most definitely didn't want to be lynched. The first lesson in the "Jim Crow education" ended with him complaining to his mother because of what some white men did to him. One of the first things his mother said was that he shouldn't always be fighting and the he should hide from them. And most importantly, that he should be thankful that the just cut his head open and didn't kill him. To get by as a minority, at any time is to let everyone know that you are in and will stay in your place, which is something that is very hard to swallow for anyone facing oppression.
Slowly the lessons he learned continued to put him in his face very firmly. Those lessons kept him from seeking equality, which is why, as the old saying goes, "Well behaving people seldom make history." As the short sketches go on, the pattern becomes clear, he will be a victim, then complain, then be called a foll for not acting like he isn't there. I can't help but wonder what the pattern, if there was one, was for someone like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr, two people that made history for not following the rules of that day, but still doing what is right in the eyes of people today. Everyone, at any time, is scared of stepping out of line and breaking the status-quo. Stepping out of line brings change, and while the whites that did the horrific things to innocent African Americans, it was very few that controlled the oppression, and no one realized that.
As mentioned in the essay, "The plight of the Negro in America is graphically symbolized." this is more true than any other line in the essay, the struggle that all African Americans faced in America is such a pinnacle part of our history that it isn't looked into as much as it should be. It is an event that is made out to be so complicated. The only change that was brought about was by people that didn't do what they were supposed to do. The refused to give up a seat, they spoke out, they gave themselves a status that was equal, not below. The author of this essay learned a valuable thing for someone that wishes to stay in line and continue on the life that he was given, he learned what they wanted to see and hear.
Slowly the lessons he learned continued to put him in his face very firmly. Those lessons kept him from seeking equality, which is why, as the old saying goes, "Well behaving people seldom make history." As the short sketches go on, the pattern becomes clear, he will be a victim, then complain, then be called a foll for not acting like he isn't there. I can't help but wonder what the pattern, if there was one, was for someone like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr, two people that made history for not following the rules of that day, but still doing what is right in the eyes of people today. Everyone, at any time, is scared of stepping out of line and breaking the status-quo. Stepping out of line brings change, and while the whites that did the horrific things to innocent African Americans, it was very few that controlled the oppression, and no one realized that.
As mentioned in the essay, "The plight of the Negro in America is graphically symbolized." this is more true than any other line in the essay, the struggle that all African Americans faced in America is such a pinnacle part of our history that it isn't looked into as much as it should be. It is an event that is made out to be so complicated. The only change that was brought about was by people that didn't do what they were supposed to do. The refused to give up a seat, they spoke out, they gave themselves a status that was equal, not below. The author of this essay learned a valuable thing for someone that wishes to stay in line and continue on the life that he was given, he learned what they wanted to see and hear.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Vulnerablity in the Town, Country, and World
The tragedy of the 9/11 terrorist attack marked a type of vulnerability that America hadn't faced and likely will never face again. Both of the essays highlight vulnerabilities that possess different qualities and how they struck various people throughout the country. The essay by John Updike takes on the task of trying to explain what it was like in New York and not what was on the news. On the other hand, Susan Sontag attempts to explain what is wrong with the public figures and news anchors and how they are (poorly) approaching the events and the healing.
John Updike highlights the "false intimacy" that surrounded the news coverage of these events. He is one of the millions of New York City residents that was forced to witness the collision and collapse of the World Trade Center. He talked about the notion that television brought about, that it was an unreal event that could be fixed, and essentially was fixed when you turned off the TV. I agree with that idea, and that, myself, being only 16, thankfully haven't lived with or witnessed something as horrific as this crisis. Outside of the premises where a tragic event take place, the idea that time heals all wounds is prevalent. But to this day New York's people look into the iconic skyline and are forced to look into the empty space where two towers disappeared on that afternoon. To the people in the greater New York City area, the nightmare lived on for weeks and continues to live on. He powerfully mentions the other side of the abstraction of war, as quoted in the essay, "We have only the mundane duties of survivors--to pick up the pieces, to bury the dead, to take more precautions, to go on living." The most powerful element is that risk is the price of the freedom and that we all live in a country worth fighting for.
Susan Sontag describes the events as a reality of how the world works and how the United States plays a part in the global world. She also very powerfully, in a very convincing manner, describes the way that public figures are "joined together in a campaign to infantilize the public." She makes a case that the attack was not cowardly, but "an attack on the world's self-proclaimed superpower." The 9/11 attacks are attacks that will forever live in infamy and that the public needs to be asked to bear a burden of reality, and that it is a effective way to heal. She justifies that the way the politics of democracy is run has changed too much and that the event is unworthy of democracy. We can grieve, but we have to be smart and not turn the politics into therapy and do something to keep these event from never happening again. Sontag hints that the ways to change are internal, not forcing change on other countries. The essay states that the saying that, "Our country is strong" is not consoling. While no one doubts that America is strong, that's not all that America can be and has to be to move on and change.
The 9/11 attacks are surrounded by one word that is common in these two articles that were published by The New Yorker: vulnerability. Both have their beliefs, which everyone can agree with, and all hold what the authors find is the underlying problem about the attacks that rocked America to it's core. The essays have different themes, but all come together to explain and teach people the deeper take on the events that took so many lives and shattered the innocence of so many more people across the country.
John Updike highlights the "false intimacy" that surrounded the news coverage of these events. He is one of the millions of New York City residents that was forced to witness the collision and collapse of the World Trade Center. He talked about the notion that television brought about, that it was an unreal event that could be fixed, and essentially was fixed when you turned off the TV. I agree with that idea, and that, myself, being only 16, thankfully haven't lived with or witnessed something as horrific as this crisis. Outside of the premises where a tragic event take place, the idea that time heals all wounds is prevalent. But to this day New York's people look into the iconic skyline and are forced to look into the empty space where two towers disappeared on that afternoon. To the people in the greater New York City area, the nightmare lived on for weeks and continues to live on. He powerfully mentions the other side of the abstraction of war, as quoted in the essay, "We have only the mundane duties of survivors--to pick up the pieces, to bury the dead, to take more precautions, to go on living." The most powerful element is that risk is the price of the freedom and that we all live in a country worth fighting for.
Susan Sontag describes the events as a reality of how the world works and how the United States plays a part in the global world. She also very powerfully, in a very convincing manner, describes the way that public figures are "joined together in a campaign to infantilize the public." She makes a case that the attack was not cowardly, but "an attack on the world's self-proclaimed superpower." The 9/11 attacks are attacks that will forever live in infamy and that the public needs to be asked to bear a burden of reality, and that it is a effective way to heal. She justifies that the way the politics of democracy is run has changed too much and that the event is unworthy of democracy. We can grieve, but we have to be smart and not turn the politics into therapy and do something to keep these event from never happening again. Sontag hints that the ways to change are internal, not forcing change on other countries. The essay states that the saying that, "Our country is strong" is not consoling. While no one doubts that America is strong, that's not all that America can be and has to be to move on and change.
The 9/11 attacks are surrounded by one word that is common in these two articles that were published by The New Yorker: vulnerability. Both have their beliefs, which everyone can agree with, and all hold what the authors find is the underlying problem about the attacks that rocked America to it's core. The essays have different themes, but all come together to explain and teach people the deeper take on the events that took so many lives and shattered the innocence of so many more people across the country.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
My Life is NOT "Average"
I was thinking about a way to explain to everyone that will read this that I am just an average girl. While I pondered a way to execute that in writing I realized something very interesting… I am not average.
I am Maddie Loss and I will be a junior this upcoming school year. I decided to compile a list of the parts of my life that essentially label me as an un-average person.
1. I have four siblings. Here’s the breakdown. One biological brother: Ian, 12. Three half siblings, the children of my dad and step mom: Donovan, 2, and the twins, Bella and Elsa, 2 months old as of June 25. All of them are awesome, but very annoying. They all have the most entertaining personalities ever and I do not know what I would do without them in my life.
2. I run, a lot. Odds are you have seen me running in circles around McFarland at one point or another. I am on the track and cross country team, and have been since my freshman year. I will gladly go on forever about the running aspect of my life, but to keep it short and sweet. I am holding on to the idea of accomplishing my dreams that are bigger than myself and this small town with all that I have, and thus throwing myself very ruthlessly into my training. I have to thank Mr. Bruce Fischer, for convincing me that my dreams are worth it.
3. I am a musician, I play the flute and have for a long time. I enjoy the people that are in the band, the music that we get to play, and the teachers. I do not like marching, but it’s tolerable I have no aspirations to continue beyond my high school career, but it keeps me very level headed in these crazy, not necessarily glory, days that are called high school.
4. I traveled to Italy last summer. I have an aunt that lives in northern Italy, 45 minutes from the border of Austria. I visited Verona, Venice, Trento, Milan, and Genoa, and various pit stops along the way. The best part was just the country in general, seeing my family, and the food, oh my, the food is amazing. The worst part was the hilly roads, I am very prone motion sickness and it was easily the worst part of the trip; that and the jet lag. I also ended up in more countries than planned due to a flight cancellation as well; including, Sweden, Switzerland, and Denmark.
5. I love to read. I will read any book that subtly sparks my interest. All genres crop up in the books that I have read, but my favorite are; fantasy, historical fiction, science fiction, fiction, non-fiction, and various news articles that capture my attention. All of the articles that I read are on the various news sites that I check on a day-to-day basis, inclusive of CNN, NBC, and National Geographic. I also love watching TED talks, they are all very interesting and amazing in someway or another.
If I spent more time thinking I would probably come up with a lot more reasons as to why I am a non-average girl who is currently living out her life in a small town in Wisconsin. But this is my start for now, I am positive that more things will be added in the upcoming years. But this is a snapshot of who I am currently, all things are subject to change.
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