Train Go Sorry Essay

"I am a hearing student assigned the book Train Go Sorry in my Introduction to Humanities Class. Other readings assigned in this class include several essays from the book My California. In both books, we examined the cultures of California that form a microcosm of the U.S. In this essay, I will incorporate 4 required questions.

1. What does Train Go Sorry mean (who in the book is this referring to; there is a specific person, include his name and his outcome. Remember that good college writing assumes no one has read the information and you must present it or 'teach' it by giving us details.)?

"Train Go Sorry” is an expression used by the deaf community to mean that someone has “missed the boat.” We learn of this expression in the chapter where James Taylor goes to visit his brother in prison. James and his brother grew up in a tough neighborhood. James had an opportunity to attend Lexington because he was deaf. At first he didn’t take advantage of the opportunity at the school to improve his prospects in life, but eventually, he started going to school more regularly and even was on the honor roll and eventually graduated to go to college. James in a way was able to leave behind his impoverished beginnings and move on with his life. His brother on the other hand got stuck and was eventually arrested and sent to prison. James felt like his brother had “missed the boat,” while James himself was able to move on.


2. What pair of 'shoes' do you think the main person in the book is walking in and what did she learn? In other words, who or what culture does she want to belong to and why?

The author is the narrator of the stories. She walks in two sets of shoes. She is hearing, but identifies more closely with Deaf culture because she grew up at Lexington School for the deaf. Growing up, she wanted to be deaf. Her grandparents were deaf and she identifies most closely with Deaf culture because she grew up among deaf children. She felt that when she moved away from the school and was part of the Hearing culture, that she didn’t have the same sense of community. She kind of lingered in between both worlds, but she kind of felt she didn’t belong there either. At one point she even put stones in her ears so that it looked like she had hearing aids. She eventually became fluent in ASL.


3. What is one image you won't ever forget? Draw us a picture in words to explain this. What chapter is it in?

The image that I won't ever forget is the image of Sonia doing her bat mitzvah. That part actually made me cry. Sonia is such an amazing character. What I liked about this story is that Sonia overcame so many different cultural taboos and ended up having her parents support her. Sonia was a Jewish girl from Russia. She was not allowed to practice her religion in her country. When her family immigrated to the United States, they were allowed to finally practice their religion. Sonia had to surmount amazing obstacles to be able to have her bat mitzvah. She first of all had to learn English. She started attending Lexington School before she could speak English. She learned English and ASL. She then started studying Hebrew so that she could do her bat mitzvah. Her parents were concerned and embarrassed that she was going to be a deaf person doing a bat mitzvah and felt that she shouldn’t be out in the public with her deafness. She had to not only learn two brand new languages to be able to perform her bat mitzvah, but she also had to overcome biases of being deaf. She was able to do her bat mitzvah and a large number of people from the synagogue came and supported her. In the end, her family supported her and they were very proud of her. She was able to overcome discrimination and language barriers to perform this important religious rite.


4. What are 5 facts about ASL or Deaf culture you think everyone should know after your reading of this book?

1. ASL is considered a foreign language and sign language varies by country.
2. 
   There has traditionally been a large degree of discrimination against deaf people, so much so, that in many educational situations, ASL was completely banned and deaf people were forced to try to participate in verbal communication.
3. 
   In 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was written requiring “public schools to make available to all eligible children with disabilities a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their individual means.” This act made it so that children with disabilities are given the same opportunities to have an education as people without any disabilities.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act_of_1990
4. 
   ASL wasn’t considered an official language until the 1950’s.
5. 
   ASL and finger spelling are not the same thing. ASL is a language with different gestures with different meanings. Finger spelling is the use of the ASL alphabet to spell out English words.