Introduction to the Deaf World

University of Southern Maine

Midterm Take Home Exam
Spring 2014
Brenda Schertz

Please submit well-written essays (between 250-350 words each) in response to

essays that are listed below. Each essay is worth 25 points for a total of 150
points. Please post your exam answers on Blackboard on Friday, March 7, 2014.

1. What is the difference between Talking Culture and Culture Talking? Please
explain conflicts between the private world as viewed by Deaf people
themselves, as compared to the public image of Deaf people. Why were
they ambivalent about showing their private world to the public? (Open
Your Eyes, Chapter 1)

2. What is the significance of Stokoes research on ASL in the 1960s? What was
different about his ASL dictionary? Why was this dictionary bitterly
criticized? Please explain how attitudes had changed over time towards
Stokoes work and towards ASL. (Inside Deaf Culture, Chapter 6)

3. Please explain how the National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD) had an impact
on hearing peoples views of Deaf people. Explain what changes in Deaf
peoples lives had occurred because of NTD. (Inside Deaf Culture, Chapters
5 & 6 and Journey Into the Deaf World, pages 138-158)

4. What did Frank Betcher mean by convert culture in his article, The Deaf
Convert Culture and Its Lessons for Deaf Theory? Please explain parallels
he made related to personification and ABC stories with Deaf Studies.
(Open Your Eyes, Chapter 3).

5. Explain linguistic and cultural colonization of the Deaf community. What

were the ramifications of this colonization? Explain Deafhood as it occurred
in precolonial history and the present. Give examples of resistance to this
colonization in the United Kingdom. (Open Your Eyes, Chapter 2)

6. Summarize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). What was
the intent of the law when least restrictive environment (LRE) was
written? What is the Deaf communitys interpretation of LRE? What is Harlan
Lane, author of that article, trying to convey about the law? What effect did
the law have on residential schools for the deaf around the country?
(A Journey Into The Deaf-World, Chapter 8)

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Jeff Meinert