Goals for the reading assignment:
To continue exploring Deaf culture and the Deaf community.
To examine one’s own perspectives of deafness and deaf people and to compare
them with the views of the author and with your classmates.
Assignment: Respond to the following question. Keep your response concise
and to the point and no more than two pages long.
Question: Mark Medoff's play premiered in 1980. It won several Tony
Awards including Best Play of the Year. The Deaf community thought very
highly of the play. This book looks at the opposing views of deafness: oral
vs.sign, ASL vs. SEE, disability vs. culture, equality vs. oppression.
Using all the information and experiences you have gathered up to now in ASL
classes, which issues in this play do you feel are still relevant today, and
which issues do you feel are now outdated? Give reasons and justifications
for your responses.
Type your responses: You all have access to computers and word-processing
software and so I will request that you type your responses. You can turn in
your responses by e-mail, disk (save as a "text file" or Microsoft Word
document), or printed hard copy.
The "Children of a Lesser God" movie version was released in 1986. It also
received good reviews and Marlee Matlin was awarded an Academy Award for
best actress. The Deaf community was very disappointed in the movie and
particularly upset with Marlee Matlin's acceptance speech (she voiced and
did not sign). Because of time limitations for the summer quarter we are
unable to watch the movie in class. I highly suggest that you view the movie
yourself- it is available in our media center and in the ITP lab, and can
usually be found in video rental stores.
CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD
Answer the following questions on the back of this paper.
1.Why was John going to the School for the Deaf?
2.What is his profession?
3.How did the students react to John?
4.Why were some of the kids against his profession/teachings?
5.What person caught his attention?
6.Who is she? What is her role at the school? Why is she at the school?
7.Why was Sara against the hearing world? What happened?
8.What was the purpose of the 1st swimming pool scene?
9.Sarah and her mother do not get along. Why? What was mom’s reasoning?
10.Why does John keep pushing Sarah to use her voice?
11.What was Sarah’s reasoning/excuse not to use her voice?
12.Where did Sarah go after she and John had that fight?
13.What happened between Sarah and her mother?
14.What did Sarah and John decide to do at the end of the movie?