A Loss for Words - Paper
Niki Brown
Randi Nedom
ASL 1
11/21/11
Loss for Words Paper The book A Loss for Words by Lou Ann Walker is a biography about Lou Ann. Her parents are deaf and she and her sister are hearing. The book describes the troubles and embarrassment she felt and had while growing up. She loved her parents dearly but often felt embarrassed, or infuriated about comments people would make to her about her parents. Lou Ann exclaims that “their world is deaf, their deaf culture, their deaf friends, and their own sign language it is something separate, something I can never really know, but I am intimate with.”(2) Lou Ann was both speaking and she could also sign. She felt it hard to fit into one culture. She had a love for her parents and the deaf culture but at the same time, she felt like she didn’t quite fit in because she could hear. She could hear people’s comments about her parents. Lou Ann tells a story about how it was for her and how she was able to deal, with society and their views. Lou Ann seemed to somewhat shield her parents from the harsh and cruel world. She never wanted her parents to know what people said about them, or what they thought about them. In Chapter 1 Lou Ann was entering Harvard when someone made a comment to her saying “Howard told me your parents are deaf on dumb.”(2) Lou Ann hated when people made comments like this but she never corrected them. She just seemed to hold it inside. She knew it was not true but yet she said nothing. She was unsure about how to deal with these kinds of statements from people. Sometimes people would even ask her to ask her parents rude comments. Lou Ann admits that “I was an unfaithful go-between. I could never bring myself to tell Mom and Dad about the garage mechanic who refused to serve them because they were deaf, or kids at school who made obscene gestures, mocking our sign language.” (21) She didn’t not want her parents to know what people really thought her did. Peoples actions made Lou Ann sad because
Randi Nedom
ASL 1
11/21/11
Loss for Words Paper The book A Loss for Words by Lou Ann Walker is a biography about Lou Ann. Her parents are deaf and she and her sister are hearing. The book describes the troubles and embarrassment she felt and had while growing up. She loved her parents dearly but often felt embarrassed, or infuriated about comments people would make to her about her parents. Lou Ann exclaims that “their world is deaf, their deaf culture, their deaf friends, and their own sign language it is something separate, something I can never really know, but I am intimate with.”(2) Lou Ann was both speaking and she could also sign. She felt it hard to fit into one culture. She had a love for her parents and the deaf culture but at the same time, she felt like she didn’t quite fit in because she could hear. She could hear people’s comments about her parents. Lou Ann tells a story about how it was for her and how she was able to deal, with society and their views. Lou Ann seemed to somewhat shield her parents from the harsh and cruel world. She never wanted her parents to know what people said about them, or what they thought about them. In Chapter 1 Lou Ann was entering Harvard when someone made a comment to her saying “Howard told me your parents are deaf on dumb.”(2) Lou Ann hated when people made comments like this but she never corrected them. She just seemed to hold it inside. She knew it was not true but yet she said nothing. She was unsure about how to deal with these kinds of statements from people. Sometimes people would even ask her to ask her parents rude comments. Lou Ann admits that “I was an unfaithful go-between. I could never bring myself to tell Mom and Dad about the garage mechanic who refused to serve them because they were deaf, or kids at school who made obscene gestures, mocking our sign language.” (21) She didn’t not want her parents to know what people really thought her did. Peoples actions made Lou Ann sad because
Cited: Walker, Lou Ann. A Loss for Words: the Story of Deafness in a Family. New York: Harper & Row, 1986. Print.