Page 134 - The Language of Composition 4e Teacher Edition Sample.indd

Or perhaps there is no man in a dress. No vodka 40 a kind of openness in deafness. My hearing aids
4
drops falling from the sky. Just a son who is whistle, my accent gives itself away, eagerly,
DIFFERENTIATION Identity afraid to admit to himself what really happened. too eagerly. I stare at people’s lips. A deaf per-
So he makes up many stories. I am a deaf boy son, I find most people become intimate with
Collaborative Learning who watches the silence inside his father, as the me almost instantly. They see a large, awkward
You might challenge students to examine father tries to fill it up with stories. The boy sees man in front of them. They might feel slightly
ambiguous
paragraphs
short,
section
the
the short, ambiguous section of paragraphs it but doesn’t understand. superior or slightly frustrated with my accent.
of
40 and 41. The brevity of the section ampli- From all these stories, one thing stayed with They are bewildered by having to repeat them-
fies its importance. With a partner or two, me. In every version, my father is always the selves twice, three or four times. The theater is
Copyright (c) 2023 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used for this sample chapter.
they could discuss whether we as readers child who kisses Shura and behind him sees the in how they say, I understand your accent, how
can know which of the stories “really hap- Romanian police enter the building. they nod.
pened.” Or, if not, how could that be an • Decades later, I come back to Odessa and
effective rhetorical choice? Students some-
ef fective rhetorical choice? Students some- turn off my hearing aids. This, I know, is the
times need help being comfortable with Here is something my father never speaks about: silence Shura found himself in when he came
ambiguities. To help students explore The war ends in 1945 and Shura comes back. back here in 1945. His deafness is something
Kaminsky’s purpose in presenting multiple Natalia gives a party that is interrupted by Soviet Father never shared with me.
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.
interpretations of his father’s childhood military police, who come in without knocking •
memory, you can ask students to reflect on and take her husband away. The Soviets suspect
Kaminsky’s rhetorical situation, especially him of treason. Hundreds of veterans are being We are at the beach. Father is telling Shura sto-
his message. Students could focus on sent to Siberia. Not killing yourself when taken ries as my mother suddenly laughs seeing my
Kaminsky’s message about the connection captive is a crime punished by the State. friend and me run into water, swimming half a
between personal storytelling and a Here is something my father never speaks mile to the jetty, climbing on it and then walking
nation’s “official” history, or his message about: What saves Shura from prison is the fact on it, as if walking on water, waving back to my
about deafness and metaphorical silence. that when he returns from the war, he is nearly parents. They are so small, left there on the sand.
Ultimately, you could ask students to deaf. Once, under bombardment, he dragged his We are blowing kisses to pretty girls sunbathing
explain the effectiveness of this short, wounded army sergeant to cover. The bombard- on the hotel’s rooftop terrace.
ambiguous moment in the essay’s line of ment continued. The sergeant survived. Shura There are no whole stories for a child who 50
reasoning. became deaf. lip-reads. But there are fragments. Some are
The Soviet military policemen ask questions: found at the tram station. Some are smelled at
He doesn’t hear. They are shouting. He doesn’t the street corner that allows itself to become a
DIFFERENTIATION hear. They slap him. He doesn’t hear. Slap. He recollection. Some are bits of sand.
doesn’t hear. Slap. Deaf and dumb, the officers Sitting on the sand, my father is in the mid-
Scaffolding say. They let him go. dle of his retelling, when my mother interrupts
With the story of Shura’s deafness and Why did I buy my ticket to Odessa? 45 him, points at two boys walking on water.
descriptions of Kaminsky’s own experi- I found this scribble in my father’s handwrit- If my parents are dead, what is here for me
ences in Odessa, the sections on this page ing, on the back of Shura’s photograph: A deaf in this now empty city? When I say the word
contain some of the essay’s most direct man’s scream, unheard by himself. I cannot nothing, I name something that is there.
musings on the experience of deafness. forget it. That scream. Uncensored by even his •
Y ou might have students examine this page own ears. A human voice as it actually is.
You might have students examine this page
for descriptions of deafness and ask them • I am 8 years old in the snow watching my father
to draft a definition statement, perhaps step into an expensive restaurant. Inside is
starting with, “For Kaminsky, being deaf I can’t hear through the walls. If you shout at me someone’s wedding party.
means . . .” They can wrestle with the across the street, I won’t turn my head. There is Watch me, Father’s lips say.
meaning of “openness” (par. 47), for
instance. 240

05_sheatlc4e_40925_ch04_170_315.indd 240 12/10/22 2:36 PM
DIFFERENTIATION
Scaffolding
“There is a kind of openness in deafness,” interpretation, students can locate specific
Kaminsky writes in paragraph 47. You may instances of boundary-crossing in the essay;
ask students what they think Kaminsky for instance, boundaries of geography (of
means by “openness” in this sentence. One countries), of gender (Shura’s disguise),
potential interpretation could focus on the of social proprieties (crashing the wedding),
vulnerability that comes from Kaminsky’s of time (the mingling of past and present), of
deafness being immediately apparent to hearing (turning on and off the hearing aid),
hearing people. Another interpretation could perhaps of identity (questioning the meaning
emphasize how Kaminsky’s deafness has of his return to Odessa). After students brain-
honed his cognitive flexibility, particularly his storm their own list of boundary-crossing
ability to cross boundaries; he is able to inte- elements, you can ask them to discuss
grate multiple eras and numerous stories to what message Kaminsky conveys about
produce a fuller experience of the modern the relationship between deafness,
day. To further explore this second openness, and boundary-crossing.

240 chapter 4 / Identity

05_sheatlcte4e_46921_ch04_170a_315_2pp.indd 240 1/20/23 7:49 PM