As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, I have been reflecting on the various stages of quarantine throughout the year. Some were focused on baking, some obsessed over new Netflix shows. One thing that is undeniably embarrassing is the stage where people hoarded toilet paper like that would somehow save them. In relation to this, I was thinking about A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe. When discussing the scene where the ladies steal the hats, we all laughed at the absurdity of it. Who would steal something so mundane and unnecessary in such a serious situation? Clearly, most of the United States would. I think this is a great example of how easy it is to say how you would react to a situation if you aren't currently in it. People will say things like, "Well, if someone broke into my house I would just x, y, z," when in reality they'd likely hide in a closet. There truly is no way to know how you'll act in a situation until it's happening, and you probably wouldn't predict the way you'll act when it does happen. Reading this book at such a similar time was so surreal, especially as it's a situation we truly never expected to experience. I wonder if anyone will write something similar to Defoe's book once this pandemic is over.
This semester, I am taking a course in American Sign Language. I've wanted to learn ASL for years but never had the opportunity before now. Taking this class, I have generated several opinions that I will now share. 1. The amount of facial expressions required in ASL is utterly impressive. I can't lie, I'm extremely timid with my expressions as I'm in an online class with about fifteen people that I've never met signing for the first time in our lives. However, it truly is astounding the difference that facial expressions make. Like the intonation of someone's voice, they can indicate a question, emotion, sarcasm, etc. Watching experienced people sign is mesmerizing, and I think that someone that signs well will always impress me. 2. Learning to sign is criminally underrated. ASL is a language, so of course it takes some practice to learn. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't be learning it. In the U.S., approximately 600,000 people are deaf and only abo...
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