short-reading-response

Allison’s Short Reading Response: Poet of Cripples

The poem “Poet of Cripples” written by Jim Ferris dictates the narrator as the poet for people with disabilities or “cripples”. Ferris himself is disabled and portrays a problematic stance on disability throughout the poem due to the poetic speaker’s heroic tone. Ferris presents a common view that he may experience as a person with disability, that is the idea of needing to be put back together and or losing control of one’s sense of power. I will argue that he uses the poetic speaker to highlight his experience of “loss” of power in his life.

The poetic speaker’s first questionable approach is the fact that he declares himself “a poet of cripples”; he takes the title along with the power to speak and be the poet for cripples. This presents the perception that people with disabilities need someone to be their poet and speak for them, that they are not capable of being their own poet. This takes the power away from the community, when they are people too and should have the opportunity to be their own poet. The poetic speaker ends the poem with “I sing for cripples” continuing the pattern of taking the power away from others simply because he thinks he needs to speak for them. The community is allowed to sing for themselves and speak for themselves, but in society people assume because they are disabled they need someone to be their voice. Society takes the power away from people with disabilities because they have this idea that because they have a disability they do not have the ability, or sometimes even the option to make their own decisions and control their own lives.

In the poem it is suggested by the poetic speaker that people with disabilities are not whole or are missing something and needed to be complete. Ferris writes that people with disabilities are “groping to be whole” and that they need or want to “become full, whole” and that it is the narrator’s duty as a voice for the community to help them. Throughout the poem the suggestion that people with disabilities are incomplete or missing something; wanting to be whole. The suggestion is problematic in the sense that it devalues their feelings and the narrator takes on the role to determine that they should not be happy with who they are and they are not like everyone else, they are only half of non-disabled people. Society creates the perception, as well, that people who have disabilities or impairments are missing something and it creates a negative association with disabilities when they are also people and are whole despite their disability. They are allowed to be okay with who they are and not feel like their life is a loss and they do not need to feel the desire to want more, no one is more whole than anyone else.

Another complication presented in the poem is the use of the word “normal”. Jim Ferris presents the concept that people that are nondisabled are considered which labels people with disabilities as abnormal. Ferris simply sheds light on the issue that is brought on by society is that anyone who is in any way different or is not what society defines as “normal” they are abnormal, therefore, since people with disabilities usually stand out or are considered different they are labeled as abnormal. He blends his personal experience with disability into the poem throughout by including how people manipulate and control people with disabilities simply because they think they need to save them. However, the idea of feeling abnormal comes from within Ferris and how he is seen as different from other’s simply because one leg grew shorter than the other. Similar to how society treats other people with disabilities, there is the possibility he experienced the same otherness and incorporated it into his work to grow the understanding of viewpoints with disability.

Despite the negatives the one thing I found interesting in the poem is Ferris’s attempt at uniting everyone and creating a larger community. The narrator suggests inside everyone there’s disability and he sings for everyone, suggesting everyone is alike and it is everyone’s differences that bring them together. It also suggests that even though one may not be disabled they still have a connection to someone in life that is disabled creating that connection.

“I Pledge”

Word Count: 615

Mackenzie’s Response to Carver’s “Cathedral”

Carver’s short story, “Cathedral,” recounts a man’s experience with his wife’s blind friend, Robert. The speaker of the story details his feelings toward Robert and the interactions that they share during a night at his house. Carver’s “Cathedral” reflects the notions of unease and misunderstanding that often surround the topic of disability.

This is the speaker’s first experience with a person who is blind, and he expresses great discomfort at the idea of being around Robert as he states that “a blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to” (Carver 209). The speaker’s discomfort with Robert’s blindness is reflective of society’s general discomfort with disability, and for the speaker, this discomfort is mostly due to a lack of experience and knowledge about disability. The speaker has formed expectations for how Robert should be and is surprised to find him with a beard and without a cane or dark glasses. Due to his lack of experience with people who are blind, Robert has formed a representation of what a blind person should be like based on how blindness is typically depicted on television or in readings. To find that Robert did not meet these stereotypes was startling.

After the speaker’s wife falls asleep on the couch Robert and the speaker are left to watch television together. The channel lands on a piece about cathedrals. After the speaker fails to describe how cathedrals look, Robert suggests that they draw one together. The speaker reluctantly agrees, and they begin working on a drawing of a cathedral on the back of a shopping bag. He describes how Robert’s “fingers rode my fingers as my hand went over the paper. It was like nothing else in my life up to now” (228). In this moment, the two men find themselves connecting. The speaker closes his eyes and as they work together, and he gains a little more understanding of Robert. It becomes more of a partnership than the speaker teaching Robert about cathedrals; however, even through this new sense of understanding, the speaker continues to dwell on Robert’s disability. Previously, the speaker thought about how Robert’s relationship to his wife must have been and pities Robert’s wife. He thinks about how it must be difficult to marry a man who could not see her, assuming she would never be complimented or fully understood by her husband. This sense of pity is echoed in the end. The speaker keeps his eyes closed after completing the drawing of the cathedral and explains that he knew he was still in his house “But I didn’t feel like I was inside anything” (228). Though he appears to learn that Robert is more than his disability, he still has difficulty moving past the fact that he is blind and continues to focus on all of the things Robert cannot do.

Overall, Carver’s short story portays a man’s first experience with someone who is blind. “Cathedral” illustrates the discomfort that many able-bodied people feel when confronted with disability. This may be due to lack of experience, a fear that they could become disabled someway themselves, or wanting to appear respectful without knowing how. Once he is more able to move past his prejudices, the speaker and Robert are able to form a more genuine relationship.

word count: 548

I pledge

Cayla’s SRR to “What you Mourn” and “Disability in Theory”

In the poem, entitled What you mourn by Sheila Black, we see a woman that contemplates the year that her legs were straightened and how unhappy she was with her new able body. The writer allows for a different perspective on disability than how it is usually depicted within literature. The speaker is not upset that she is not able bodied like usually seen, but rather that she explains show she would have nested and embraced her disabled body before it was”fixed”. It is clear that what the speaker mourns is the disabled body that she once inhabited. Black expresses the love for her disabled body and twists the narrative of the socially constructed body.

The speaker is told that she will now “walk straight on her wedding day” (lines 3-4), implying that disability is in juxtaposition with normalcy and even happiness. Furthermore, that when a body is physically impaired it needs to be “fixed” for the purpose of getting closer to “normal” as possible. Highlighting Siebers’ assertion that social constructed attitudes of an institution determine the greater biological representation of the body’s reality (Siebers 173). He explains that we are over critical of the body and its symbolic nature to be, do, and representation within society. Siebers’ also quotes Thomson as she points out the discourse of disability as it is “the unothortox made flesh, refusing to be normalized, neutralized or homogenized” (Siebers 174). Furthermore, the poem exemplifies the importance of the idealized body as it relates to our sense of self and identity.

The reader also calls upon the contention of “naming” as it relates to the identity of any disabled persons. “Crippled they called us when I was young later the word disabled and then differently abled, but those names all given by outsiders, none of whom could imagine that the crooked body they spoke of …” (lines 17-19). Black is employing the controversial nature to which individuals are usually providing labels for the people that should be labeling themselves. The speaker connects her experience within her “old” body to that of a “beloved imperfect home country” (line 23- 27). Demonstrating that she noticed the difficulty and discourses that she had faced within her disabled body, but she embraced it anyway, even though she was forced out of it. Ironically, the speaker also expresses the exile she feels within her old body and the imprisonment that she feels within her new body (lines 11-13). One can imply that the author was trying to have the reader grasp the societal pressure of having a “normal”and able body.

In both Black and Siebers’ writings we see the significance of the body, to which disability transforms ideals about identity, language, social and political understandings. Both Black and Siebers explain the detrimental ways in which society overtly project normative values unto persons with disabilities and how these subtle structures can often exclude them. In addition, further abdicating the basic thoughts and assumptions that surround a disabled bodies experiences.

Word Count: 506

I Pledge, Cayla Stroud.

Rosemary’s Response to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Jillian Weise’s “Nondisabled Demands”

In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Arthur “Boo” Radley is seen as the town’s crazy resident, who never leaves his home and has all sorts of negative rumors spread about him. Jem and Scout’s curiosity about Boo Radley leads them to seek answers and pry into his strange life. Meanwhile in Jillian Weise’s “Nondisabled Demands,” Weise describes the entitlement that nondisabled people have when it comes to knowing personal details about people who have disabilities. In both of these works, the authors dictate the exploitation that people with disabilities face from able-bodied and -minded people on a daily basis.

In the fourth chapter of Lee’s novel, Jem, Dill, and Scout are looking for something to do when Jem comes up with a new game to play. He says “‘I know what we are going to play… Something new, something different… Boo Radley’”(43). This is essentially a proposal to use what little knowledge they have of Arthur to role play as what they would understand to be a crazy person. Not only is this notion rude in that they are using a game as an opportunity to make fun of Arthur, but they are also planning to participate in false assumptions about who he is. In the next chapter, Dill says “‘We’re askin’ him real politely to come out sometimes, and tell us what he does in there’”(52). Yet again the children are using what they think they know about Arthur’s disability as a means of entertainment. They are hoping that he will have some wild stories to tell, or that he really will be a commodity that they can observe. Arthur’s disability is exploited by the children as they intend to use it for their own enjoyment.

Weise’s poem also approaches the entertainment value that many nondisabled people take in learning about the lives of people with disabilities. “We’ll rope you / to the podium and ask / What do you have?” (lines 13-15). The image of being tied to a podium is very indicative of the resentment that some disabled people feel when they are bluntly and frequently asked about their disability. Weise later writes “then we get to say / You’re an inspiration” (lines 17-18). She is highlighting the tendency that many nondisabled people have to pity disabled people and view their disability as something they had to overcome. This attitude is then applied to their own lives in the general notion of “if they can overcome that, what do I have to be upset about?” This in itself is exploiting the lives of disabled people to make themselves feel better, or better themselves. These nondisabled people are using the narratives of people with disabilities for their own benefits.

Overall, both authors exemplify the derogatory views that are associated with disabilities and push the reader to consider what it might feel like to constantly be exploited in such a way that Arthur Radley, the speaker in Weise’s poem, and many disabled people are.

Word Count: 516

I pledge. Rosemary Pauley

Gina-Marie An’s Response to Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird: The “Different” Characters

The text starts out by introducing Scout’s family and how they fit in their Southern town, Maycomb. Right away, Scout’s brother is a character that is visually different than others – Jem broke his arm and his arm is described as being “somewhat short than his right” (3) But, despite becoming slightly different in this way, he is described by Scout as not caring at all as long as he can pass and punt around (3). I think Dill’s wittiness matches this carefree attitude Jem has. When Jem teases him about his height, Dill says, “I’m little but I’m old.” (7) It’s very characteristic of how he feels about being noticeably small at seven years of age. That is not the only way he is described as different, though. Scout portrays him as “a curiosity,” (8) with “snow white hair.” (8) It seems like Dill might have albinism, but it isn’t obvious in the text because Scout and Jem’s don’t have out-loud reactions to that specific part of his appearance. I think children are not born to be prejudice – they learn prejudice through adults. They are, however, born with curiosity and it was clear that Scout did think a lot about Dill’s appearance. It didn’t impact their friendship though. It’s brushed off and soon enough, the couplet becomes a trio.

I think this is important to think about – how the text is in the young child’s perspective. I know there may be arguments about how kids bully or how kids are inherently scared if a person is drastically different from them. But that is rooted in our parenting and culture, to be afraid of what is different. And that is seen all of the time in people with disabilities.

The man in the house is possibly a misunderstood character who can be looked at from a disabled perspective – and I think this character will be built onto more as the story goes on – the Radleys from “The Radley Place.” There are a lot of negative connotations and rumors going around about this “peculiar home,” stories of attempted murders and creepy faces staring at you through the window. Calpurnia also seemed to dislike him and spat at the sight of him – but he is sick. He is literally dying. From a disability perspective – I thought, perhaps he might be mute, as he never spoke to anybody… and he is further isolated as the townfolk don’t take the time to know how sick he is and to what extent. When his older brother takes his place, the children make a game out of touching this “haunted” house, but nobody really knows who this Mr. Nathan is all about.

I’m also interested in chapters 2 and 3, as we are introduced to characters that the narrator does have definite prejudice against. It is very straightforwardly described by Scout: these characters deserve less because they already have less. I’d like to start with Walter Cunningham, the farm child whose family was economically shot. Lee writes them out to be sympathized with: they don’t accept anything they can’t pay back, they’re very righteous. Yet, because this is made normal in Maycomb town, the young girl Scout thinks that is what he deserves because he is already made out to deserve less in their town.

Then when you think there can be no one less well off than Walter, the author introduces us to Burns Ewell who is even less fortunate than Walter. Scout’s conceptually thinking the same thing here- that he deserves what he is – a filthy, mean boy… and the reader may wonder how or what it feels like to be him; poor and unwanted by everyone around him… may even pity him. Yet, all of the first graders don’t pity or care at all – they all console the hurt teacher and give her their sympathies for how awful the child was, not even giving a second chance to sympathize over his situation. And it’s not a surprise – this is his third year in first grade and it’s obvious the system and the town have made this the boy’s reality. And Lee beautifully frames the idea of societal constructed prejudice when talking through Atticus… “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (33)

Word count: 730

I pledge. Gina-Marie An.

Jessica Longhi’s Response to Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”

Of Mice and Men: Looking at George Milton as a Caregiver

In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, character George Milton exemplifies the difficulties that caretakers of special populations face in his interactions with Lennie Smalls. George and Lennie travel together as they work on farms. It quickly becomes clear that Lennie has some form of a behavioral and/or cognitive disability. Lennie and George are both adults, but their exact age is unclear. Despite having entered adulthood, Lennie displays childlike behavior; “his huge companion [Lennie] . . . flung himself down and drank from the surface of the green pool . . . ‘Lennie, for God’s sake don’t drink so much . . . Lennie. You gonna be sick like you was last night” (Steinbeck 2-3). While traveling to a new farm to work for, Lennie and George stop by a semi-stagnant pond. Without thinking of the safety of the water, Lennie focuses on the need to satisfy his thirst. George, acting as Lennie’s guardian, prevents Lennie from drinking too much to avoid sickness. This is just one of many instances when Lennie needs the help of George in order to survive.

As the pair of men travel to a new farm to work at, the reason why they left their previous town is revealed. “You get in trouble, you do bad things and I got to get you out” George tells Lennie (Steinbeck 10). Prior to leaving, Lennie wanted to feel the cloth of a dress a girl in town happened to wear. Lennie approached the girl with no ill-intent, but she screamed. In response to the girl’s scream, Lennie himself became frightened and did not release his grip. The girl then claimed that Lennie raped her, resulting in the need for Lennie and George to run out of town. Throughout the novel, George points out that his life would be easier without having to take care of Lennie; “If I was alone I could live so easy” (Steinbeck 10). Lennie lacks the general understanding of the world that George possesses. Although George has his own faults, such as the language he uses to address Lennie, he acts as Lennie’s guardian with the best intentions by shielding Lennie from a world that does not understand him.

When George and Lennie arrive at the new farm in California, George instructs Lennie to not speak to anyone. George fears that if their new boss learns of Lennie’s disability, that the boss will remove them from the farm. George creates a story about Lennie that the other men on the farm will understand; “He got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid. He’s awright. Just ain’t bright. But he can do anything you tell him” (Steinbeck 21). The other men working the farm are able to understand Lennie’s behavior when there is a physical reason for it – such as the lie of Lennie receiving a kick to the head from a horse. George understands the worldview that faces people with disabilities, and does his best to protect Lennie from the brunt of it all. Ultimately, everything that George does for Lennie is to protect Lennie from the misunderstandings of others.