Five Hours of Being Speechless

Paper Summary:

The writer describes an experiment to feel what it would be like to never be able to speak. The writer describes a visit to the mall, going out to eat at McDonald's and visiting friends while speechless. The writer illustrates how being speechless required a lot of gestures, sometimes pen and paper and lots of patience. The writer expresses how his/her understanding and compassion for the deaf grew as each hour passed. The writer wonders, if five hours of being speechless was difficult, how difficult it would be to be speechless for a lifetime.

From the Paper:

"The first place that I decided to visit was the mall. I knew it would be difficult, but I wanted to have strangers around me rather than friends the first hour. I walked into a clothing store. As I was looking at different items, a sales clerk walked up to me and asked me if she could help me find anything. I shook my head and pointed to my mouth. She looked at me as if I was strange. I wonder if deaf people feel they are weird and if they are uncomfortable around other people. I, certainly, felt weird when the sales clerk shook her head and walked away from me. Finally, I selected some items and walked up to the line of people waiting to pay for their items."

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