“ASL Literature: Learning from the Masters”
Develop better storytelling and poetic features to improve your signing and interpreting skills!
Presented by Keith Gamache, Jr.
When you see the term, “Literature”, you may automatically think of certain people and works: Perhaps Shakespeare, Wilde, Tolkien and many other time honored American and English literary writers. What do you think of when you hear “ASL Literature”? Obviously, ASL Literature is different in nature than written works. ASL Liturgists express ideas and thoughts in a peculiar way using American Sign Language (ASL). This workshop will help you focus on the aesthetic features of American Sign Language and how certain of those features can be classified as ASL Literature. Master Deaf storytellers and poets will be shown throughout the workshop to give you a better grasp of their literary work in the Deaf Community. Participants will learn to develop their own storytelling and poetic features! This will be accomplished through both lecture and interactive dialogue with students to maximize comprehension of source material. Group work and videos will be utilized in conjunction with the lectures.
In conclusion, a new literary work called, “The Eyeth Story” will be introduced and discussed in depth throughout the workshop.