"Why are your eyes like that?"

My visual impairment is a big part of who I am. I was born with it, so after 18 years of experiences, I am pretty sure that I'm accustomed to it. When older people, or even people my age, ask me about my vision, I can easily answer them by explaining my diagnosis, giving a numerical comparison between my horrible eye sight and the eye sight of most people, and attempting to describe what I can see. What does not stop surprising me is the fact that I have had more younger people, usually 13 years and younger, ask me than people my own age or older. So here's where a problem arises, how do I answer these kids?!

Attempt #1: "How did your eyes get like that?"
Well, that's an easy one! "At birth, I was diagnosed with Glaucoma, Aniridia, Microphthalmia, Bilateral Cataracts, Nystagmus, Ptosis, and probably more conditions that I don't know how to pronounce nor spell." The big words may not serve as a way to help the kids understand, but I bet it helps them lose interest in the question, yes! Fine, maybe I should explain in smaller words. "So, my eyes are little (michrophthalmia) because they are shrinking. As you can see, one is shrinking more than the other and as that eye gets smaller, my eyelid begins to droop (ptosis). The sun and bright lights make it really hard for me to see (Aniridia). And overall, my vision is this bad because the lenses, like eyeglass lenses, in my eyes are dirty (Bilateral Cataracts), my eye sight is sometimes really shaky (Nystagmus), and my eyes hurt because inside, the pressure is building up (Glaucoma)." I bet the kid won't remember half of what I just said, however, I feel good knowing that I said it. Sometimes, simply attempting to explain my eye situation satisfies them.

Attempt #2: "How many fingers am I holding up?"
Some kids don't bother to ask me what's wrong with my eyes because it is already apparent to them that there is a problem. So, in an attempt to measure my vision, they ask this question. My initial reaction is that of pure disgust. I begin to think of all the rude ways to respond. As I stick up my middle finger I'll ask them, "how many fingers am I holding up?" Or if I'm REALLY pissed, I'll say something like, "however many fingers you stick up your mom!" However, when I open my mouth to answer them, none of that stuff comes out, luckily. Instead, I reply, "I'm sorry, I really cannot see how many fingers you're holding up right now because my vision is really bad in this light." The truth s, it's really bad in most lighting situations so this response is a lie.

Attempt #3: "Mommy, what's wrong with her eyes?"
Before going to ask a stranger, like me, about what's wrong, kids opt to ask their parents, more commonly, their mothers. Out of all of the instances that I have had concerning curious children, this has to be the most painful one. As I observe the dialogue and actions between the mother and her child, after the child asks this question, I become saddened. In most cases, the mom will just shuffle their child away and look at me with, what I can guess, a sad look. In other cases, the mom will try to explain by using crazy phrases like "her eyes are sick" or just simply stating, "she can't see." What hurts me about these statements is that for one, my eyes are sick but the child will never know why or to what extent and secondly, ma'am, I can see ! Wow, as much as I struggle to find the best way to answer a child's questions, I would rather answer them than have someone else do it.

Conclusion and Apology:
So you've seen three possible scenarios that could occur when I am faced with a curious child. Each of them have their good and bad aspects and none of them are perfect. I guess when dealing with children, I have to handle it one situation at a time.

Now that I've discussed that, let me state that I am truly sorry if you thought that my contemplated responses to "How many fingers am I holding up?" were very offensive or somewhat disturbing. I confess, these comebacks are only two of the many ones that me and my blind friends have come up with. We would definitely NOT say these things to children, let alone any person that we do not know well. However, after being asked this question so many times and in the most disrespectful manners, I sometimes cannot help but to think of all the mean ways that I could respond so that the child could sense how annoyed and disrespected I really feel.

Responce to Chapters 5 & 6

Chapter 5:
When you are writing, it is important to clearly distinguish between what someone else has said and what you are saying. One effective way to do this is to use voice markers. Voice markers often are quotation marks that come before and after what someone else has said. This method makes it easier for the reader to know what the author of the piece is saying or feeling and what other people have said that the author does or does not agree with. You can also use markers to refer back to what you have previously said instead of having to re-explain your words. Another way to distinguish between who is speaking is to directly state the speaker and then their claim. When it comes to you, the author, speaking, it is best to try to avoid using "I" unless it is truly necessary because there are other ways of indicating that you are speaking.

This chapter was very helpful to me. Overall, I already knew a lot of the things that this chapter discussed; however, the way that things were said and the examples that were given increased my knowledge of these things by far. The templates in this chapter will be very helpful to me as I continue to write my critical analysis.

Chapter 6:
This chapter was very beneficial to me because I did not know all of the things that they were discussing. The focus of this chapter was the importance of putting naysayers in your writing. Placing criticism to your work in your writing actually helps your writing be stronger. When you mention the oppositions that others have to your opinion, you are given the perfect chance to rebut their points, which will enhance your argument. Also, adding naysayers helps you to say more and meet the required amount for your assignment. Most importantly, by placing others' oppositions in your paper, you are showing the reader that you are confident in what you are saying.

When mentioning peoples' criticisms to your opinion, you must remember to do certain things. The first is to never stereotype people. An example of this would be when you are referring to a pro bono lawyer, you decide to simply say lawyer. Secondly, when talking about someone's views, do not undermine what someone else says. Some ways that this can occur is when you are sarcastic when explaining someone's points or you only mention their opinion in one sentence. Lastly, do not forget to reply to their criticisms.

Response to readings (10/09)

"Watching TV Makes You Smarter" by Steven Johnson

Overall, I agree with this essay and I feel that it is very informative and well-put. Jonson begins by displaying a dialogue between two scientists on Woody Allen's Sleeper. This is a good way to start because already, he has shown us that we can learn new things just by simply watching TV. Then, he begins to talk about the show "24" and how it's many characters and numerous plot-lines make the viewer become more educated and more comprehensive of the scenarios taking place on the show. He asserts that shows today are becoming more complex and are forcing the viewers to comprehend more challenging plots, be more attentive, and overall, become more intelligent. His supports for this claim were very good. He used charts to compare the numerous plots in current shows to the more older, simplified shows. He also gave examples of earlier shows that helped the audience understand what was going on by pointing out things that the audience should focus on and explaining terms. Johnson said that these earlier shows were undermining the intelligence of their audiences, which at the time, was acceptable since society was demanding simplistic shows. Following this claim, he goes on to tsay that today, more complex and intelligent shows are being demanded, which ties back to his previous explanation of the show "t4", which is, indeed, very popular. I agree with Steven Johnson because I have noticed that as i watch TV, I am compelled to be more attentive to what I am watching and to be more accepting of the knowledge that I am learning from these programs. Like Johnson, I feel that even those shows and video games that are violent should not be pre-judged solely by their content because these may be very educational.

"Thinking Outside the Idiot Box" by Dana Stevens

In this critical analysis of "Watching TV Makes You Smarter" Dana Stevens is opposing Steven Johnson's views in a very sarcastic manner. In the first paragraph, Stevens uses phrases like "as far as I can tell" and "from what I understand" to begin the sentences that explain Johnson's essays. These phrases indicate that Stevens is confused or thrown-off by Johnson's thesis and supports and this, in turn, begins to sway Stevens' audience to second guess all that Johnson says. Stevens argues that Johnson neglects to show the effects of commercials and also, his assumption was off because instead of television making people more intelligent, it is only convincing them to continue watching more. Although Johnson did not talk about the commercials, his article covered the points that he intended to make about television programs making people more intelligent. Near the end of her essay, Stevens explains that she also does not like anti-TV watchers. She feels that people are too quick to judge television shows by its content. Just because a show has something to do about nature, does not mean that it is educational.