All First Year Students participate in the First Year Reading Program. Adlephi’s 2009 First Year Reading is a work of nonfiction by Josh Swiller titled The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa.
All First Year Students enroll in a First Year Seminar during their first semester. One of the goals of the seminar is to help students become more aware of global issues and develop an understanding of the nature and value of human diversity. We chose The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa, because as a first person account of a young Deaf white American’s experiences in a remote corner of Zambia, it provides an excellent entrée into discussions of human differences and commonalities
You are required to read the whole book this summer. All freshmen will complete a writing assignment and will participate in a book discussion on Matriculation day, August 28.
Writing Assignment To help provoke your thought, you must complete the following writing assignment and hand it in at the book discussion on August 28.
In his memoir, Josh Swiller writes a moving account of his time working as a Peace Corps volunteer in a remote corner of Zambia. Swiller spent two years in a village that the locals called “Gomorrah” because of its reputation for corruption and violence. Through all of this, he struggled with being deaf in a “hearing world.” Swiller emerged from Africa and returned to the United States with a new sense of self.
For this essay, craft a letter to the author (500–1000 words) that relates something in your own experience to the author’s search for identity and a place to belong. Strive to elicit a response from Swiller by touching upon specific passages and events from the text that you find most moving.
The best letters will do more than simply offer a summary or critique of Swiller’s work; they will instead present an opportunity for engaging in introspection and meaningful dialogue. You are not expected to resolve the issues the author raises in the book, but rather to highlight how the book affected you and to open a dialogue with the author. No research is necessary or even encouraged; write from your own experience and convictions. However, any sources you do use should be duly, if informally, acknowledged in the letter. As with all of your work at Adelphi, plagiarism is not permitted.
Contact
For additional information, please contact:
Division of Student Affairs
University Center, Room 108
Adelphi University
P.O. BOX 701
Garden City, NY 11530-0701
p - 516.877.3660
f - 516.877.3148
e - Student Affairs@adelphi.edu
