Saturday, June 6, 2020

SIGN LANGUAGE MADE SIMPLE


Here's something from my "weird book" archive I've been wanting to scan for awhile, since I originally got it to cut up for collage elements, but haven't had the heart before sharing it with the world. 

As you can see, it looks like a regular, run-of-the-mill textbook on learning sign language - something you might see in a community college bookstore. And indeed, the content is the sort of prosaic vocabulary-building practice exercises that are the bread and butter of such curricula...


It's not until quite late in the game that the author's hidden agenda unveils itself, and the the content veers sharply and completely into radical idiosyncrasy, in the form of evangelical Christianity...



It isn't clear what the author's intention is here - get 'em hooked on "the story of the fox and the elephant" then glory-stomp 'em with "the Disciples met the prostitute at the altar?" Or just "You know Edgar, we'd feel a lot better publishing this if you prefaced it with 25 chapters of non-religious signing."







Whatever the secret history of this document, I've done my due diligence scanning and posting here, secure in the knowledge that the next time any of you need to tell a deaf person "I sing because I am happy I heard about Pentecost!" or remind them that "Saving grace is unworthy favor," you're all set!

Many more pages After The Jump!





























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