Expressive Sample-Monologue

Role shifting has never really came naturally to me, even though I do it everyday when I am speaking and telling stories. With that being said, I really wanted to focus on how to properly role shift and appropriately show a dialogue taking place. This brief monologue of Morgan Freeman appearing before a parole committee from the film Shawshank Redemption allowed me to practice role shifting and in doing so, I made sure it was clear who was speaking.

Expressive Sample

This is a short expressive sample from a YouTube video on How to Fall Asleep Faster. I believe that this a good representation of my expressive skills because it really focuses on my use of constructed action. I have been working hard on "showing it, not telling it" and I believe that this sample allowed me the opportunity to do so. 

Video Introduction

http://youtu.be/G6Mjo9OIXIg

Hello!

My name is Dana Thompson and I learned American Sign Language in college. I began taking Spanish for 4 years in High School as well as a semester in college, but then began to grow bored of it. I then decided to learn ASL my second semester of college and fell in love with it ever since.

As far as my interpreting goes, I would say that my strengths include my facial expressions and non manual markers, and also my voicing skills. I’d like to think that my vocabulary is well developed and assists me in my voice interpreting. I think that my weaknesses include finger spelling, processing time, and dropping the English form so that I can focus more on the actual meaning of the message.

As an interpreter, I think that the Code of Professional Conduct is very important because it gives clear expectations of every party involved, from the interpreter to the consumer. Not only does it set standards, but it also gives you guidelines and principles of how to handle certain situations while maintaining one’s professionalism. And with that, it just makes an interpreter’s job that much easier.

During this internship, I strive to learn how to let all of my inhibitions fly out of the window. Any nervousness or fears that I may harbor, I hope to learn how to let it all go, be more confident and just feel comfortable in this career. My long term goal for the field of interpreting really consists of one thing; I wish to establish myself as a trusted interpreter not only in the Deaf community but in the interpreter community as well, while building strong, long lasting relationships.

Interactive Sample

http://youtu.be/kkcyRjN8Das

I believe that this is an appropriate sample of not only my receptive but my expressive work as well because it shows how I handle both tasks at the same time. There was some overlapping in this stimulus and as an interpreter you need to know how to handle that and how to play to the needs of both consumers. With that being said, I believe that this shows my attempt to keep dynamic equivalency in not only my voice and signed productions, but in my cultural mediation as well. My goals for this portfolio include establishing a piece of work that I can look back on and see my progression. While it is always nerve wrecking looking back and reviewing your work, I can say that this portfolio has allowed me to do so, and see the improvements that I have made. 

This is an interactive sample of a woman discussing funeral arrangements for a friend of hers. She is meeting with the funeral director on behalf of her friend's family, however, this is her first time at a funeral home so this is also an introductory meeting to the funeral process as well.

Receptive Work Sample

http://youtu.be/iN6XhKr6Nik

I believe that this is an appropriate sample of my receptive skills because it shows my use of a versed vocabulary as well as my attempt to take the ASL syntax and interpret it into sensible English and keep dynamic equivalence. My goal for this portfolio is to provide a fair representation of my voicing skills thus far and I believe by giving a cold interpretation of this video with little preparation does that.  I want people to see the potential that I have rather than assume that I am something that I am not.

With that being said, this sample is a video from Cassie Simmons as she discusses how the climate change is affecting the different animal species across the world.

Expressive Work Sample

http://youtu.be/7Mq552xMwdE

I believe that this is an appropriate sample of my expressive interpreting abilities because I think that it not only captures my signing style, but how I try to incorporate ASL features such as non manual markers, referential space, and temporal aspect, to name a few. While this is nowhere near perfect, it meets the goals of my portfolio because it gives consumers a look at my raw, cold work. With the minimal preparation and practice that I did do, I think that this is fair representation of my expressive skills and I can only hope to improve from here. I don’t want to pretend that my weaknesses don’t exist by masking them through extensive preparation and strenuous practice. With that being said, I hope that this portfolio will be a tool for me to look back on and see the progression of my skills through the work that I’ve provided, and by providing cold work, in turn, this portfolio will meet that goal.

This is a Ted Talk segment from model Cameron Russell as she speaks on her experience as a model and tries to break down the racial and gender misconceptions that are overwhelming society's youth. Ms. Russell admits she won "a genetic lottery": she's tall, pretty and an underwear model. But in this segment challenging people to not judge her by her looks, but for what she has to say and who she is as a person. In this daring talk, she takes a wry look at the industry that had her looking highly seductive at a very young age.