Cameleons and codas

            Hear with your eyes and watch with your ears.
             Societal images of normality in most cases are narrow minded and usually only apply to small percentile of persons. On top of our ego driven society lays a layer of ignorance towards those outside normality. Patricia Conrad first hand experienced society's close-minded vision of others. Her life lessons were taught early on through the gracefulness of hand gestures or ASL (American Sign Language). Patricia uses Chameleons and Codas to express her experiences of her social adaptation. Patricia uses metaphors, sarcasm in rhetorical questions as well as imagery to give an insight through the ears of a child of hearing-impaired parents. .
             One of the easiest ways to relate to someone is to find a common interest .In writing Patricia uses metaphors to relate to the reader. Patricia uses two main metaphors to illustrate her main theme of social adaptation. She states, " So I became a chameleon, changing colour as I shifted from one world to the other."(pg 225) Patricia compares herself to a chameleon, which changes colour to protect itself herself from predators. Patricia views her predator as outside persons which exemplifies her focal point. Further implications of creative metaphors use lies on page 227, " combine the best of both worlds into a multicoloured melody that is hers alone." Before the previous statement Patricia states the acronym, well her version, for children of deaf adults (CODA) as an "independent concluding musical passage."(pg ) The term " multicoloured melody- would then be referring to her chameleon skin and CODA name. Furthermore " multicoloured- would illustrate her shades to accompany her adaptable persona to society's wishes. .
             Alberta native, Patricia Conrad, also uses sarcasm in rhetoric questions to support her theme. Much of her personal essay is based on childhood memories. When referring to her schooling she mentions a child stating, "Hey is your mom deaf and dumb?" Patricia resisted the urge to say, "Hey did your mom raise you to be hearing and thoughtless.