Seattle Central Community College

ASL 121 - Receptive Narrative # 2 - "Jack's Daily Grind"
Introduction to Mental Maps and ASL Narratives

A) Introduction to Mental Maps and ASL Narratives
B) Receptive Translation #2 - "Jack's Daily Grind"

Read the information carefully, and then scroll down to the bottom to find the link to Jack's Daily Grind!

A) ASL is a visual/spatial language.  As such, ASL users often create "mental maps" of their stories.  A mental map is an imaginary visual/spatial "outline" of a story.  It is used to help organize and structure the story.

Mental maps help the signer determine:

•         Key "topics" of the story - used with topicalization grammar markers.
•         Spatial layout - to determine how classifiers and spatial verbs will be incorporated into the
          story-telling space.
•         Transition points - knowing when to move from one part of the story to the next
•         Opening and closure tie-ins - keeping the viewer clear about the point of the story.
   

B)  Receptive Translation #2 "Jack's Daily Grind" Directions:

1)  Use "Jack's Daily Grind - Mental Map" handout (see link) to see how the story (RT #2) was organized in the signer's imagination.

2)  Watch the story "chunks" in the accompanying video (VT in the lab/library or streamed video).  Write a translation of each "chunk" and bring your translations to class.

3)   Make two observations of the relationship between the map and the story.  Can you see how the map determines how the story is structured?  How classifiers are set up?  How the spatial relationship/spatial/pronoun referents of the topics are laid out?  Note how Clyde, the signer, uses spatial setups i.e. his home, SCCC (espresso/cafeteria), work in his signing environment?  (Also refer to RT #1 "Two New Friends" and observe how Geoff sets up his spatial referents for the man and woman and then changes his environment to show the cafeteria.

Watch Jack's Daily Grind: HERE