Words Left Unspoken Respons Answers

1.       What was Leah Hager Cohen’s earliest memory of her grandfather?  Since she can’t sign and he’s unable to speak, how do they communicate?

Leah Cohen’s earliest memory of her grandfather was of his chin.  Since it was shaped differently it was one of his features that hung with her for most of her life.  They communicated mainly by physical attributes, such as him mimicking the way she ate, making noises using his voice, playing games and many other ways.

2.       What is the significance of the essay’s title? What do you think the “words left unspoken” are?

I think it means along the same lines of “actions speak louder than words”.  In my opinion throughout the story when he would make noises when he was eating, or walk down the street holding his granddaughter’s hand it doesn’t take the ability to speak to know what he wanted to say.

3.       What do you think Cohen means when she says, “That was the longest conversation we ever had”?

In the story she was talking about walking down the street holding her grandfather’s hand.  I think the quote means she got to walk down the street beside her grandfather following his steps and being close to him.  In that moment even if he was able to talk words probably wouldn’t be able to describe how much that moment meant to the both of them.

4.       What figures of speech (see yesterday’s notes) does Cohen use in the essay?

In the beginning of the essay Cohen uses objective description when describing her grandfather’s chin and throughout the story in different instances.  She also uses similes throughout the paper to compare things her grandfather did to make it comparable to the reader along with metaphors.  These are also known as subjective descriptions.

5.       In the last paragraph, Cohen says that now, after her grandfather’s death, “everything seems like a clue.”  What do you think she means by this?  Do you think this is an effective way to end the essay?  Why or why not?

I think the ending of the essay seems a little confusing.  It made me question if he was really deaf or if he just never learned to speak.  It left me wondering after reading the ending of the story if there was something I had missed.