Time Will Tell · 30-point quiz · quiz worth 30 pts · 2026-10-27
By the end you can
Use this if the holiday signs and the history are running together.
Ten holiday/celebration signs plus STAY and HOLD. Match handshape first, then location.
Deaf President Now: March 6, 1988, Gallaudet picks hearing candidate Zinser, a week-long protest ends with Deaf president I. King Jordan.
Sign the date first, then the subject, and drop 'th'/'rd'/'nd.'
How does the course sign 'May 23rd'?
MAY 23 — the ordinal ending is dropped.
Got it now? Scroll back up and re-read the section — it should land differently.
Before the holiday vocabulary, the course adds two everyday signs.
STAY: Y handshape on both hands. Neutral space in front of the body, palms down. Place thumbs together and move the dominant hand forward. Watch the course video for STAY.
HOLD: S handshape, neutral space on the dominant side, palm toward the non-dominant side. Slightly circle the hand inward. Watch the course video for HOLD.
More than 90 percent of deaf children are born to hearing parents, and many of those parents never learn to sign. Hearing screenings usually mean a health-care provider is the first to identify hearing loss, which routes many families toward hearing aids, speech therapy, and lipreading rather than ASL.
On October 18, 2017, President Trump signed PL 115-71, which improved early-intervention services for families of children identified with hearing loss.
Even so, Deaf culture stays entwined with the surrounding hearing world. Deaf individuals in Mexico are likely to observe Day of the Dead; deaf Christians worldwide typically celebrate Christmas. Which holiday a Deaf person celebrates tracks geography and religion, not hearing status.
HOLIDAY: 5 handshape on both hands, at the front of the shoulders, palms in. Place thumbs on the front of the shoulders and tap in an alternating pattern. Course video.
EASTER: E handshape on both hands, neutral space at shoulder height, palms out. Circle outward. Course video.
HALLOWEEN: Relaxed C handshape on both hands, at the face, palms in. Place hands together in front of the face and move outward toward the ears, like covering your face with a mask. Course video.
ANNIVERSARY/CELEBRATE: Modified X handshape on both hands, neutral space at shoulder height, palms toward each other. Circle outward. Course video.
GRADUATION: G handshape (dominant) over Open B handshape (non-dominant), in front of the body. Place the G above the non-dominant hand, twist the wrist so the palm faces the non-dominant side, and land on top of the non-dominant hand. Course video.
Gallaudet University, the world's only all-Deaf university, opened in 1864 but had only ever had hearing presidents. When the university searched for its seventh president in March 1988, two of the three finalists were deaf. On March 6, the Board of Trustees chose the only hearing candidate, Elisabeth Zinser.
Led by Greg Hlibok and Jerry Covell, students, alumni, faculty, and staff protested for a week: boycotting classes, blocking administrators from campus, and rallying across Washington, D.C. After national news coverage and hearing-advocate support, Zinser resigned on March 10. I. King Jordan became Gallaudet's first Deaf president.
Jordan's words: “Deaf people can do anything hearing people can do, except hear.” The protest's demands were all met: Jane Spilman resigned from the Board, the Board gained a 51 percent Deaf majority, and no student or staff participant faced consequences.
Every year near the March 6 anniversary, the Deaf community honors the protest, often inviting Hlibok, Covell, Bridgetta Bourne-Firl, and Tim Rarus — “the famous four” — back to speak. Senator Tom Harkin noted that between DPN and 1993, Congress passed more Deaf-rights legislation than in the nation's prior 216 years, including closed captioning and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
THANKSGIVING: 3 handshape moving to Closed 3, from chin to chest, palm out. Start with a 3 handshape on the chin and pull downward into a closed 3 on the chest. Course video.
HANUKKAH: 4 handshape on both hands, neutral space at shoulder height, palms out. Place index fingers together and pull hands apart, like the candles of a menorah. Course video.
CHRISTMAS: C handshape (dominant) over Open B handshape (non-dominant), in front of the body. Place the dominant arm in front of the non-dominant arm with the C facing palm down, then pull the dominant arm upward so the palm faces the non-dominant side. Course video.
BIRTHDAY: Open 8 handshape, chin to chest, palm in. Tap the middle finger on the chin, then the chest. Course video.
WEDDING: Open B handshape on both hands, in front of the body, palms in. Start with the hands apart and swing the wrists so the dominant hand lands behind the non-dominant hand. Course video.
In ASL, a date drops the English ordinal ending. The course's own examples, each linked to its real course video: SEPT 27 POSS-my ANNIVERSARY. JULY 16 POSS-my BIRTHDAY. MAY 23 SENIORS GRADUATE. The date comes first, then the subject — MAY 23rd is signed MAY 23, never “23rd.”
Questions about celebrations keep the usual ASL face grammar: CELEBRATION POSS-your FAVORITE WHAT raises the eyebrows on CELEBRATION and furrows them on the WH-word WHAT. POSS-your BIRTHDAY WHEN works the same way.
One rule, three examples.
Never sign 'th,' 'rd,' or 'nd' with a date.
Sign the date, then the subject: MAY 23 SENIORS GRADUATE.
Why is '23rd' wrong in an ASL date gloss?
ASL drops the English ordinal ending entirely.
Got it now? Scroll back up and re-read the section — it should land differently.
Match the holiday sign to its word, and pick the course-correct date gloss.
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