The Story of My Life
by Helen Keller
Inspiration
The potency and inspiration of the less-than fortunate never ceases to amaze me. Against physical conditions that would enslave even the strongest of women, Helen Keller challenged her multiple disabilities and became an educated young women in spite of them. Blind and deaf at two, Helen Keller's story of bravery and fortitude and her remarkable relationship with her beloved teacher Ann Sullivan, is a delicate lesson in the ability of the extraordinary few to triumph over adversity.
As a young girl, Keller was powerless to express herself. Until at the age of 7, an event happened that she declares, "the most important day I remember in all my life." The event she describes is
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I was able to formulate a time line using the textbook and had Helen been born fifty years earlier then she was, she wouldn't have benefited from the revolutionary techniques that taught her reading (several languages), writing, and eventually to speak. The Braille Literary code, the same code Helen so rigorously manipulated in her literary explorations, was only fully perfected in 1834. Perkins School for the Blind, erected in 1832, was highly acclaimed for its accomplishment in Helen Keller's instance specifically. It was one of the first of such institutions in the United States. Some of the earliest schools modeled their educational programs after public schools. But as the textbook points out in both the visually and hearing disabled chapters, education of the blind or deaf is highly specialized to their specific needs.
In 1890 Keller learned to speak after only one month of study. Ten years later, she was able to enter Radcliffe College, from which she graduated with honors in 1904. A remarkable deed considering that only twenty-four years prior to her graduation she had absolutely no outlet for communication.
I feel it my duty to point out that without "a" Anne Sullivan in Helen's life many of her accomplishments wouldn't have been possible. Only a loving, caring soul, such as Anne Sullivan could have fostered the astounding growth and perseverance in her finest pupil. The valuable lesson to be gained in
Anne's was a life filled with significant events. The trial and home confinement of her father was the most significant of her childhood. The education she received from her father at this time would prepare her well for her own trial. She had a deep confidence in
“It would have been difficult to find a happier child than I was has I lay in my crib at the close of that eventful day and lived over the joys it had brought me, and for the first time longed for a knew day to come” Most would not be able to live there life without seeing. Well, Helen could not see, and could not hear. Yet, she still managed to be an author, a political activist, and was the very first deaf blind person achieve a bachelor degree of arts. Many would struggle with doing one of those things. Not to mention all 3. She also did without being able to see or hear. Further proving her courageous, and will to succeed. As well as changing the country in showing even with major setbacks, you will accomplish anything you want. Helen Keller was great proof of courage, and helping others with the same setbacks you have. Maybe deafness and blindness were blessings. They gave her to ability to show anyone, (even with setbacks) you can do anything if you really
Helen Keller was a social activist throughout the late 1800s and much of the 1900s for the deaf and blind. She went blind and deaf at a young age from a disease but learned how to communicate with the world. She went to Horace Mann School for the Deaf, Wright-Humason School for the Deaf, and Cambridge School for Young Ladies for college. On June 23, 1953, Keller gave a speech at the National University of Mexico to promote rights for the blind specifically. Helen Keller effectively convinces her audience blind people need equal rights through the use of repetition and emotional appeals.
The positive impact words had on the three people's lives is mind blowing; and these three short essays can prove it. Helen Keller was born in 1880 she was blind and deaf. She couldn't communicate any issue's she had with people because she didn't know how to. When she was seven her parents got a special teacher for her condition.
Helen Keller was born with the ability to see and hear. At 19 months she had an illness that the doctors thought was Scarlet Fever, this resulted in Helen becoming deaf and blind. Five years later, her parents had hired a teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan. Keller learned to understand and communicate to the world around her. Helen Keller stood up against
First off Helen Keller obstacles were being deaf and blind “Miss Sullivan had tried to impress it upon me that ‘m-u-g’ is mug and that ‘w-a-t-e-r’ is water, but I persisted in confounding the two. this quote shows that she kept combining the two. That it was very difficult to figure out which was which even though the teacher and showed her what is
Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind woman to achieve so many goals in her life despite her disabilities. Keller was considered to be a leading figure of the 20th century. She is best known for all her accomplishments. Keller was the most powerful blind and deaf advocate of her time. She transformed the way others viewed handicapped people. In Helen Keller’s later years, she attended Radcliffe College (perkins.org).
Helen went to other schools and got help and she knew what many things were and she wrote books and essays. Helen attended the Cambridge School for Young Ladies in 1896. It was a prep school. During this time she met Mark Twain and became friends with him. Mark Twain introduced Helen to Henry H. Rogers, an executive at Standard Oil. He was so impressed by Helen that he agreed to pay for her education at Radcliffe College. Helen attended these schools to get help and to help other people out also. Helen was a inspiration and impressed many people throughout her life. Helen Keller was a founding member of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind. This was the first agency to provide services to the blind. Helen was a member of Massachusetts it was the first blind agency. Helen made many accomplishments in her life. She helped many people and that only happen because her mom Kate got the help she
Helen's achievements were achieved only through her obstacles that she went through while learning. Helen Keller got a teacher, Annie Sullivan, who taught her many things. Annie, Helen's teacher, came to Tuscumbia on March 3, 1887 (Feeny). After six months of working together, Helen had learned the manual alphabet, could read brittle and raised type, and was writing letters (Feeny). Within six months Helen learned many things from Annie and they continue to work together throughout their lifetimes. Helen went to college and became a writer. She went to Radcliffe college because Harvard did not accept women. She was the first deaf-blind person who went through college (Feeny). Annie Sullivan was always by her side except when she took the tests (Feeny). Helen Keller finished college with the help of Annie. Helen was accused of plagiarism. She was accused because she wrote a book just like a book that was read to her three years prior (Feeny). After that, sometimes people often wondered if she was just restating things that she heard over the years (Feeny). At 11 years old Helen Keller was accused of plagiarism because she wrote a similar story that was read to before. Even though Helen Keller had many amazing accomplishments, she also had many obstacles she had to overcome in order to accomplish
Anne took her out to a well and put Helen’s hands under running water, spelling out the word in sign language into her little hand. From that point on Helen was taught the words for everything and how to sign them herself. She became educated and attended lectures with Anne signing the words into her hand. Keller was a fast learner and, “at the end of their first year together Sullivan was spelling into Keller's nine-year-old hand the works of Homer, Shakespeare, and the Bible.” She eventually graduated a prestigious college with
People who are blind face many different problems in accomplishing everyday activities and becoming an independent individual. Some are able to overcome this issue while others struggle through it in their lives. In “Helen Keller’s Address before the New York Association for the Blind, January 15, 1907” she makes an appeal to the audience that the blind should be helped and made independent so that they can stand up and support themselves. She uses pathos or emotionally packed words, examples and anecdotes and cites from a prominent source to convince her audience that the blind are not helpless, but they are in need of guidance from people who can see in order to live and thrive independently.
Helen Keller was a deaf and blind author, lecturer, and political activist from the United States. Her teacher, Anne Sullivan, taught her how to communicate and eventually Keller became the first deaf and blind person to receive a Bachelor of Arts. She wrote many books and advocated for labor rights, socialism, woman’s suffrage, antimilitarism, and many other controversial topics.
America’s First Lady of Courage and Picturing History both presented individuals who faced many challenges. Helen Keller, the main focus of the first article, struggled with deafness as well as blindness, while Mathew Brady struggled financially. In the case of Helen Keller, the article stated that, “Helen’s parents knew they had to do something about her wild behavior. They hired Annie Sullivan to tutor her.” This was a critical moment in Helen’s life, as Annie helped Helen to learn how to more appropriately communicate with others as well as be able to spread the word that those who struggle with various disabilities could still manage to do great things.
Her main advantage in becoming successful was her eagerness to learn. When she first started to learn she says, “I began my studies with eagerness. Before me I saw a new world opening in beauty and light, and I felt within me the capacity to know all things.” (Keller, pg. 72) She had a positive persona that enabled her to learn.
Helen Keller in her autobiography “The Story of my Life” talks about her struggles of being both blind and deaf and how she has overcome those barriers in her life to find new light in her dark world. Keller utilizes pathos, imagery, and perspective to show her audience what it’s like to live the way she does. Keller’s purpose is to show others her difficulties being disabled and to shed light on others and to give them hope that their own battles can be won, no matter the difficulty. Keller delivers a light hearted and uplifting tone for mainly women and disabled people.