Engh 140118084844-phpapp01
- 2. The story of my life is an autobiography of Hellen Keller, written by her when she was in her 3rd year at Redcliffe college. She was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama, to Captain Arthur Henry Keller, a confederate army veteran and a newspaper editor, and Kate Adams Keller. By all accounts, she was a normal child. But at 19 months, Helen suffered an illness that left her deaf and blind. Although Helen learned basic household tasks and could communicate some of her desires through a series of signs, she did not learn language the way other children do. For the next five years of her life, Helen lived in isolation but her mother succeeded in making her feel confident. As Helen grew, so did her need to express herself. She began to have tantrums that she was unable to prevent or control. In those days her only playmate was Martha Washington
- 3. In the summers of 1886, her parents took her to the famous eye specialist in Baltimore, the trip for her was very pleasant and she made many friends. With his advice they met Dr. Bell and this meeting became the gateway to light in her life. Acting his advice, they talked to Mr. Anagnos, and he found a teacher for Hellen who made her realize that Knowledge is supereme power, love, light and vision. The arrival of the teacher Miss Anne Sullivan, brought about a tremendous change in her life. Taking a doll as a tool, she began to teach the narrator to fingerspell using the manual alphabet. This brought a new ray of hope in Helen’s life. Sullivan taught her to find beauty in the various forms of nature. She learnt a new lesson during her tree climbing in a stormy day that nature wages an open war against her children and under softest touch hides treacherous claws.
- 4. Helen said that learning process for a deaf child was a slow and painful process, yet the result was wonderful. During the understanding of love, she learnt that “you cannot touch the love but you can feel the sweetness that it pours into everything. Sullivan illustrated everything in the form of a story or a poem, many difficult problems seemed as precious memories to the narrator. Sullivan’s teaching techniques help the narrator to be a nature lover. Every little thing attracted her and she felt them by her touch. She was so much attracted to Miss Sullivan that she could not think of life without her. Helen had her first real Christmas celebration with Tuscumbia school children. For the first time, she was a giver, as well as receiver, and she enjoyed the anticipation. Her favorite present came from Anne Sullivan - a canary named Little Tim.
- 5. Helen learned to care for him herself. Unfortunately, a big cat got him when she left Tim's cage to get water for the bird. In May 1888, Helen visited the Perkins Institute in Boston. The trip was "as if a beautiful fairy tale had come true.“ She immediately developed friendship with the other children and felt she had come home to her own country. All these events left her with delightful memories. Sullivan illustrated everything in the form of a story or a poem, many difficult problems seemed as precious memories to the narrator. Sullivan’s teaching techniques help the narrator to be a nature lover. Every little thing attracted her and she felt them by her touch. She was so much attracted to Miss Sullivan that she could not think of life without her. After visiting Boston, Helen and her teacher vacationed at Cape Cod with a friend, Mrs. Hopkins. Her vivid recollection of the summer was the ocean. The waves seemed to play a good game with her.
- 6. When fall arrived, Helen traveled with her family to Fern Quarry for their vacation in the mountains outside Tuscumbia. There, Helen spent her days riding her pony, walking outdoors or gathering persimmons with her little sister Mildred and their cousins.One day, Helen, Mildred and Miss Sullivan got lost in the woods. Mildred recognized a railroad trestle over a deep gorge, which they decided to use to find their way home. As they were crossing the trestle, a train approached. The three climbed underneath, onto the cross braces, and held on to the swaying trestles, terrified, while the train went overhead . With great difficulty they reached back home only to find that the cottage was empty as everyone had gone to look for them.
- 7. That winter, and almost every winter afterward, Helen spent in the North. When she was almost nine years old, Helen experienced snow for the first time. She was very fascinated with the snow covered fields , trees and frozen lakes .One day a snowstorm came. Everyone rushed outside to feel the tiny snowflakes. The next day the whole landscape was covered with snow and nothing could be distinguished from one another . On the third day the sun rose. Helen put on her coat and went out. Moving in the cold wind was new for her. Her favorite sport was tobogganing. It brought her never ending joy and she felt divine feeling the wind when tobogganing.