English Language and Literature (Class-10)

The Story of My Life

By: Hellen Keller

Chapter-wise Summary

Chapter: 1

Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, a little town of northern Alabama. The family on her father’s side descended from Casper Keller, a native of Switzerland, who settled in Maryland. Her grandfather, Caspar Keller’s son, also acquired large tracts of land in Alabama and finally settled there. Her grandmother Keller was the daughter of Alexander Moore and second cousin to Robert E Lee. Her father’s name was Arthur H. Keller who was a captain in the Confederate Army and her mother was Kate Adams who was many years younger to her husband as she was his second wife.

Helen Keller lived in a small house which consisted of a large square room and a small one in which the servant slept. There was a custom in the south to build a small house near the homestead as an annex to be used on occasion and such a house was built by her father after the Civil War. After his marriage to Kate, Helen’s mother, he shifted to
that house. The house was covered with vines, climbing roses and honeysuckles. There was a screen of yellow roses and Southern Smilax which hid the, little porch. It was the favourite haunt of humming birds and bees. The family lived in the Keller Homestead, also known as ‘Ivy Green’ because the house, the surrounding trees and fences were covered with ivy. Helen considered the house as the paradise of her childhood.

Helen’s life began on a simple note. The very naming of the child, i.e., Helen was an emphatic one. Her father suggested the name of Mildred Campbell whom he regarded highly but her mother put an end to all discussions by saying that she would be called after her mother, Helen Everett. Helen was taken to the church for christening but on the way, her father lost the name. He just remembered that it had to be after Helen’s grandmother so he gave her the name Helen Adams.

In her childhood, Helen was an eager and self-asserting child. She imitated everyone and learnt walking as well as talking at an early age. But her happiness did not last long. One day in the month of February, she fell ill. The doctors termed it as an acute congestion of the stomach and brain. They even thought that she would not live. It was a mysterious fever which left her suddenly and mysteriously. But it took her eye-sight along with it. With each passing day, her eyes turned dry and hot and became dimmer and she felt silence all around. It was a nightmare for her when she realised that she had lost her eyes and ears. The whole world to her was dark and silent.

Chapter: 2

In the initial months after her illness, Helen either sat in her mother’s lap or cling to her dress when she went about doing her household chores. She touched every object and observed every motion thus enabling her to understand the outer world. She started communicating using sign language. A shake of her head meant ‘No’ and a nod ‘Yes’, a pull meant ‘Come’ and push ‘Go’. Her mother was of great help to her and she turned her long dark nights into bright and good ones with her wisdom. She was always sent for when they had guests and she waved her hand to them when they took their leave.

But after sometime, Helen started realising that she was different from others. She noticed that sign language was not used by other people but they used their lips to talk. She used to touch their lips and then hers. She could feel the difference and sometimes she used to get so angry that she kicked and screamed till she got exhausted.

Helen was a naughty girl. She used to kick her nurse Ella and dominated her cook’s daughter Martha Washington. Her sources of interest were the sheds where the corn was stored, the stable where horses were kept and the yards where the cows were milked. Once she was saved from fire by her old nurse, Viny. In this way her mischiefs kept on increasing. By this time, she had found out the use of a key and locked her mother in the pantry for three hours. Her mother kept on pounding on the door, while she sat outside on the steps and laughed. This was the naughtiest prank ever done by Helen and Miss Sullivan was appointed as a teacher. But Helen locked even her and hid the key under the wardrobe in the hall. Miss Sullivan was taken out through the window.

Helen’s father was most loving and devoted to his home. Apart from this he was a great hunter. He loved being hospitable and seldom came home without bringing a guest. He raised watermelons and strawberries in his special big garden. Her father was a story-teller also and used to spell clumsily into Helen’s hands some of his cleverest anecdotes. But unfortunately after a short illness, he died in 1896.

Helen’s mother was equally near Helen’s heart. So much so that she regarded her little sister as an intruder out of jealousy. Once she overturned the cradle in which her little sister was sleeping just because it belonged to Nancy, Helen’s doll. She was saved from falling by her mother. Later on, both of them became good friends.

Chapter: 3

With the passage of time, Helen started feeling uncomfortable and inadequate with her sign language. She often underwent outbursts of passion and generally broke down in tears and physical exhaustion. Her parents were deeply grieved to see her in such condition and had lost all hope of getting her taught as they lived in out of the way place as Tuscumbia. But Dickens’ ‘American Notes’ brought a ray of hope. Her mother read about the story of Laura Bridgman who was deaf and blind yet had been educated. But Dr. Howe, who had discovered the ways to teach such children had been dead many years.

It was only when Helen reached the age of six that they heard of an eminent oculist in Baltimore who had treated many such cases. They immediately decided to meet him. They caught a train and reached Baltimore. Dr. Chrisholem received them kindly but further told them to consult Dr. Alexander Graham Bell of Washington to get more information about schools and teachers of deaf or blind children. They met Dr. Bell who understood her signs and left a deep impression on Helen’s mind. He advised Helen’s father to write to Mr. Anagnos, director of the Perkins Institution in Boston to ask him about a teacher who could teach Helen. They received the reply telling them about Miss Sullivan who arrived the following March.

Chapter: 4

The day Miss Sullivan arrived was the most important day in Helen’s life. It was March 3,1887 and Helen was around seven years old. On that day, she could feel that something important was going to happen as there was a lot of to and fro in the house. Then Miss Anne Manefield Sullivan arrived who gave her a doll. The children at the Perkins Institution had sent it for her. When she had played with it a little while, Miss Sullivan slowly spelled the world ‘d-o- 1-T which Helen tried to imitate. Later, she learned to spell pin, cup, sit, stand, walk, mug, water, etc. Miss Sullivan taught her the word ‘water’ in a different way. She took her to a well. There she spelled the word ‘water’ in one hand and on the other she could feel the cool stream of water flowing over her hand. It was a strange feeling but it left her with a new hope, light and joy. She felt herself to be the happiest child that day and for the first time she waited for a new day to come.

Chapter: 5

The arrival of Miss Sullivan filled Helen’s life with confidence and joy. She kept on teaching her something or the other. Her next chapter was nature. She took her to the fields, to the banks of Tennesse River to learn about nature. Helen started enjoying the world she lived in. Miss Sullivan made her feel beauty in the woods, blades of grass, birds, flowers, in fact almost everything. But one stormy day gave Helen a feeling that nature can be cruel also. She was sitting on the branch of a tree and Miss Sullivan proposed to have lunch there only. Helen agreed to the proposal and Miss Sullivan went home to bring the lunch. Helen was left alone there. Suddenly, Helen felt the heat of sun lessening and a terrible shaking of trees. She grew frightened and longed for her teacher’s arrival. The feeling of terror kept on increasing and she made up her mind to jump down. Suddenly her teacher seized her hand and helped her down. The experience shook Helen terribly. It took her a long time to gather enough courage to climb another tree. But finally she climbed the mimosa tree which had large branches and rough barks. The feeling of having done something wonderful and unusual filled Helen’s mind. She felt like a fairy on a rosy cloud and spent many happy hours in the tree.

Chapter: 6

After learning a few words, Helen was eager to learn how to use them. She knew her vocabulary was insufficient but as she learned more and more words, her field of enquiry widened. She was always eager to know something more. One such word was ‘love’, she wanted to know the meaning of this word. Miss Sullivan tried to teach her the meaning by kissing her, by gently holding her but somehow she didn’t understand it. But one day suddenly when the sun shone after brief showers, she felt the meaning of love. Miss Sullivan told her that love is to be felt and not touched. Immediately she realised what love is. In the same way, she was taught another abstract word ‘think’ by Miss Sullivan by touching her forehead and spelling it.

By now Helen could make out that a deaf child can’t learn any lesson within a month or a year as an ordinary child can by imitating or repeating as these exchange of ideas are denied to the deaf. But Miss Sullivan came to her help here also and told her to repeat as far as possible. It is difficult for the deaf and the blind to do it as they can neither see the expressions of the speaker nor can they hear the tone of the voice.

Chapter: 7

The next step in Helen’s education was learning to read. For this purpose, her teacher gave her slips of cardboard which had raised letters printed on them and each printed word stood for something like an object, act or a quality. There was a frame also in which she could arrange the words in little sentences. Helen started arranging words like ‘doll-is-on-bed’, ‘girl-is-in-wardrobe’, etc. After that she took the book ‘Reader for Beginners’ and looked for the words she knew. Thus she began to read also. She had no regular lesson. Her teacher taught her by illustrating a story or a poem and she kept on learning grammar, hard sums, definition, etc. She learnt all these lessons in the lap of nature sometimes amongst the flowers and sometimes in the orchard. Helen learnt geography, arithmetic, zoology and botany-all in a leisurely manner. Arithmetic seemed a disinteresting subject to Helen. In science, she was taught the growth of a plant in its actual form. She enjoyed her lessons as she learnt them from life itself. But it was all because of her teacher who was teaching her in such a way that everything around her breathed of love, joy and was full of meaning. Helen was delighted in the company of her teacher as she had a great influence on her life.

Chapter: 8

Helen kept on climbing the steps of learning under the expert guidance of Miss Sullivan until Christmas approached. It was her first Christmas with Miss Sullivan. Both of them prepared surprises for all others. Helen’s greatest amusement and happiness lay in the mystery that surrounded the gifts which she was to receive. Her curiosity was further aroused by her friends. She kept on playing the guessing game with Miss Sullivan.

On the eve of Christmas, the Tuscumbia School Children invited Helen to a beautiful Christmas tree which provided extreme happiness to Helen. She was told that there was a gift for everyone. She was very excited but she kept on waiting for the real gift that she would get on the day of Christmas. Next morning, with her first ‘Merry Christmas’, she was presented a canary-a bird which made her extremely happy. She took great care of the bird. But one day while she was away a cat rushed upon it and the bird was gone.

Chapter: 9

In May, 1888, Helen visited Boston with Miss Sullivan. The journey to Boston was very different from her journey to Baltimore which she had made two years before. She sat quietly beside Miss Sullivan who told her about everything that she saw out of the car-window. She told her about the beautiful Tennessee River, the great cotton-fields, the hills, woods, laughing negroes-in fact each and everything. Helen took her rag doll Nancy also to Boston. On the way, she forced Nancy, the doll, to eat remains of mud pies which covered her with dust. She was carried away to give a bath at the Perkins Institution which left her in a heap of cotton. It was bad for Nancy. When they reached the Perkins Institution for the Blind, Helen became quiet friendly with the little blind children. She liked the idea of being with the blind and felt one with them. She found that they were all so happy and contented despite being deprived of a precious gift. She herself lost the sense of pain in their company. She had her first lesson in history when they visited Bunker Hill and her first voyage when they went to Plymouth by water. She paid a visit to Miss William Endicott’s house with whom she had made friends. She enjoyed her visit to Miss Endicott’s Beverly farms. Mr. Endicott was also a kind-hearted man and became one of Helen’s good friends whom she always remembered.

Chapter: 10

The Perkins Institution used to close for the summer. It was almost time for the summer vacation and it was decided that Helen and her teacher would spend their vacation at Brewstar, on cape cod with Mrs. Sophia Hopkins-a matron at the same institution. Helen was delighted when she heard about her vacation. Actually, she had planned to make her wish come true and her wish was to touch the mighty sea and feel it roar. On reaching there, she was helped into the bathing suit. Without having any thought of fear, she jumped into the cool water and felt the great billows rock and sink. The movement of the water filled her with joy. But suddenly her joy turned into terror when her foot struck against a rock and she felt a rush of water over her hand. She struggled a lot to come out of it but all went in vain. Suddenly, the sea threw her back on the shore and left her. It was a terrible experience for her but still she recovered from it and sat on a big rock to feel the waves dash against it. It was a wonderful experience.

One day, while enjoying the waves, her attention was attracted by Miss Sullivan towards a horseshoe crab. ‘ Helen was amazed when she fell the crab ‘carrying his house on his back’. She took it home to make her pet. When she reached home, she put the crab in a trough near the well, confident enough that it was secure. The next morning she went to meet her little pet only to realize that it had disappeared. There was no answer to where and how he had escaped. She was disappointed but later felt it was better for the dumb creature as perhaps he had returned to the sea where he belonged.

Chapter: 11

Time passed by and it was autumn when Helen returned to her Southern home. Her heart was full of happy memories of the days spent in the North. Her life there was as full of motion as little insects which crowd a whole existence into one brief day. She spent the autumn months with her family at Fern Quarry – their summer cottage on a mountain about fourteen miles from Tuscumbia. There were small rooms in the cottage and round the house was a wide piazza where they worked, ate and played most of the time. The evenings in the Fern Quarry were pleasant as there were many visitors who used to play cards or spent their time in talk by the campfire. Generally, the men talked about their wonderful feats with fowl, fish, ducks, turkeys, etc. They all were hunters and they shouted “Tomorrow to the Chase!” before they went to sleep.

There was a lot of noise of the heavy steps of hunters in the morning as they were getting ready to go out for hunting. Meanwhile the others made preparation for a barbeque. When the excitement of the preparation was at its height, the hunters came back hot and weary with not a single kill. They seemed disappointed but soon forgot about it to a tamer feast of veal and roast pig.

Helen had a pony also at Fern Quarry whom she called Black Beauty and she often went riding on it. She enjoyed the time spent on riding.

At the foot of the mountain there was a railroad which attracted children towards it because of the trains whizzing by. One day Mildred, Miss Sullivan and Helen lost their path in the woods there and wandered for hours to find it. Suddenly, Mildred saw a trestle which would have been a short cut to their home. Helen felt for the rails with her toe, without being afraid and got on very well until she heard Mildred cry “I see the train”. They immediately climbed down and the train rumbled by. It was a narrow escape but she couldn’t forget the experience.

Chapter: 12

Helen spent almost every winter in the North after her first visit to Boston. Once she went on a visit to a New England village and there she had her first experience of snowfall. The earth seemed benumbed by its icy touch. The grass and bushes were turned into icicles. They all sat around the great fire and told merry tales to each other. The snowfall stopped after three days. Everything looked like figures in a marble freeze. As the days passed on, the trees lost their ice covering and the bushes became bare once the sun shone brightly.

The favourite amusement during the winter was tobogganing. They would get on their toboggan, somebody would shove them and they would swoop down the lake to the opposite bank. It was great fun.

Chapter: 13

In this chapter Helen tells us how she learned to speak and what efforts she made for it. It was in the spring of 1890 that Helen learned to speak though she had been practising it for months. The impulse to produce audible sounds had always been strong within her. She would put one hand on her throat and with the other hand she tried to feel the movements of her lips. When she was in her mother’s lap, she would move her hand on her face to feel how her lips moved. It gave her immense joy. Before she lost her sight and hearing, she was fast learning to speak. She also remembered the first word that she uttered was water. She pronounced it ‘wa-wa’. Then her illness snatched her sight and hearing. Then with the help of Miss Sullivan she practised to communicate by feeling letters with her fingers. But she was not satisfied with it and was very eager to speak with her mouth. At last her efforts bore fruit and she learned to speak in 1890.
In 1890, Mrs. Lamson, who had taught Laura Bridgman and had just returned from a visit to Norway and Sweden, came to meet her. She told Helen how a blind and deaf girl of Norway named Ragnhild Kaata was taught to speak. The story of Mrs. Lamson infused Helen with a new hope and she resolved that she would also learn to speak. Her teacher, Miss Sullivan took her for advice and assistance to Miss Sarah Fuller. The kind lady took upon herself the responsibility to teach her. Thus, she began her education under the guidance of Miss. Sarah Fuller in March 1890.

Since the teacher and the taught both were devoted to attain the single aim, they achieved success. After a long practice, Helen pronounced the first sentence, it was warm. How happy she was can only be imagined by the deaf and blind child who had uttered a word for the first time.

But, it must not be supposed that she could really speak as we speak. She had learned only the elements of speech. Only Miss Sullivan and Miss Sarah Fuller could understand what she uttered. But most people would not have understood her for hours. She was left only with one way and that was of practice. She practised speaking for hours and Miss Sullivan always assisted her in her practice. Sometimes she was weary and disappointed, but soon hope overcame dejection. Besides the thought that a great and pleasant change was about to come in her life dispelled the dark clouds of despair in the same way as dew drops disappear on the emergence of the sun. Finally, her efforts and the affection and devotion of her teachers forced fate to bow to her and Helen learned to speak. Now she was impatient to show her achievements to her parents, sister and friends. And, then came the day when Helen reached Tuscumbia Railway station where her parents, sister and friends were present to receive her. The spring season, bloom, joviality, youthful prank and beauty all returned to their lives. The doors to a new life had been opened to all.

Chapter: 14

In the winter of 1892, there occurred such an incident that blotted out the bright sky of Helen’s childhood and for a long time she remained in a state of suspicion, anxiety and dejection. Books lost their charm for her. The main cause of the trouble was a story ‘The Frost King’ which she wrote to send as a gift to Mr. Anagnos on his birthday. Mr. Anagnos was the Director of Perkins Institute for the Blind.

Helen wrote this story in the autumn after she had learned to speak. Having returned from Fern Quarry, one day Miss Sullivan told her about the beauty of new foliages. Miss Sullivan’s version of new verdure reminded Helen of some story that had been read to her some times earlier. It occurred to her that the outline of the story had taken shape in her mind and she at once sat down to write it lest the idea should slip from her mind. Words and images flowed from her pen as if they had been on her finger’s end. Her only aim to write the story was to please Mr. Anagnos and to prove to her friends that she could accomplish what many think to do but only few attain success in putting words in a systematic order. Little did she know that the publication of the story would shatter the glass house of her fantasy and splinters of disgrace would continue to prick her conscience for a long time to come. Having completed the story, Helen read it to her friends and the members of her family. They were astonished to know that Helen could write so well. Actually, the story was written so nicely that none believed that it was the product of the brain of someone who was a spring chicken in the field of writing. When someone asked her if it was her own composition, she answered firmly that it was the child of her own imagination. On the suggestion of her friends and teacher, the title of the story was changed from ‘Autumn Leaves’ to ‘The Frost King’.

Helen posted the letter to Mr. Anagnos who was delighted to receive this unexpected gift from a blind and deaf girl. He published the story in a report of the Perkins Institute. The publication of the story was the pinnacle of her happiness. But after the publication of the story, the fact came into light that almost the same story had appeared before her birth in a book named ‘Birdie and His Friends’, under the title ‘The Frost Fairies’. It was written by Miss Margaret T. Canby. The thoughts and language of the two stories were so akin to each other, that it was evident that Helen had heard the story of Miss Canby and that her own story was a plagiarism. It was a great shock to Helen and she felt much, disgraced. Her friends began to doubt her talent and looked at her with suspicion. Helen tried her best to recall if she had ever heard Miss Canby’s story, but she did not remember. Mr. Anagnos, though deeply troubled, believed her innocence. A few days after this sad incident, Helen went to attend Washington’s birthday celebration.

The night before the celebration, a teacher asked her questions related to the Frost King. Though she strongly denied to have ever heard Miss Canby’s story, she (the teacher) drew the conclusion from her conversation that Miss, Sullivan might have told Miss Canby’s story to her and Helen remembered the story which she wrote under the title the Frost King.

Now Mr. Anagnos came to believe that he was deceived. He turned a deaf ear to all her pleadings and claims of innocence. He also arrived at the conclusion that Miss Sullivan and Helen stole Miss Canby’s story and presented it to him as Helen’s own creation to influence him and win his favour. Helen was presented before the court of investigation consisting of eight members. She was questioned and cross questioned. The aim of the judges was to make her acknowledge that she knew Miss Canby’s story and she deliberately got it published as her own composition to impress Mr. Anagnos and win his admiration. Though Helen firmly denied their charges, when she came out of the room she did not notice her teacher’s caresses and the confidence of her friends. That night she wept bitterly and wished that she might die before the appearance of dawn. But slowly and gradually, time healed her wound given by disgrace and made her oblivious of what had happened.

Miss Sullivan had never read Miss Canby’s story. Later after much investigation and discussion, Miss Sullivan and Dr. Graham Bell reached the conclusion that Helen might have read Miss Canby’s story during her stay with Miss Hopkins. Whatever may be, Helen had to accept that she must have read Miss Canby’s story and that long after she had forgotten it, it came back to her so naturally that she thought it the child of her own mind.

After this sad incident, many people wrote letters of love and sympathy to her. Miss Canby also wrote to her that someday, she would also write a great book. But she did not write anything new for a long time. Later she came to know that she had actually heard Miss Canby’s story because she used other ideas and sentences of that story in some of her letters. The reality was that she had absorbed the story so much that with the passage of time, she would use its ideas and language in her own ompositions considering them as her own ideas and words. In this context, Helen quotes the view of famous English essayist and novelist R.L. Stevenson. He writes that a young writer instinctively tries to copy whatever seems most admirable to him. It is after a long practice and experience that he becomes able to express his own ideas in his own language. Helen accepted that she had yet not attained that state, but she did not accept defeat. She believed if others had succeeded before her, she too would attain success.

This incident made her aware of the problems of writing, but it resulted in the loss of one good friend Mr. Anagnos. After the publication of Helen’s ‘The Story of My Life’, Mr. Anagnos wrote to her that before the court of investigation he cast his vote with those who were in her favour. For two years Mr. Anagnos held the belief that Helen and Miss Sullivan were innocent but later he changed his view.

Helen wrote this account of the ‘Frost King’ case because it was important in her life and education. She neither defended herself nor did she lay blame on any one else.

Important Characters

Helen Keller

Hellen Keller was an American author, political activist and lecturer who was born on June 27, 1880 at Tuscumbia, a little town in northern Alabama. She lost her ability to see and hear at the age of nineteen months due to illness. The world became dark for her but soon her teacher came and enlighten her path. Her teacher, Miss Sullivan taught her to communicate and helped in learning many great things.

Helen was a great lover of nature and studied mostly with nature. She travelled a lot as she had desire to see and experience new things. She liked the company of others also. She made many friends in her journey. She learnt various subjects with the help of her teacher. She became weak when her first writing was regarded as plagiarism but she soon overcame. She never let her physical disabilities obstruct her in path of success.

Miss Anne Sullivan

Miss Anne Sullivan was Helen’s teacher and mentor. She came in her life when she was just seven years old. She was sent by the Perkins Institute for blind. The day of arrival of Miss Sullivan is the most important for Helen as she opened the gate of information to her. She guided Helen through all phases of her life. Helen experience many parts of nature with her. Miss Sullivan taught her to communicate by spelling the words on her hand. Miss Sullivan was herself a partially sighted and understood all the difficulties faced by a blind person. She was adorable woman and had a great patience. She also her subjects like Arithmetic, History, Geography, Zoology etc. in playful manner. She also helped Helen in learning speaking. Together they spent a lot of good times.

Arthur H. Keller

Arthur H. Keller was father of Helen Keller who was a captain in the Confederate Army. He was editor of a newspaper. He was brave, loving and indulgent person. He was good hunter and storyteller. He was quite close to his family. He only left his family when he went to hunt. He was hospitable to a fault and seldom came home without bringing a guest. He loved gardening and used to lead Helen from tree to tree and from vine to vine. He used to spell words into her daughter, Helen’s hand and made her to repeat them. He was in sorrow seeing her daughter helpless. He consulted many doctor to get her proper treatment. He felt relief when he found a proper teacher for her daughter. He died in the summer of 1896.

Mildred Keller

Mildred Keller was Helen’s younger sister. Before her birth Helen used to get all the attention from her parents but after Mildred’s birth things changed which made Helen jealous of her. When they grew up, they became friends. However, she could not understand Helen’s finger language. Once at the Fern Quarry, they get lost in woods. Mildred pointed towards the trestle and they walked over it. They climbed a moving train and returned to their cottage. This shows her alert behaviour.

Martha Washington

Martha Washington was daughter of the cook of Keller’s family. She was a coloured who became Helen’s companion in her early days. She understood Helen’s signs. She was a mischievous girl. Helen always dominated her and made her do what she wanted to do. She submitted her to Helen because she didn’t want to fight with Helen. She used to spend a lot of time in the kitchen with Helen kneading dough balls, making ice-cream, grinding coffee, quarrelling over the cake bowl and feeding hens and turkeys. She also used to go to egg-hunting in the long grass with Helen.

Kate Keller

Kate Keller was the mother of Helen Keller. She was second wife of Arthur H. Keller who was much elder to her. She was tall, fair complexioned and had blonde hair and blue eyes. She was very supportive and cooperative. She was intelligent, well read and had a good memory. She understood crude signs made by Helen in her early illness days. She loved her daughter very much and took a great of her. She was a hardworking woman and did everything for her family. When she read the account of Laura Bridgman, a deaf and blind girl who still got educated by Dr. Howe in Charles Dickens’ ‘American Notes’, she gained a new hope for Helen that she might be educated. However, Dr. Howe died long ago and his methods probably died with him. She had positive attitude towards the life.

Michael Anagnos

Michael Anagnos was director of Perkins institute of Blind in Boston. When Helen’s father sent her a letter, she found Anne Sullivan and sent her to taught Helen. After Helen joined the Perkins Institute, he became a friend of her. Later, his friendship with Helen broke due to reason of a story named ‘The Frost King’. Helen wrote this story and sent to Mr. Anagnos on his birthday which he published in one of the reports of the institute. The story later found the copy of another story. Mr. Anagnos felt Helen had cheated on her. She accused Helen for plagiarism despite knowing her for years. However, after the publication of “The Story of Life” in the Ladies’ Home Journal, Mr Anagnos made statement that he supported Helen. His friendship with Helen not restored.

Examination Style Questions based on Theme and Plot

Question: 1. Describe the life of Helen before her illness.

Answer: The illness caught Helen when she was nineteen years old which made deaf and blind. Before illness, Helen wore long dresses and showed many signs of eager and self-asserting nature. Everything she saw other people do she insisted upon intimating. At six months she could speak “How d’ye” and one day she attracted everyone’s attention by saying “Tea, tea, tea” quite plainly. She also remembered one of the words she learned in the early months which was ‘”water”.

She walked the day when she was a year old. She was suddenly attracted by the flickering shadows of leaves that danced in the sunlight on the smooth floor. She slipped from her mother’s lap and ran toward them. The impulse gone and she fell down and started crying for her to take her up in her arm that day.

Question: 2. How did Helen Keller lost her abilities of hearing and seeing?

Answer: Helen Keller was not born deaf and blind. When she was nineteen months old she got sicken with a mysterious disease which took away her eyesight and ability of hearing. The illness was diagnosed as acute congestion of the stomach and brain. The doctor though that she could not live. However, early morning, the fever left her suddenly and mysteriously as it had come. No one knew that she should never see or hear again. Gradually, she got used to the silence and darkness that surrounded her.

Question: 3. Explain the words “There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his."

Answer: These words mean that in every person’s ancestry, some are rich and some are poor. Even if person is king today, in her ancestry there must be a slave which defines that life is full of ups and downs. Today’s slave also had a king in his ancestry. Every coin has two sides, is a fact. One needs to learn from the past and try to make her present and future good.

Question: 4 How did Helen Keller overcome difficulties caused by her disease?
Answer: Helen Keller lost the ability of hearing and eyesight at a very little age. However, nature given her other ability. Her hands felt every object and observed every motion which helped her in learning many things. He can keep clean clothes were brought in from the laundry and distinguished her own clothes from the rest. She knew whenever her mother and aunt dressed and were going out, also she begged to go with them. She made crude signs and started communicating with them. A shake of the head meant 'No' and a nod 'Yes', a pull meant 'come' and a push 'go'. These things help her in overcoming difficulties.

Question: 5 How Helen Keller learn subjects like Geography, History, Botany etc.?
Answer: She started learning subjects with the help of nature. Firstly, Helen father's developed her interest in nature. Her teacher, Miss Sullivan also taught her mostly outdoor. She got her first lessons at banks of the Tennessee River were she learnt how nature works such as how the sun and the rain help the plant in growing, how birds build their nests, how animals get food. She also climbed a tree. Miss Sullivan taught her Geography in an interesting manner. She built dams with pebbles, made islands and lakes, and dug river-beds. She also raised maps in clay, so that Helen could feel the mountain ridges and valleys. She also taught her botany and zoology in same leisurely manner.

She studied about prehistoric creatures with the help of fossils. She also learnt about habitat of the marine animals and about growth of plants.

She got her history lessons when she was admitted to Perkins Institute by visiting ancient places such as Bunker Hill and Plymouth.

Question: 6. Describe the relationship between Miss Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller.

Answer: Miss Anne Sullivan arrival in the life of Helen Keller is regarded as most important part of life by Helen herself. At the day of Anne’s arrival, Helen was feeling something unusual going to happen. The arrival of Anne changes Helen’s life wholly. Miss Anne Sullivan taught her to her the spellings of words by writing them on her hand. Later she taught her abstract words like love, think etc. After learning words, she taught Helen how to use the words in sentences. She also told her stories and taught her many subjects. She accompanied her everywhere. Later, Helen also practised to speak with Anne and she corrected the mispronunciation of words made by Helen. She was like mother to her. They shared a wonderful relationship which lasted till the death of Miss Sullivan.

Question: 7. Describe Miss Sarah Fuller, Principle of the Horace Mann School as result oriented teacher.

Answer: Helen had stopped talking after the loss of the ability of hearing. One day, Mrs. Lamson arrived to see her and told her about a girl who had actually been taught to speak. This story generated a new hope in Helen and she resolved that she would also speak. Miss Sullivan took her for advice and assistance to Miss Sarah Fuller, the principal of Horace Mann School. She was lovely, sweet natured lady. Her method was unique. She passed Helen’s hand lightly over her face, and let Helen feel the position of her tongue and lips when she made sound. Helen was eager to imitate every motion and in an hour had learned six elements of speech: M, P, A, S, T, I. Miss Fuller gave her total eleven lessons. Helen was surprised and delighted when she uttered her first connected sentence, “It is warm”. They were broken but it was her own voice.

Gradually, Helen improved a lot with practice and started speaking. Thus, Miss Sarah Fuller was a result oriented teacher.

Question: 8. How did Anne Sullivan make Helen understand the meaning of word ‘Love’?

Answer: Miss Sullivan was a great teacher for Helen. One day, when Helen brought early violets for her teacher. She gently put her arm around Helen and spelled on her hand, “I love Helen”. Helen asked her “What is love?” Miss Sullivan drew her closer and pointed towards her heart and told her that love is here. Helen felt the beat of heart first time but couldn’t understand the meaning of love. She was disappointed that her teacher couldn’t show her the love.

Once, Helen was arranging the beads in symmetrical pattern but found it difficult. Miss Sullivan touched her forehead and spelled ‘think’. Helen quickly understood that the word was the name of process that was going her head. This was her first conscious perception of an abstract idea. Miss Sullivan explained her that love is like the clouds that we cannot touch the clouds but when it rains, flowers and thirsty earth feel glad to have it. We cannot touch love but can feel the sweetness that it pours into everything. Without love no one can be happy. This made Helen understood the meaning of love.

Question: 9. Helen was accused of plagiarism. The allegation of plagiarism sometimes suffocates a budding writer. Comment.

Answer: Helen wrote a story called ‘Autumn Leaves’ later the title changed to ‘The Frost King’. Later, it was found that the story is similar to an existing work named ‘The Frost Fairies’. She was accused of plagiarism.

Plagiarism means stealing someone else’s work and passing them off as one's own. Copying word by word is a serious crime and invites punishment. If anyone do this, he/she is not a budding writer.

Taking some idea from literary works is not a crime. Every writer can research previously published literary works. Every novel or books is based on some existing ideas.

The allegation of plagiarism make the budding writer depress. He starts thinking that he can’t do anything of his own. He suffers a lot which take away all of his creativity.

Question: 10. How did Helen realize that she is different from other people?

Answer:Helen was deaf and blind after a mysterious illness occurred to her. She realized that she was different from other people before her teacher came to her. She had noticed that her mother and friends did not use signs as she did when they wanted anything done, but talked with their mouths. Sometimes she stood between two persons who were conversing and touched their lips. She could not understand and was vexed. She moved her lips and gesticulated frantically without result. This made her so angry at times that she kicked and screamed until was exhausted.

Question: 11. Describe the winter landscape Helen found in New England village.

Answer: After her visit to Boston, Helen spent almost every winter in the North. Once she went to visit New England Village. The lakes are frozen and there were vast snow fields. She never saw such treasures of snow before. She found trees were almost stripped leaving only a few wrinkled leaves on them. The birds had flow and their empty nests were filled with snow. Snow was hill and field. All life seemed to have reduced.

Another day, a snowstorm came. All rushed outside to feel the tiny flakes of ice. In the evening, a wind from the northeast came and flakes flew in various directions. At night, the wind became furious and thrilled them with unsure terror. The trees around the house pulled and rattled and beat against the windows and they can hear them creaking and breaking.

On third day, the snow reduced. The sun broke through the clouds. The trees stood motionless. When the rays of sun fell upon the trees, the twigs sparkled like diamonds. Helen enjoyed herself in a snowfall.

Question: 12. What cause Helen to take dive in the cold water? What happened after she plunged into cold water?

Answer: Helen was delighted to know that she and her teacher should spend their vacation at Brewster, on Cape God. Her mind was full of prospective joys and the wonderful stories she had heard about the sea. She had always lived far inland. She also read a big book called ‘Our World’ a description of the ocean which filled her with wonder and intense desire to touch the mighty sea. All these things caused Helen to take dive in the cold water.

Once at the sea shore, she plunged into the sea water without any fear. She was enjoying it until her foot struck against a rock and the water rushed over her head. She found no proper thing to hold as there was nothing except water and sea weeds. However, she was fortunate that waves threw her back on the shore where her teacher picked her up in the arms.

Question: 13. Describe Helen’s First Christmas after Miss Sullivan’s arrival in Tuscumbia.

Answer: The first Christmas after Miss Sullivan’s arrival was a great even for Helen. Everyone in her family prepared was planning surprises for Helen. She was also preparing her surprises with her teacher. They kept up a guessing game which taught Helen more about the use of language. They played the guessing game every evening which grew more and more exciting as Christmas approached.

Helen was invited by the Tuscumbia schoolchildren to their decorated Christmas tree. She danced and jump around the tree in an excitement. She gave gifts to other children.

She also wanted to know what she was to receive on that occasion. In the morning, when she got up she found a lot of gifts for her. She was most delighted by her teacher’s gift which is a canary. She enjoyed Christmas Eve a lot.

Question: 14. Why did Helen call her Pony ‘Black Beauty’?

Answer: Helen had her pony at Fern Quarry. She named the pony ‘Black Beauty’ as she had just finished the book named ‘Black Beauty: The autobiography of a Horse’. Her pony resembled his namesake in every way from his glossy coat tot the white star on his forehead. She also spent many happiest hours on her pony’s back. Sometimes, her teacher Miss Sullivan would let go of the horses’ rein and the pony used to stop at his sweet will to eat grass or nibble the leaves of the trees. Helen loved her pony very much.

Question: 15. What were the qualities that attracted everyone towards Helen before she fell victim to her mysterious illness ? Give your views.

Answer: Helen was a very bright and happy child. She attracted everyone’s attention towards her with her mischiefs.

In her childhood, she was an eager and self-asserting child. She imitated everyone and leamt walking as well as talking at an early age. She was the first baby in her family so she received the love and affection of her family members to the maximum. Helen herself wrote 1 came, I saw, I conquered’ as the first baby in the family does. She started walking when she was a year old. Her mother had just taken her out of the bath-tub and was holding her in her lap when she started walking towards the leaves that danced in the sunlight. Even her naming ceremony was a big event. She was not to be lightly named being the first baby in the family. She initiated every one and learnt talking at an early age. Everyone got attracted towards her due to these qualities.

Question: 16. Helen Keller says, “Happy days did not last long.” Why does she say this ? What had happened to her ?

Answer: Helen was an eager and assertive child during her childhood. The beginning of her life was simple and much like every other little life. She received all the privileges as the first baby in the family does. She was having a wonderful time as a baby but ‘happy days did not last long’. In the month of February, she fell ill. The doctors called it ‘acute congestion of the stomach and brain’. They thought she would not live. However, one day the fever left her as suddenly and mysteriously as it had come. Everyone rejoiced on her being well. After getting well, she could feel her eyes turning dry and hot. Gradually, the light became dimmer by the day. It was like a nightmare as she turned blind and deaf for life. Not even the doctors realised that she would never see or hear again. It was terrible but with the passage of time she got used to the silence and darkness that surrounded her and forgot that life had, at some stage, been different and wonderful.

Question: 17. The best and most beautiful things in the world can’t be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.’ Justify the famous quote of Helen Keller.
Ans. This quote is very relevant and truly signifies the life of Helen Keller herself. This quote holds true for everything that we experience in life. It is the feeling towards what we experience in life that is more important than what we actually see or touch. Hellen Keller had lost her sight and hearing at a very tender age to an illness. She did not give up on life. With all the adversities surrounding her, she still fought back with the courage and the love of the people who surrounded her and supported her throughout. It is these feelings of love, courage, hope, satisfaction, happiness, desire, pain, ambition, etc., which makes a person what they are. In fact. Hellen learns the beauty of love not by seeing or touching but by feeling it. Her life itself stands testimony to this statement ‘The best and most beautiful , things in the world can’t be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.’

Question: 18. What type of relationship did Miss Anne Sullivan and Helen share ?

Ans. After the illness which left Helen deaf and blind, her parents went to meet Dr. Chisholen, an eye, ear, nose, throat specialist in Baltimore. He put them in touch with Alexander Graham Bell who worked with deaf children.

Bell advised them to contact Perkins Institute for the Blind. This institution sent Miss Anne Sullivan as Helen’s instructor. The eventful day, on which Miss Sullivan was to arrive, Helen felt that something unusual was going to happen. She had no idea that the future had a surprise for her. Miss Sullivan arrived and filled Helen’s life with brightness. Both of them shared a wonderful relationship. Miss Sullivan was like a mother to her. She taught her the spellings of words by writing them on her hand like doll. Later she taught her abstract words like love, water, think etc. Once she improved her vocabulary, Miss Sullivan taught Helen how to use the words in sentences, thus gradually increasing her knowledge. She accompanied Helen everywhere and Helen also looked towards her whenever she wanted to know about something, their relationship lasted for 49 years and eventually Miss Sullivan became a companion to Helen from a mere governess.

Question: 19. How did Helen learn subjects like Geography, History and Science ?

Ans. Helen had a different way of learning subjects like Geography, History, etc. She went with Miss Sullivan to an old tumble-down lumber wharf on the Tennessee River which was used during the Civil War to land soldiers.

She built dams of pebbles, made islands and lakes, dug river-beds all for fun, never realising that she was learning a lesson. She listened to Miss Sullivan’s descriptions of burning mountains, buried cities, moving rivers of ice, etc. She made raised maps on clay so that she could feel the mountain ridges and valley and follow the course of river with her fingers.

She learnt Arithmetic by stringing beads in groups and by arranging kindgarten straws, she learned to add and subtract. She did not have much patience to arrange more than five or six groups at a time.

She studied Zoology and Botany also in a leisurely manner. She listened carefully to the description of terrible beasts which tramped the forests and died in the swamps of an unknown age.

The growth of a plant itself taught her a lesson in science. She bought a lily and set it in a sunny window. Very soon she noticed the signs of opening in the pointed buds. This process was reluctant in the beginning but later on used to go on rapidly-in order and systematically. There was always one bud larger and more beautiful than the rest which pushed her outer covering with more pomp. In a way she learned from life itself.