The story of my life
The story of my life
by Helen Keller
In her book Helen Keller only wants to describe the most important and
interesting parts of her life till she became 20 years old.
Helen was born on June 27 1880 in Tuscumbia, a little town of northern
Alabama. Her father was a captain in the Confederate Army, her mother, Kate
Adams, was his second wife and many years younger. The family lived in a
little house with an old garden, which was the paradise of her childhood.
When Helen was 19 months old, she became very ill. The illness, which they
called an acute congestion of the stomach and the brain, closed her eyes and
her ears.
Early one morning, when everybody thought Helen would die, the
fever left her as suddenly as it had come. The family was very happy, but
nobody, not even the doctor, knew that she should never see or hear again.
At first Helen was very disappointed that she didn`t understand any more
what people said. She became very angry and upset and started screaming and
crying. It was extremely hard for her parents to educate her correctly. In
fact they couldn't do it, because they didn`t know how to manage.
Helens
parents felt very sorry for her and were worried.
One day Helens mother read the book "American Notes" by Dickens. This book
deals of a deaf and blind girl who had been educated. So her mother went
with her to special Eyedoctors, when Helen was six years old. They got the
address of a teacher for Helen - Miss Sullivan. Three months before Helen
became 7 years old, Miss Anne Sullivan came into their house.
Meanwhile the
family had moved to a larger house - father, mother, two older halfbrothers
, Helen and later a little sister - Mildred. Helen writes in her biography,
that this was the most important day in her life when Miss Sullivan came. In
her book Helen describes her first lesson: Miss Sullivan gave Helen a doll.
She played with it a little while. Then Miss Sullivan slowly spelled the
word
" d o l l " into her hand. Helen was very proud, that she could spell a
word and the following days she learned more.
Now she became happier because
she could learn. She explored everything with her hands and learned the name
of every object that she touched.
Miss Sullivan was a very good and sensitive teacher. She also took her
across the fields where men were preparing the earth for the seed. Helen
learned how plants and trees grow, how birds build their nests, how every
creature find their food. One day Helen asked Miss Sullivan : "What is love?
" - page 21 ff.
-
The next important step in her life was learning to read. As soon as Helen
could spell a few words Miss Sullivan gave her ships of cardboards on which
were printes words in raised letters. Helen quickly learned that each
printed word stood for an object. Soon she read little books. She really
hunted for words. Studying was for her like playing, because her teacher
illustrated everything beautifully.
Helen liked her very much.
In May 1888 Helen visited Boston with her mother and teacher. They went to
the Perkin Institution for the Blind. Here she got to know other blind
children. For the first time in her life Helen could talk to other children
in the same language. She was very happy.
In spring 1890 Helen learned to speak. She kept one hand on her throat while
the other hand felt the movements of her lips. Another teacher taught
Helen. Her method was ...
- page 43 f -
Now Helen had to practise very hard, because she couldn't speak clearly in
the beginning. But she was very eager and busy and in the end successful.
Very soon Helen began writing little stories and later books. She had had
many and different interests. So Helen liked to visit exhibitions where she
got to know things like a model of the Santa Maria or the Cape of the Good
Hope etc.
>From Oct.
1893 Helen began to have lessons in special subjects like we have
at school. She got Latin lessons at a special teacher, she also read the
histories of Greece, Rome and the United States.
In Oct. 1894 Helen went to a special school for the Deaf in New York City.
Here she got the highest level in lip-reading. In these 2 years Helen
studied math, geography, French, German.
Before the end of the first year
she could read "Wilhelm Tell" in German and she learned to speak German.
In 1896 Helens father died after a short illness. This was her first great
sorrow, her first personal experience with death. She had had a very good
relation with her father whom she had loved very much.
In Oct. 1896 Helen entered the Cambridge School for Young Ladies to be
prepared for Radcliffe College.
Miss Sullivan always went with her. Her
studies for the first year were : English literature, German, Latin,
arithmetic etc. Helen had to read the lips of her teachers, because it was a
school for normal pupils. Miss Sullivan always sat beside her and spelled
the words into her hand.
In July 1897 Helen took her examination for Radcliffe College in Elementary
and Advanced German, French, Latin, Greek an Roman History. Because there
were differences between a teacher at this school and Miss Sullivan Helens
mother decided to take Mildred and Helen from school.
So Helen had private lessons in the subjects: algebra, geometry, Greek and
Latin.
Helen found languages and literature easier than mathematics. In June 1899
she took her final examination for Radcliffe College.
In autumn 1900 Helen went to Radcliffe College. She had looked forward to it
for years. In the first year she studied French, German, history and
English.
The lectures were spelled into her hand as quickly as possible.
Helen couldn't make notes during the lectures , because her hands were busy
listening. When she came home , she wrote down what she remembered on her
special type-writer. During the years Helen had learned that knowledge is
power.
Helen Keller had many interests and qualities. She loved to read in several
languages.
She also loved the country and out-of- door sports. Helen learned
to ride, to sail, to row, to canoe. Her favourite sport was sailing. When
she was in Halifax she enjoyed it most.- page 90- Helen loved nature!
Whenever it was possible, her dog went with her. All dogs she had had ,
always seemed to understand her, they kept close beside her.
Helen liked very much to visit museums and art shops. She couldn't see but
she liked to touch great works of art. Then she discovered the thoughts and
emotions the artist wants to show.
Helen could feel hate, love courage in the faces. Just as she could in
living faces when she was allowed to touch them. - page 98 and last sentence
page 99-
Helen liked people who were honest and true, who treated her like a normal
seeing person- and she got to know a lot of them in her life.
Helen Keller was a very remarkable person.
Was born on June 27,1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama
Acute illness with 19 month
blind and deaf
Parents didn't know how to educate her
Anne Sullivan came
She knew how to educate Helen
Learned to read with fingers
Learned to read the Braille
Visited Perkin Institution in Boston met other blind
children
Learned to speak
went a school for the Deaf in New York
Learned:-math
-geography
-French
-German
got highest level in lip-reading
father died in 1896
entered Cambridge School a normal school
to prepare for Radcliffe College
learned:-English literature
-German
-Latin
-arithmetic
-etc.
were taken from Cambridge College because of differences between a teacher
and Miss Sullivan
got private lessons
June 1898 got final examination for Radcliffe College
Went to Radcliffe College and studied there
The story of my life
By Helen Keller
A Biography
Characters: Helen Keller blind and deaf (because of an acute illness when
she was 19 month old)
Anne Sullivan (teacher) came to Helens house when
Helen was 6 years old
Kate Keller (her mother) was the second wife of her
father
Mr. Keller (her father) died when she was 16 years old
(because of a short illness)
Place: Tuscumbia, Alabama (USA) where she lived ; New York City in a
school for the Deaf ;
Boston in a School for the Blind
Time: from June 27, 1880 till 1900
Contents: It's a Biography of Helen Keller till she is ca. 20 years old
Vocabulary:
stomach: the front part of your body below your chest
deaf: unable to hear
doll: a small figure for a children to play with
sensitive: einfühlsam
seed: a small thing produced by a flower from which another
plant may grow
violets: a small plant with sweet-smelling purple flowers
conscious: bewußt, bei vollem Bewußtsein
(to)puzzle: verunsichern
string: Schnur
beads: a small ball of glass or other material with a hole
through it
patience: Geduld, Ausdauer
obvious: selbstverständlich
error: a mistake
sequence: Anordnung
instant: Augenblick, a short moment
(to)arrange: anordnen
forehead: the part of your face above your eyes and below your hair
perception: Wahrnehmung
(to) pour: gießen, schütten
raised letters: erhöhte Buchstaben
throat: Kehlkopf
exhibition: Ausstellungen
sorrow: Kummer, Sorge
(to)enter: eintreten
lecture: Vortrag; Vorlesung
type-writer: Schreibmaschiene
courage: the quality that makes you able to control your fear and
do something dangerous or difficult honest: ehrlich
(to)treat: behandeln
remarkable: bemerkenswert, besonders
braille: the writing which blind people can read by touching
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