Paper On Helen Keller
All around the world, people know of Helen Keller as the deaf and blind girl. In this paper, you will learn about the highs and lows of her life. Helen Keller was an inspirational woman who overcame the difficulties of being deaf and blind to live a full life and impact many people. She was an author, a speaker, and an advocate for the handicapped. Keller had to go through difficult challenges and many things brought her down. Yet, she maintained perseverance and trust throughout her life, and this enabled her to be one of the most influential women to ever live.When Helen Keller was only 19 months old, she was hit with an unknown illness that left her deaf and blind for the rest of her life. She was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama.
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Her parents were Kate and Arthur Keller. Her father was a retired Confederate army captain, and her educated mother was from Memphis. Keller was extremely smart and ambitious. She tried to understand the world around her by using touch, smell, and taste. However, she started realizing that her friends and family weren’t always using the signs she used. Instead, they would sometimes speak orally.
Due to this realization that she was not interacting the same as them, she would feel their lips as they talked. Yet, she flew into a rage when she wasn’t a part of conversations. Keller wrote in her biography, The Story of My Life, “After a while, the need for some means of communication became so urgent that these outbursts occur daily, sometimes hourly.” (Keller) As Keller got older, she became more and more wild and unruly. Her parents couldn’t handle her. They tried hiring many different teachers, but none stayed permanently until Anne Sullivan came and dramatically changed her life.On March 3, 1887, Anne Sullivan came to Alabama to be Keller's teacher. 20-year-old Anne was a graduate of Perkins school for the Blind. She was 14 years older than Helen, and she also suffered from vision problems. Though being Keller’s teacher was tough, Anne remained a strong-willed woman. Keller punched, kicked, hit, pinched, and knocked out one of Anne’s teeth. Through patience and trust, Keller finally started to be obedient and get on with her education. Sullivan started with the techniques developed by Perkins College. She began by manually signing words into Keller’s hand. For example, Anne spelled “d-o-l-l” into Keller’s hand and then gave her a doll that Anne had
brought. Keller learned quickly how to form letters correctly in the right order, but she didn’t know that she was spelling words, or that words existed. She did not grasp the concept until Sullivan spelled out “w-a-t-e-r” while putting Keller’s hand through the rushing water. With this representation, she finally understood. She later wrote “(Keller) did nothing but explore with her hands and learn the name for every object that she touched”. (Keller) Sullivan finger-spelled to Keller throughout her life and coached her in the ways of conversation. Most people believe Keller’s love for language came from this foundation.While Keller was a student at Radcliffe, she began her well-known writing career and became a spokesperson for the deaf and blind. Keller had always wanted to go to college, particularly Harvard. However, she knew that they didn’t accept women, so she set her mind on Radcliffe. She ended up going to Ratcliff from 1900-1904. While Keller was a student at Radcliffe, she began her well-known writing career and became a spokesperson for the deaf and blind. She published her autobiography in 1903, called “The Story of my Life.” The book has been translated into over 50 languages. The Helen Keller archives contain over 475 speeches and essays that she wrote about various different topics. Keller first considered herself a writer, but her passport stated her profession as “author”. She was an advocate for worker’s rights and women's suffrage, and a member of the American Civil Liberties Union. Keller also joined the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) in 1924 and was a member for over 40 years. From 1915, Keller was on the board of directors for the Permanent Blind War Relief Fund, which was later known as The American Braille Press. Keller spoke a lot about how being deaf and blind had affected her. All of these accomplishments enabled her to garner many awards.Keller enjoyed the last bits of her life doing things she had always wanted to do. Between 1946-1957, she visited 35 countries and met different world leaders including Golda Meir, Winston Churchill, and Jawaharlal Nehru. When Keller was 75 years old, she traveled on a 5 month, 40,000-mile tour throughout Asia. Wherever she went, she delivered encouragement to blind people everywhere. Keller lived a healthy life until she suffered a stroke in 1960. She made her last appearance in 1961 at the Lions Club foundation meeting. Helen Keller died on June 1, 1968, at Arcan Ridge. Her ashes were placed next to Anne Sullivan’s. Helen Keller lived a fulfilling and exciting life through being able to deal with her disabilities. She overcame the odds and she was able to succeed by inspiring different people around the world. Even when times got tough, or she didn’t understand what was going on around her, she still was able to impact many different people.
Her parents were Kate and Arthur Keller. Her father was a retired Confederate army captain, and her educated mother was from Memphis. Keller was extremely smart and ambitious. She tried to understand the world around her by using touch, smell, and taste. However, she started realizing that her friends and family weren’t always using the signs she used. Instead, they would sometimes speak orally.
Due to this realization that she was not interacting the same as them, she would feel their lips as they talked. Yet, she flew into a rage when she wasn’t a part of conversations. Keller wrote in her biography, The Story of My Life, “After a while, the need for some means of communication became so urgent that these outbursts occur daily, sometimes hourly.” (Keller) As Keller got older, she became more and more wild and unruly. Her parents couldn’t handle her. They tried hiring many different teachers, but none stayed permanently until Anne Sullivan came and dramatically changed her life.On March 3, 1887, Anne Sullivan came to Alabama to be Keller's teacher. 20-year-old Anne was a graduate of Perkins school for the Blind. She was 14 years older than Helen, and she also suffered from vision problems. Though being Keller’s teacher was tough, Anne remained a strong-willed woman. Keller punched, kicked, hit, pinched, and knocked out one of Anne’s teeth. Through patience and trust, Keller finally started to be obedient and get on with her education. Sullivan started with the techniques developed by Perkins College. She began by manually signing words into Keller’s hand. For example, Anne spelled “d-o-l-l” into Keller’s hand and then gave her a doll that Anne had
brought. Keller learned quickly how to form letters correctly in the right order, but she didn’t know that she was spelling words, or that words existed. She did not grasp the concept until Sullivan spelled out “w-a-t-e-r” while putting Keller’s hand through the rushing water. With this representation, she finally understood. She later wrote “(Keller) did nothing but explore with her hands and learn the name for every object that she touched”. (Keller) Sullivan finger-spelled to Keller throughout her life and coached her in the ways of conversation. Most people believe Keller’s love for language came from this foundation.While Keller was a student at Radcliffe, she began her well-known writing career and became a spokesperson for the deaf and blind. Keller had always wanted to go to college, particularly Harvard. However, she knew that they didn’t accept women, so she set her mind on Radcliffe. She ended up going to Ratcliff from 1900-1904. While Keller was a student at Radcliffe, she began her well-known writing career and became a spokesperson for the deaf and blind. She published her autobiography in 1903, called “The Story of my Life.” The book has been translated into over 50 languages. The Helen Keller archives contain over 475 speeches and essays that she wrote about various different topics. Keller first considered herself a writer, but her passport stated her profession as “author”. She was an advocate for worker’s rights and women's suffrage, and a member of the American Civil Liberties Union. Keller also joined the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) in 1924 and was a member for over 40 years. From 1915, Keller was on the board of directors for the Permanent Blind War Relief Fund, which was later known as The American Braille Press. Keller spoke a lot about how being deaf and blind had affected her. All of these accomplishments enabled her to garner many awards.Keller enjoyed the last bits of her life doing things she had always wanted to do. Between 1946-1957, she visited 35 countries and met different world leaders including Golda Meir, Winston Churchill, and Jawaharlal Nehru. When Keller was 75 years old, she traveled on a 5 month, 40,000-mile tour throughout Asia. Wherever she went, she delivered encouragement to blind people everywhere. Keller lived a healthy life until she suffered a stroke in 1960. She made her last appearance in 1961 at the Lions Club foundation meeting. Helen Keller died on June 1, 1968, at Arcan Ridge. Her ashes were placed next to Anne Sullivan’s. Helen Keller lived a fulfilling and exciting life through being able to deal with her disabilities. She overcame the odds and she was able to succeed by inspiring different people around the world. Even when times got tough, or she didn’t understand what was going on around her, she still was able to impact many different people.