Helen+Keller



Helen Keller Biography:

 Helen Keller was born June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She was a social activist, author, and lecturer. Helen Keller promoted social reforms to improve the lives of handicapped individuals. She died June 1, 1968, in Westport, Connecticut.

In February, 1882, Helen, the daughter of Arthur and Kate Keller, was hit with a severe fever. The doctors had explained it as acute stomach congestion, but no one was expecting that it would also result in her never hearing or seeing again. Helen would do small jobs for her mother, such as folding laundry and fetching objects for her mother. Helen was a very intelligent girl, for she came up with a clever system of signs to let her mother know what she wanted. Sometimes, however, Helen, would get frustrated because she was not able to converse normally with others, and she was not able to understand what people were saying. She would sometimes get so frustrated by the frantic gesticulating, that she would flail her arms around more, and get angry and wild. She would, at times, fling herself to the ground out of this frustration.

Her parents were not able to control this wild behavior, and Helen became even more independent and non-responsive to her parents. Eventually, her parents decided that she needed some help, and Anne Sullivan was sent to assist her. Anne spent hours each day, teaching Helen the manual alphabet, which she picked up very quickly. It took a great deal of effort, however, to make Helen understand the significance of the finger symbols. To help her, Anna would spell out the name of and object into Helen’s palm and let her feel it to get an idea of what it was. Through this method, Helen was able to learn the meanings of many words. When she finally understood the meaning of the word, “water” it set her soul free and gave her joy and light. Helen felt this way because she realized that though there were still obstacles in her way, they could be destroyed.

Soon, little by little, she learned how to express herself through manual alphabet, and learned how to read Braille. Helen learned about another deaf and blind person who had learned to speak. Helen also made a goal to do the same, so she was sent to the Horace Mann School for the deaf. There, Helen made huge progress, and learned to speak French and German, as well as English. While attending school, Helen also studied history, mathematics, literature, astronomy, and physics. Helen’s perseverance and thirst for knowledge led her to Radcliffe College, from which she graduated in 1904.

Helen Keller was deeply moved by people’s ignorance towards the welfare of handicapped persons. As a result, she spent the rest of her life devoted to the promotions of social reforms aimed at bettering education and treatment of all handicapped people. She wrote many articles and ran many campaigns to improve their conditions. Helen Keller received many awards and much praise for her services.

She eventually moved on to writing an autobiography on herself and married the editor of her autobiography, John Macy. During her time, World War I was at its peak, and Helen joined the Socialist party because of it. On the eve of World War I, she joined the Industrial Workers of the World. Helen became a leading figure in the movement, and even campaigned for FDR’s fourth term. That is where Helen really got her inspiration for bettering handicapped peoples’ lives. Helen Keller because has made such an enormous difference to many people. She still acts as an inspiration to all handicapped people today, and for people with problems.

 Helen Keller

Comparisons and Contrasts:

Helen Keller is an inspiration to many people around the globe. Although Helen was both blind and deaf, she was able to overcome it and improve the lives of other handicapped people. Throughout her life, she worked hard to encourage social reforms for handicapped people to ensure better conditions for them. Helen was always determined to reach her goals, and reluctant to accept failure. Ravenous for knowledge, she was able to grasp concepts quickly. She was very inquisitive and therefore was not easy to be in charge of. Helen Keller was determined and cherished knowledge, but was difficult to have under control. Similar to Helen, I am also determined and value knowledge, but dissimilar to her, I am more disciplined.

Helen Keller was determined to make sure that she reached her goals. Even as a child, she was strong-minded and would not give up on anything. Her parents sent Anne Sullivan to teach her and keep an eye on her. Helen would ask Anne many questions on the topics that they covered and Helen was able to learn how to express herself through the manual alphabet and learned how to read Braille. Later, when Helen found out that another blind and deaf child in Sweden had learned how to speak English, she was determined to do the same. Through many long hours of hard work, Helen was able to not only learn how to speak English, but also French and German! When Helen put her mind to something, there was no stopping her. Helen was determined to do everything she had set out to do, as do I.

Helen was also greedy for knowledge, and wanted to know everything there was to know. She would ask endless questions and would not be satisfied unless somebody answered it. From the beginning, Anne Sullivan knew that Helen was a very curious child, and was very intelligent. Anne taught her the manual alphabet, which Helen caught onto very quickly. Helen also learned the significance of finger symbols and was able to communicate effectively. This was not, however, enough for Helen, and she wanted even more. Helen’s determination to possess as much knowledge as possible took her to Radcliffe college, where she graduated from in 1904. Similar to Helen, I also value knowledge, and never turn down an opportunity to learn more.

Though Helen Keller was very intelligent, she was also undisciplined. Before Anne Sullivan was sent to teach her, she was wild, unruly, and very hard to manage. Helen was independent, stubborn and non- responsive to her parents. Understandably, at times, Helen would get extremely frustrated and angry. She would throw herself to the ground and scream loudly. Helen’s frustration was caused by her inability to gain knowledge herself. She was very strong-willed, and would fight to get her way, no matter what she had to do for it. Her parents found her very difficult to manage. I am unlike her in this aspect because I will do whatever my parents say I should, because I am much more disciplined and I respect my parents.

Helen Keller was an inquisitive child who was, at times, out of control. She was greedy for knowledge, and wanted to know as much as humanely possible. Though Helen was very curious, and intelligent, she was unmanageable and wild. As Helen’s thirst for knowledge was quenched, however, she was a little less unruly, and she made much progress. Helen was able to promote social reforms for the good of the handicapped society, and she is still an inspiration to all.



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Web link || Brown, Ray B. "Helen Keller." //Contemporary Heroes and Heroines//. 1990. //Gale// //Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 24 Nov. 2009. . ||  ||  [|Edit]  [|Copy]  [|Delete] Parenthetical Reference || Web link || "Helen Adams Keller." //Dictionary of American Biography//. 8th ed. 1988. //Gale// //Virtual Reference Library//. Web. 30 Nov. 2009. . ||  ||  [|Edit]  [|Copy]  [|Delete] Parenthetical Reference || Web link || "Helen Keller." //American Decades//. 1998. //Biography Resource Center Gale Research//. Web. 30 Nov. 2009. . ||  ||  [|Edit]  [|Copy]  [|Delete] Parenthetical Reference ||
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