HELEN KELLER
Many may think it's impossible to do, but she found a way.
“We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough”.
This was once said by the renowned, blind and deaf, Helen Keller. Growing up blind and deaf and still being able to learn, speak, read and type seems nearly impossible to many. At first Helen thought so too, until one special day she met a teacher who completely changed her world and gave her a sense of hope.
Typing
Helen Keller typing on a typewriter. Something she was incredibly good at and mastered by the age of 10.
Listening
Helen Keller would place her hand on an individuals face to listen to what they were saying by feeling the vibrations their mouth made.
Helen & Her Dogs
Here is one of the many pictures Helen had with dogs. Her love for animals started at a young age, she especially loved dogs.
Biography
All About Helen
It all started in Tuscumbia, Alabama on June 27, 1880. A beautiful healthy baby was born by the name of Helen Keller. Helen was a regular baby with no health conditions until she was nineteen months old when disaster struck. Helen was stricken with an illness that caused her to go blind and deaf. She became mute and didn't communicate with people until the age of six, when she was sent to see Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. Bell found a teacher for Helen named Anne Sullivan. Anne came to live with the Keller's on March 3, 1887. At first, Helen wouldn't even listen to Anne even if she asked her the simplest things. That all changed very quickly though, and by the age of ten, Helen mastered braille and could type on a typewriter better than anyone else could. Helen began learning to communicate by feeling someones face and feeling the vibrations it made. Helen knew what the word water meant and her first word was "it". At the age of 16 Helen was finally able to go to Preparatory School. She then went to Radcliffe College and graduated on 1904 with all honors. Helen never got married but her teacher, Anne Sullivan, became her lifetime companion. They lived together along with Anne's husband. Out of the many amazing things Helen has done, the biggest one is that she traveled to over 29 countries and talked about blind and deafness and gave people just like her, a sense of hope. Unfortunately Helen died on June 1, 1968 peacefully in her sleep. She lived to be 88. Helen was an inspiration to people world wide and she will never be forgotten and as she once said, "Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light".
Conflict
Helen Keller was blind and deaf and became mute meaning she didn't communicate with anyone. She would easily get frustrated when she tried to communicate with someone and they didn't understand her. This was a character vs. nature conflict because she was randomly given the illness which caused her to go blind and deaf. This is also a character vs. self conflict because Helen wold get discouraged but had to believe in herself to achieve anything.
Resolution
Helen Keller met her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who taught Helen how to talk, read, write and even type! Helen even wrote a documentary and won an Oscar for it!
Theme
The overall theme of Helen Keller's story and the obstacles she overcame is, no matter how difficult something may be, if you have hope and perseverance, things will always get better!
Here is a video of Helen Keller demonstrating how she listened and communicated with people by feeling the vibrations their mouths made when they talked. In this video, she is communicating with her teacher, Anne Sullivan.
Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan (1928 Newsreel Footage with Open Captions and Audio Description)
Works Cited
Helen Keller and a Dog. N.d. AFB, Newyork,NY. AFB. Web. 16 March 2016.
Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. Perf. Helen Keller and Anne Sulivan. 2009. Youtube Video. 16 March 2016.
Helen Keller at Typewriter. N.d. Helen Keller Foundation, Birmingham, AL. Helen Keller Foundation. Web. 16 Mar. 2016.