1.

Examine Helen's education in Radcliffe College as described in The Story of

My Life.
Helen attended Radcliffe College in Massachusetts. She "began [her] studies with eagerness" at
Radcliffe. She found that the "lecture-halls seemed filled with the spirit of the great and the wise."
Helen soon found that the college was not all that she expected it would be. She found that there was
not enough time to think and reflect because of all the required tasks and work. Someone spelled all
the lectures into Helen's hand, and she used a typewriter to type up her assignments. She took a
mixture of classes that she enjoyed and classes that she was not as interested in during the first two
years. In her third year, she enjoyed her classes more. Despite this, she found her mind to be
"overtaxed" with information. Helen dreaded final exams each time they came.

2.
Helen said "I cannot make notes during the lectures, because my hands are
busy listening." Explain what she means.
Because Helen could not see or hear, she was unable to watch her professors as they talked or and she
could not hear their lectures. When in class, Helen always had to have a person finger spell into her
hand whatever the professor was saying. Helen described her presence in her college classrooms as a
feeling of being "practically alone. The professor [was] as remote as if he were speaking through a
telephone." It was often a challenge for Helen to keep up with what was being spelled into her hand
so that she could comprehend the information. The person (often her teacher, Annie Sullivan) who
spelled into her hand did so quickly. Helen compared this process to a race. Despite the difficulty of
keeping up with all the information, Helen noted that she was "not... much worse off than the girls
who [took] notes." When the other students were taking notes, their minds were "occupied with the
mechanical process of hearing and putting words on paper at pell-mell speed." She explained that she
thought it would be quite difficult to pay attention while writing notes. Helen then stated that her
hands were busy listening in class. By this, she meant that her mind was processing the letters that
were being spelled into her hand. Helen did write down what she remembered after class, as she
noted.

3.
In story of my life, what were the difficulties faced by Helen in the
Cambridge school?
Starting in 1896, Helen Keller attended Cambridge, an all girls school. She went to Cambridge to
prepare for Radcliffe College. Cambridge was a school with no prior special accommodations for deaf
or blind students. Though Miss Sullivan accompanied Helen at the school, there were too many words
between homework and classwork for her to spell everything into her student's hand. Additionally, "it
was very difficult to have text-books embossed in time" for Helen to use for school. These embossed
books featured raised letters that Helen could read. Because the length and amount of books assigned,
finger spelling was out of the question. Helen could not take in class notes. Instead, she typed
everything on her typewriter later. However, Miss Sullivan was able to finger spell the teachers'
lectures into Helen's hand. This was exhausting for Miss Sullivan. A couple of instructors at the
school also learned to finger spell so they could help Helen.

4.

What is the appearance of Michael Anagnos from The Story of My Life?

The presence of Michael Anagnos in Helen's story is due to the fact that he was, at the time, "the
director of the Perkins Institution in Boston." This was a well known school for students who were
blind. Helen father, Captain Keller, wrote to Mr. Anagnos to inquire about a possible teacher to come

to Alabama to help his blind and deaf daughter. Mr. Anagnos kindly wrote back when a teacher had
been found.
Several years later, Helen wrote a short story called "The Frost King" for Mr. Anagnos. She sent it to
him and he published it in a report for the Perkins Institution. It was later discovered that Helen's story
closely resembled another story and was considered plagiarism. Helen was distraught over this, but
Mr. Anagnos reassured her that he knew it had been a mistake. Later, he came to believe that Helen
had indeed deceived him. This led to the end of their friendship, much to her devastation.

5.
How did Helen like Niagara falls? Why did people feel surprised at her
response?
Helen visited Niagara Falls in 1893. Because Helen could not see or hear, she relied on her other
senses to experience the majesty of the powerful falls. Helen described that she "felt the air vibrate
and the earth tremble." She explained that people sometimes asked her how she could experience
beauty without being able to see or hear. She went on to say that she could not define how she was
able to experience beauty. People seemed unable to understand how Helen could connect with nature
because she did not have two of her senses.
In that same year, Helen and Miss Sullivan visited the World's Fair. Helen connected her experiences
at Niagara Falls by describing that through touch, she was able to experience the wonders of the Fair.
Helen was given special permission to experience the exhibits through touch. Normally, no one was
permitted to touch these objects. Helen "took in the glories of the Fair with [her] fingers."

6.

How did Helen write her preliminary exam?

Helen took her preliminary exams for entrance into Radcliffe College in the summer of 1897. Because
Helen was deaf and blind, she could not write these exams in the traditional way, which was by hand.
Instead, Helen needed special accommodations in order to complete her exams. Helen had to use a
special typewriter to write her exams. This took away the anonymity usually associated with these
exams, because Helen's were the only ones that were typed. Rather than writing the exams in a room
with other students, Helen was placed in a room of her own. This was done so that her typewriter
would not distract other students. A guard was assigned to "prevent interruption." Mr. Gilman, the
principal, read the questions and finger spelled them into Helen's hand. Helen would then type her
responses. Mr. Gilman read and repeated her answers by finger spelling so that Helen could correct
any errors.

7.

Give the character sketch of Helen from chapter 21 of The Story of my Life.

In chapter 21 of The Story of My Life by Helen Keller, Helen who was struck down by an illness that
left her blind and deaf at the age of only nineteen months, talks about her "book friends." She is an
avid reader and recognizes the enormous contribution that books have made to her education, more so
than they may have to a sighted person.
Helen admits that when she was young, it was the words themselves that "fascinated' her not
necessarily any real understanding and her enriched vocabulary belied her actual real grasp of
meaning. "Little Lord Fauntleroy" is the first book that Helen develops a real "longing" for to the point
that she knows it almost off by heart because she reads it repeatedly. Helen describes the book as "my
sweet and gentle companion."

Many other books follow and "they laid their treasures at my feet, and I accepted them as we accept
the sunshine and the love of our friends." The books are Helen's link to a world that she can only
imagine and therefore take on their own personalities. She admits that she does not like "The Pilgrim's
Progress, or La Fontaine's Fables" although she love "The Jungle Book" and feels that she is able to
enjoy its "loves, ... laughs...and weeps."
Helen points out that it is the books' content which appeals to her and that she has no desire to learn
the intricacies of correct grammar. Helen even learns a deep appreciation for the Bible which she
previously overlooked.
Therefore in providing a character sketch of chapter 21 and Helen's "book friends," the emphasis is on
the type of books Helen is most passionate about and how they have all contributed to forming Helen's
own personality. Literature is, as Helen says herself, "My Utopia." It is as if all the books have
combined to create a whole and belong in a place where Helen is not isolated nor does she have
feelings of "embarrassment or awkwardness." Books are invaluable.

8.
Was Miss Sullivan a good mentor based on Helen Keller's autobiography
The Story of My Life?
In her autobiography The Story of My Life, Helen Keller most definitely presents her teacher Anne
Sullivan as an excellent mentor and a role model for others to follow. One way in which Sullivan
served as a mentor to Keller is through using techniques that taught Keller the value of education.
In Chapter VII, Keller informs her reader that her early lessons with Sullivan were "one of [Keller's]
most precious memories." She explains that her early lessons, even when she studied very hard, felt
"more like play than work" due to Sullivan's teaching techniques. For example, when Keller was first
learning to spell, read, and make sentences, Sullivan would allow her to place on various objects
cardboard slips with raised letters forming words, such as the time when Keller pinned to her pinafore
the word "girl," stood in a wardrobe, and put on the shelf the words "is, in, wardrobe" to form the
sentence "The girl is in the wardrobe." In addition, Keller informs her reader that Sullivan would
illustrate with either a "beautiful story or a poem" anything she was teaching Keller. Keller particularly
spends a great deal of time describing how interactive her education was since she learned geography,
zoology, botany, and mathematics all by interacting with her surroundings.
As a result of Sullivan's teaching style, Keller learned to see everything around her as beautiful and
useful, an understanding that stayed with her for the rest of her life. As Keller phrased it, due to all of
the knowledge Sullivan awakened in her, she finds it hard to separate her own understanding from that
of Sullivan's:
All the best of me belongs to her--there is not a talent, or an aspiration or a joy in me that has not been
awakened by her loving touch.
Since Sullivan did so much to shape Keller's life and awaken within her the joy of knowledge, we can
clearly see just how much Sullivan served as a mentor in Keller's life, as well as a mentor to anyone
who reads about Sullivan.
Anne Sullivan is the woman who overcame her own visual deficiencies to become the teacher,
confidant, and dear friend to Helen Keller. As a poor, young girl, Anne Sullivan suffered an eye
infection that affected her sight. She was cared for at the Perkins School for the Blind, in Boston, MA.

After a series of operations restored much of her sight, she excelled in her studies and became a
teacher of blind students. She used a manual alphabet to make associations between items, and the
words that named them.
After her graduation, she traveled to Alabama where she became the private teacher of Helen Keller.
Although, at seven years old, Helen could be a difficult student, Anne Sullivan persevered using the
manual alphabet to teach Helen words for simple objects. As Helens need for knowledge grew, Anne
devised implements to aid her student in writing and speech. Helen became an ardent learner and with
Anne Sullivans guidance, she went on to graduate from Radcliffe College, and to write The Story of
My Life. Sullivan endured a failed marriage. Financial matters became a concern which spurred Anne
and Helen to seek a career in Hollywood which was short lived. They eventually performed
successfully in a comedy act in Vaudeville shows.

9.

What is message in The Story of My Life?

The Story of My Life is an autobiographical chronicle by Helen Keller of the first twenty two years of
her life. Helens account describes events that transpired antecedent to her illness. There are some
poignant messages in this autobiographical account. We learn how Helen came, saw, and conquered
and how her spirit was set free.
By reading this account one might conclude that Helen Keller is conveying the message of hope, faith,
and gallantry. The underlying message also occurring throughout the book is ones ability to defeat
suffering and pain. We learn how even with tribulation one can succeed via determination and tenacity.
One must being to climb mountain barriers and achieve true knowledge and enlightenment.

10. In The Story of My Life by Helen Keller, what explains Helen's love for
nature?
In The Story of My Life by Helen Keller, nature is fascinating, comforting and terrifying for Helen.
When she is very young, Helen finds that the garden brings her relief from her frustrations; it is "the
paradise of my childhood" (chapter 1). She recognizes sections of the garden by the smells and also
the texture of the leaves and she is particularly in awe of the roses. The garden is her refuge because
she can rely on her other senses (not sight and hearing) and, even if only momentarily, she is not
restricted by her disabilities.
In chapter 5, after Annie Sullivan arrives and begins teaching Helen, she encourages Helen's love of
the outdoors and helps her make the connection between her world and the world around her by
making Helen feel that "birds and flowers and I were happy peers." Helen even remembers that her
first lessons with Annie are "in the beneficence of nature." Helen notes that Annie does not concentrate
on academic subjects at first but rather on "beauty in the fragrant woods, in every blade of grass, and
in the curves and dimples of my baby sister's hand." However, Helen also learns about the
unpredictability of nature and remembers how whilst climbing a tree "a nameless fear clutched at my
heart." However, she sees it as another learning opportunity, and although she takes a long time to get
over her fear, she does do so and feels "like a fairy on a rosy cloud."
Helen's education revolves around nature and she recognizes that "everything that could hum, or buzz,
or sing, or bloom had a part" (chapter 6). Annie uses clay to teach Helen Geography and people send
her collectibles which allow Helen to make associations and "learn from life itself." Helen recognizes

that this love of nature stems from Annie's "genius" and continues to relish it. When out in the snow,
she even suggests that the light is so bright that "it penetrated the darkness that veils my eyes" (ch 12).
She finds the wind "exhilarating" while tobogganing and never misses an opportunity. She is inspired
by her surroundings and this contributes to her positive frame of mind.

11. In The Story of my Life, which qualities helped Helen Keller overcome her
challenges?
Perhaps the most important quality we see in Keller's Story of My Life is perserverence, even
stubbornness. We know, of course, that Keller faced almost unimaginable obstacles, but throughout the
story, she was unwilling to let them keep her from achieving her goals. As she puts it:
My work was practice, practice, practice. Discouragement and weariness cast me down frequently;
but the next moment the thought that I should soon be at home and show my loved ones what I had
accomplished spurred me on, and I eagerly looked forward to their pleasure in my achievement.

She was also, of course, quite fearless, never shying away from participating in a society which was
very difficult for her to participate in. She attends, for example, Radcliffe College, becoming the first
blind and deaf person to earn a bachelor's degree. This also speaks to another quality of Keller's. She
(and her family and friends, who made it possible) recognized the importance of education in
overcoming her obstacles. She would go on to become a tireless advocate for the disabled as well as
(though it is not much discussed in her autobiography) a fierce political radical.
Recognizing the contribution of every occurrence is something that sets Helen apart and shows great
humility because whereas others would shy away from unpleasantness, Helen sees it as part of her
education. Even the Frost King incident which left Helen devastated and bewildered and which
irreparably damaged her friendship with Mr. Anagnos receives a mention in her book as it has
contributed to her development and Helen wants others not to glamorize her life but to recognize that
all her experiences, her family and friends and her difficulties have made her a stronger person and
have helped make her a well-rounded individual.

12. Why was her visit to the Worlds Fair a special privilege to Helen? Who had
accompanied her during this visit? What did Helen learn during this momentous
visit?
During the summer of 1893, Helen visited Worlds Fair with her teacher and companion Anne Sullivan
and Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. For Helen, it was one of her most memorable visit. While visiting
each exhibit at the Worlds Fair, she made an imaginary trip around the world. The Worlds Fair was a
number of exhibits featuring all the wonders, inventions and marvels of the world. Though blind, she
touched each exhibit with special permission and measured the beauty and glory of each place. There
were exhibits of Egyptian, Indian, Venetian and a number of other historic places. The bazaars of India
marveled her with their Shiva-Ganesh idols and the lagoons of Venice charmed her imagination. She
touched the pyramids of Cairo. As a special privilege, the President of the great fair allowed Helen to
touch each exhibit because she was visually impaired. Dr. Bell and Sullivan accompanied her
everywhere, sharing her excitement. Dr. Bell lectured to her about the latest marvels of the scientific
world and let her experiment some of the technological inventions of her day with utmost interest.

13. How did Helen Keller change the publics perception about the deaf and
blind people who were earlier considered unfit and mentally retarded?
Helen Kellers life of constant struggle with her multiple disorders has been considered to be a wonder
since she appeared publically and declared to the world how and how much she had defeated her
deformity. A popular figure in American and world culture, she has the greatest credit for leaving the
torch of hope for millions of blind and deaf people who would otherwise have been cursed to live a
life of deprivation and loneliness. What Helen Keller has taught remains strong pillars of success for
people all over the world abled or disabled.
Struck deaf and blind at the age of 19 months, she set her targets and secured a Harvard degree, wrote
books and gave lectures. Her autobiography, The Story of My Life, is considered to be one of
Americas greatest autobiographies.
Rendered blind, deaf and almost mute, Helen struggled hard to cut a way out of her dark and silent
prison. Having been tutored by the greatest of the teachers of all time, Anne Sullivan, Helen
challenged her disability. Anne was her inspiration, her impetus and her light and sound. Helens
struggles and the consequent triumph/achievements are beyond the capabilities of an ordinary human
being. Although she had a constant fear of examinations and arithmetic, Helen bypassed them all. Her
life was, is and will be the best answer to those who doubt their capabilities. She proved to the world
that physical deformities are not the last words. Will power, determination and family to support, thats
all what a deaf or blind or mute need to live a normal life.