d and deaf. For the next five years she grew up in a world of darkness and emptiness.

She was
afraid, alone and without any anchor. This is the story of her meeting the teacher who would
change her life.]

The most important day I remember all my life is the one which my teacher, Anne Mansfield
Sullivan, came to me. I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrasts
between the two lives which it connects. It was the third of March, 1887, three months before I
was seven years old.

On the afternoon of that eventful day, I stood on the porch, dumb and expectant. I guessed
vaguely from the hurrying to and from in the house that something unusual was about to happen,
so I went to the door and waited on the steps. The afternoon sun penetrated the mass of
honeysuckle that covered the porch, and fell on my upturned face. My fingers lingered almost
unconsciously on the familiar leaves and blossoms which had just come forth to greet the sweet
Southern spring. I did not know what the future held of marvel or surprise for me. Anger and
bitterness had preyed upon me continually for weeks and a deep languor had succeeded this
passionate struggle.

Have you ever been at sea on a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut
you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her ways toward the shore with plummet
and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that
ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding-line, and had no way
of knowing how near the harbor was. “Light! Give me light!” was the wordless cry of my soul,
and the light of love shone on me in that every hour.

I felt approaching footsteps. I stretched out my hand as I supposed it was my mother. Someone
took it, and I was caught up and held close in the arms of her who had come to reveal all things
to me, and, more than all things else, to love me.

The morning after my teacher came, she led me into her room and gave me a doll. The little
blind children at Perkins Institution had sent it and Laura Bridgman had dressed it; but I did not
know this afterward. When I played with it a little while, Miss Sullivan slowly spelled into my
hand the word “d-o-l-l.” I was at once interested in this finger play and tried to imitate it. When I
finally succeeded in making the letters correctly, I was flushed with childish pleasure and pride.
Running downstairs to my mother I held up my hand and made the letters for doll. I did not
know that I was spelling a word or even that words existed; I was simply making my fingers go
in monkey-like imitation. In the days that followed I learned to spell in this uncomprehending
way a great many words, among them pin, hat, cup, and few verbs like sit, stand, and walk. But
my teacher had been with me several weeks before I understood that everything has a name.

One day, while I was playing with my new doll, Miss Sullivan put my big rag doll into my lap
also, spelled “d-o-l-l” and tried to make me understand that ”d-o-l-l” applied to both. Earlier in
the day we had had a tussle over the words “m-u-g” and “w-a-t-e-r”. Miss Sullivan had tried to
impress it upon me that “m-u-g” is mug and that “w-a-t-e-r” is water, but I persisted in
confounding the two. In despair she has dropped the subject for the time, only to renew it at the
first opportunity. I became impatient at her repeated attempts and, seizing the new doll, I dashed
it upon the floor. I was keenly delighted when I felt the fragments of the broken doll at my feet.
Neither sorrow or regret followed my passionate outburst. I had not loved the doll. In the still,
dark world in which I lived there was no strong sentiment or tenderness. I felt my teacher sweep
the fragments to one side of the hearth, and I had a sense of satisfaction that the cause of my
discomfort was removed. She brought me my hat, and I knew I was going out into the warm
sunshine. This thought, if a wordless sensation may be called a thought, made me hop and skip
with pleasure.

We walked down the path to the well-house, attracted by the fragrance of the honeysuckle with
which it was covered. Someone was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the
spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand, she spelled into the other the word water, first
slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motion of her fingers.
Suddenly I felt misty consciousness as of something forgotten−a thrill of returning thought; and
somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that “w-a-t-e-r” meant the
wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul,
gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in
time be swept away.
I felt the well-house eager to learn. Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new
thought. As we returned to the house, every object that I touched seemed to quiver with life. That
was because I saw everything with the strange, new sight that had come to me. On entering the
door, I remembered the doll I had broken. I felt my way to the hearth and picked up the pieces. I
tried vainly to put them together. Then my eyes filled with tears; for I realized what I had done,
and for the first time I felt repentance and sorrow.

I learned a great many new words that day. I do not remember what they all were; but I do know
that mother, father, sister, teacher were among them−words that were to make the world blossom
for me, “like Aaron’s rod, with flowers.” It would have been difficult to find a happier child than
I was as I lay in my crib at the close of that eventful day and lived over the joys it had brought
me, and for the first time longed for a new day to come.

Helen Keller

(Taken from Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul)

[EDITORS’ NOTE: Helen went on to graduate cum laude from Radcliffe. She then devoted the
rest of her life to teaching and giving hope to the blind and deaf, as her teacher had done. She
and Anne remained friends until Anne’s death.]

Tasks

1. Find the noun forms of the bold face words.

2. Find the meaning of the italicized words.

3. Translate the underlined sentences and phrases.

WORD FORMATION

WORD PARTS
English words are made from morphemes, which are the smallest units of speech with any
meaning or grammatical function. There are two kinds of morphemes: roots and affixes. Affixes
which occur at the beginning of words are called prefixes, and affixes which occur at the end of
words are called suffixes. The root of a word is the part which is left when you remove the
affixes.

PREFIX ROOT SUFFIX

dis grace ful

im polite ness

dis agree ment

un account able

PREFIXES

Prefixes have come into modern English from Old English (OE), French (F), Greek (G), or Latin
(L). Here are the most common English prefixes.

PREFIX ORIGIN MEANING EXAMPLES

a G not amoral, atheist, apathetic

a, ad L to affix, advance
ante L before antecedent, antenatal

anti G against antidote, antiseptic

auto G self autobiography, automatic

bi L twice bicycle, bilateral, binary

bio G life biology, bionic, biosphere

dis L not disable, disadvantage, dislike

fore OE before forearm, foretell, forefather

hyper G above, excessive hyperactive, hyperbole,

hypertension

il, im, in, ir L not illegal, impossible, insecure,

irresponsible

infra L below infra-red, infrasonic,

infrastructure

inter L between intercede, interpersonal, intercom

macro G large macrocosm, macroeconomics

micro G small microbe, microscope,
micronutrients

mis OE wrong miscalculate, misplace,

misunderstand

over E too much overactive, overcrowded,

overpaid

post L after postgraduate, post-war

pre L before premature, pre-war

quasi L half, almost quasi-liberal, quasi-official

re L back, again realign, reconfirm, reintroduce

semi L half, partially semicolon, semi-conscious,

semi-invalid

sub L under submarine, subway

tele G at a distance telephone, telescope, television

trans L across transatlantic, trans-continental

ultra L beyond ultramarine, ultra-modern,

ultrasonic
 un OE not unable, unattractive, unborn

uni L one uniform, unilateral, universe

SUFFIXES

A root may be followed by more than one suffix, each contributing to and extending the
meaning:

accept + table + ness sleep + less + ness

SUFFIX FUNCTION AND EXAMPLES

MEANING

able, ible makes adjectives meaning accountable, eligible

able to, likely to, etc

ucy makes nouns of quality or aristocracy, diplomacy,

condition from adjectives privacy

age makes nouns meaning acreage, coinage, storage

collection or service

al makes nouns & adj. accidental, dental, refusal

meaning of, pertaining to,
connected with
an, ian makes adj. & nouns African, Indonesian,
meaning of or from a Utopian
country, group, doctrine

ance, ence makes nouns from adj. & abundance, brilliance,

adv. dependence

meaning state or condition

ant, ent makes nouns & adj. absorbent, applicant,

meaning process or one who stimulant

ary makes nouns meaning dignitary, granary, monetary

related to

ate makes adj. from nouns affectionate, foliate,

meaning possessing or magistrate
denote

ation makes nouns meaning accusation, authorization,

action, process of or the damnation
result of

cide makes nouns meaning an genocide, homicide, suicide

act of killing

dom makes nouns meaning state earldom, boredom, kingdom

of or rank
en makes verbs from adj. & ashen, blacken, deafen
nouns meaning to make

ery, ory, ry makes nouns a place, brewery, masonry, tapestry

business, behavior, art,
trade

ful makes adj. meaning full of awful, careful, cupful,

or having the character of tearful

hood makes noun meaning the childhood, manhood

state of being

ic, ical makes adj. meaning alcoholic, heroic, romantic

connected with
biological, comical,
historical

ician makes nouns meaning one beautician, musician,

who is skilled in or engaged tactician
in

ify, fy makes verbs meaning to amplify, deify, intensify

cause, to be or become

ing makes nouns and participles cooking, fishing, living

denoting activity or state
ise, ize makes verbs meaning to criticize, dramatize, fertilize
make

ish makes adj. meaning like or boyish, childish, reddish

tending towards

ism makes nouns denoting criticism, fanaticism,

beliefs, act, process or fascism
characteristic

ity makes nouns meaning state ability, charity, sanity

or quality

ive makes adj. meaning quality attractive, creative,

of demonstrative

less makes adj. meaning free colorless, lawless, senseless

from without

let makes nouns meaning little, booklet, bracelet, islet,

or an ornament piglet

like makes adj. meaning lifelike, warlike

resembling

ly makes adj. & adv. meaning cautiously, early, lovely

state or quality
ment makes nouns meaning the achievement, assessment,
product of or the state of retirement

most makes adjective superlative innermost, outermost,

uppermost

ness makes nouns meaning state carelessness, coolness,

or quality sadness

ous makes adj. denoting quality adventurous, nervous,

suspicious

ship makes nouns meaning the friendship, kinship,

quality of membership

some makes adj. meaning tending quarrelsome, troublesome,

to be, and makes nouns threesome
meaning a group consisting
of

ster makes nouns meaning one gangster, jokester, teamster

who makes or belongs to

ward, wards makes adverb meaning homeward, onward,

toward seaward, upward

wise makes adverbs meaning in clockwise, moneywise,

in relation to otherwise