Needed a Document for More Character Sketches- The Story Of My Life? ...
Helen Keller was born on 27th June 1880 in
Tuscumbia in Alabama. Her father, Arthur H. Keller, was a descendant of Caspar
Keller who was a native of Switzerland. He was a captain in the confederate
army. Helen’s mother was Kate Adams who was Arthur’s second wife and was many
years younger. At the age of nineteen months, Helen became very ill with brain
fever. When the fever subsided, Helen was left blind and deaf forever. Helen was
quite eager to learn. Despite her handicap she had learnt some crude signs of
communication and also how to fold the clothes etc. later, she showed
exceptional capabilities for learning and very soon could learn to read, write
or even speak. She had voracious passion for learning, knowledge and
exploration.
Like Wordsworth, she learnt to find solace in nature and its
peaceful serenity. Her power of observation was commendable. How beautifully
she has described the details of her observations! Even those with eyes and
ears cannot describe as beautifully as she has done. Natural beauty was
abundant around her house. The Keller homestead was quite near a rose- bower.
Its old fashioned garden was the paradise of her childhood. Before Miss
Sullivan's arrival, this garden was the place where Helen went to find comfort
and hide her hot face in the cool leaves and grass. Helen felt extremely happy
in that garden of flowers, wandering happily from spot to spot. She could
recognize each vine and plant by touching them.
Helen was a prodigy child since her early childhood!
However, the challenges she faced were quite arduous---as if Nature had planned
a special obstacle course for her to help her bring her best out! After being
rendered blind and disabled in hearing and speaking, Helen's frustration to
learn more and more about life mounted very high. Her hearing disability
combined with visual disability made the teaching and learning more
challenging. Helen was a very industrious girl; she always did her best to
learn. She had such a natural, innate passion for learning which always
motivated her. Manual alphabet, reading, arithmetic, etc., all were formidable
challenges for her initially, but Helen overcame them. The most arduous of all
of them was learning to speak. Learning to speak is almost an impossible task
for those who have hearing disability. So Helen had to work very hard.
She had to repeat each word and sentence many times for the right tone and
pronunciation. She practiced untiringly. At times she became discouraged and
weary too, but she never gave up. She faced all the difficulties courageously.
Her courage and perseverance are source of inspiration for all mankind!
> Arthur H. Keller was the father of Helen Keller. He had served as "a captain in the Confederate Army" during the Civil War. He married his first wife and had two sons. He later married his second wife, Kate Adams, who was twenty years his junior. He was a newspaper editor, and he also managed the Keller Homestead. He and Kate had their first child, Helen. She was bright and energetic until contracting the illness called "acute congestion of the stomach and brain," which left her deaf and blind. He and Kate had two more children, a daughter and a son.
Helen Keller later described her father as a loving man who spent as much time with his family as possible, except when he was hunting. He was a hospitable man and an accomplished gardener. It was his appreciation of nature that inspired Helen to love flowers and trees. He was also an excellent story-teller. Arthur Keller died in the summer of 1896.
Kate Adams was the second wife of Helen's father Arthur H. Keller and many years younger than him. Helen's mother Kate Keller had named her daughter after her mother called Helen Everett. Helen had contracted an illness which closed her eyes and ears and plunged her into the unconsciousness of a new-born child. It was called an acute congestion of the stomach and brain. It was from this period that Helen remembered the tenderness with which her mother tried to soothe her in her wailing hours of fret and pain. She tried to placate her child as Helen woke from sleep and turned her eyes to find her vision getting dimmer. Her mother succeeded in making Helen understand a good deal about different kinds of everyday things and Helen always knew when she wished her to bring something. Helen owed to her all the loving wisdom that was bright and good. Helen was extremely attached to her mother, she was also jealous of her sister because she thought of her as an intruder between mother and daughter. Kate was someone whom Helen admired and loved deeply, Helen revered her mother.
Miss Anne Mansfield Sullivan had the greatest influence on the life, character snd acheivements of Helen Keller. She gave a new direction, meaning and purpose to Helen's dark life. Miss Sullivan inherited all those triats and characterisitcs that go in making a perfect teacher. She was a picture of tireless patience and unreading devotion. It was her constant encoragement, help and guidence that made Helen Keeler first deaf and blind in the world to earn a bachelor degree.
It was Graham Bell who advised the parents of Helen Keller to contact the Perkins Institute for the Blind. The director, Mr. Anagnos asked a former student of Miss Anne Sullivan to become Keller's instructor. Miss Sullivan was herself a visually impaired 20 year old lady. It was he begining of a 49-year-long relationship. The relationship evolved into Miss Sullivan becoming Helen's governess and then eventul companion. Anne Sullivan arrived at Keller's house in March 1887.
She immediatiely began to teach Helen to communicate by spel;ling words into her hand, begining with "d-o-l-l" for the doll. It was Miss Sullivan who unfolded and developed Helen's skills and possibilities. It was Sullivan's genius as a teacher, her sympathy and loving tact which made learning so beautiful and interesting for Helen Keller. She felt that her being was inseparable from her student. All that was the best in Helen Keller had been awakened by the loving touch touch of Miss Sullivan.
Anne Sullivan stayed as a companion to Helen Keller long after she taught her. Anne Sullivan married John Macy in 1905. She remained a s a constant companion to Helen Keller till she died in 1936.
Bishop Brooks. He is an overly righteous man who believes that he is one of the people born on this earth to help people , whenever and wherever they require it. Bishop was man of god. He was an Ideal Bishop and an ideal bishop was man of god. Bishop Brooks was a true preacher and a noble soul. He was a spiritual influence for Helen. The bishop is a very wise man. He is true to his living as a bishop and he treats his parish like a family. He is very kind, gentle and helpful, which is sometimes taken advantage of by the people. He was also a genius man. He was also a friend of who has teaches her all about God and religion, Helen recounts her first meeting with Bishop Brooks who taught her no dogma or creed but.
Bishop was generous and altruistic. Helen enjoyed his company because he always gave her something meaningful to ponder over.. bishop brook was in Helen words, one among many of the "man of genius " with whom she had the pleasure of acquaintances . as a child Helen used to love sitting on his knee and clasping the great hand in her own as miss Sullivan spelled the beautiful words about god and spiritual world. she would listen with a wondrous delight of a child, her spirit could not reach up to his but he give her a real sense of joy in life.
Alexander Graham Bell the inventor of telephone was a good friend and companion of Helen.
Not only Helen, but he helped many handicapped children and supported them with the educational facilities and other things.
He was the one who suggested Mr. Anagnos to Helen's parent which resulted in their further meeting with Anne Mansfield Sullivan.
Alexander Graham Bell always helped Helen and infact her novel was dedicated to him.
He explained his experiments to Helen and made everyone believe that he/she can be a inventor.
HOPE ITS HELPFUL