Anne Sullivan: A Woman of Strong Conscience
When I think of powerful women from the past, Anne Sullivan is one of the first women to pop into my mind. Anne Sullivan was born on April 14, 1866 in Massachusetts. Her real name is Joanna, but she was called Anne throughout her life. When Anne was still young she suffered from a serious illness that left her nearly blind. Anne’s mother died when Anne was only eight and her father left Anne and her two siblings two years later. The children were then placed into an almshouse to be cared for.
After a lonely and miserable couple of years, Anne had a surgery that restored some of her sight. With the regain of some sight, Anne felt revived and decided to move on to Tuscumbia, Alabama where she would become the governess of a six-year old girl named Helen Keller. It was through caring for this six-year old girl, Helen, that shaped Anne Sullivan into a woman of conscience.
When Anne first met Helen Keller, she was blind, deaf, and mute since she was 19 months old. Helen was left undisciplined, ill tempered, and neglected with no contact with the outer world. Anne’s difficult job was to tame Helen. Helen screamed, bit, hit, and kicked Anne, but Anne, faithfully, never gave up. Anne Sullivan displayed the virtues of fortitude, compassion, and most importantly patience while caring for Helen. Anne had a respect for life that gave her the belief that all humans were created in the image of God, and WE ALL ARE GOOD. Anne Sullivan treated Helen with equality, just as Jesus cured the lepers when the rest of the community cast them out of society.
Helen constantly challenged Anne to find new ways to make her learn. Anne constantly challenged Helen by not allowing her to give up and to be there to support Helen. After communicating by spelling the name of objects into Helen’s hands and then allowing Helen to feel the object and repeated spelling it, Helen finally discovered the connection. Anne Sullivan’s persistence and determination is what made her a perfect role model to us all.
Anne Sullivan contributed so much to society. After the miraculous rescue of Helen Keller, Anne continued to go through college with Helen and sign the lectures into Helen’s hands.
The story of Anne's childhood must be appreciated in order to understand where her drive, inspiration, and motivation were born. As Anne watches her parents go through the tough times in the South, Anne doesn't understand the reasons as to why their life must this way. In the 1940's, at the time of her youth, Mississippi built on the foundations of segregation. Her mother and father would work out in the fields leaving Anne and her siblings home to raise themselves. Their home consisted of one room and was in no comparison to their white neighbors, bosses. At a very young age Anne began to notice the differences in the ways that they were treated versus ...
Helen Keller was born on June 27th, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She was a bright infant, interested in everything around her, and imitating adults at a very young age. In February of 1882, she was struck with an illness which left her deaf and blind. For several years, Helen had very little communication with the rest of the world, except for a few signs which she used with her family. When she was six, her parents wanted desperately to do something to help their strong-willed, half-wild, child. They were far from any deaf or blind schools, and doubted that anyone would come to the little town to educate their deaf and blind child. They heard of a doctor in Baltimore who had helped many seemingly hopeless cases of blindness, but when he examined Helen, there was nothing he could do for her. However, he referred them to Dr. Alexander Graham Bell who recommended Anne Sullivan to teach Helen.
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” Helen Keller believed that in order to be successful and make a difference, problems must be confronted, tried, and solved. Keller’s words of wisdom go hand in hand with the American way of success today. Without argumentation, criticism, or suffering, the nation cannot progress and succeed. With people like Helen Keller in society, who are always ready to challenge popular beliefs, America can and will continue to progress.
Smoking is the cause of numerous citizens of the United States dying prematurely. The CDC (2014) explains, “smoking causes more deaths each year than: human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, and firearm-related incidents”. Some deaths are unavoidable such as a vehicular accident, but a death by a cigarette is because the results of the decision the user made. Cassidy and Tramarchi (2011) describe, “Ci...
Even though smoking cigarettes can lead to death and consider very bad for someone’s health, people all over the world do it every day. No matter how many cautions cigarette companies place on cigarettes packs, people still smoke. There have been a lot of debate about the consequences of smoking cigarettes, as well as many studies have been done, showing the awful results of smoking on people’s physical condition. Despite all the consequences that smoking cigarettes can create on one’s health, people cannot seem to be able to stay away from them. At every gas station, almost everywhere people go, many advertisements try to influence people to smoke and make smoking looks cool. However, the smoke from cigarettes has life threatening chemicals in them which trigger to severe effects on people’s healthiness. Smoking can damage nearly every organ of the body and also causes nearly one of every five deaths in the United States each year.
Smoking cigarettes is a detrimental practice not only to the smoker, but also to everyone around the smoker. According to an article from the American Lung Association, “Health Effects” (n.d.), “Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., causing over 438,000 deaths per year”. The umbrella term for tobacco use includes the use of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigs and chewing tobacco. While tobacco causes adverse health consequences, it also has been a unifying factor for change in public health. While the tobacco industries targets specific populations, public health specifically targets smokers, possible smokers, and the public to influence cessation, policies and education.
Every year cigarette smoking is responsible for 500,000 premature deaths (Nugel), you do not want to be just another statistic, do you? America’s first cash crop was tobacco. That means that tobacco has been around for a really long time. It was not until 1865, though, that cigarettes were sold commercially. They were sold to soldiers at the end of the Civil War (Dowshen). From then, cigarettes spread like wildfire, and it was not until 1964 that anyone made a stand about the negative effects of tobacco and cigarettes. People start smoking for all different reasons, some to fit in and some to “escape”. Regardless, it is a horrible habit. 3900 children will try their first cigarette today. Amongst adults who currently smoke, 68% of them began at age 18 or younger, and 85% at 21 or younger (American Lung Association). And of all those people, 70% say if they were given another chance they would never have picked up that first cigarette (Tobacco Free Maine). Smoking is responsible for 1 and 5 deaths in the united states, and is the number one preventable cause of death (NLH). Smoking burns and there is no doubt about that, but before one picks up that cigarette, understand the negative effects on not only oneself, but others affected by ones poor choices, like second-hand smoke. Because of smoking cigarettes, many types of cancer, decrease of life quality, and negative health effects have become all too common in the world today.
In conclusion, Helen Keller is one of the most incredible women in the history of America. Keller overcame every obstacle in her path, no matter how difficult that proved to be. Despite the fact that she could not speak effectively, she continued to travel all over the country (and eventually the world) to hold seminars and speeches for women and people struggling in similar ways to her. I am amazed that Keller was able to leave such a strong footprint for women of the modern age to follow, and I believe that her opinions should still be followed today. Her beliefs of peace and equality are incredibly relevant to what America is facing today, and citizens of the United States should look to Keller to guide their own perspective.
Helen Keller won many awards and had many accomplishments in her lifetime, even though she had the disability of being blind and deaf. Helen Keller achieved more in a day than the average American could achieve in a lifetime. There were many movies made about Keller, and she wrote fourteen books. She was a widespread lecturer, and a member of the Socialist Party, a leading figure in the Suffragist movement, a member of the American Foundation for the Blind, and a member of the the right of industrial workers to have unions. Keller also fundraised for various associations throughout her life.
in her life, but most importantly she inspired other women to be independent and to improve their lives.
Helen Keller’s life dramatically changed in 1882 when her mother noticed something was wrong with her. What everybody thought was scarlet fever ended up being worse. Helen was blind and deaf. Helen Keller, being both blind and deaf, had many disadvantages compared to people who are not blind and deaf. One of these disadvantages is that she could not attend school. Another disadvantage of Helen being blind and deaf was that she didn’t have many friends, mainly caused by the fact that she could not attend school. At, a young age, Helen realized that she was different from everybody else around her (“The Life of Helen Keller”). She couldn’t talk to anybody, nobody would play with her because of her disability also known as her “sixth sense”.
Keller, Helen, John Albert Macy, and Anne Macy. The Story of My Life, by Helen Keller: with Her Letters (1887-1901) and a Supplementary Account of Her Education, including Passages from the Reports and Letters of Her Teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1914. Print.
...er’s life was not an easy one. She was admired by many for overcoming her disabilities and persevering through hardship. Keller was blinded at a young age. At the time, there were not as many resources as there are today. This did not deter Keller. She seized every opportunity and used them for her advancement. Individuals saw her as a “Miracle” for being able to have an education like any other child. Also, she inspired children and adults who were like her and gave them hope for the future. From Helen Keller I have learned that I should not quit what I love despite my situation. I can stand firm when others are tearing me down and saying I cannot do it. A person one can admire is a leader who has overcome a situation and is able to help others from their personal experience. Their victories give us hope and the courage to face each day with a sense of expectancy.
Plan 17 was a great setback for France and did not help them succeed at the beginning of the war because of the soldiers they lost and it’s outcome that resulted in failure. Plan 17 was done in August of 1918 and it consisted of an advance by four French Armies into Alsace and Lorraine on either side of the Metz-Thionville fortresses, occupied by the Germans since 1871. The southern wing of the invasion forces would first capture Alsace and Lorraine, in that order, while the northern wing would, depending upon German movements, advance into Germany via the southern Ardennes forests, or else move north-east into Luxembourg and Belgium (Godl). The French were quickly repelled by German armies and their pursuit to conquer Alsace and Lorraine was not successful. “It is clearly evident that the French were oblivious to the gigantic German offensive that was being aimed at their left (northern) wing. Plan XVII gravely underestimated the strength that the Germans would deploy against France.” (Royde-...
As years went on she decided to do something productive with her life. Keller was a woman who made lot’s of achievements in her life with little ability to hear and see. Many thought Keller was the most admired women in America because she did so much with little ability (Feeny “From darkness and silence: The remarkable journey of Helen Keller). On March 3, 1887 she met with Alexander Graham Bell. He was the guy who invented the telephone and also worked with the blind (Feeny “From darkness and silence: The remarkable journey of Helen Keller). On this date she always referred to this “my souls birthday” (Feeny “From darkness and silence: The remarkable journey of Helen Keller). She went to a special school for the deaf as she was growing up (Feeny “From darkness and silence: The rema...