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Helen Keller story essay
Helen Keller story essay
Helen Keller story essay
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Helen Keller a Hero
The word hero is often associated with super. It creates an image of Superman courageously swooping down and conveniently saving civilians with his superhuman powers. These superheroes are picture-perfect. They have a routine of flying in at the perfect time to save ordinary civilians. The ideal morals and faultless actions are what make them heroes. Yet, heroes do not have to be without fault. They can even have human disadvantages. For instance, Helen Keller is a hero, but she is not faultless. Her obstacles in life are actually the reason for her heroic actions. On June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama, Helen Keller was born. A life changing sickness struck her in 1882. She became deaf, blind, and mute. These physical impairments would hold most people back in life. Instead, they pushed Miss Keller forward. Her disadvantages drove her to make a change in the world. She beat the odds and her accomplishments were an inspiration to many.
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In no way was Keller’s life easy. Her physical impairments made communication almost impossible. Yet, that did not stop her. She met Anne Sullivan who would become her teacher for the years to come. Keller’s impairments made learning a difficult task, but she did not give up. She became intent on going to college. At age twenty-one, Keller wrote her first book, The Story of My life, with the help of Sullivan and John Macy. She attended Radcliffe College and became the first deaf blind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree. Writing a book and graduating college were no ordinary accomplishments for Helen Keller. They were the first steps to inspiring the world with her
Everyone cried a little inside when Helen Keller, history's notorious deaf-blind-mute uttered that magic word 'wa' at the end of the scientifically baffling classic true story. Her ability to overcome the limitations caused by her sensory disabilities not only brought hope for many like cases, but also raised radical scientific questions as to the depth of the brain's ability.
Who is a hero? In contemporary times, usage of the term has become somewhat of a cliché. Over the years, the term “hero” has become representative of a wide variety of individuals, each possessing differing traits. Some of the answers put forth by my colleagues (during our in-class discussion on heroism) as to whom they consider heroes pointed to celebrities, athletes, teachers and family members. Although the occupations differed, each of their heroes bore qualities that my classmates perceived as extraordinary, whether morally or physically. Nonetheless, Webster’s defines “hero” as “a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities.” Thus, it is worth considering that individuals become heroes relative to the situation with which they’re faced.
“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. I had now the key to all language, and I was eager to learn to use it” (Keller 146). The ability to actually comprehend words and associate those words to thoughts and feelings rejuvenated her. Keller was reborn that day, with a new ‘vision’ and a new direction. What started that day, culminated into Keller becoming the first deaf person to earn a bachelors degree. She learnt to speak and ‘hear’ by following the movements of people’s lips. Keller was extremely hardworking and she personified willpower and diligence by patiently untangling the taboos of society to prove her critics wrong.
Helen Keller has had an influence on society by becoming a role model for the deaf and blind. When she was 19 months she came down with an illness called “scarlet fever”. As a result of the illness, Helen Keller became blind and deaf, leaving her not able to see and hear. Many people didn’t believe in Helen Keller being able to learn, but she ended up proving everyone wrong. Later on in her life with the help of her teacher Anne Sullivan, Helen learned to read, write and speak. Helen Keller once said “While they were saying it couldn’t be done, it was done” (Keller). Helen was born June 27, 1880 from a family of southern landowners with two older sisters in Tuscumbia Alabama. Kate and Arthur Keller found a young woman at the Perkins Institution to teach Helen how to communicate. A month later after Anne Sullivan’s arrival, she had already taught Helen at the age of six the word water and that words have a meaning. Once Helen learned to communicate with others by using ...
On March 3, 1887 Helen met "the Miracle Worker," Anne Mansfield Sullivan. Then, about a month later on April 5, Helen associated the water running over her hand with the letters w-a-t-e r that Anne was spelling into her hand. That day she learned thirty words and proved to be a very intelligent, fast learner from then on. She quickly learned the finger-tip alphabet and shortly thereafter, to write. Helen had mastered Braille and learned how to use a typewriter by the age of 10. When she was 16, she could speak well enough to attend preparatory school and college. In 1904 she graduated from Radcliffe College with Anne Sullivan by her side interpreting lectures and class discussion to her.
Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, which is a town in Northern Alabama. Helen was part of a rich family. She was faced with a childhood illness, which made her blind and deaf, but she was able to communicate with others with many rudimentary signs. Helen was a mischief maker around the age of seven, and caused many tantrums, like she would knock or throw things around, lock her mom in a room. This would be frustrating for her parents, so they hired a private tutor/governess(a girl/woman employed to teach and train children in private household), named Anne Sullivan. Anne was visually impaired, and a recent graduate for Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston. Anne became a teacher, friend, and companion to Hel...
Some definitions of heroes are people, who have noble qualities, and put the lives of others before their own life. They are expected to be reasonable and calm, during scary times, like when a shooting is going on, looking out for
In 1881, when Helen Keller was a little over a year old, she was a bright and joyful little girl until she contracted what was believed to be Scarlet Fever at the age of 19 months, which left her completely blind, deaf, and mute. Often frustrated that she wasn’t like everyone else, Helen became a very naughty child, who threw a tantrum when things didn’t go her way. When Helen was a little over seven years old, she was introduced to Anne Sullivan, her lifelong teacher and mentor. Miss Sullivan taught Helen how to read, write, type, and speak, but also taught her obedience and manners. Throughout her lifetime, Helen began her legacy by dedicating 40 years of work to the American Foundation for the Blind, created state commissions for the blind, rehabilitation centers, and worked to make education accessible to those with vision loss. Helen Keller made a massive impact on the world today and on how we perceive the blind and deaf, and without the guidance and support of Anne Sullivan (turning a spoiled, unruly child into a highly respected activist for the deaf and blind) the world would have never known that someone who was blind, deaf, and mute, could change the world as we knew it. Anne Sullivan forever changed Helen’s life-- and in doing so-- the world. By showing young Helen discipline and giving guidance to her Helen became an
Helen was very bright and smart and with her amazing teacher, soon Helen could read entire books in Braille. Imagine trying to learn how to read if you couldn 't see or hear. By the time Helen was ten, she could read in Braille and use a typewriter. Now there was one thing left that Helen wanted to do. She wanted to learn how to talk. Helen Keller was introduced to Sarah Fuller. Sarah taught people who were deaf. Helen would rest her hand on Sarah’s lips and felt the vibrations from the sounds. She soon learned how the lips moved to make those sounds. Helen learned how to feel sound vibrations and how the lips moved to make sounds. She started off learning a few letters and sounds. She worked very hard and soon she was saying words. It was another big step in Helen’s
Helen is a deaf and blind women. She got to be deaf and daze when she was hit with a serious fever at 19 months old. Her family did not know how to manage her, she had numerous temper fits and was spoiled. Everything changed when her parents welcomed Annie Sullivan to help Helen. Annie taught Helen Sign Language through the procedure of making Helen touch certain things then spelling the name of the item in her hand.Helen then went to move numerous individuals through her written work and life story. Helen is my Hero in light of the fact that she battled through numerous challenges, and wound up on top and is a symbol for deaf and blind individuals all around. Helen was told often throughout her youth that she was not good enough and would never make it but rather she demonstrated every one of them to be wrong. Helen is inspiration to numerous individuals over the globe.
Something that Helen Keller truly influenced was education for disabled people. Keller’s dream was to go to college, she
The beginning of her life began when she was first born on June 27, 1880, in a plantation known as Ivy Green located in Alabama. Keller was healthy and most found her attractive with curly, blond hair and pale blue eyes. (ww.nndb.com). Shortly after she began getting congested in the brain and stomach, Keller lost both her sight and her ability to hear. Doctors informed Kate Adams Keller, Helen Keller’s mother, she would not survive past the age of two years old. However, through hope and dedication, Kate Keller contacted a physician. He claimed he could be no help, and sent them to meet Alexander Graham Bell, who, in return, handed them off to Perkins Institute for the Blind. Director Michael Anagnos called a former student by the name of Anne Sullivan. Although Sullivan was also partially blind, she could still manage to help Helen Keller and Sullivan was brought home with her. After many months with no success, Sullivan led Keller to a water pump in the back yard. She ran the cold water over Keller’s hand as she made the hand signs spelling out w-a-t-e-r in Keller’s palm. Something invisible snapped inside Helen Keller and that is ...
When I think of a hero I immediately think of someone who is strong, intelligent, handsome, and daring. Upon closer examination, many different qualities than these become apparent. Courage, honesty, bravery, selflessness, and the will to try are just a few of the overlooked qualities of a hero. The definition of heroism changes with the context and time. Heroes of the past are not necessarily heroes of present time and vise versa.
The next 6 years of Helen’s life were spend in tantrums, darkness and all around loneliness. “I got used to the silence and darkness that surrounded me and forgot it had ever been different, until she came- my teacher” (Keller 1902 Pg. 8). She had many fits, and refused any instruction. Her family was very poor, and could afford very little. The “teacher” as Helen called her; was Anne Sullivan who had contracted trachoma as a child and was as well legally blind. Annie was said to have saved Helen. Within 6 months of teaching from Sullivan Keller quickly advanced. She became well known to reading and writing in Braille, as well as writing in a manual alphabet.
Helen Keller was born June 27, 1880 (Advocate for the Deaf and Blind…). Her parents are Katherine Adams Keller and Arthur H. Keller (Advocate for the Deaf and Blind…). Helen Keller went through a big obstacle in her life. She became blind and deaf at the age of 19 months (Harvey). To get around, she would feel along the doors and walls (Keller 3). She would shake her head “yes” or “no,” and a simple push or pull meant