NOTES: MY TEACHER - Helen Keller

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Short-Answer Questions: 02 marks

1.Which, according to Helen Keller, was the most important day of her life?

Helen Keller's life changed on March 3rd, 1887, when Anne Mansfield Sullivan arrived to be her teacher. This day was the most important in her life.

2. When did Helen Keller meet her teacher for the first time?

Helen Keller met her teacher Anne Mansfield Sullivan for the first time on the third of March, 1887, 3 months before she was 7 years old.

3. How old was Helen Keller when she met her teacher for the first time?

Helen Keller was seven years old when she met her teacher, Miss Anne Mansfield Sullivan.

4. ______________ was the name of Helen Keller's teacher.

Ans: Miss Anne Mansfield Sullivan.

5. What made Helen Keller feel that something unusual was going to happen?

Helen's mother's signs and hurrying to and from the house-made Helen guess something unusual was about to happen.

6. How did Helen react to something unusual that was going to happen?

She had been angry and bitter for weeks, but she felt a deep languor that succeeded in a passionate struggle.

7. What does Helen compare her life with?

Helen compared her life to a great ship at sea in a dense fog, groping her way toward the shore with a plummet and sounding line.

8. ___________ was the wordless cry of Helen's soul.

Ans: “Light! Give me Light,”

9. When Helen heard footsteps, she stretched out her hands, thinking it was her _______

 i. Father

 ii. Teacher

iii. Mother

Ans: Mother

10. What was the purpose of the person who held Helen in her arms?

Teach and Educate Helen Keller.

11. What did the teacher give her the day after she came? Who sent it?

The teacher gave Helen a doll the day after she came. The little blind children sent her the doll as a gift at the Perkins Institution.

12. ____________ had dressed the doll.

Ans: Laura Bridgman

13. Why was Helen flushed with childish pleasure and pride?

Miss Sullivan showed Helen how to spell out the word "doll" into her hand. She was inspired to try and imitate the finger play and after succeeding, she was flushed with childish pleasure and pride.

14. How does Helen express her childish pleasure and pride?

Helen ran downstairs to her mother, holding up her hands and made the letters for the doll by simply making her fingers go in monkey-like imitation.

15. What was the uncomprehending way in which Helen learnt to spell?

Miss Sullivan taught Helen to spell words by spelling letters into her hand. Helen used this method to learn many words.

16. The spelling d-o-l-l applied to both. What did the teacher mean by “both”?

The teacher compared Helen to a doll by saying that both she and the doll in her lap were "dolls".

17. Why did Helen dash the doll upon the floor?

Helen was confused by the words "mug" and "water, ", so she got frustrated and threw her doll onto the floor.

18. How did Helen feel about her act of dashing the doll upon the floor?

Helen was pleased to have destroyed the doll which had been causing her discomfort. She experienced no sadness or regret about her actions.

19. What was the well-house covered with?

Ans: The well house was covered with honeysuckle.

20. When did the narrator feel repentance and sorrow?

Helen remembered the doll she had broken and tried to put the broken pieces together. For the first time, her eyes filled with tears of repentance and sorrow.

21. What were some of the first few words that Helen learnt on an eventful day?

The first few words that Helen learnt on an eventful day at the well-house were ‘mug’, ‘water’, ‘mother’, ‘father’, ‘sister’ and ‘teacher’.

Paragraph Answer Questions: 5 marks

1.  Why does Helen refer to the day as an eventful one?

Ans: The most important day she remembers in all her life is the one on which her teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to her. It was the 3rd of March, 1887, three months before she was seven years old. On the afternoon of that eventful day, she stood on the porch, dumb, expectant. She guessed vaguely from her mother's signs and the hurrying back and forth in the house that something unusual was about to happen. She went to the door and waited on the steps. The afternoon sun penetrated the mass of honeysuckle that covered the porch and fell on her upturned face. Her fingers lingered almost unconsciously on the familiar leaves and blossoms which had just come forth to greet the sweet southern spring. She did not know what the future held of the marvel or surprise for her. Anger and bitterness had preyed upon her continually for weeks. A deep languor had succeeded in this passionate struggle. She was like a ship at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if tangible white darkness shut her in. The great ship, tense, groped her way toward the shore with a plummet and sounding line. She waited with a beating heart for something to happen, without a compass or sounding line, and had no way of knowing.

2.  How did the introduction of the word "water" awaken Helen Keller's soul?

Ans: Anne Mansfield Sullivan and Helen Keller 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 her teacher placed her hand under the spout. As the cool stream gushed over one of her hands, she slowly spelt out the word “water” in the other.  She spelt it first slowly, then rapidly. She stood still, her attention completely focused on the motions of her fingers. Suddenly she felt a misty consciousness as if something was forgotten. She experienced the thrill of returning thought. Somehow the mystery of language was revealed to her. She knew then that "w-a-t-e-r" meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over her hand. She left the well-house with a strong desire to learn. Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought.

3.  What transformation took place in the narrator after her visit to the well-house? What did she do on entering the house?

Ans: Transformation took place in the narrator after her visit to the well-house.  Helen left the well-house with a strong desire to learn. Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. Suddenly she felt a feeling of recognition, a thrill of returning thought, and the mystery of language was revealed to her. She then realized that the word “water” was associated with the cool sensation of the stream running over her hand. This living word awoke her soul, giving it light, hope, and joy, and setting it free. There were still barriers to overcome, but eventually, these could be removed. She left the well-house, eager to learn more. Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. As she returned to the house, every object she touched seemed to come alive. Upon returning to the house, she felt as if every object she touched was quivering with life. Upon entering the door, she remembered the doll she had broken. She made her way to the hearth to pick up the pieces and attempted to put them together in vain. Tears filled her eyes as she realized what she had done. This was the first time she felt repentance and sorrow.

4.  What incident led the narrator to dash her new doll to the floor that resulted in its breaking into pieces? What were her feelings then?

Helen said that earlier in the day they had a disagreement over the words "m-u-g" and "w-a-t-e-r". Miss Sullivan tried to make her understand that "m-u-g" was mug and "w-a-t-e-r" was water, but she kept confusing them. Ms Sullivan eventually dropped the subject. Helen became impatient with Miss Sullivan's repeated attempts. This incident led Helen to grab a new doll and throw it on the floor which resulted in it breaking into pieces. She felt no sorrow or regret for her passionate outburst as she did not love the doll. In the dark world, she lived in, there was no strong sentiment or tenderness. Miss Sullivan then swept the fragments of the broken doll to one side of the hearth. Helen was then given her hat and knew she was going out into the warm sunshine, which made her hop and skip with pleasure.

5.  How was the summer of 1887 special for Helen? How did Helen learn the joy of nature?

The summer of 1887 was special for Helen. The afternoon sun penetrated the mass of honeysuckle that covered the porch and fell on her upturned face. Her fingers lingered almost unconsciously on the familiar leaves and blossoms which had just come forth to greet the sweet southern spring. Later, she was going out into the warm sunshine, which made her hop and skip with pleasure. Helen said that she had learned a lot of new words. She could not remember them all but recalled "mother", "father", "sister" and "teacher". She said it made the world seem to "blossom", "like Aaron's rod, with flowers". She said she was the happiest child when lying in her crib at the end of the day. She revisited the joys it had brought her. She also, for the first time, longed for a new day to come.

6.  During the first few months after her teacher's arrival, how did Helen get to know about many things around her and how did she communicate with the others?

During the first few months after her teacher Miss Sullivan's arrival, Helen got to know about many things around her. Helen Keller's breakthrough moment came in the form of a visit to the well-house. Before this moment, she had only ever experienced the world around her through her other senses. But when the cool stream ran over her hand, and she felt the letters of the word "water" spelt out in the other, the world of language opened up to her. For the first time, she was able to make the connection between the physical sensation of the water, and the word "water". This was the first step on her path to understanding the world through language. The process of learning a language for Helen was a slow one. She was confused by the different words, and often confused the words "mug" and "water". But despite the confusion, she was determined to learn and her enthusiasm for language was clear. She was able to learn the words for "mother", "father", "sister" and "teacher" and was overjoyed at the effect that language had on her understanding of the world. She described it as the world blossoming like Aaron's rod with flowers.

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