Short Questions
1. Who was Anne Sullivan?
Ans:- Anne Sullivan was Helen’s teacher, who was a teacher for the deaf and blind.
2. What happened to Helen Keller when she was very young?
Ans:- Helen Keller became deaf and blind when she was very young.
3. What did Miss Sullivan give Helen on the first day?
Ans:- Miss Sullivan led Helen into her room and gave her a doll.
4. What word was Helen spelling when she imitated her teacher’s finger movements?
Ans:- She was spelling d-o-l-l.
5. What did Miss Sullivan spell on Helen’s palm under the water tap?
Ans:- Miss Sullivan spelt w-a-t-e-r on her other palm.
6. What did Helen come to know through the water game?
Ans:- She came to know that everything had a name.
7. How did Miss Sullivan teach Helen to speak?
Ans:- She asked Helen to touch her lips and throat slowly, and Helen learnt to speak through the movements of the lips and the vibration in the throat.
8. What was Helen’s first spoken word like for her?
Ans:- When she uttered her first word, it gave her boundless delight.
9. What did Helen first read, and what did she read later?
Ans:- Helen first read raised letters and later on read with Braille.
10. Whom did Helen visit at the White House?
Ans:- Helen visited the president, Cleveland, at the White House.
11. In 1890, where did Helen move to, and at what age?
Ans:- In 1890, at the age of about ten, Helen moved to the Perkins Institution.
12. In 1896, which school did Helen move to?
Ans:- In 1896, Helen moved onto the Cambridge School for Young Ladies in Massachusetts.
13. Who edited the story of Helen’s life, and when was it published?
Ans:- The story of her life was edited by John Macy, and it was published in a magazine in 1903.
14. When did Helen graduate, and what was special about her achievement?
Ans:- She graduated from the Red Cliff college on 28th June, 1904, and became the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.
15. By which year did Miss Sullivan become completely blind?
Ans:- Miss Sullivan lost her eyesight completely and became blind by the year 1935.
Long Questions
1. Describe Helen’s first exciting experience with her teacher.
Ans:- Helen’s teacher, Anne Sullivan, came to Helen’s house, and the next day she led Helen into her room and gave her a doll. Helen played with it for a while. Then Miss Sullivan made some finger movements on her palm. It was an exciting experience for Helen. She got interested in that play and started imitating the movements her teacher made with her finger. When she finally succeeded in doing that correctly, she was thrilled, though she didn’t know that she was spelling d-o-l-l.
2. How did the sense of touch help Helen in learning words?
Ans:- Some days later, while Helen and her teacher were walking in the garden, Miss Sullivan suddenly put Helen’s hand under the water tap. As the cool flow of water ran over one hand, she spelt w-a-t-e-r on Helen’s other palm. They played this game every day, touching different objects, and it awakened Helen’s soul. She came to know that everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. Every object she touched seemed to throb with life, and she felt connected with the world through all the words.
3. How did Miss Sullivan satisfy Helen’s curiosity during their walks?
Ans:- Miss Sullivan used to take Helen for long walks every morning. Helen had a lot of questions to ask, so she would write something on her teacher’s palm, and in turn, the teacher would talk into her palm, the way people talk into a baby’s ear. Her teacher satisfied Helen’s curiosity, and everything around her became full of life, love and joy.
4. How did Helen learn to speak, and what did she do after uttering her first word?
Ans:- The second stage of learning was more difficult and was also based on the sense of touch. Miss Sullivan would speak a word and ask Helen to touch her lips and throat slowly. Helen learnt to speak through the movements of the lips and the vibration in the throat. When she uttered her first word, it gave her boundless delight. She then started talking with her toys, stones, trees and birds in the garden. She felt amazed and delighted when her sister ran to her when she called her, and her dog obeyed her commands. She was able to speak—it was a miracle!
5. How did Miss Sullivan make Helen’s serious studies feel like play?
Ans:- When Helen studied seriously, it seemed more like play than work. Whenever anything delighted or interested Helen, Miss Sullivan would talk about it as if she were a little girl herself. She taught subjects like science by making it so interesting that Helen remembered everything.
6. Describe Helen’s achievements at the Redcliff College.
Ans:- Helen remembered her first day at The Redcliff college in 1900. She knew there were challenges in her way, but she was eager to overcome them. The professors seemed far away, as if they were speaking through a telephone, and the lectures were spelled into her palms as rapidly as possible. She would note down whatever she remembered when she went back home. Here, she began to write about her life, both in Braille and on a normal typewriter, and on 28th June 1904 she graduated, becoming the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.
7. What goal did Helen set for herself, and why?
Ans:- Helen began to feel that she must educate people on ways to help the blind. Her prime goal in life was to spread awareness regarding the poor, neglected state of the blind, their innate abilities and their inspirations. She had to raise funds not only to sustain a living for herself but also to start projects to remove darkness and miseries from the lives of other blind people. She strongly felt that she must give others what she had gained from her teacher Anne.
8. What sacrifice did Miss Sullivan make for Helen, and how did Helen feel about it?
Ans:- Miss Sullivan’s eyesight was worsening day by day, and Helen was deeply concerned about it. Her teacher was brave enough to fight against her problem, but Helen was sorry because her teacher did not heed to her own eye problem and instead continued to help Helen. At last, her teacher lost her eyesight completely and became blind by the year 1935. Miss Sullivan sacrificed her eyesight for Helen, which Helen recognized as a great sacrifice.
9. How did Helen become well-educated and confident?
Ans:- Miss Sullivan taught Helen to read, first raised letters and later Braille. Helen learnt to write with both ordinary and Braille type writers, so she was well on her path to becoming a well-educated person. She was provided all the possible opportunities to develop her abilities, and she made the maximum use of them. As a result, she developed great confidence and even visited the president, Cleveland, at the White House.
10. What does Helen say at the end about her teacher, and why?
Ans:- Helen says that if her teacher had not supported and encouraged her to learn, she would not have enjoyed the beauty of the world. She says she cannot think of herself apart from her teacher. Her heart always speaks: “I love you, teacher.” This shows Helen’s deep gratitude and love for Anne Sullivan, who transformed her life through patience, dedication and eventual sacrifice.
Leave a Reply