Maddie Robinson
March 19, 2012
Helen Keller
Introduction
A perfectly healthy baby girl, but what does that have to do with anything? It was how
life started for Helen Keller. She changed the world and how people see disabled people, but
what if she had not gotten sick? Helen Keller was born perfectly healthy June 27, 1880. When
she was 18 months old, everything changed.
[Transition: Let’s start with her early life.]
I.
Helen Keller’s early life was filled with hardship and that was made better by Annie
Sullivan.
A.
Helen Keller’s early life started normal, but soon would spin out of control.
1.
She was born a normal child with the ability to see and hear
2.
She started speaking by the time she was six months old and could
communicate and talk by the time she was a year old.
3.
When she was a year and a half old, she contracted “brain fever”, after the
fever subsided, her mother noticed she could no longer see or hear.
B.
C.
Annie Sullivan was brought into her life to try and help her communicate again.
1.
Helen was a very violent child before Sullivan.
a.
She would kick and throw violent tantrums
b.
Her family wanted to put her in an institution
2.
Annie Sullivan was sent for by her parents.
a.
Upon her arrival, she immediately began to try and teach her
b.
The first word she tried to teach her was doll
c.
Sullivan demanded to be isolated with the child, in order to keep
Helen’s parents from interfering in her teaching.
After two weeks, her parents demanded Helen’s return to the house.
1.
Sullivan resisted, but had to give in to keep from being fired.
2.
Helen immediately reverted to her undisciplined self.
a.
She began to eat with her hands and threw water on Sullivan.
b.
Sullivan made her go outside to refill the pitcher with the water
pump
c.
It was at this point when Helen’s hands were under the water that
she finally began to understand words and what they meant.
d.
She would go on to learn 30 different words that day.
[Transition: After being taught for a few years by Annie Sullivan, Helen was able to accomplish
so much in her life]
II.
Helen wanted to learn more and had a thirst for knowledge about the world.
A.
She was able to attend school for the first time.
1.
B.
C.
D.
F.
She started in 1890, with speech classes at the Horace Mann School for
the Deaf in Boston.
2.
In 1896, she attended the Cambridge School for Young Ladies which was
a preparatory school
3.
She attended Radcliff College from which she graduated in 1904
She spoke very highly of books, she once said, “Literature is my Utopia. Here I
am not disenfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet,
gracious discourses of my book friends. They talk to me without embarrassment
or awkwardness.” She would go on to write 12 books.
1.
She published her first book, The Story of My Life, by the time she was 21
a.
It covered her life from childhood to 21-year-old college student
b.
It was translated into 50 languages including Braille
2.
The World I Live In was published in 1908
a.
She wrote this one to let the world know how she felt about the
world
3.
She published also Light in Darkness in 1927
a.
This one consisted of her religious beliefs
b.
She was an avid socialist
Helen traveled the world and met many people.
1.
She met fourteen Presidents of the United States.
a.
She received dozens of awards, including the Presidential Medal of
Freedom.
2.
She traveled to 39 different countries on five different continents.
After traveling the world, she wanted to make a difference in the world.
1.
Helen would travel the world many times speaking out about the
mistreatment of the blind.
2.
She even stood before Congress to persuade them to improve the welfare
of the blind
She once said, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the
overcoming of it.” With this quote in mind, she was part of many different
organizations.
1.
In 1915 Keller founded Helen Keller International to combat the causes
and consequences of blindness and malnutrition
2.
In 1920, she helped found the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),
which helps to protect the liberties and freedoms of people.
3.
She joined the American Federation for the Blind in 1924
4.
She also joined the Permanent Blind War Relief Fund which helps the less
fortunate
5.
She also supported the American Foundation for the Overseas Blind,
which is now called Helen Keller Worldwide
Conclusion
She was an amazing woman, and she did not let her disabilities get the best of her. Helen Keller
once said, “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.”
Works Cited
"Helen Keller Biography." Bio. True Story. A E Television Networks, LLC.,
2012. Web. 25 Feb 2012. <http://www.biography.com/people/helenkeller-9361967?page=1>.
"Helen Keller Biography." Helen Keller Birthplace Foundation, Inc., 2009. Web. 25 Feb 2012.
<http://www.helenkellerbirthplace.org/helenkellerbio/helen_keller_birthplace2_bio.htm>
Helen Keller—In Her Own Words." . American Foundation for the Blind, 2012. Web. 25 Feb
2012. <http://www.afb.org/mylife/book.asp?ch=HK-intro>.
Helen Keller Biography (2012). American Foundation for the Blind
http://www.braillebug.org/helen_keller_bio.asp
Keller, H. (2012). Helen Keller Quotes. <http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Helen_Keller>