The Story Of My Life Chapter 1 The Story Of My Life

(i) 'I' refers to Michael.
(ii) The whole story of Michael meeting Sebastian started a month ago.
(​iii) The speaker has a keen interest in computers and computer games. 

Helen had written a little story called ‘The Frost King’, which she had sent to Mr. Anagnos of the Perkins Institution for the Blind. The latter was delighted with it and published the story in one of the institutional reports. However, it was discovered that a story similar to her ‘The Frost King’ called ‘The Frost Fairies’ by Miss. Margaret T.
Canby had appeared before Helen was born, in a book called ‘Birdie and His Friends’. The two stories were so much alike in thought and language that it was evident Miss Canby’s story had been read to Helen and that her story was a case of plagiarism. A court of the investigation was constituted that consisted of eight people, four blind, four people with vision and votes were cast to arrive at a decision.
Mr. Anagnos, who had supported Helen initially, changed tack and cast his vote against her. The incident scarred Helen in such a way that for a very long time, she could not produce any creative work. She became excessively scrupulous about everything she wrote and the thought that whatever she wrote was not her original work tormented her. Miss Sullivan had to console her and allay her fears in every possible way in order to restore the confidence that Helen had lost. Eventually, Helen resumed her writing, after being urged by her teacher.

Bishop Brooks was in Helen's words, one among many of the 'men of genius' with whom she had had the pleasure of acquaintance. As a child, Helen used to love sitting on his knee and clasping the great hand in her own as Miss Sullivan spelled out his beautiful words about God and the spiritual world. She would listen with the wondrous delight of a child, her spirit could not reach up to his but he would give her a real sense of joy in life.
Once, when she had been puzzled by the existence of so many religions in the world, Bishop Brooks had told her that there was one universal religion, the religion of love, the love owed to their Heavenly Father with whole heart and soul and to love every child of god, remembering that the possibilities of good were far greater than that of evil. Bishop Brooks' life was an illustration of his philosophy, love and the widest knowledge blended with faith in his noble soul giving him an insight into life. Bishop Brooks had not taught Helen any special creed or dogma. He had impressed upon her the two great ideas of the fatherhood of god and the brotherhood of man, which she came to believe as the overarching truths of her life. Bishop Brooks had taught her the creed of love.

At the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf in New York City, Helen's progress in lip-reading and speech were far below her own expectations and that of her teachers. Helen aimed to speak like other people and her teachers also believed that she could accomplish the task but she did not quite reach her goal. She worked hard with sincerity but Helen conjectured that she probably aimed too high and therefore, disappointment was inevitable. She still regarded arithmetic as a system of pitfalls and indulged in guesswork. When she was not guessing answers, she would jump to conclusions and this process aggravated her difficulties more than their fair share. Though these disappointments plagued her, she pursued her other studies with unflagging interest and began to enjoy studying physical geography. It brought her so much delight that it led her to consider those two years spent in New York to be one of genuine pleasures.

Mr. Gilman was the principal of the Cambridge School for Young Ladies. Apart from Frau Grote, he was the only teacher who had learned the finger alphabet to instruct Helen in her studies. Mr. Gilman instructed her for a part of the year in English literature. Mr. Gilman's broad views on history and literature and his clever explanations made Helen's work easier and more pleasant. Mr. Gilman read all the papers to her by means of the manual alphabet. He sat beside her and read the examination papers sentence by sentence. He spelled out to her what she had written so that she could make the necessary changes. Mr. Gilman was the person who sent her written work to the examiners with the certificate that Helen, candidate No.233 had written the papers. However, he thought that Helen was overworked even though Miss Sullivan believed otherwise. In the end, Helen's mother withdrew her from the school due to a difference of opinion between the two teachers. Mr. Gilman had helped Helen but he underestimated her potential for hard work.

The road to gain admission to Radcliffe College was fraught with insurmountable difficulties, but it was Helen's hope and determination to succeed at all costs that helped smoothen the road. She was confronted with unforeseen difficulties from not having many books embossed in time to begin the classes and lacking important apparatus for some of her studies to the problems regarding special instruction in the classroom. Even Miss Sullivan seemed to fall short in helping her with all the resources required for her preparation. As she says, every study had its obstacles and sometimes she would lose all courage and betray her feelings. But the difficulties began to disappear and she launched forth with renewed confidence. Although her work was painfully slow and she had to read the examples over and over again, she does not blame anyone for the obstacles that the examinations posed in her path. She had the consolation of knowing that she overcame all her difficulties with aplomb.

Helen had written a little story called ‘The Frost King’, which she had sent to Mr. Anagnos of the Perkins Institution for the Blind. The latter was delighted with it and published the story in one of the institutional reports. However, it was discovered that a story similar to her ‘The Frost King’ called ‘The Frost Fairies’ by Miss. Margaret T. Canby had appeared before Helen was born, in a book called ‘Birdie and His Friends’. The two stories were so much alike in thought and language that it was evident Miss Canby’s story had been read to Helen and that her story was a case of plagiarism. A court of investigation was constituted that consisted of eight people, four blind, four people with vision and votes were cast to arrive at a decision. Mr. Anagnos, who had supported Helen initially, changed tack and cast his vote against her. The incident scarred Helen in such a way that for a very long time, she could not produce any creative work. She became excessively scrupulous about everything she wrote and the thought that whatever she wrote was not her original work tormented her. Miss Sullivan had to console her and allay her fears to in every which way possible in order to restore the confidence that Helen had lost. Eventually, Helen resumed her writing, after being urged by her teacher.

Bishop Brooks was in Helen's words, one among many of the 'men of genius' with whom she had had the pleasure of acquaintance. As a child, Helen used to love sitting on his knee and clasping the great hand in her own as Miss Sullivan spelt out his beautiful words about God and the spiritual world. She would listen with the wondrous delight of a child, her spirit could not reach up to his but he would give her a real sense of joy in life. Once, when she had been puzzled by the existence of so many religions in the world, Bishop Brooks had told her that there was one universal religion, the religion of love, the love owed to their Heavenly Father with whole heart and soul and to love every child of god, remembering that the possibilities of good were far greater than that of evil. Bishop Brooks' life was an illustration of his philosophy, love and the widest knowledge blended with faith in his noble soul giving him an insight into life. Bishop Brooks had not taught Helen any special creed or dogma. He had impressed upon her the two great ideas of the fatherhood of god and the brotherhood of man, which she came to believe as the overarching truths of her life. Bishop Brooks had taught her the creed of love.

At the World's Fair in the summer of 1893, Helen saw her childish fancies manifesting themselves in reality. She visited the Midway Plaisance, which seemed like the Arabian Nights to her because it was crammed full of novelties and interest. Here was the India of her books in the curious bazaars, with its Shiva and elephant gods, and the land of the pyramids in the model Cairo, with its mosques and long procession of camels.
The lagoons of Venice, Viking ships, the model of the Santa Maria, the Cape of Good Hope exhibit that showed the process of diamond mining, the electrical building full of technological inventions, the anthropological department, the ancient Mexico and Egyptians mummies were the things that Helen came across at the fair. Visiting the World's Fair was a special privilege for Helen because she was given the permission to touch the exhibits at the World's Fair such as the treasures that Pizarro had seized from Peru.

Miss Sullivan was the teacher and constant companion of Helen. On 3 March 1887, Miss Sullivan arrived at the house of the Kellers. From that day on, Helen’s life took a completely different turn, from darkness to light and from isolation to friendship. Miss Sullivan was an extremely patient and considerate teacher who never failed to understand Helen’s frustration and discontentment. She methodically taught Helen to communicate using her fingers and assisted her in her education through all the institutions that Helen attended.

Mr Gilman was the principal of the Cambridge School for Young Ladies. Apart from Frau Grote, he was the only teacher who had learned the finger alphabet to instruct Helen in her studies. Mr Gilman instructed her for a part of the year in English literature. Mr Gilman's broad views on history and literature and his clever explanations made Helen's work easier and more pleasant. Mr Gilman read all the papers to her by means of the manual alphabet. He sat beside her and read the examination papers sentence by sentence. He spelt out to her what she had written so that she could make the necessary changes. Mr Gilman was the person who sent her written work to the examiners with the certificate that Helen, candidate No. 233, had written the papers. However, he thought that Helen was overworked even though Miss Sullivan believed otherwise. In the end, Helen's mother withdrew her from the school because of a difference of opinion between the two teachers. Mr Gilman helped Helen, but he underestimated her potential for hard work.

Helen suffered from a disease when she was nineteen months old. This took away her ability to see and hear. Her condition made her extremely dependant on her mother and she used a crude sign language to communicate her wants. Gradually, she realised that she was different from the other people. When she was unable to understand what others spoke, her frustration and anger grew. When her sister was born, Helen thought of her as an intruder who had taken her place in her mother’s life.

She became a very rude and an unruly child due to her inability to communicate.She led her life in a dark and silent world until Miss Sullivan came to enlighten her world. Sullivan was the embodiment of love, understanding, patience and and perserverance.
With the help of this gifted teacher, Helen was able to overcome all her shortcomings and was able to get an education too. Helen learnt to communicate with others with helps from Miss Sullivan who worked hard with her to gain confidence and not consider herself a burden.Helen learnt to see and hear with her fingers.Also, she learnt to read and write which enabled her not to feel defeated in life. Helen Keller and Anne sulivan dramtically changed the world's perception of people with disabilities.

Helen was not able to write algebra, geometry and problems in physics until a Braille writer was brought. After a little delay, it was arranged that Helen should continue her studies under Mr. Merton S. Keith of Cambridge as a tutor. He taught her algebra, geometry, Greek and Latin until she appeared for her final examinations for Radcliffe College by the end of June 1899. The college authorities did not allow Miss Sullivan to read the examination papers to her. Mr. Eugene C. Vining of Perkins Institution was employed to copy the papers for her in American Braille. Although Helen cleared her final examination, she had some regret that Ra adcliffe College was of little help in simplifying the process of her examination. Critical Appraisal Helen faced several difficulties while she was preparing for her admission to Radcliffe College. She could not do much progress until the embossed books arrived. It was not easy for her to understand geometry from the blackboard because of her impaired vision. She had to use straight and curved wires on a cushion to understand geometrical figures. Her lack of aptitude for mathematics impeded her progress in the subject. Under a new arrangement, Mr. Keith of Cambridge tutored Helen in the various subjects. It was rather more convenient, easier and interesting for Helen to prepare this way. Chapter Twenty Summary Helen’s life in Radcliffe The first day of Helen at Radcliffe was full of interest and eagerness. She found a new world opening in beauty and light. Her honeymoon with college education, however, was soon over. She had thought that it would be a place with discussions, lectures, concerts, etc. Contrary to this, it seemed to stifle the inner melodies of the spirit. There was hardly a time to commune with one’s thoughts. Helen lost much of the lectures in the class when they were spelled rapidly into her hand. She, however, pitied those normal students who understood almost nothing while taking notes mechanically. In the second year, she found the class in composition the most interesting and vivacious; however, she was disappointed with the examination system. Critical Appraisal Helen’s tryst with college education got fraught with disillusionment. Her initial interest and eagerness turned into disinterest and tedium. The lectures in the classroom were too fast to keep hold on them. She lost heart at times as she struggled with her studies while the normal girls enjoyed singing and dancing. According to Helen, the examination system robbed the students of the joy of learning. She felt that one should take one’s education patiently and leisurely and instead of considering knowledge as power, one should seek it for pleasure and happiness.

When Helen remembered the first time she met Dr. Bell as a child, she wrote that she felt he understood her and she loved him at once. Dr. Bell referred Helen to the Perkins Institution in Boston and Anne Sullivan was sent to Helen's home to begin her education. Helen was extremely grateful to Dr. Bell for broadening her horizons. In the following year, the two frequently spent time together, developing something of a parent-child relationship along the way. In 1888, when Helen went to visit Dr. Bell she met with President Grover Cleveland. In 1893, Helen accompanied Dr. Bell to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where he acted as Helen's personal guide and taught her about modern science and technology. When Helen expressed a desire to attend regular college, Dr. Bell established a trust fund for Helen. When Helen began attending Radcliffe College in Boston, it was with this trust fund, as well as further financial support from Dr. Bell that paid for her education. Through Dr. Bell's constant support Helen was exposed to a new world, new sensations, discoveries and her perception and understanding of the world was enhanced.