Hellen Keller:The story of my life SA 2 Question Answers

SA 2  Important Questions of Helen Keller:The story of my life

CBSE Class X Helen Keller Important Question


1.How did Helen pass her time when she was not reading?

Ans.Helen's amusements, when she is not reading, are not very different from those of other young women
 loves to be outside and to swim
 enjoys canoeing, especially on moonlit nights, and her favorite pastime is sailing
 speaks of her lo ve for her "tree friends."
 feels so close to them that she imagines she can hear their sap flow and see the sunshine on their leaves



2.Give a brief character sketch of Helen’s father

Ans.Arthur H Keller has a huge impact on Helen's development, tirelessly looking for methods and people to help her
 a captain in the Confederate Army, has been married before and Helen's mother Kate is much younger than him
 a loving father who takes great pleasure in pleasing his daughter
 prou d of his garden and knows that Helen also loves the garden
 an accomplished hunter and a gracious host to regular guests

3.Miss Sullivan played a very important part in Helen’s life. Discuss with reference to the novel .

Ans.Helen recognizes Annie's contribution throughout her life as teacher, interpreter, friend, companion and motivator.  Annie never misses an opportunity to teach Helen, whether it be academically or life skills , Annie Sullivan's most instrumental effects is felt when she makes Helen "Think."
 It is this that helps Helen make the connection between the abstract and the ph ysical , her nurturing and care allowed a lost and lonely child to grow and mature
 She became her student’s closest family, companion, and friend .
 The ability of Helen Keller to surmount her handicaps an d learn to read, write, and speak despite her deafness and blindness was a miracle, success due to the constant support of and undying encouragement from her teacher
Annie Sullivan, persevered in showing her temperamental and uncooperative student how to establish some sort of communication and contact with a world that Helen could not see, hear, nor understand. empathized with her student without letting the latter to get away with whatever the latter wished to do efforts rewarded with an equally enthusiastic student, who demonstrated a thirst for knowledge once the barrier formed by her handicaps that isolated her from the outside gradually started to crumble because of the diligence of Annie Sullivan. mature into a selfless and compassionate adu lt, who followed in her mentor’s footsteps to work for the well - being of the blind and deaf, as well as other unfortunate people.

4.Getting admission into college wasn’t easy for Helen. Moreover, she encountered a lot of problems while studying there. Bring out her problems.

Ans.Many of the books she needed not embossed in time to begin her classes
Special instructions couldn’t be given due to large classes Not easy to take notes
Uses a typewriter
Lectures spelled into her hand
Needs more time to prepare lessons

5.What does Helen say about her association with Alexande r Graham Bell?

Ans.Until Bell’s death on August 2, 1922, the bond that he and Keller had established early on would only strengthen. She was a frequent guest in his home, and he remained her constant supporter, both personally and financially. He frequently sent her money to pay for living expenses or vacations, and he even learned to use a braille typewriter so they could correspond more directly. Keller used the braille typewriter to write her first autobiography, The Story of My Life, which she dedicated to him, writing, “To Alexander Graham Bell, who has taught the deaf to speak and enabled the listening ear to hear speech from the Atlantic to the Rockies.”

6.Describe Merton S. Keith as he appears in Helen Kell er’s, ‘The Story of My Life’.

Ans.Helen studied "algebra, geometry, Greek and Latin" under Mr. Keith twice a week while she was staying at Wrentham then five times a week once she was back in Boston. Miss Sullivan interpreted all of his instructions for Helen. He prepared helen for exams in radcliffe, his knowledge helped her to do the work easily, and kept Helen's mind alert and eater to learn clearly and logically

7.Write the character sketch of Merton S. Keith

Ans.Helen describes her tutor as always having a very "gentle and forbearing," meaning tolerant, nature no matter how long it took her to grasp a subject of study. Though Helen found languages and literature easy subjects, she struggled to learn algebra and geometry; however, he was able to make mathematics interesting and patiently continued to help her, no matter how long it took her to grasp a concept. Helen was so grateful for his patience and teaching style that she notes her "stupidity would often have exhausted the patience of Job."

8.What were Helen’s memories of Radcliffe?

Ans.She was thrilled when she got admission.
Studied for one year under Professor Keith
Determined to compete with those who could see and hear
• Classes were lively and she enjoyed them.
• Talks about the subject she learned in the first y ear and the works of
• Famous French and German writers took more time to le arn
• No books for the blind
• She dreaded examinations.
• College taught her patience.
• Slightly disappointed at not meeting great people
• Firmly believed that knowledge is power

9.How important was the presence of Miss Anne Sullivan i n Helen’s life?

Ans. Extremely patient and tolerant with Helen
• Handled her with sensitivity but firmly.
• Encouraged her to explore
• Taught her the manual alphabet
• A true friend and companion - a guiding force
• A good tutor – broadened her horizons – opened the window to life
• Constant support and motivation
• Her presence helped Helen to study and learn like normal children.

9.What was the incident of the Frost King? How did it affect Helen?

Ans.She wrote and published a story of that name but it led to a controversy as she was accused of plagiarism by Margaret T Canby who had already written that story.A council of adults which included Anagnos questioned her.She was adamant that it was her original story and she did not remember hearing that story but the council concluded she must have forgotten it, It was a traumatic experience for Helen, and costed her friendship of Mr Anagnos.She became saddened and stopped writting after that as she felt humiliated it killed her creativity and gave rise to depression and hence the need for consulting Ann Sullivan

10.Write a character sketch of Bishop Brooks as he appears in Helen Keller’s – The Story of My Life.

Ans.Bishop Brooks was a kind hearted, friendly priest he believed in the universal religion of love and taught helen to love everyone as much as she could.He believed that possibilities of good are greater than those of evil.He had no feeling of discrimination against anybody and treated everyone alike.He was epitome of humanity as he never believed in the existence of caste and creed.He was a bishop in the true sense all who possessed his friendship appreciated it.

11.Write a Character Sketch of Mr Anagnos

Ans.mr. michael anagos was the director of the perkins institution for the blind in boston. he was the one who had found out miss sullivan as a teacher and a companion for helen. after helen joined the institution, mr. anagnos became a good friend of hers. helen dedicated the things she wrote to him during those years. but after the publishing of " the frost king", anagnos blamed helen for plagiarism and terminated their friendship. even though he had known helen for years, he misunderstood her. after the publishinh of The Story of My Life, mr. anagnos wrote to the editor that he had supported helen during her investigation and trials. but their friendship was never restored.