The Story of My Life (Chapter:11-13)
I. Answer the following question in 200-250 words.
She spent her autumn months with her family at their summer cottage, called Fern
Quarry because there was a deserted limestone quarry near it. It was situated on top
of a mountain.
In the woods around the Fern quarry grew great oaks and splendid evergreens with
trunks like mossy pillars, from the branches of which hung garlands of ivy and
mistletoe, and persimmon trees. The odour of these pervaded every nook and corner
of the wood— an illusive, fragrance that made the heart glad. Helen spent most of her
time in leisure in that beautiful landscape
Their cottage was like a ‘rough camp’. Many visitors came to Fern Quarry. In the
morning, all the men went off to hunt. Later in the morning, a barbecue was planned.
In the evening, men played cards and talked about their hunting experiences.
Helen had a pony She had named him ‘Black Beauty’ because of his strong
resemblance to the one in the book she had just read. She spent the happiest hours
on his back accompanied by her teacher. On mornings when she did not want to ride,
she and her teacher would go rambling in the woods after breakfast and returned with
armfuls of laurel, goldenrod, ferns and swamp- flowers.
Sometimes she went with Mildred and her little cousins to hunt for persimmons in the
leaves and grass but did not eat them. She liked their fragrance. They also went
nutting and she helped them open the chestnut burrs and break the shells of hickory
nuts and walnuts.
At the foot of the mountain was the railroad and the children watched the trains whiz
by.
2. How does Helen describe the winter and the snowstorm?
Helen was surprised to discover that a mysterious hand had stripped the trees and
bushes, leaving only here and there a wrinkled leaf. The birds had flown, and their
empty nests in the bare trees were filled with snow. The earth seemed benumbed by
the Winter’s icy touch, and the very spirits of the trees had withdrawn to their roots,
and there, curled up in the dark, lay fast asleep. All life seemed to have ebbed away.
On the day when the snow storm came, the snowflakes dropped silently and softly
from the airy height to the earth. In the morning no feature of the landscape was
recognizable. All roads were hidden, not a single landmark was visible. In the evening,
a wind from the north east sprang up and the snowflakes moved around in a furious
melee. The family sat around the fire and told merry tales and frolicked and forgot that
they were shut off from the outside world. During the night, the fury of the wind
increased and filled them with vague terror.
The rafters creaked and stained. The branches of the trees rattled and beat against
the windows.
The storm subsided after three days. The sun shone upon the area and piles of snow
lay scattered everywhere. Before these drifts could shrink there was another
snowstorm.
3. How does the author explain the use of the manual alphabet to speak to?
Helen explains the use of the manual alphabet in speaking to those who are blind and
deaf. Because it seems to puzzle people who do not know people like her.
One who reads or talks to her spells with his hand, using the single hand manual
alphabet generally employed by the deaf. She places her hand on the hand of the
speaker, very lightly so that the speaker’s finger movements are not hindered. The
position of the hand is as easy to feel as it is to see. She says that she does not feel
each letter any more than we see each letter separately when we read.
Constant practice makes the fingers very flexible, and some of her friends spell
rapidly—about as fast as an expert writes on a typewriter. The mere spelling is no
more a conscious act than it is in writing.
When Helen learned to speak, she discarded the manual alphabet as a medium of
communication on her part; but Miss Sullivan and a few friends still used it in
speaking to her for it was more convenient and more rapid than lip-reading.
4. Describe Helen Keller’s journey in learning to speak.
As a deaf child, Helen was entirely dependent upon the manual alphabet and always
felt a sense of restraint, of narrowness. This feeling began to agitate her and she
wanted to fill this gap. Therefore, she persisted in using her lips and voice. Friends
tried to discourage this tendency, fearing that it would lead to disappointment.
Before she lost her sight and hearing, she was fast learning to talk but after her
illness she made many sounds because the need of exercising her vocal organs was
imperative.
Although Miss Sullivan began to teach her, she was dissatisfied with the means of
communication and felt a sense of restraint and began to agitate her.
One day, Mrs. Lamson, one of Laura Bridgman's teachers, came to see Helen, and
told her of Ragnhild Kaata, a deaf and blind girl in Norway who had been taught to
speak.
Helen was filled with eagerness and did not rest until her teacher took her to Miss
Sarah Fuller. The lady offered to teach Helen herself. Through Miss Fuller's method
she learnt six elements of speech in an hour. Miss Fuller gave her eleven lessons and
she uttered her first connected sentence, "It is warm." True, they were broken and
stammering syllables but they were human speech.
Due to Miss Sullivan's genius and untiring perseverance and her own laboured
practice night and day, Helen progressed towards natural speech.
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