Analyze chapter 9 of The Story of My Life by Helen Keller.
In The Story of My Life, Helen Keller recounts many of the incidents that changed her life without which, undoubtedly, she may not have achieved everything she did.Helen has the ability to learn "from life itself" (ch 7) and so, even some unfortunate events are recalled in this, her autobiography, of the first twenty-two years of her life.
In chapter 9, Helen makes her first visit to Boston and The Perkins' Institute, from where Ann Sullivan who "set my spirit free" came as she herself was only partially sighted. Helen, blind and deaf, finds it a great "joy to talk with other children in my own language." She is referring to the manual alphabet which Annie has taught her. In the company of other children who were blind, Helen loses "all sense of pain in the pleasure of their companionship."
Helen learns history and has her first trip on a...
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steamboat and is intrigued by stories and accounts of the Pilgrims. She thinks the men so brave and recalls how, when she learnt some time later that some of the exploits of the Pilgrims were not so honorable, she was sorely disappointed.
In remembrance of Mr Endicott, Helen calls Boston "the City of kind hearts" as he becomes a dear friend to her, telling her about the ships bound for Europe and allowing her to spend time at his home. Helen recalls spending time in his garden and with his dogs.
Nancy, Helen's beloved doll also gets her last mention in chapter 9 after an unfortunate incident in a bath from which Nancy emerges as a "formless heap of cotton." What is important is Helen's recollection that Nancy is recognizable only by her eyes - which Helen had painstakingly insisted her doll needed in an earlier chapter, upon which her aunt had given her doll eyes.
This chapter reveals happy moments and Helen's ongoing love of Boston.
Analyze chapters 13, 14, and 15 of The Story of My Life by Helen Keller.
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller tracks many of the events that affect Helen and contribute to her development. Each event provides Helen with a lesson and, even the most difficult experiences are opportunities for her to "learn from life itself."(ch 7) Chapter 13 begins with a particularly important development as Helen learns to speak in the spring of 1890. Having heard the story of a deaf girl, Ragnhild Kaata who learnt to speak, Helen wastes no time and, although her speech is difficult to understand by most people, that first sentence "It is warm" (ch 13) provides Helen with the inspiration to not give up and her mantra is "practice, practice, practice."
The story of "The Frost King" from the winter of 1892 is something that will remain with Helen after she was accused of copying the story from Margaret Canby who wrote "The Frost Fairies." After this, Helen feels "unease and disquietude" when she is writing for fear she may be plagiarizing someone else words although she was cleared of any wrongdoing, not purposefully having repeated much of Miss Canby's story. Helen's friendship with Mr Anagnos of The Perkins' Institute for the Blind, for whom Helen apparently wrote The Frost King, is irrevocably damaged and Helen "drank...of the cup of bitterness" (ch 14) feeling that she has disgraced herself and embarrassed her friend. Helen learns a valuable lesson from this experience and, gains "a truer knowledge of life."(ch 15)
In 1893, putting this difficult experience behind her, Helen visits Niagara Falls where she feels "the air vibrate and the earth tremble," and The World Fair, both of which have an enormous effect on her. Helen spends time with Dr Alexander Graham Bell and learns many fascinating things to the point that she learns "appreciation of the real and the earnest in the workaday world."