Helen Keller

Dear students,

We have just finished reading the story of Helen Keller. Now I would like to give you some information about her. 

Enjoy,
Irena

Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree. 

Synopsis

Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. In 1882, she was stricken by an illness that left her blind and deaf. Beginning in 1887, Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, helped her make tremendous progress with her ability to communicate, and Keller went on to college, graduating in 1904. In 1920, Keller helped found the ACLU. During her lifetime, she received many honors in recognition of her accomplishments.

Early Life

Helen Keller was the first of two daughters born to Arthur H. Keller and Katherine Adams Keller. She also had two older stepbrothers. Keller's father had proudly served as an officer in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. The family was not particularly wealthy and earned income from their cotton plantation. Later, Arthur became the editor of a weekly local newspaper, the North Alabamian.

Keller was born with her senses of sight and hearing, and started speaking when she was just 6 months old. She started walking at the age of one.

Loss of Sight and Hearing

In 1882, however, Keller contracted an illness—called "brain fever" by the family doctor—that produced a high body temperature. The true nature of the illness remains a mystery today, though some experts believe it might have been scarlet fever or meningitis. Within a few days after the fever broke, Keller's mother noticed that her daughter didn't show any reaction when the dinner bell was rung, or when a hand was waved in front of her face. Keller had lost both her sight and hearing. She was just 19 months old.

As Keller grew into childhood, she developed a limited method of communication with her companion, Martha Washington, the young daughter of the family cook. The two had created a type of sign language, and by the time Keller was 7, they had invented more than 60 signs to communicate with each other. But Keller had become very wild and unruly during this time. She would kick and scream when angry, and giggle uncontrollably when happy. She tormented Martha and inflicted raging tantrums on her parents. Many family relatives felt she should be institutionalized.

Educator Anne Sullivan

Looking for answers and inspiration, in 1886, Keller's mother came across a travelogue by Charles Dickens, American Notes. She read of the successful education of another deaf and blind child, Laura Bridgman, and soon dispatched Keller and her father to Baltimore, Maryland to see specialist Dr. J. Julian Chisolm. After examining Keller, Chisolm recommended that she see Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, who was working with deaf children at the time. Bell met with Keller and her parents and suggested that they travel to the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts. There, the family met with the school's director, Michael Anagnos. He suggested Helen work with one of the institute's most recent graduates, Anne Sullivan. And so began a 49-year relationship between teacher and pupil.

On March 3, 1887, Sullivan went to Keller's home in Alabama and immediately went to work. She began by teaching six-year-old Helen finger spelling, starting with the word "doll," to help Keller understand the gift of a doll she had brought along. Other words would follow. At first, Keller was curious, then defiant, refusing to cooperate with Sullivan's instruction. When Keller did cooperate, Sullivan could tell that she wasn't making the connection between the objects and the letters spelled out in her hand. Sullivan kept working at it, forcing Helen to go through the regimen.

As Keller's frustration grew, the tantrums increased. Finally, Sullivan demanded that she and Keller be isolated from the rest of the family for a time, so that Keller could concentrate only on Sullivan's instruction. They moved to a cottage on the plantation.

In a dramatic struggle, Sullivan taught Keller the word "water"; she helped her make the connection between the object and the letters by taking Keller out to the water pump, and placing Keller's hand under the spout. While Sullivan moved the lever to flush cool water over Keller's hand, she spelled out the word w-a-t-e-r on Helen's other hand. Keller understood and repeated the word in Sullivan's hand. She then pounded the ground, demanding to know its "letter name." Sullivan followed her, spelling out the word into her hand. Keller moved to other objects with Sullivan in tow. By nightfall, she had learned 30 words.

A Formal Education

In 1890, Keller began speech classes at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf in Boston. She would toil for 25 years to learn to speak so that others could understand her. From 1894 to 1896, she attended the Wright-Humason School for the Deaf in New York City. There, she worked on improving her communication skills and studied regular academic subjects.

Around this time, Keller became determined to attend college. In 1896, she attended the Cambridge School for Young Ladies, a preparatory school for women. As her story became known to the general public, Keller began to meet famous and influential people. One of them was the writer Mark Twain, who was very impressed with her. They became friends. Twain introduced her to his friend Henry H. Rogers, a Standard Oil executive. Rogers was so impressed with Keller's talent, drive, and determination that he agreed to pay for her to attend Radcliffe College. There, she was accompanied by Sullivan, who sat by her side to interpret lectures and texts.

By this time, Keller had mastered several methods of communication, including touch-lip reading, Braille, speech, typing, and finger-spelling. With the help of Sullivan and Sullivan's future husband, John Macy, Keller wrote her first book, The Story of My Life. It covered her transformation from childhood to a 21-year-old college student. Keller graduated, cum laude, from Radcliffe in 1904, at the age of 24.

In 1905, Sullivan married John Macy, an instructor at Harvard University, a social critic and a prominent socialist. After the marriage, Sullivan continued to be Keller's guide and mentor. When Keller went to live with the Macys, they both initially gave Keller their undivided attention. Gradually, however, Anne and John became distant to each other, as Anne's devotion to Keller continued unabated. After several years, they separated, though were never divorced.

Social Activism

After college, Keller set out to learn more about the world and how she could help improve the lives of others. News of her story spread beyond Massachusetts and New England. She became a well-known celebrity and lecturer by sharing her experiences with audiences and working on behalf of others living with disabilities. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Keller tackled social and political issues, including women's suffrage, pacifism, and birth control. She testified before Congress, strongly advocating to improve the welfare of blind people. In 1915, along with renowned city planner George Kessler, she co-founded Helen Keller International to combat the causes and consequences of blindness and malnutrition. In 1920, she helped found the American Civil Liberties Union.

When the American Federation for the Blind was established in 1921, Keller had an effective national outlet for her efforts. She became a member in 1924 and participated in many campaigns to raise awareness, money, and support for the blind. She also joined other organizations dedicated to helping those less fortunate, including the Permanent Blind War Relief Fund (later called the American Braille Press).

Soon after she graduated from college, Keller became a member of the Socialist Party, most likely due in part to her friendship with John Macy. Between 1909 and 1921, she wrote several articles about socialism and supported Eugene Debs, a Socialist Party presidential candidate. Her series of essays on socialism, entitled "Out of the Dark," described her views on socialism and world affairs.

It was during this time that Keller first experienced public prejudice about her disabilities. For most of her life, the press had been overwhelmingly supportive of her, praising her courage and intelligence. But after she expressed her socialist views, some criticized her by calling attention to her disabilities. One newspaper, the Brooklyn Eagle, wrote that her "mistakes sprung out of the manifest limitations of her development."

Work and Influence

In 1936, Keller's beloved teacher and devoted companion, Anne Sullivan, died. She had experienced health problems for several years and, in 1932, lost her eyesight completely. A young woman named Polly Thomson, who had begun working as a secretary for Keller and Sullivan in 1914, became Keller's constant companion upon Sullivan's death.

In 1946, Keller was appointed counselor of international relations for the American Foundation of Overseas Blind. Between 1946 and 1957, she traveled to 35 countries on five continents. In 1955, at age 75, Keller embarked on the longest and most grueling trip of her life: a 40,000-mile, five-month trek across Asia. Through her many speeches and appearances, she brought inspiration and encouragement to millions of people.

Now you can watch the movie about Helen Keller 

"The story of my life"

She was a very smart woman. 

Read her quotes:

Books she wrote:

Vegetarianism, vegetarian...

Dear students, 

We have talked about food and discovered that some of your classmates are vegetarian. I decided to write about this and give you some assignments and questions to discuss.

Have fun.
Irena

What do you eat? Do you eat fruit and vegetables? Do you eat meat and fish? What do you know about vegetarianism? What is it? Is it good or bad for your health? 

A vegetarian is someone who doesn't eat meat, and mostly eats foods that come from plants, like grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Some stricter vegetarians avoid more than just meat. They also avoid animal products, which are non-meat foods that come from animals.

Vegetarianism is a special diet with no meat. 

There are 4 basic types of vegetarian.

Lacto-ovo vegetarian: they eat no meat, but eat dairy products and eggs. 

Ovo-vegetarian: they eat no meat or dairy products, but eat eggs. 



Vegan: they eat no meat or animal products, such as dairy.



Lacto-vegetarian: they eat no meat or eggs, but eat dairy products.






Hereare some new words you should know. 

They are :

- carnivores is an animal that feeds on flesh (eat meat only)

- omnivores is an animal or person that eats food of both plant and animal origin (eat meat and plants)

- herbivorous is an animal or person that eats plants only

This video shows you why being carnivores is not good for you. Watch the video and think about it.

Why do people become vegetarians? What's the difference between "vegetarian" and "vegan"? We are going to talk about it a little. I hope you'll learn something new.

Do you know why some people choose not to eat meat or meat products? There are many different reasons to choose vegetarianism. 

People have different reasons for becoming vegetarians. Some follow vegetarian or semi-vegetarian diets for health reasons. For instance, a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and grains tends to be low in fat and cholesterol, which is good for your heart. It's also likely to be high in fiber and can be lower in calories.

Concern for animals and environmental reasons are also cited by vegetarians when they explain why they don't eat meat. In addition, some cultures and religions have vegetarian diets.



Here are 10 reasons why people choose vegetarianism:

1. Religious Beliefs
Some religions have dietary restrictions (limitation, limit). Many religious texts promote vegetarianism.

2. Personal Preference
People usually choose what they want to eat. Those, who don't like the taste of meat may choose vegetarianism. These who eat seafood are not true vegetarians.

3. Cost
In many countries people can't afford to eat meat because it's very expensive and fruit and vegetables are cheap. They can save a lot of money on a vegetarian diet. Instead of spending a lot of money buying meat, they can spend much less buying fresh produce.

4. Environmental Reasons
The space needed to raise cows and other livestock is immense (very big, huge). Some vegetarians argue that this space should be used for crops that could feed more people.

5. Health Problems
Some people have trouble digesting meat. Red meat can be very difficult to digest. People with high cholesterol may turn to vegetarianism.

                                                

6. Animal Rights
Vegetarians are often animal lovers. They disagree with the use of animals for feed and complain about how livestock (farm animals - sheep, cows, goats, etc.) are treated.

7. Contamination
Have you ever had food poisoning? Food contamination refers to the presence in food of harmful chemicals and microorganisms which can cause consumer illness. Contaminated (polluted, infected) food can turn you off meat forever.

8. Peer Pressure
Many people become vegetarian in their teen years. Peer pressure may cause a boyfriend to choose vegetarianism to please his girlfriend, or vise versa (backwards).

9. Family
Some people are born into vegetarian families.

10. Weight Concerns
Vegetarians are less likely to be overweight. Fruit and Vegetables have fewer calories than meat.

Please, watch this short video and think about vegetarianism. Do you think it will help to keep our planet in a good condition? 

So, what do you think about vegetarianism? Is it really good? Would you became a vegetarian? If yes, here are some recipes for cooking a vegetarian meals. Enjoy it!

  

SO.... ARE YOU A VEGETARIAN?!

THIS IS YOUR CHOICE!

Nobody can tell you what to eat.

A SMALL JOKE...