anne sullivans role as ateacher in helens life
Answers
Miss
Sullivan played an angel’s role in Helen’s life. She transformed her dark world
into a world full of light. Miss Sullivan was not only a great teacher to
Helen, she was a great and very caring human being also. She was asked by Mr.
Anagnos of Perkins Institute if she could teach a girl who had visual, hearing,
and speaking disabilities. Miss Sullivan readily agreed. Miss Sullivan totally
transformed Helen’s life.
In her novel 'The Story of My Life', Helen
Keller pays repeated homage to her great teacher, Miss Sullivan. The
world is full of ordinary teachers who just teach shallowly. Miss Sullivan
touched the depths of Helen's soul and brought light to her darkened
world.
The day she arrived at Helen's house, Helen called that day the most important
day of her life. Helen compared the arrival of her teacher to the shining of
'light of love' in her darkened life. Miss Sullivan took unprecedented pains to
teach Helen manual alphabet. Since Helen was suffering from hearing as well as
visual disabilities, Miss Sullivan really had to work very hard to teach Helen
the alphabet. In the 7 chapter, Helen praises Miss Sullivan in the following
words: "Thus I learned from life itself. At the beginning I was only a
mass of possibilities. It was my teacher who unfolded and developed them. When
she came, everything about me breathed of love and joy and was full of
meaning." It was Miss Sullivan's genius, her sympathy, her loving tact and
expert teaching skills which made the first years of Helen's education so
beautiful. Miss Sullivan made learning easy and fun-filled for Helen.
Miss Sullivan deserves all the praise she received from Helen. She taught her
with immense patience and love. She endured her initial stubbornness to her
methodology. She devised unique and innovative methods to teach Helen the
secrets of language, reading, speaking, imagination, and other mysteries of
life. She was always there with her in her ups and downs. Even during the
painful incident of Frost King, Miss Sullivan was always with her giving her
comfort, solace, and self confidence. Even while travelling to various places
such as World Fair, Fern Quarry, etc, Miss Sullivan was always with her. No doubt,
Helen considered her teacher as her own inseparable part! She was everything to
Helen.