Give a character sketch of Anne as ideal teacher
Answers
Miss Anne Mansfield Sullivan had the greatest influence on the life, character and achievements of Helen Keller. She gave a new direction, meaning and purpose to Helen’s dark life. Miss Sullivan inherited all those traits and characteristics that go in making a perfect teacher. She was a picture of tireless patience and unending devotion. It was her constant encouragement, help and guidance that made Helen Keller first deaf and blind in the world to earn a bachelor degree.
It was Graham Bell who advised the parents of Helen Keller to contact the Perkins Institute for the Blind. The director, Mr. Anagnos asked a former student Miss Anne Sullivan to become Keller’s instructor. Miss Sullivan was herself a visually impaired 20 years old lady. It was the beginning of a 49-year-long relationship. The relationship evolved into Miss Sullivan becoming Helen’s governess and then eventual companion. Anne Sullivan arrived at Keller’s house in March 1887. She immediately began to teach Helen to communicate by spelling words into her hand, beginning with ‘‘ d-o-l-l’’ for the doll. It was Miss Sullivan who unfolded and developed Helen’s skills and possibilities. It was Sullivan’s genius as a teacher, her sympathy and loving tact which made learning so beautiful and interesting for Keller. She felt that her being was inseparable from her student. All that was best in Helen Keller had been awakened by the loving touch of Miss Sullivan. Anne Sullivan stayed as a companion to Helen Keller long after she taught her. Anne Sullivan married John Macy in 1905. She remained a constant companion to Keller till she died in 1936
