give a character sketch of miss anne sullivan , helens teacher ?
Answers
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.
Anne Mansfield Sullivan was the teacher of Helen Keller.
She was the one who taught Helen not just like an ordinary teacher but someone as who would teach all the aspects of life.
The day she arrived in Helen's life, Helen marked it as the most favourite day of her life. This was the day when Anne Sullivan brought a new hope of life in Helen's life.
Helen describes her as the "light of love" in her dark world. Miss Anne taught Helen many things including how to be a better human being, bookish knowledge etc etc.