The Story of My life- Novel for class 10- English CBSE
By Helen Keller
Chapter 1- Notes and Study Material
Introduction of Chapter 4- the Story of My life by Helen Keller
Miss. Sullivan arrived on March 3, 1887, when Helen was six years and nine months old. Miss. Sullivan gave Helen a doll sent by the blind children. When she was playing with it, Miss. Sullivan spelt ‘d-o-1-1’ into Helen’s hand. Helen was quick to imitate it. She felt extremely happy and proud to have spelt the letters correctly. Slowly she was able to spell many words and understood that everything had a special and unique name. At times she was confused and once when she could not get the explanation for ‘mug’ and ‘water’ as different words, she showed her anger on her doll by dashing it on the floor, which made it break into fragments. Her teacher picked up the fragments and took Helen outside. She cleared her confusion by making her feel the flow of liquid on her hands. This made her realise that each word gave birth to a new thought. She felt repentant of what she had done and tried to put the fragments of the doll together.
Conclusion/ Chapter in short/ Analysis of Chapter 4/Understanding the Theme of Chapter 4
Helen describes the coming of Miss Sullivan and how she taught her to speak with the help of fingers and her sense of wonderment at learning names of things. She began to look forward to a new day for the first time in her life.
Short Summary of Chapter-4 The Story of My Life by Helen Keller in Simple Words-
This chapter describes the arrival of Miss Sullivan, the teacher, and how Helen learnt to speak through her fingers. Helen Keller describes the day she met her teacher as the most important day in her life. On that day, Helen and Anne Sullivan begin a long, difficult journey. Together, they achieve what many believed to be impossible. Helen understood when her teacher spelt out the word ‘doll’ on her hands with her fingers. This feat gave her immense pleasure and pride. She writes about her wonder at being able to name things around her and also mentions the dawning of a new perception. For the first time, Helen experienced the feeling of repentance and sorrow, and she felt happy and looked forward to a new day. Helen recounts her experience of learning to spell the word ‘water’ which she had taken a long time to learn. She describes the first day when Miss Sullivan came, as an eventful day where she learnt many new words which would ultimately make the world blossom for her.
Extra Important Questions and Answers of Chapter 4
Question.1- Why does Helen say that the 3 March 1887 was an important day for her?
Answer- Helen calls 3 March 1887 important because her teacher, Miss Sullivan, came to live with her on that day.
Question.2- How did Helen learn the name of things around her?
Answer-Helen’s teacher spelt out the names of the articles around her onto her hand and Helen would imitate her movements. Helen learnt several words, in the same process, even though she did not fully understand them.
Question.3- What made Helen break her new doll?
Answer-Helen broke her doll out of frustration as she was unable to understand the difference between the words ‘mug’ and ‘water’ even though her teacher tried her best to explain it to her.
Question.4- What was significant about Helen trying to pick up the broken pieces of her new doll?
Answer-Helen showed signs of regret and sorrow, which she had never felt before. It signified her transformation and her ability to recognise her feelings. The episode was significant as Helen showed the first signs of registering emotions.