BP: Helen Keller

Helen Keller was a prominent activist. What is an activist?

• Someone with physical disabilities.
• Someone who campaigns publicly on behalf of a cause
• Someone who writes books
• Someone who becomes famous

What can you infer from the fact that doctors couldn't find out the cause of Keller's illness?

• Medicine in the 1900s was less advanced than it is today
• Keller probably had an extremely rare illness
• Keller's disabilities probably weren't caused by a disease
• Keller's doctors were uneducated and ignorant

How would you classify the relationship between Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan?

• Strictly professional
• Brief, but warm
• Cold and unfriendly
• Close and long-lasting

Order: A. HK graduates from college; B. HK meets Pres. Kennedy; C. HK goes on lecture tour

• C, B, A
• A, B, C
• C, A, B
• A, C, B

What did Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan have in common?

• Both were very poor
• Both had damaged eyesight
• Both were Southerners
• Both were accomplished authors

Why did Helen Keller misbehave as a child?

• She and Anne Sullivan didn't get along
• She believed her parents caused her disabilities
• She couldn't communicate with the people around her
• Illness that left her deaf & blind also damaged her brain

Which of these statements is an opinion about Helen Keller?

• Helen Keller wrote 12 books
• Helen Keller learned to read and write in five languages
• Helen Keller's achievements were miraculous
• HK was the first deaf/blind person to graduate from college

Sullivan taught HK the manual alphabet. What does "manual" mean?

• Related to the human hand
• Related to the Roman alphabet
• Related to disabled people
• Related to the Braille alphabet

What can you conclude from the fact HK learned to type in Braille & the regular typewriter?

• Typewriters were not very reliable back then
• HK was dedicated to learning to write & express herself
• HK had to learn typing because Sullivan couldn't spell
• HK must have majored in typing in college

What was the significance of this object in HK's life story?

• It was where she first learned how to read
• It was where she first understood the concept of language
• It was where she first met Anne Sullivan
• It was where she first learned the Braille alphabet