Class-10 The Story My Life Chapter -7

The Story of My Life

The Story of My life- Novel for class 10- English CBSE

By Helen Keller

Chapter 7- Notes and Study Material

Introduction of Chapter 7- the Story of My Life by Helen Keller

 Miss. Sullivan gave Helen cardboard slips on which words were printed in raised letters. These words were then arranged on a frame to form short sentences. Miss. Sullivan illustrated whatever she taught with a beautiful story or poem. She taught her History, Geography and about the pre-historic era, the sea and its creatures, the growth process of plants and tadpoles and many more. She made raised maps in clay so that Helen could feel mountain ridges, valleys and rivers. Helen never liked Mathematics. But her love for Biology equated that Geography. She !timed to nature and its processes to understand lessons that applied to human life as well- the order and beauty of a plant growing from an insignificant bud. Miss. Sullivan’s genius, quick sympathy and loving acts made Helen’s education very beautiful, interesting and thrilling. For Helen, her teacher was everything.

 

Conclusion/ Chapter in short/ Analysis of Chapter 7/Understanding the Theme of Chapter 7

Helen began to learn things by the play method and Miss Sullivan conducted all the lessons amidst nature where she could pick up concepts of geography, botany and zoology by touching real objects.

Short Summary of Chapter-7 The Story of My Life by Helen Keller in Simple Words-

In this chapter, Helen describes how she learnt to read with the help of real objects through play. Miss Sullivan proved to him an exceptionally gifted teacher, holding most classes out of doors and making use of games to teach her. For Helen, learning was more like play than work. Helen enjoyed learning about the things around her and spent several happy hours in the orchard. Miss Sullivan used all her ingenuity and resourcefulness to teach her during their walks to Keller’s Landing, making geography lessons come alive through three-dimensional models which she made on the river bed. She made use of stories and poems to teach Helen. Helen learnt science through fossils, the lily plant and tadpoles. Helen also talks of her difficulties in learning arithmetic. Different aspects of nature became a part of Helen’s learning. Education thus became Helen’s one of most precious memories. Miss Sullivan became an inseparable part of Helen’s life.

Extra Important Questions and Answers of Chapter 7

Question.1How did Helen learn to read?

Answer- Helen learnt to read with the help of slips of cardboard with words printed in raised letters on them. She learnt that each word represented an object, an act or a quality and she arranged these words to form sentences in a frame. She moved on to the printed book in which she felt for the words she knew, learning to read in the process.

Question.2Why did Helen stand in the wardrobe?

Answer-When Helen realised that each word represented an object or an act, she started placing words on all objects and then arranging them to form sentences. One day, she pinned the word girl on her dress and stood in the wardrobe, while on the shelf she arranged the words ‘is’, ‘in’ and ‘wardrobe’, thus making the sentence, ‘the girl is in the wardrobe’.

Question.3How do we know that Miss Sullivan was an exceptionally gifted teacher?

Answer- Miss Sullivan proved to be a gifted teacher and found innovative methods of teaching Helen. Everything she taught was illustrated by a story or a poem. She would take an interest in whatever interested Helen. Her method made grammar, maths and definitions interesting. She never nagged Helen and tried to make every subject as real as possible. She took Helen out of doors and taught her about the things around her by making her touch and feel them. Helen writes to support this view, ‘any teacher can take a child to a classroom, but not every teacher can make him learn’.

Question.4 How did Helen learn geographical facts?

Answer- Miss Sullivan taught Helen geography by building islands, lakes and dams made of pebbles. She talked to Helen about volcanoes, the shape of the world, glaciers, and so.

 

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