Saturday, April 13, 2024

The Story of My Life-Helen Keller-Summary-Chapter 11

    Helen Adams Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, on June 27, 1880. Her parents were Kate Adams Keller and Colonel Arthur Keller. Helen became deaf and blind as a result of an unknown illness, perhaps rubella or scarlet fever at the age of only 19 months. She died at the age of 87 on June 1, 1968, at Arcan Ridge

Summary of Chapter 11

About the Chapter

   In this chapter, Helen describes about her new experiences in the world of Nature. She Went to Fern Quarry to spend her autumn vacation there with her family. It was situated on a mountain about 14 miles away from Tuscumbia.

            ( /ˈkwɒr.i/: mining place)  (left)

  There was a limestone quarry near it, which had long been abandoned. Three playful streams, which came down from the springs above ran through it, leaping here and tumbling there making laughing cascades whenever rocks tried to bar their way.

The opening was filled with fern trees and they were completely covered the beds of limestone and at some places hid the streams. (a narrow passage through which water lows)

    The rest of the mountain was thickly wooded. One may find great oak trees and splendid evergreen trees there with trunks like mossy pillars

   From the branches of them hung ivy and mistletoe, and persimmon trees, the odour of which pervaded every nook and corner of the wood.                                 

   The information she gathered there gave her great satisfaction and happiness. She was ready to welcome more new things that would add to her knowledge and experience.

   Their cottage was a kind of rough camp, which was situated on the top of the mountain among oak and pine trees. There were small houses which were arranged on each side of a long hall. There was a wide public square (piazza) around the house, where the mountain winds brought with them sweet scents of the woods.  

    (/piˈæt.sə/ especially in Italy: an open area of hard surface where there is no traffic)

They spent their most of the time on the square and did their work, ate, and played. At the back door of the house, there stood a butternut tree, and in front there so many trees that stood very close. The narrator would touch them and feel the wind shake their branches. Many visitors came to the Fern Quarry and in the evening, the men played cards and passed (whiled) away their time in talking and playing sports.

    They usually told the tales “of their wonderful feats (skillful acts) with fowl, fish, and quadruped (any four-legged animal)—how many ducks and turkeys they had shot, what ‘savage trout’ they had caught and how they had bagged the craftiest (cleverest) foxes, outwitted the most clever possums, and overtaken the fleetest (fastest) deer, and the rest of the wild tribe would not be able to stand before these wily (cunning) hunters.   

‘Tomorrow to the chase!’ was their good-night shout as the circle of merry friends broke up for the night.

 The men slept in the hall outside their (the narrator’s family) door and the narrator could feel the deep breathing of the dogs and the hunters as they lay their improvised (made with what is available at the time) beds.

   The author was awakened at dawn time by   “the smell of coffee the rattling (sound) of guns and the heavy footsteps of the men” as they came strode (walking with long steps) about.

They were promising themselves the greatest luck of the season. She also felt the stamping of the horses that were taken out of the town and tied to the trees under them.  

(the word used to draw attention)

   They stood for the whole night there neighing loudly feeling impatient to run off. Finally, the men mounted them, and “away went the steeds (horses available for riding) with bridles ringing and whips cracking and hounds racing ahead, and away went the champion hunters with hark and whoop (loud shout) and halloo (hallo)”.

 Later in the morning, the preparation for the barbecue was made.

A fire was lit at the bottom of a deep hole dug in the ground. Big sticks were laid crosswise at the top. The meat was hung from there.

Some persons were made to sit around the fire to drive away the flies with long branches. The pleasant smell of the meat made her hungry long before it was laid on the tables.

When the excitement of preparing meat was at its height, the hunting party appeared. The men were hot and weary (tired) the horses were covered with foam and the hounds were panting (taking quick breaths) due to tiredness.

 They were feeling dejected (sad) as they had been unable to kill even a single animal. However, they were defending themselves as to how they were very close to their success.

 One evening, she had her pony named ‘Black Beauty’ at Fern Quarry. She had spent so many happy hours on his back.

 

 Sometimes when her teacher thought it safe, she would let go the leading reign  (the rope used to control the horse) and then the pony moved leisurely (at its own will) on, or sometimes it would stop at his sweet will to eat grass or nibble (to bite in small bits)  the leaves of trees that were there at the side of that narrow track.

Sometimes Helen was not interested in riding her pony, the they would start rambling (the activity of going for long walks in the countryside) in the woods. They allowed themselves to get lost among the trees and vines. They were walking on no roads but the paths made by domestic animals like cows and horses. Sometimes they were not able to pass through the thickets, then they had to follow a roundabout way. They always returned to the cottage with armfuls of laurel, goldenrod, ferns, and gorgeous swamp flowers.

Sometimes she would go with her sister Mildred and her little cousins to collect persimmons. She did not eat them. She liked their fragrance and enjoyed hunting for them in the leaves and grass. They also loved nutting. They would open the chestnut burrs and break their shells of hickory nuts and the big and sweet walnuts.

After that, Helen describes that there was a railroad at the foot of the mountain and the children used to enjoy the train whiz by. Sometimes they would hear a terrific whistle that brought them to the steps and her little sister would also inform them in great excitement that there was a horse or a cow that had strayed on the track. At the distance of a mile, there was a trestle spanning a deep gorge. It was very difficult to walk on it as the ties were wide apart and so much narrow.

One day they had to walk over it because, her sister Mildred, Miss Sullivan, and she were lost in the woods. After wandering for hours, her sister pointed towards that trestle. As it was growing dark, they had no other option but to walk over the trestle. Helen had to feel for the rails with her toes, but she was not afraid. After some time, they heard “puff, puff…” from the distance.

Then Mildred cried that she could see a train. Helen says that the train could have run them over if they had not climbed down upon the cross braces () white it was rushing over their heads. She felt the hot breath (steam) of the engine on her face and the smoke and ashes had nearly choked them. She also describes how the trestle shook and swayed when the train rumbled by. With great difficulty, they regained the track. After a long time, they reached the cottage but found it empty. The family had gone hunting.

   

 

The Story of My Life-Helen Keller-Summary-Chapter 10

 CHAPTER X

Just before the Perkins Institution closed for the summer, it was arranged that my teacher and I should spend our vacation at Brewster, on Cape Cod, with our dear friend, Mrs. Hopkins. I was delighted, for my mind was full of the prospective (future/forthcoming/soon-to-be) joys and of the wonderful stories I had heard about the sea. My most vivid (clear) recollection (memories) of that summer is the ocean.

I had always lived far inland (at a long distance from the sea/ocean) and had never had so much as a whiff (slight smell carried by a current of air) of salt air, but I had read in a big book called "Our World" a description of the ocean which filled me with wonder and an intense longing (strong desire) to touch the mighty sea and feel it roar. So my little heart leaped high with eager excitement when I knew that my wish was at last to be realized. No sooner had I been helped into my bathing suit than I sprang out upon the warm sand and without thought of fear plunged (jumped) into the cool water.

I felt the great billows (fill with air and swell) rock (move up) and sink. The buoyant (afloat) motion of the water filled me with exquisite (superb), quivering (shuddering) joy. Suddenly my ecstasy (/ˈek.stə.si/ extreme feeling of happiness) gave place to terror; for my foot struck against a rock and the next instant there was a rush of water over my head. I thrust out my hands to grasp (grip) some support, I clutched (caught) at the water and at the seaweed (the plants that grow in the sea) which the waves tossed (thrown) in my face. But all my frantic (hysterical/out of control due to worry) efforts were in vain. The waves seemed to be playing a game with me and tossed me from one to another in their wild (violent) frolic (play).

It was fearful! The good (kind), firm earth had slipped from my feet, and everything seemed to shut out from this strange, all-enveloping element—life, air, warmth, and love. At last, however, the sea, as if weary (tired) of its new toy, threw me back on the shore, and in another instant, I was clasped (held) in my teacher's arms. Oh, the comfort of the long, tender embrace!

As soon as I had recovered from my panic sufficiently to say anything, I demanded: "Who put salt in the water?" After I had recovered from my first experience in the water, I thought it great fun to sit on a big rock in my bathing suit and feel wave after wave dash against the rock, sending up a shower of spray that quite covered me.

 I felt the pebbles (small stones) rattling (creating noise) as the waves threw their ponderous (heavy) weight against the shore; the whole beach seemed racked (troubled) by their terrific (wonderful) onset (arrival), and the air throbbed (beat) with their pulsations (rhythms). The breakers (wavers coming towards the shore) would swoop (jump) back to gather themselves for a mightier leap, and I clung to the rock, tense, fascinated (extremely interested), as I felt the dash (rush) and roar (howl) of the rushing sea! I could never stay long enough on the shore. The tang (strong, sharp taste or smell) of the untainted (pure), fresh, and free sea air was like a cool, quieting thought, and the shells and pebbles and the seaweed with tiny living creatures attached to it never lost their fascination for me.  

One day Miss Sullivan attracted my attention to a strange object that she had captured basking in the shallow  (not so deep)water. It was a great horseshoe crab —the first one I had ever seen. I felt him and thought it very strange that he should carry his house on his back. It suddenly occurred to me that he might make a delightful pet; so I seized (captured) him by the tail with both hands and carried him home.

This feat (act) pleased me highly, as his body was very heavy, and it took all my strength to drag him half a mile. I would not leave Miss Sullivan in peace until she had put the crab in a trough (container) near the well where I was confident he would be secure. But the next morning I went to the trough, and lo, he had disappeared! Nobody knew where he had gone, or how he had escaped.

My disappointment was bitter at the time, but little by little I came to realize that it was not kind or wise to force this poor dumb creature out of his element, and after a while, I felt happy in the thought that perhaps he had returned to the sea.

Q1.How did Helen react when she had her first trip to the ocean?

Q2.What was the unfortunate incident that happened with Nancy?

Q3. Describe the incident of capturing the horsecrab and what lesson did she learn from that incident?

 

 

 

The Story of My Life By Helen Keller-Summary-Chapter 9

 The Story of My Life By Helen Keller-Summary    Chapter 9

Helen’s visit to Boston was the next most important event of her life. She remembers all, the preparations, the departure with her teacher and her mother, the journey, and finally her arrival in Boston. She had made a journey to Baltimore two years before this journey. There was a lot of difference between the two journeys.

That time, she was a restless, excitable little creature who required the attention of everyone on the train to keep her amused.

She sat quietly near Miss Sullivan and listened to her teacher’s explanation intently. She explained all she was watching outside the car window.

She was explaining “all....the beautiful Tennesse river, the great cotton fields, the crowds of laughing negroes at the stations, who waved to the people on the train and brought delicious candy and popcorn balls through the car.

Her big rag doll was placed on the seat just in front of her. It was in a new dress made of ‘gingham (lightweight cotton cloth)’, looking at her from her two beady eyes. After some time, when her mind was diverted from her teacher’s explanation, she remembered her doll, Nancy. She would like to keep her in her arms, but she convinced herself that she was asleep.

   Helen wants to continue talking about Nancy. She continues with an experience that she had immediately after they arrived in Boston. She had compelled her doll to eat mud pies, so she was covered with mud, although she had never found any encouragement from the doll to eat them.

Then, the laundress at the Perkins Institution took it secretly and gave it a bath, which reduced it to be a formless heap of cotton, beyond recognition except for its two beady eyes.

At Perkins, Helen immediately started making friends with the blind children there. It delighted her very much that they knew the manual alphabet.

 

 

The Story of My Life-Helen Keller-Summary-Chapter 11

     Helen Adams Keller was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, on June 27, 1880. Her parents were Kate Adams Keller and Colonel Arthur Keller. Hele...