Olivia Strittmatter - Hellen Keller's The Story of My Life

Blog Post 1 - Outside Readings 1

Week 1

    This blog post is about the research I did on Helen Keller for class on Jan 28th. First of all, I had done a lot of research on Helen Keller when I was younger, and so I already had a bit of a background. I ended up looking up what the Tadoma Method is, because Helen used that method to understand others when they would speak, and this method is actually really interesting. It’s a language of its own, like reading a live person as if they’re a book.

    I had read Helen’s autobiography, The Story of My Life, a long time ago, and had remembered her story of the day she learned that things had names. Then when we went over it in class it made me see her experience in a different way. When I originally read her book, I imagined it more like when kids learn to read, where it opens up a new world; but when we discussed it in class it made me think about it differently. She talks about how learning that things have names awakened her soul, and that this didn’t just open a new world, but it gave her more access to the world that is around her. She was able to use this awakening of consciousness, and convert her life of dark silence into a world full of experiences, adventures, and accomplishments. I think that when I first read her book I was too young to truly understand her experience and how significant it was.

    I think that her being able to describe this experience, and being able to remember a time before language is very important. This shows a way that humans are different from other creatures, because yes other organisms communicate, but (as far as we know) they’re communications aren't as intricate and deep as humans are able to. Thus separating the way we view and experience the world and how non-humans experience the world.

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