The Story of My Life
The Story of My Life by: Helen Keller
I. INTRODUCTION Helen Keller overcame different difficult obstacles of deafness and blindness to become an influential lecturer and social activist. She has become, in American culture, an icon of perseverance, respected and honored by readers, historians, and activists. Helen began working on The Story of My Life while she was a student at Radcliffe College, and it was first published in installments in Ladies’ Home Journal. Helping her was an editor and Harvard professor named John Albert Macy, who later married her first teacher and lifelong companion, Anne Sullivan. In the book Helen recounts the first twenty-two years of her life, from the events of the illness in her early childhood that left her blind and deaf through her second year at Radcliffe College. Prominent historical figures wander among the pages of The Story of My Life: She meets Alexander Graham Bell when she is only six and remains friends with him for years; she visits the acclaimed American poet John Greenleaf Whittier; and she exchanges correspondence with people like Oliver Wendell Holmes and Mrs. Grover Cleveland.
II. CONTENT A. Bibliographic Details of the Book
The Story of My Life
A Bantam Book
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Signet edition published October 1988
Bantam Classic edition / June 1990
Bantam reissue / November 2005
Published by
Bantam dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York
All Rights Reserved
B. Structure of the Book (Summary)
Chapters1–5 After providing brief descriptions of her home in Alabama and her family members, Helen explains how she became disabled and that’s because a fever she had when she was only nineteen months old left her blind and deaf and her first memories of being disabled, telling her early attempts to communicate. She reviews her parents’ efforts to find her medical treatment and educational assistance, as well as her early experiences with her first teacher, Anne
I. INTRODUCTION Helen Keller overcame different difficult obstacles of deafness and blindness to become an influential lecturer and social activist. She has become, in American culture, an icon of perseverance, respected and honored by readers, historians, and activists. Helen began working on The Story of My Life while she was a student at Radcliffe College, and it was first published in installments in Ladies’ Home Journal. Helping her was an editor and Harvard professor named John Albert Macy, who later married her first teacher and lifelong companion, Anne Sullivan. In the book Helen recounts the first twenty-two years of her life, from the events of the illness in her early childhood that left her blind and deaf through her second year at Radcliffe College. Prominent historical figures wander among the pages of The Story of My Life: She meets Alexander Graham Bell when she is only six and remains friends with him for years; she visits the acclaimed American poet John Greenleaf Whittier; and she exchanges correspondence with people like Oliver Wendell Holmes and Mrs. Grover Cleveland.
II. CONTENT A. Bibliographic Details of the Book
The Story of My Life
A Bantam Book
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Signet edition published October 1988
Bantam Classic edition / June 1990
Bantam reissue / November 2005
Published by
Bantam dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York
All Rights Reserved
B. Structure of the Book (Summary)
Chapters1–5 After providing brief descriptions of her home in Alabama and her family members, Helen explains how she became disabled and that’s because a fever she had when she was only nineteen months old left her blind and deaf and her first memories of being disabled, telling her early attempts to communicate. She reviews her parents’ efforts to find her medical treatment and educational assistance, as well as her early experiences with her first teacher, Anne