Helen Keller Narative Questions

1. What did you think of this narrative?
I found the narative a very interesting retrospective on the awakening of conscious thoughts.  I too felt a similar way when I relized that I was thinking clearly.  It something we all feel, but when your blind, and deaf and the world is dark, it has more signifigance I think.

2. What was most interesting or engaging about it?
The detail in which she describes learning the words, and feeling out the world is remarkable to me, she also uses metaphor effectively.


3. What surprised you?
How different the world can be if you can't see, or hear.  The sense of touch can supply that void with great detail.

4. Did this change your outlook on Helen Keller at all? Why or why not?
No, I never really had a set outlook on Hellen Keller in the first place.

5. Copy and paste three examples of vivid detail and imagery that helped enhance the story
   
      1) "As the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten--a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that "w-a-t-e-r" meant"
     
      2) Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding-line, and had no way of knowing how near the harbour was. "Light! give me light!" was the wordless cry of my soul, and the light of love shone on me in that very hour.3) "As we returned to the house every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life. That was because I saw everything with the strange, new sight that had come to me. On entering the door I remembered the doll I had broken. I felt my way to the hearth and picked up the pieces. I tried vainly to put them together. Then my eyes filled with tears; for I realized what I had done, and for the first time I felt repentance and sorrow.

      3)  "I left the well-house eager to learn. Everything had a name, and each name gave birth to a new thought. As we returned to the house every object which I touched seemed to quiver with life. That was because I saw everything with the strange, new sight that had come to me. On entering the door I remembered the doll I had broken. I felt my way to the hearth and picked up the pieces. I tried vainly to put them together. Then my eyes filled with tears; for I realized what I had done, and for the first time I felt repentance and sorrow."
      
6. How can a narrative be more engaging than something like a biography? Why is it important to get someone's personal perspective?

It's one of the only ways to truely feel the way the author feels, with great personal details, you understand (at least to the degree the author can describe such a narrative) how they felt.  A biography almost can seem impersonal because it takes an overview of the subject, it isn't as specific.

7. Make a bulltted lists of some things you could write a narrative about

• Times in the woods
• Moving from place to place (multiple times)
• My Enlistment into the US Army.
• Adventures of the Weekends (what I did on a particular weekend.)
• The time I broke my arm.

and many more...

I am from...

I am from the smell of the salt air

From palm trees, and the fruits of the islands

With their soft, warm touch, and their cool sweet tastes

That entices all men to adventure.

I am from the long deep, depths of the sea, from the cold blue

From the sparkling azure, to the glistening green that excited the

worthiest adventurers, brigands, smugglers and captains. 

I am from the earth

From the spicy red clay, to the hard desert cement

To the rolling greens, and rolling hills, to the smoky pines

And the sweet smell of the grass beneath my feet.

I am from the long road trips with multiple stops

From the long hours of boredom on the way to the great beyond.

To the “are we there yets” to the “I’m tireds” always making it to our destinations

I am from the long dusty nights; The crisp chill of the cold dry air hitting my face

From the dew on the ground, to the walk to the school bus

All seemed right with the world.

Survey

Survey:

1.)  Yes and no.  The main reason I do enjoy English classes is discussion and the ability to creatively write with little restriction.  I enjoy DIRECTION, not restriction. Telling me what to do can be done, but the best work comes out of me when I'm guided, not necessarily constricted.

2.)  Poetry, Notes to friends, Letters, Lists, Directions, anything creative. (Science fiction, Short Story, etc.)

3.)  Anything in the Fiction Category, Novels, Particularly Classic Novels.

4.)  I hate doing persuasive research papers. Anything where I cannot be creative and open, and where I have to cite sources takes away from my writing.   I enjoy being creative. 

5.)  D.

6.) Yes, I enjoy dicussing hard hitting topics and current events to see how people think.  I like encorporating personalities I meet into my fictional short stories. Makes it seem more... real.

7.) I will start the dicussion often, but most often, I contribute to keep it going, and steer conversations in different directions by asking rather open ended questions.

8.)  I am currently a Private Second Class in the United States Army reserve until I go active duty this summer after graduation. Go to mandated drill twice a month, but hang out with friends, and otherwise have a good time.

9.)  I literally sat in my house, made food, and wrote computer code.  Trying to make a program to keep track of all my personal data files (streamlined database)  (yes, went nerd mode)

10.) I just wish to be creative, and I tend to lose focus easily on dry subjects, as do most people. Keeping subjects interesting will keep me interested. 

11.)  Just excited to get started!