A&E presents encore performances of one of early television’s most respected series, Perspective on Greatness. This episode provides an account of the life of famed author and world citizen, Helen Keller. Left blind and deaf by a childhood illness, Keller overcame her handicaps, attended college, learned to speak several languages and toured the world as an ambassador and advocate for the blind, the deaf and all other handicapped people, physically and socially.

Helen Keller: The World I See would be useful for classes on American History, American Culture, Women’s History, Ethics, Civics, Literature and Science and Technology. It is appropriate for middle school and high school.

• Absurd
• Articulate
• Astonish
• Cajole
• Clarify
• Encumbered
• Furor
• Inquisitive
• Larynx
• Persevere
• Phantom
• Phenomenon
• Reticent
• Silhouette
• Stigma
• Taboo

1. This documentary originally aired in 1962. Discuss the advances in television technology since then. How might this show be different if it were produced today? How is this show a primary resource? How does this show say as much about the early 1960s as it does about Helen Keller?

2. Alexander Graham Bell said he envied Helen Keller because of her unique tasks. What were these unique tasks? How did Helen Keller perform them?

3. A childhood illness left Helen Keller deaf and blind. How did she learn to communicate and overcome such severe handicaps?

4. The world over welcomed Helen Keller. Why did this woman have such universal appeal?

5. Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller’s teacher and companion, was a tremendous influence in Helen’s Keller’s life. How was Anne Sullivan Helen Keller’s “window to the world?”

6. Newsreels of the first half of the century show Helen Keller in a variety of situations. Discuss how newsreels of the era differ from news film of today.

7. Discuss Helen Keller’s role in social and political activism. How did Helen Keller change the world for the better?

8. How did Helen Keller learn to speak? Why was her speech so difficult to understand?

9. Helen Keller was an ambassador for handicapped people. How did she help handicapped people live better and fuller lives in a time when there was much doubt about their abilities?

10. Discuss how and why Helen Keller was a citizen of the world.

1. Create a timeline of Helen Keller’s life.

2. Create posters for the suffrage movement.

3. Using a blindfold for an hour or so, try to imagine what life is like for the blind. Write an essay about your experience.