Helen Keller
Have you finished the [vocab word=essay]essay[/vocab] about a [vocab word=historical]historical[/vocab] [vocab word=figure]figure[/vocab]? Which historical figure did you choose to write about?
Robert and Emily have an essay assignment to do for their school.
A historical figure is a real person in the past. Usually, a historical figure is a famous person.
I chose Helen Keller. I have [vocab word=enormous]enormous[/vocab] respect for her.
Helen Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer in the early 20th century. She was also deaf (cannot hear anything) and blind (cannot see anything).
She was both [vocab word=deaf]deaf[/vocab] and blind, wasn’t she?
Yes, exactly. She accomplished great things [vocab word=even though]even though[/vocab] she was born deaf and blind. For example, she was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.
"Even though she was born deaf and blind" is a subordinate clause. You expect a deaf and blind person to not accomplish anything. BUT, she (Helen Keller) accomplished great things. "she was born deaf and blind" and "she accomplished great things" are two contrasting (opposite / different) ideas, and you are connecting them with "even though".
That surely gave a lot of hope and courage to children with disabilities. How did she manage to do that [vocab word=despite]despite[/vocab] her disabilities?
Many deaf and blind children got hope and courage when deaf and blind Helen Keller accomplished many things.
"despite" is another conjunction showing contrasting ideas.
She did it through lots of hard work and [vocab word=determination]determination[/vocab]. Her teacher, Anne Sullivan, also played an important [vocab word=role]role[/vocab]. [vocab word=although]Although[/vocab] she was unable to communicate like us, Helen Keller eventually learned to read, write, and even speak with the help of her teacher.
Anne Sullivan was Helen Keller's teacher. She helped Helen Keller read, write, and speak.
[vocab word=Incredible]Incredible[/vocab].
Anne Sullivan used her [vocab word=finger]finger[/vocab] to spell the names of [vocab word=object]objects[/vocab] to Helen’s hand. Helen learned to connect objects with the words spelled out by Anne. Eventually, she learned that everything had a name.
Anne Sullivan wrote words onto Helen Keller's hand and let her touch the object for the word. That's how Helen Keller learned words.
It could not have been easy for Helen Keller or Anne Sullivan.
Robert is using a modal verb + perfect tense to make a guess about the past. Robert is sure that learning words was very difficult for Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan.
Indeed. But, despite facing a lot of [vocab word=obstacle]obstacles[/vocab], she never gave up. Her [vocab word=resilience]resilience[/vocab] was amazing.
"Despite facing a lot of obstacles" is a preposition + gerund (-ing verb) pattern. It's the same thing as "Even though she faced a lot of obstacles".
It shows how her disabilities didn't come in her way to [vocab word=achieve]achieve[/vocab] her dreams.
Her disabilities (being deaf and blind) didn't stop her from achieving her dreams.
Exactly. In spite of many challenges, she became an [vocab word=author]author[/vocab] of 12 books, a [vocab word=public speaker]public speaker[/vocab], and an [vocab word=activist]activist[/vocab].
"In spite of many challenges" is a contrasting idea. If she has many challenges, we expect she can't become an author, a speaker, or an activist. BUT, she did become an author, a speaker, and an activist.
I didn’t know she was an author and a speaker. What other roles did she play in her life?
Robert is asking, what else did she do in her life?
She supported women's [vocab word=right]right[/vocab] to [vocab word=vote]vote[/vocab] among other things.
If women don't have the right to vote, it means women cannot vote in an election.
I can see why you respect her.
Although society didn't expect much from her, her determination led her to overcome many obstacles. Her story shows that you can do anything with enough determination.
"Although society didn't expect much from her" is a subordinate clause. "Although" is a conjunction.
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