MONT 104S Perception and VR

    College of the Holy Cross, Fall 2008

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    Assignment 6

    Part 1, Due: Wednesday, October 22, in class

    Part 2, Due: Friday, October 24, in class

    Part 1: Hellen Keller's Perception of the World
    Due Wednesday, October 22, in class.
    Note: We will be discussing these topics in class on the due date, so it is important that you finish this assignment by then and bring it to class.

    Reading:

    • Finish reading "The story of my life", by Helen Keller.
      You do not have to read the collection of letters at the end.
    • Read "The World I live in", by Helen Keller, Ch's 1 and 4
      You can access this on the library's electronic reserves site.
      Search on Self. Then choose MONTSelf. Enter the password.

    Question 1:
    Helen Keller's descriptions often use visual imagery, describing things that she could not have experienced firsthand (e.g. the color of a flower). However, some of her descriptions only seem to be visual because we, as readers, interpret words such as "beauty" in visual terms and often visualize items being described in the scene.

    Find two descriptive passages in "The story of my life" (The passages should be of at least 1/2 page in length) in which Helen Keller describes a scene in the world.

    a) One passage should be a description of things she could have experienced firsthand through touch, smell and taste. (If you cannot find one that can completely be her firsthand experience, find one that she could have experienced almost all of by firsthand experience). Be aware that terms like "beauty" that we associate with vision, she can experience through touch. Also be aware that she can experience sounds, such as a "thud", through the feeling of vibrations or jolts.

    Write a half page to a page (typed, double-spaced) describing how she could have sensed the things she describes in the scene without sight or hearing or the help of her teacher.

    b) The second passage should be one in which she uses visual imagery of which she could not have firsthand knowledge. For example, the use of color images, the description of the distant mountains, etc.

    Write a half page to a page analyzing which parts of the scene she could not have firsthand knowledge of and why you think she could not. Were some parts of the scene accessible to her? How you think she obtained knowledge of these scenes if she could not experience them firsthand?

    Part 2: Hellen Keller's Sense of herself
    Due Friday, October 24, in class.
    Note: We will be discussing these topics in class on the due date, so it is important that you finish this assignment by then and bring it to class.

    Reading:

    • "Worded Images, Imaged Words," by Mark Freeman

    Some people criticized Helen Keller, saying that everything she thought and perceived came from somewhere else--either from her teacher, Annie Sullivan, or from books. Write a half page to a page answering the following questions.

    Question 2:
    Because Helen Keller could not see or hear, some of her critics claimed she had no self. To what extent is our self-hood dependent on our vision and our hearing? Is it possible to develop a sense of self without experiencing the world through sight or sound? How?

    Question 3:
    Helen Keller relied extensively on language and imagination to fill in the gaps in her sensory perception. She particularly relied on her teacher, Annie Sullivan, to describe things to her, and on books, to gain knowledge about the world. Her critics claimed that, because of this reliance on language, there was nothing authentic in her thoughts or writings--it all was plagiarism of what she had read or been told. Do you agree with these critics? To what extent is our self-hood (our thoughts, feelings, perception of the world) dependent on language and what we have read or been told? How does having sight and hearing add to our development of selfhood (if it does)?

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    Constance Royden--croyden@mathcs.holycross.edu
    MONT 104S, Perception and VR
    Date Created: January 26, 2008
    Last Modified: September 19, 2008
    Page Expires: September 19, 2009