Chapter 4 Summary

Anne Sullivan came to teach Helen on March 3, 1887. Right away, Sullivan began to teach Helen to fingerspell using the manual alphabet. Helen enjoyed it as a game, but that is all it was to her at first.

Several weeks later, Helen became frustrated when Sullivan tried to teach her the difference between "mug" and "water." In a rage, Helen threw and broke a new doll. To cool Helen's temper, and perhaps to give herself a break, Sullivan took her pupil outdoors for a walk. The two came upon someone getting water from the pump. Just as she spelled everything else, Sullivan spelled "water" into Helen's hand, and something clicked. Helen suddenly understood that the spellings were names of things. The rest of that day was spent learning names for people close to her and the names of things in her surroundings. When she...