Question

Read the excerpt from "Optimism Within" by Helen Keller. Then, make a claim about the author’s purpose for writing the text. Support your claim with evidence from the passage and commentary about how the author uses language to achieve that purpose.
How did you do? Rate your work on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 as the highest score. Then write a brief evaluation of your work below. Note what you learned and what challenged you.

Answer 1

I inferred you are referring to this excerpt from the text;

"Most people measure their happiness in terms of physical pleasure and material possession. Could they win some visible goal which they have set on the horizon, how happy they could be! Lacking this gift or that circumstance, they would be miserable. If happiness is to be so measured, I who cannot hear or see have every reason to sit in a corner with folded hands and weep. If I am happy in spite of my deprivations, if my happiness is so deep that it is a faith, so thoughtful that it becomes a philosophy of life, — if, in short, I am an optimist, my testimony to the creed of optimism is worth hearing."

Explanation:

The author here uses her personal experience of been deaf-blind to assert that an individual's happiness is not dependent on his or her circumstances. Helen says "I who cannot hear or see...I am happy in spite of my deprivations if my happiness is so deep that it is a faith, so thoughtful that it becomes a philosophy of life."

We notice her use of convincing language such as when she says "my testimony to the creed of optimism is worth hearing", this language gives her message a convincing feel.

Answer 2

Answer:

The purpose of the passage is to convey the idea that great suffering leads to happiness. Keller states that "most people measure their happiness in terms of…pleasure and material possession" or reaching some kind of "visible goal." She points out that if "happiness is to be so measured" then she "who cannot hear or see" would "have every reason to sit in a corner…and weep." However, she is "happy in spite of" her hardships and feels optimistic. She goes on to explain how once she felt hopeless and that "darkness lay on the face of all things" but that "love came and set my soul free" and now she knows "hope and joy." Keller’s language is meant to highlight the fact that Keller has not had the same advantages as others, yet she is still able to find joy in life. She then asks a rhetorical question: "Can anyone who has not escaped such captivity, who has felt the thrill and glory of freedom, be a pessimist?" This question emphasizes the idea that only by experiencing suffering and then breaking free from it, can one truly appreciate the feeling of joy. In the last sentence, Keller uses straightforward language to further her purpose by stating, "only by contact with evil could I have learned to feel by contrast the beauty of truth and love and goodness."