High critical appraise and winner of the Tony Award for Best Play in 1960, the year following the script's debut on Broadway.
This play is based on the autobiography of Helen Keller, focusing on the character of Helen's teacher Anne Sullivan and the struggle and ultimate triumph of this woman's struggle to teach Helen how to communicate and understand the world around her. Dramatic action must serve as a substitute for more direct textual exposition, making a reading of the play somewhat lackluster in comparison with viewing a full performance of the script. The characters are fully realized and highly compelling, however, and though the plot is generally well-known amongst most readers of a certain age level, the details and lifelike qualities of the story as told herein serve to freshen the tale and add new perspective to preconceived notions.
Analytical Comments
Comes off necessarily old-fashioned and somewhat forced to the modern reader, especially younger readers
Provides ample opportunity for the discussion of character in literature and story telling
Avenue for discussion of differences, capability levels, and unfair inferences that can be drawn regarding such issues
Clear characterization and story arc make for valuable discussion of literary construction on many levels
High emotional content and understanding demonstrated in the story/characters as well
Lesson Ideas
Act out a scene from the play, then switch roles
Discuss how the different perspectives change understanding
Design a set on which the play can take place, incorporating practical, aesthetic, and symbolic elements
Share one line of the play that you think completely demonstrates one of the characters, and explain why
Describe something to a partner without naming it, and with their eyes close, and see if they can guess what it is
Bruchac, Joseph. Pushing Up the Sky: Seven Native American Plays for Children. Teresa Flavin, ill. New York:...
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