The Miracle Worker: Act III

by William Gibson
Based on the autobiography of Helen Keller (The Story of My Life), this play explores how teacher Annie Sullivan helps a deaf and blind child develop the skills she needs to cope and to communicate.

Here are links to our lists for the play: Act I, Act II, Act III

Here is a link to our lists for Helen Keller's autobiography: The Story of My Life
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. audible
    heard or perceptible by the ear
    The stage is totally dark, until we see ANNIE and HELEN silhouetted on the bed in the garden house. ANNIE’S voice is audible, very patient, and worn; it has been saying this for a long time.
  2. interminable
    tiresomely long; seemingly without end
    The two weeks have been normal, quiet, all you say. But not short. Interminable.
  3. haggard
    showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
    In the garden house the lights commence to come up; ANNIE, haggard at the table, is writing a letter, her face again almost in contact with the stationery...
  4. wistful
    showing pensive sadness
    KATE [Almost wistful]. How—serene she is.
  5. disentangle
    extricate from a twisted mass
    She disentangles one foot from the wool chain and sets the chair before HELEN.
  6. manipulate
    hold something in one's hands and move it
    HELEN is playing with BELLE’S claws; she makes letters with her fingers, shows them to BELLE, waits with her palm, then manipulates the dog’s claws.
  7. indulge
    treat with excessive pampering
    You make us see how we indulge her for our sake. Is the opposite true, for you?
  8. disengage
    release from something that holds fast or entangles
    [She tries to disengage HELEN’S hand; KATE lays hers on ANNIE’S.]
  9. lament
    a cry of sorrow and grief
    But the moment ANNIE, rising, reaches for her hand, HELEN begins to fight and kick, clutching to the tablecloth and uttering laments.
  10. aversion
    a feeling of intense dislike
    It’s not unnatural, most of us take some aversion to our teachers, and occasionally another hand can smooth things out.
  11. trepidation
    a feeling of alarm or dread
    KATE rises in trepidation to mediate.
  12. mediate
    act between parties with a view to reconciling differences
    KATE rises in trepidation to mediate.
  13. transfixed
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
    HELEN drops the pitcher on the slab under the spout; it shatters. She stands transfixed.
  14. deprivation
    the disadvantage that results from losing something
    KATE comprehends it, their first act of verbal communication, and she can hardly utter the word aloud, in wonder, gratitude, and deprivation; it is a moment in which she simultaneously finds and loses a child.
  15. simultaneously
    at the same instant
    KATE comprehends it, their first act of verbal communication, and she can hardly utter the word aloud, in wonder, gratitude, and deprivation; it is a moment in which she simultaneously finds and loses a child.
Created on Wed Sep 27 10:21:16 EDT 2017 (updated Mon Apr 13 16:52:51 EDT 2026)

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