26 pages • 52 minutes read
Russell FreedmanOut of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braille
Nonfiction | Biography | Middle Grade | Published in 1997A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaIndex of Terms
Braille
Louis Braille’s raised-dot alphabet system of reading and writing, known simply as braille, is now used internationally. The reader runs a finger over impressions in order to interpret them.
Stylus
A stylus, in this context, is a sharp pin held like a pencil which can be used to create impressions in paper. Braille developed his system using a stylus. Modern inventions, like the braille typewriter, now allow Braille’s alphabet to be produced mechanically—rather than with a stylus.
Sonography
Captain Charles Barbier developed this method of communication. The system used dots and dashes to represent sounds and phrases, which could be combined to create words and sentences. Sonography, which Braille found promising but onerous, inspired him to create his own system of reading and writing using raised dots.
Braille cell
A braille cell is a series of three rows of two spaces. Raised dots within the cell denote letters of the alphabet. A different pattern is allocated to each of the twenty-six letters of the English/French alphabet. Braille has now been translated to many other languages.
Embossing
Embossing was a system of reading developed for blind students. Embossed letters are raised. Fingers can feel each letter to interpret them. Braille recognized that using the sighted alphabet for people who are blind was inefficient and challenging.
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By Russell Freedman
