Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line, and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? What is helen comparing herself to

The correct answer to this open question is the following.

You did not include any text, book, or reference of these lines. You neither included the options for this question.

However, doing some deep research trying to help you, we found that you are referring to the book titled "The Story of My Life," written by Helen Keller.

So knowing that valuable information, we can say the following.

What Helen is comparing herself to is with the moment in her life where she had no clue about what to do with her path. She said that those moments were like she advanced without a compass, having no clue at all where "the harbor was."

The exact words she used in her text are: "I was like that ship before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding line, and had no way of knowing how near the harbor was."

That is why she thinks that her education was essential to fiend her way, Her education gave her knowledge, and most importantly, it gave her direction.