DEEP WATER( CLASS XII FLAMINGO)

Justification of Title

This memoir is appropriately entitled “Deep Water” as in it the author recounts his fear of swimming following an incident in which he had been swept away by a wave. Another incident which further aggravated his fear was when a bully pushed him into the deep side of a swimming pool and he nearly drowned. But slowly and steadily he overcome his fear through determination and string will. He even took the services of an instructor. He also swam in different rivers, lakes and seas to overcome his fear. The title also signifies that the author’s fear was a deep rooted. In short, the title is appropriate.

SUMMARY:- 

 DEEP WATER

William Douglas

The author William Douglas talks about his fear of water and how he finally overcomes it. He narrates an autobiographical incident that occurred when he was ten or eleven years old and almost drowned in the Y.M.C.A swimming pool. In result he developed a fear of water, which he was able to conquer after several years because of sheer determination. The lesson conveys the message that is not death but fear of death that creates terror and anxiety in our mind so the fear needs to be shaken off.

Notes

v A childhood Longing

·        Douglas plans to learn swimming.

·        Y.M. C.A. Pool chosen as safe as Yakima.

·        River had claimed many lives (Treacherous)

v Preparation to start swimming

·        Gets a pair of water wings

·        Ashamed of exposing skinny legs

·        Decides to learn by imitating others.

v Fear off water

·        The result of childhood fear

·        Father took it lightly but Douglas became terrified

·        Again Y.M.C. A port revived unpleasant memories

·        Again strike with fear e Misadventure in pool

v One day sitting alone at the pool waiting for others.

·        Soon eighteen year old boy arrive.

·        Calls him skinny hurls him into deep side of water

·        Douglas falls in to water in a sitting position.

v Douglus plan to come out of water

·        Goes to the bottom of pool

·        Is frightened but alert

·        Plans to push himself upward on touching the bottom

·        Next to lie flat and reach at the edge of the pool

·        Nine feet appear like ninety feet

·        Lungs ready to burst

·        Douglas hits the bottom with whole strength

·        Reaches to surface but again starts going down

·        Tries to clutch a rope, to find stairs_

·        Nothing but water runs through fingers

·        Feels suffocated

·        Water swallowed

·        Legs stiff like life less objects

v Effort in vain

·        A futile struggle

·        Dizziness with aching lungs and throbbing head

·        Acute physical discomfort

·        Unable even to scream

·        Still does not give up

·        Comes out of water-but starts going down for the third time

·        Douglas now gives up all efforts

·        Total relaxation

·        Passes into oblivion

v Consciousness regained

·        Find himself out of the pool vomiting

·        The matured boy makes excuse

·        Hours later weak and trembling reaches home.

·        Develops phobia of water

·        Avoid going close to water bodies.

v Longing of swimming Revived again

·        Fear of childhood followed him

·        Fear deprive him from swimming, fishing, canoeing boating

·        Determined to finally defeat fear

·        Engaged an instructor

·        A rope attached to belt put around him

·        Rope went through pulley

·        Practiced for weeks together

vOvercome fear

·        Learnt exhaling, inhaling while swimming

·         Initially legs were stiff- but gradually relaxed

·        Finally given clean chit by instructor

·        Again tried swimming alone in pool

·        All fear shed off

v Winner Douglas got a new experience.

·        Went to warm lake

·        Dived and swam across the lake

·        Fear of water won

·        Realise- death is full of peace

·        Fear of death terrorises

100 Words

VALUE BASED QUESTIONS

5 Marks

100 Words

Deep Water

Q. Doing well in any activity, for example a sport, music, dance or painting, riding a motorcycle or a cars, involves a great deal of struggle. Most of us are very nervous to begin with until gradually we overcome our fears and perform well.

Write a paragraph of about 100 words recounting such an experience. Try to recollect details of what caused the fear, your feelings, the encouragement you got from others or the criticism.

You could begin with the last sentenced of the essay DEEP WATER – “ At last I felt released, free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and to brush aside fear.”

Ans.                                       Doing Well- A Great Struggle

At last I felt released, free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and to brush aside fear. Now the haunting fear had been shed and I can drive not only the motorcycle but the car also on the crowded roads of Delhi without any trace of fear in me.

When for the first time I rode a motorcycle I felt very thrilled. Moreover, I drove on an empty road in the rural part after sunset. It was after travelling a distance of four kilometers I drove back. At a sharp curve a passenger bus came from opposite side. To my utter horror, I could notice the fallen-tree on my road-side when I just reached it. It had no choice but to drive down the road. I jumped flat behind, leaving the running motorcycle in the grove of trees. I was badly hurt and found the bike damaged form standing in the trees. I was fear-struck and helpless. The driving fear followed me whenever I drove.

At last, I engaged an instructor to teach me driving. It was one hour daily for one month. I was given a signal to drive independently. I drove on busy roads, crowded roads, jammed roads and finally, on roads with deep curves in the hills. It made me to feel free of the haunting driving fear. The residual fear also was over a long time. I won it, and felt free to drive.

Q. Taking references from the story ’Deep Water’, write a paragraph on ‘Practice Makes a Man Perfect’.

Ans. Life teaches us many things. We are not well trained or learned person since our birth. Life provides us opportunities to learn. We break the shackles of myths and prejudices to learn more and more. Due to one incident or other, many phobias start ruling one’s heart. This is really a pathetic condition. Terrors and fears are a part of life but their phase must be temporary. One needs to practice over and over again till he gets mastery over the issue. This is all about hope, struggle and determination and nothing else. As it is rightly said, ‘Faith can move mountains.’ So practicing hard for a thing brings fruitful results.

Q.  Look at the following quotes:

Reading all these and the lesson ‘Deep Water’ you decide to write a paragraph for your school magazine on ‘How to overcome trouble’.

Ans.                                       How to Overcome Trouble

            Life is a mixture of the ‘Pleasant’ and the ‘Unpleasant’, of joy and sorrow. As the Psalmist declares – “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Joy and sorrow follow each other as day follows night. But when suffering comes, the period appears to be long. A year of joy appears as a day and a day of suffering appears longer than a year.

Suffering is not a part of life. It is a teacher. We would miss some of the best lessons in life, if suffering did not come to us. Many of us don not recognize this truth and do all we can to avoid a painful experience. When trouble approaches, we try to run away from it, but trouble can never be avoided. The unpleasant experience recedes - only for a while to return to us again. By avoiding trouble, we invite grater trouble at a later stage. There are some who knowing that trouble cannot be avoided, resign themselves to the experiences which fall to their lot. They do not resist; they become resigned. Often such persons are heard to say: ‘What cannot be cured must be endured.’

Q. “All we have to fear is fear itself”, the narrator in the lesson ‘deep water ‘Quotes Roosevelt while narrating his experience of going deep in water and all the rest of it. Narrate another story about conquest of fear and how courage helped one to survive under the stress.

ANS:                                     ‘An Act of Courage’

It is the real story of Asma khan, who was awarded for saving about 40 children from drowning ‘.

It was a horror scene in suburban Mumbai, rain lashed on the ground. A hundred children wailed in terror in a cramped, dark hall. Water gushed in from all sides and inched up. The inmates of ‘bal girha’ of the children’s aid society sang and their prayer. Asma was the odd one out.

She started calculating how soon the children will start drowning. She instantly picked up two of the smaller kids and jumped into water-nearly five feet of dirty, black liquid! She didn’t know how to swim. So, slowly she moved across the slippery ground, keeping her head up to keep water from getting into her mouth and nose. She made over a dozen such trips, carry nearly 40 kids on her shoulders to safety. Wasn’t she scared? Someone asked her. “Nothing scares me “, she says. The girl doesn’t know who or where her parents were. But Asma certainly knows about parenting than most. At this tender age, she has already conquered fear!

Q. ‘All we have to fear is fear itself’. The story ‘Deep Water’ is about Douglas’ fear water and how he finally overcomes it.

After reading the text, you strongly feel that there is nothing to be afraid of. One can adapt virtues like courage, strong determination, hard toil, strong will power and the desire to learn, to reach the highest peak in life. Write a speech in about 1000 words to be delivered in the morning assembly of your school on the topic ‘Fear Does not let One Conquer’.

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