Deep Water by William Douglas, Class 12 English CBSE (Summary, literary devices, vocabulary and extract based question-answer)
DEEP WATER
By William Douglas
Detailed summary, extract-based questions with their answer and very short questions and their answer and word meanings
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Introduction
This story "Deep Water" highlights if there is willpower; if there is determination; if there is hard work; if there is the power to go through suffering, nothing is impossible. The story also expresses the ill effects of bullying. Another important thing highlighted is that fear is the biggest obstruction in progress and development. Until we remove the fear, we cannot move on smoothly.
About the author
William Douglas was born in 1898 in Maine, Minnesota. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Economics. Thereafter, he started teaching in a school in Yakima. But the teaching profession was uninteresting. Therefore, he turned towards a legal career. He became a famous lawyer and remained a judge for a record 36 years. William Douglas was also a leading advocate of individual rights. This very lesson 'Deep Water' has been extracted from the book "Of Men and Mountains'' written by William Douglas.
DIFFICULT WORDS AND THEIR MEANINGS
Aversion- dislike
Surf- wave of the sea
Revived- brought back to mind
Aping- copying
Bruiser- a person who is strongly built and aggressive
Specimen- example
Skinny- very thin
Ducked- push someone into the water
Tossed- threw
Wits- intelligence
Summoned- gathered
Bob- jump
Tinge- the touch of colour
Yell- scream
Dizzy- unsteady
Stark- severe/complete
Pounding- repeated beating
Ceased- ended
Limp- lifeless
Oblivion- state of being unconscious
Wobbly - weak/unstable
Canoes- small boats
Slack- reduce
Vestiges- traces
Miniature- small or little
EXPLANATION OF DEEP WATER
It had happened when I was ten or eleven years old. I had decided to learn to swim. ………… but there was terror in my heart at the overpowering force of the waves.
The incident that William Douglas describes in this lesson took place in his life when he was ten or eleven years old.
William Douglas decided to learn swimming when he was 10 or 11 years old. He had two options - one the Yakima River and another the YMCA pool.
The Yakima River was considered treacherous or dangerous. To make matters worse, his mother used to describe over and over again all those people who drowned in the Yakima River. That was the reason that William Douglas did not go to the Yakima River for swimming.
Another option for William Douglas was the YMCA pool. It was considered safe as there was only two to three feet of water at the shallow end and 9 feet at the deep end. Moreover, the drop was also gradual.
William Douglas equipped himself with water wings and decided to go to the YMCA pool. When he started going, initially he did not want to show his lean and thin legs but finally, he was able to overcome his false pride and entered the pool.
William Douglas further talks about one incident which took place when he went to the California beach along with his father. As there were waves, he continued to hang around his father. Suddenly a highwave came and almost buried him. It appeared to him that his breath had gone. William Douglas was frightened, but his father was laughing.
Q. How old was William Douglas when he decided to learn swimming?
Ans. 10 or 11 years old.
Q. What were the two options for William Douglas to learn swimming?
Ans. The Yakima River and the YMCA pool.
Q. Why did he not opt for the Yakima River?
Ans. It was treacherous and Douglas's fear increased when his mother described all those people who drowned in the Yakima River.
Q. Why did William Douglas decide to go to the YMCA pool?
Ans. The YMCA pool was considered safe as there was only two to three feet of water at the shallow end and nine feet at the deep end. The drop was gradual.
Q. Why did William Douglas not want to show his legs?
Ans. Douglas was lean and thin and that's why he did not want to show his skinny legs.
Q. Describe Douglas's experience at the California beach.
Ans. William Douglas was around three or four years old when he went to the California beach with his father. He was quite afraid to see the waves, and therefore, he continued to hang around his father. Suddenly a high wave rose and he felt buried in water. It appeared to him that his breath had gone. On the other hand, his father just laughed instead of comforting him.
My introduction to the YMCA swimming pool revived unpleasant memories ……….. He yelled "Hi Skinny! How would you like to be ducked?"
Douglas shed off his false pride and started going to the YMCA pool. Initially, he was in a panic. But very soon the fear began disappearing. He would copy others and paddle with his water wings and felt a bit comfortable.
One day William Douglas went to the YMCA pool and found none. The water was still. According to William Douglas, the bottom of the pool was just like the bottom of a bathtub. But still, he did not have the courage to enter the pool. Therefore, he sat near the edge of the pool and waited for others to come.
While William Douglas was waiting, a bruiser of a boy came. He was around 18 with strong and rippling muscles and hair on his chest. When he saw Douglas sitting, he said, "Hi skinny! how it would be to be ducked?" Then he lifted Douglas and threw him into the pool's deep end.
Q. Describe the feelings of William Douglas when he started visiting the YMCA pool.
Ans. William Douglas had the fear of water and it came back to him when he began to visit the YMCA pool. But within a few days, he was able to get rid of his fear and started paddling copying others.
Q. Which literary device has been used in the line "the tiled bottom was as white and clean as a bathtub"?
Ans. Simile has been used.
Q. Describe the physical appearance of the bruiser of a boy or the boy who threw William Douglas into the deep end of the pool.
Ans. He was around 18 years old with rippling muscles and his chest was full of hair.
Q. Who said," Hi Skinny! How'd you like to be ducked?
Ans. The bruiser of a boy who threw William Douglas into the pool's deep end.
With that, he picked me up and talked me into the deep end. ………… I had started on the long journey back to the bottom of the pool.
The bully boy or that very bruiser of a boy lifted William Douglas and threw him into the pool's deep end. Douglas started going down in the sitting position. There is no doubt that he was extremely frightened but still not out of his wits or he had not lost his senses completely.
Therefore, while he was going down the pool, he made a strategy or plan. He thought after touching the bottom of the pool he would jump using his full energy and stamina and believed that he would soon come to the surface, lie flat, and paddle to the edge of the pool.
While he was going down the pool which was just 9 feet. Later, when he jumped, he came up very slowly. His eyes and his nose were out, but not his mouth. He tried to get hold of something but only he could catch water.
William Douglas, after coming to the surface, was flailing. When he tried to lift his legs they seemed to be dead weights. His limbs appeared to be paralysed. It appears that a great force was pulling him. He screamed but only the water could hear him and then he started going back to the bottom of the pool the second time.
Q. Why did the bruiser of the boy throw William Douglas into the YMCA pool?
Ans. It can be called the case of bullying. The boy did it just out of fun because he realised that Douglas was afraid of water.
Q. How did William Douglas feel when he was thrown into the water by the bully boy?
Ans. He was frightened but not out of his wits.
Q. What was the strategy or plan made by William Douglas?
Ans. He planned that after touching the bottom of the pool, he would jump using his maximum energy believing that he would soon come to the surface of the water, lie flat and then paddle to the edge of the pool.
Q. The 9-foot-deep pool appeared to be……
Ans.90 ft
Q. Which parts of Douglas' body came out of water?
Ans. His eyes and nose.
Q. What happened when William Douglas tried to lift his legs?
Ans. His legs appeared to be paralysed and rigid.
Q. What happened when Douglas screamed?
Ans. Only water could hear him.
I struck at the water as I went down expending my strength as one in a nightmare fight……….. Then I started down a third time. I sucked for air and got water. The yellowish light was going out.
In fact, William Douglas made his best efforts to lift his legs and paddle to the edge of the pool, but all his efforts proved futile. When he started going down the second time once again he was frightened. It appeared to him that he was having a nightmare fight. His head was throbbing and he was feeling giddy or dizzy but still, he remembered the strategy.
According to Douglas he started going down and down and saw nothing except water. Once again the fear took him in its grip, paralysed his limbs, and the parts of his body seemed to be stiff and rigid.
Despite all these, he did not forget the strategy.
But when he jumped, it did not make any difference at all. He wanted to hold something like a ladder or rope, but once again he caught water. And fear took complete control over him. His arms and legs could not move at all. And then surprisingly he felt that he was coming up. Once again his eyes were out, his nose was out, but not his mouth. A little later he started going down the third time.
Q. What has been referred to as a nightmare fight?
Ans. Fight against water
Q. What has been termed as an irresistible force?
Ans. Water
Q. What did William Douglas feel when he started going down a second time?
Ans. Once again he was frightened. His lungs ached and there was throbbing in his head. He was feeling dizzy.
Q. What happened when William Douglas tried to lift his legs?
Ans. His legs appeared to be dead weight and paralysed.
Q. What happened when William Douglas tried to jump a second time?
Ans. It did not make any difference initially. But a little later he started coming up.
Then all efforts ceased. I relaxed. ………………… I crossed to oblivion and the curtain of life fell.
A little later William Douglas started going down the third time. Thereafter, he realised that he would not be able to save himself in any way. Therefore, he stopped making efforts. Surprisingly, he felt relaxed. and as soon as the realisation came that his end was certain, the fear disappeared. It appeared to him that he was floating in the air and his mother's arms. Gradually he started going to an unconscious state of mind. He thought that he was dead.
Q. What were Douglas' feelings while he was going down the third time?
Ans. William Douglas realised that his end was certain. So, he stopped making efforts. As a result the fear suddenly disappeared. William Douglas felt that he was floating in the air.
Q. When did the fear disappear?
Ans. When Douglas ceased his efforts thinking that his end was certain.
The next I remember I was lying on my stomach ……………. Making me wobbly in my stomach.
For some time William Douglas thought that he was dead. But that was not so. When he regained consciousness he found himself lying at the edge of the pool vomiting. The boy who threw him was saying that he was just fooling or making fun. Someone told that the kid nearly died. William Douglas was then taken to the locker room.
According to Douglas when he was returning home, he was feeling weak and trembling. That night he could not eat, just cried a lot. The fear continued to haunt him for so many days and even a slight exertion made him feel upset.
Q. Where did William Douglas find himself when he regained consciousness?
Ans. He found himself beside the pool lying on his stomach and vomiting.
Q. How did the bully boy or bruiser of a boy defend himself?
Ans. The boy who had thrown Douglas into the deep end of the pool defended himself saying that he was just fooling or making fun.
Q. Where was Douglas carried?
Ans. Locker room
Q. How did William Douglas feel while he was going back home?
Ans. Felt weak and he was shivering
Q. How did the experience of the YMCA pool affect Douglas?
Ans. It took away his confidence. Even the slightest exertion made him somewhat wobbly in the knees and sick to his stomach.
I never went back to the pool. I feared water. I avoided it whenever I could………….. deprived me of the joy of canoeing, boating, and swimming.
According to Douglas, he could not dare to go back to the pool. The fear which he had developed in the YMCA pool continued to be with him. He could not even put his legs in the water. He began to avoid water as much as he could.
Even when he became an adult, he tried to get rid of his fear. He visited different pools and rivers for swimming, boating, or fishing but all went in vain.
As soon as he put his legs in the water, the old terror haunted and consequently, he had to withdraw. Thus he could not enjoy fishing or swimming or boating or canoeing. In other words, we can say he was deprived of water sports.
Q. What was the long-term effect of the misadventure at the YMCA pool?
Ans. The fear continued to be with him for years. Whenever he put his legs in the water, the fear came back to him and he had to withdraw.
Q. Why did William Douglas decide to engage the instructors?
Ans. William Douglas, after the misadventure at the YMCA pool, could not enjoy water sports like swimming or boating or fishing or canoeing. The fear of water had been so much that he could not even put his legs in the water. Therefore he decided to engage the instructor.
I used every way I knew to overcome this fear, but it held me firmly in its grip. ………… And off I’d go for another length of the pool.
According to William Douglas, he made his best efforts to get rid of the fear of water. Finally, when he realised that he couldn't overcome his fear, he engaged an instructor one October.
The instructor, first of all, put a belt around his waist and attached it with the rope which passed through a pulley set on the overhead cable. The instructor used to loosen the rope and William Douglas started going down. Then he pulled up and Douglas came out of the water. For many weeks the same exercise went on. William Douglas used to go to the pool 5 days a week and every day for almost 1 hour.
Moreover, the instructor asked Douglas to breathe in, go underwater and then breathe out. This practice also continued for many days. Bit by bit he started shedding off his fear.
When the fear started decreasing, the instructor held on to Douglas near the edge of the pool and asked him to kick with his legs. Initially, he was unable to lift his legs but gradually he could. Thereafter the instructor trained him in different strokes.
In April next year, the instructor said that Douglas could go to any pool and swim. In this way, training was over after many months. But, according to Douglas, the training by the instructor was finished, but he did not stop.
After getting the training from the instructor, William Douglas was not sure whether the fear would haunt him when he was alone in the pool. Therefore, he started going to the pool. William Douglas noticed that the fear had not completely disappeared. Sometimes when he was in the pool, he was haunted by the fear but he challenged saying,” trying to scare”, and then he practised even more.
Q. How many days and how much time did Douglas spend swimming?
Ans. One hour every day and 5 days a week.
Q. What did the trainer or instructor do with Douglas first?
Ans. The trainer or the instructor tried to remove Douglas’s fear.
Q. When did the training by the instructor start?
Ans. In October and ended in April.
Q. What does the expression "the instructor was finished but I was not finished" mean?
Ans. The expression means the training by the instructor was finished but he did not stop making efforts to get rid of his fear. He wanted that he should remove the fear completely. That’s why, he visited different lakes and rivers all alone to make sure that he had conquered the fear of water.
Q. Who refers to in this extract?
Ans.William Douglas
Q. Which literary device/ figure of speech has been used in this paragraph?
Ans. Personification has been used as fear has been treated as a human being. (Trying to scare me, eh? Well here is to you)
Q. What did William Douglas do after the training by the instructor had been finished?
Ans. As William Douglas was not sure whether the fear had completely gone even after the training by the instructor he continued to visit the pool and practised there.
This went on till July. But I was still not satisfied ……… It fled and I swam on.
Despite his practice in the pool, Douglas was not satisfied. Therefore, he went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire. There he crossed the lake to the Stamp Act Island. According to Douglas, he swam using all the strokes-backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke, etc. Only once the fear haunted him when he was in the middle of the lake. But he did not get panicky. On the contrary, he challenged the terror, and then the fear disappeared.
Q. Where did William Douglas go to test whether there was any fear left?
Ans. William Douglas went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire to ensure that all the fear had left.
Q. What happened when William Douglas went to Lake Wentworth in New Hampshire and he was swimming?
Ans. William Douglas went to Lake Wentworth and swam from Triggs Island to Stamp Act Island. He crossed almost 2 miles and only when he was in the middle of the lake, the fear haunted but in miniature. Again he challenged the fear and it disappeared immediately.
Q. Which literary device has been used in these lines?
Ans. Personification has been used.
Yet I had residual doubts. ………….. I had conquered my fear of water.
As soon as Douglas got an opportunity, he went up to the Tieton to Conrad Meadows and camped in the high meadow by the side of the Warm Lake. The next morning he dived and crossed the lake. According to him, he did it in the same manner, as the famous swimmer Doug Corpron used to do. To his surprise and satisfaction, fear did not haunt him this time. He got so much excited that he shouted and said that he had conquered his fear of water. He could hear the echoing of his voice in the Gilbert peak.
Q. Where did William Douglas finally go to make sure he had conquered his fear?
Ans. He went to Warm Lake.
Q. Whom did William Douglas copy while swimming in the warm lake?
Ans. Doug Corporon.
Q. What happened in Warm Lake?
Ans. He crossed the Warm Lake and fear did not haunt him even for once. William Douglas got so excited that he shouted and said that he had conquered his fear of water.
Q. Describe Douglas’s feelings when he conquered his fear of water.
Ans. William Douglas was overexcited and therefore, he shouted and said that he had conquered his fear.
The experience had a deep meaning ……………. and to brush aside fear.
According to William Douglas, all these proved to be a big experience for him. The whole episode taught him a lesson. He experienced both- first the sensation of dying and then overcoming it. William Douglas realised that it is the fear of death that makes us fearful. At this point, William Douglas quoted American President Roosevelt. “It is all we have to fear is fear itself”. According to Douglas, he was afraid of water but more powerful was his will to live, and that helped him to overcome his fear of water. He continued to go on his adventure trips. Whenever he got an opportunity, he used to go to the mountain peak even to take up the difficult journey.
Q. Which experience has been referred to here?
Ans. The sensation of dying and the will to live.
Q. Who said all we have to fear is fear itself.?
Ans. American President Franklin D Roosevelt.
Q. What did William Douglas experience?
Ans. He experienced both the sensation of dying and the will to live.
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