Deep water class 12 questions answer | Deep water important questions answer

 I hope this note finds you well. I wanted to provide some assistance regarding the topic of "Deep Water" for Class 12. Deep Water is an important subject in your curriculum, and I understand you have questions about it. To help you, I suggest focusing on the following areas: question answers, summary, short questions, author, important questions, and notes. By studying these aspects, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of Deep Water. Remember to refer to your textbooks, class materials, and online resources for further guidance. Good luck with your studies!

Question:

What were the series of emotions and fears that Douglas experienced when he was thrown into the pool?

What plans did he make to come to the surface?

Answer :

The sudden realization of being thrown into the pool did not make him lose his wits immediately. Although frightened, he thought of a trick to come up to the surface 

but couldn't execute it successfully. He panicked and

felt suffocated by the water. His sense-perceptions gave way, his heart pounded loudly, his limbs became paralyzed with fear, his mind became dizzy and his lungs ached as he gulped water while making desperate

attempts to come out of the water. Finally, he lost all his strength and willingness to keep struggling and

blacked out.

Douglas planned to allow himself to go down till his feet 

hit the bottom so that could make a big jump to come

back to the surface like a cork. Then, he would lie flat on 

the surface of water and paddle to the edge of the

pool.

Question:

How did this experience affect him?

Answer :

The near death experience of drowning had a very strong impact on his psychology. He was deeply perturbed 

emotional balance for many years. As he couldn't bear being surrounded by water, he was deprived of enjoying

any water-related activity.

Question:

What is the "misadventure" that William Douglas speaks about?

Answer :

Douglas refers to the incident at the Y.M.C.A. swimming pool where he almost drowned as a "misadventure."

The author was about ten or eleven years old at the time and had barely begun to learn swimming, primarily by

aping others. As he was thrown suddenly into the water by someone and he couldn't swim, he started drowning.

The struggle to come to surface and to avoid getting 

drowned left him with a deep fear of water which 

deprived him from enjoying water-related activities for many years.

Question:

How does Douglas make clear to the reader the sense of panic that gripped him as he almost drowned?

Describe the details that have made the description vivid.

Answer : Douglas takes us through his near death experience at the Y.M.C.A. pool by detailing every little aspect associated to it. He details minutes of his emotional, mental and physical struggle with the paralyzing fear of being 

drowned in the water. The first person narration of the 

incident also helps us to associate with his experience 

more deeply.

Though he did not lose his wits initially, he panicked 

when his strategy didn't work. His feeling of suffocation,fear and losing hold on sense perceptions make the readers experience what he does. His eyes couldn't see

beyond the dirty yellow water. His voice did not assist 

him. His nose and mouth could only manage to take

water to the lungs. His limbs became paralyzed with fear 

and his mind dizzy. His desperation to save himself

kept him struggling until he went down the third time and blacked out. All these details make the description

vivid.

Question:

Why was Douglas determined to get over his fear of water?

Answer : Douglas regretted being deprived of enjoying water 

activities like canoeing, boating, swimming, fishing, etc.

The wish to enjoy them and the craving to regain his lost 

confidence, while being in water, made him try every

possible way to get rid of his fear. He was finally able to 

overcome this mental handicap by getting himself a

swimming instructor and further ensuring that no residual 

fear was left.

Question:

How did the instructor "build a swimmer" out of 

Douglas?

Answer :

The instructor worked gradually on Douglas' psychology, 

moved on to his physical movements and then integrated each part to build a swimmer out of him.

Initially, he made Douglas swim back and forth across the 

swimming pool so that he could get used to it. He

used an elaborate mechanism with a rope, belt, pulley and an overhead cable to help them stay connected while

Douglas was in the pool. Then, one- by-one, he made Douglas master the individual techniques of swimming,

like putting his head in the water, exhaling and inhaling while in water, movements of his hands, body, legs, etc.

Finally, he integrated these perfected steps into a whole 

experience of swimming for Douglas.

Question:

Why does Douglas as an adult recount a childhood experience of terror and his conquering of it? What

larger meaning does he draw from his experience?

Answer :

Douglas recounts his childhood experience at the 

Y.M.C.A. pool to enable the readers to understand the 

exact nature and intensity of the terror. The fear of being 

surrounded by the water, the fear of putting his head in 

the water, the fear of choking and the fear of his limbs 

going numb couldn't have been explained to a reader

unacquainted with Douglas' childhood experience. In that 

case, the elaborate strategy adopted by the author

(and his instructor) and the time-taken by him to learn or master even simple things, though put in the

perspective of his fear of water, couldn't have been understood properly.

By quoting Roosevelt, "All we have to fear is fear itself," 

Douglas indicates the larger meaning that he draws

from his experience. For him, the importance of life 

became evident when he encountered death or rather its

proximity threatening his life.

Question:

How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?

Answer :

At first, he tried to overcome his fear of water on his own. But when this failed, he got an instructor for himself

who worked on Douglas' fear very methodically. With his 

help, Douglas began by learning to be at ease in water. 

After this, he practiced exhaling- inhaling in water to 

eliminate the fear of putting his head inside the water. 

Then, he moved on to master individual steps of swimming which were, finally, integrated into a complete experience of swimming, by his instructor. After about six months, Douglas could not only swim well but was, also, free of his fear to a great extent.

At this stage, Douglas' journey of truly overcoming his fear to its tiniest vestiges began. He swam alone in the

pool. He went to Lake Wentworth to dive. He tried every possible stroke he learnt. Finally, in his diving expedition, in the Warm Lake, he conquered his fear completely.

Question:

How did Douglas make sure that he conquered the old 

terror?

Answer :

Even after the swimming training was over, Douglas wasn't confident about his swimming or that he had overcome the fear. He was determined to completely get 

rid of it forever. He swam alone in the pool. He went

to Lake Wentworth to dive. There, he tried every possible stroke he had learnt. He fought back the tiny vestiges

of terror that gripped him in middle of the lake. Finally, in 

his diving expedition in the Warm Lake, he realised

that he had truly conquered his old terror.

Thinking about languagetalking about the textthing :

Solutions of Questions on Page Number : 30

Question:

If someone else had narrated Douglas' experience, how would it have differed from this account? Write

out a sample paragraph or paragraphs from this text from the point of view of a third person or observer

to find out which style of narration would you consider to be more effective? Why?

Answer :

If a third person had narrated Douglas' experience, the impact of the story would have lost the reader's deep

connection with the main protagonist and his fear of water. The narrator then would be passively telling the story from the perspective of an observer. The incident of 

drowning in water could never have successfully

communicated the feeling of the "stark terror" that 

Douglas underwent. In third person narrative, the 8th and 

9th paragraph of the story would be as follows:

"He flailed at the surface of the water, swallowed and 

choked. He tried to bring his legs up but they hung as

dead weights, paralyzed and rigid. A great force was 

pulling him under. He screamed, but only the water heard

him. He had started on the long journey back to the 

bottom of the pool." "He struck at the water as he went 

down; expending his strength as one in a nightmare, fights 

an irresistible force. He had lost all his breath. His lungs 

ached. His head throbbed. He was getting dizzy. But he 

remembered the strategy - he would spring from the 

bottom of the pool and come like a cork to the surface. He 

would lie flat on the water, strike out with his arms, and 

thrash with his legs. Then he would get to the edge of the 

pool and be safe."

So, it is only the first person narrative that keeps the 

reader gripped to the story. It makes the experience more

relevant and tangible for the reader. It engages him by making him go through the experience along with the

protagonist. The desperation and helplessness of being in water, which has almost become fatal, the mental and

physical agony of trying to survive the crisis, the long 

struggle of overcoming the fear bit-by-bit and the jubilation of conquering it at the end; all make the reader feel part of the experience. The first person narrative

makes the story a fast-paced and urgent reading for the readers. All this would have been lost had it been a third

person narrative or from the point of view of an observer.

Question:

"All we have to fear is fear itself". Have you ever had a fear that you have now overcome? Share your experience with your partner.

Answer :

Directions: Everyone has some or other fear that has been overcome. Think about one such experience from

your life. It may be anything associated to activities that 

you now engage in with ease but were scared earlier.

Driving, skating, public-speaking, participating in a competition or overcoming stage fear are some examples.

After you have found one such example from your life, 

recollect the reason it bothered or frightened you.

Recollect the efforts you and/or other people put in to help you get rid of it. Discuss the detailed experience

with your partner in the class. Also, discuss your feelings when you realised that you have overcome the fear

entirely.

(Guidelines/directions have been provided for students' 

reference. It is strongly recommended that students)

Question:

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

Write an essay of about five paragraphs recounting such an experience. Try to recollect minute details of what caused the fear, your feelings, the encouragement you got from others or the criticism.You could begin with the last sentence of the essay you have just read - "At last I felt released - free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and to brush aside fear."

Answer :

Directions: You may follow the given steps for the essay:

Paragraph 1: Begin with "At last I felt released - free to walk the trails and climb the peaks and to brush aside

fear. Fear, when conquered, becomes victory. And a victory, emerging from the bitterness of failures and hardships of enduring them for a long period of time, has its own meaning and charm. When I look back, it appears to be a long and arduous journey that has now successfully culminated in its destination."

Paragraph 2: Talk about the beginning of the incident that 

was the root cause for your fear. Try to pen down what you saw, what you felt and what you thought. Recollect and write the details of the surrounding environment, people and things.

Paragraph 3: Here, you can continue talking about how 

the incident progressed in terms of the subsequent

events or happenings. Detail the exact proceedings in the logical order of their happening. You may talk about

what you think went wrong and how the incident could have ended differently.

Paragraph 4: In this paragraph, you may write how the 

fear proved a handicap or how it affected other activities

of your life. And then write about when you decided that 

you will get rid of it. Talk about your plans, strategies

and things that you may have considered to ensure that 

you succeed in your attempt.

Paragraph 5: In the last paragraph, you can detail all your 

efforts (and that of others) and end with an analysis of

why you won over your fear.