Chapter 3 Deep Water Solutions
Question - 31 : - How did Douglas’ experience at the YMCA pool affect him? How did he get over this effect?
Answer - 31 : -
The experience at the YMCA pool reinforced the fear of – water in Douglas’ mind which he had first felt when, at the age of three or four, he had been completely swamped by a huge wave at the seaside in California.The experience at the pool left a haunting fear of water in his heart. He started avoiding water whenever he could, which affected his normal activities as well as his social life.
After a few years of suffering like this, Douglas decided to get an instructor and learn to swim. The instructor systematically taught him how to swim, starting from the basics and taking all the required safety measures, which gave Douglas confidence. After six months of training, Douglas swam across a number of lakes independently, thus breaking free from his fear.
Question - 32 : - Describe the efforts made by Douglas to overcome his fear of water.
Answer - 32 : -
After a few years of unsuccessfully trying various methods to overcome his fear of water, Douglas decided to .get an instructor and learn to swim. The instructor systematically taught him how to swim, starting from the basics and taking all the required safety measures, which gave Douglas confidence.
After six months of training, Douglas swam the length of the pool up and down for three months. But he was still not satisfied. So he swam two miles across Lake Went worth in New Hampshire. Then he swam across Warm Lake and back. He shouted with joy, and Gilbert Peak returned the echo. He had conquered his fear of water.
Question - 33 : - The story ‘Deep Water’ has made you realize that with determination and perseverance one can accomplish the impossible.
Answer - 33 : -
Write a paragraph in about 120-150 words on how a positive attitude and courage will aid you to achieve success in life.
Answer:
The story ‘Deep Water’ is a story of sheer determination and perseverance. It teaches us how, in spite of all odds, our positive attitude and our courage to fight can help us achieve success in life. The narrator’s phobia of water or water bodies had gripped him for quite a long period of his life.
However, once he decides to overcome his fear, he is able to shed it off completely. He adopts a positive attitude, and determines that he will fight his fear, no matter what. His training is a long and slow process, but he learns everything patiently and never gives up. Douglas’s perseverance and courage teach us that a firm will and determination, coupled with a bold attitude, can help us win over all obstacles, and achieve the impossible.
Answer - 34 : -
“I crossed to oblivion, and the curtain of life fell.” What was the incident which nearly killed Douglas and developed in him a strong aversion to water?
Answer
MCA pool when he was ten or eleven years old. He had decided to learn swimming at the YMCA pool, and thus get rid of his fear The incident that nearly killed Douglas occurred at the Y of water. One morning, when he was alone at the pool, a big bully of a boy tossed him into the deep end of the pool.
Though he had planned a strategy to save himself, his plan did not work. He went down to the bottom and got panicky Thrice he struggled hard to come to the surface but failed each time. He was almost drowned in the pool. This misadventure developed in him a strong aversion to water.
Question - 35 : - Douglas fully realized the truth of Roosevelt’s statement. All we have to fear is fear itself. How did this realization help him brush aside his fear and become an expert swimmer?
Answer - 35 : -
Roosevelt said, ”All we have to fear is fear itself’.’ Douglas had experienced both the sensation of dying and the terror that fear of it can produce. Strong will, hard determination, courage and toil as well as honest labor win over all our terrors and fears. The will to live brushes aside all our fears.
This realization made him resolve to leam swimming by engaging an instructor. This instructor, piece by piece, built Douglas into a swimmer. Then, he went to Lake Wentworth, dived at Triggs Island and swam two miles across the lakes to Stamp Act Island. Finally he had conquered his fear of water.
Question - 36 : - How did Douglas develop an aversion to water?
Answer - 36 : -
When Douglas was three or four years old, his father took him to the beach in California. Douglas hung on to his father, yet the waves knocked him down and swept over him. His father was laughing but there developed a terror in Douglas’ heart at the overpowering force of the waves.
The incident which further strengthened its hold on his mind and personality occurred when Douglas decided to learn swimming when he was ten or eleven years old. He went to the YMCA pool. There a big bully tossed him into the deep end of the pool. He went down to the bottom of the pool and panicked because all his efforts to come back up failed. Finally he was rescued by somebody, but he developed an aversion to water.
Question - 37 : - How did the instructor make Douglas a good swimmer?
Answer - 37 : -
Or
How did the swimming instructor ‘build a swimmer’ out of Douglas?
Answer:
Douglas decided to get an instructor to learn swimming. The instructor started working with him five days a week, an hour each day. He put a belt around Douglas. A rope was attached to the belt that went through a pulley. The instructor held the rope and pulled Douglas back and forth, across the pool, making him practice.
The instructor taught him to put his face under the water and exhale, and to raise his nose and inhale. Slowly and steadily, Douglas was able to shed his fear of water, which was the greatest obstacle in his desire to swim.
For weeks after this, his instructor made him kick with his legs. Initially his legs were not responding, but with time they relaxed and he was able to command his legs at his will. In this way, piece by piece, his instructor made Douglas a good swimmer.
Question - 38 : - How did Douglas make sure that he conquered his old terror?
Answer - 38 : -
Or
What was Douglas’ fear? How did he overcome that fear?
Or
How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?
Answer
At the age of three or four, Douglas was engulfed by waves from the sea, which started his fear of water. Then, when he was ten or eleven years old, Douglas was tossed into a nine feet deep swimming pool by a bully of a boy. He had a near drowning experience which further increased his fear.
Determined to get rid of his fear, Douglas engaged an instructor under whom he practiced five days a week, an hour each day. The instructor tied Douglas with a rope suspended from a pulley to help him overcome his fear. However, every time when the instructor loosened his grip, Douglas’s fear returned.
It took him three months to overcome it. Next, the instructor taught Douglas to exhale under water and inhale by raising his nose. He was made to kick with his legs at the side of the pool to build up stamina.Thus, Douglas spent six months with the instructor i.e., from October to April. Thereafter, he practiced on his own by swimming across various lakes, finally overcoming his fear.
Question - 39 : - 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 - 39 : -
Although panicky, Douglas had his strategy in place to come popping up like a cork and then paddling to the edge of the pool. Unfortunately, his first attempt failed and terror seized him. He tried to grab a rope but his hands clutched only at water. He was suffocating and tried to yell, but no sound came out. His legs were paralyzed, his lungs ached and his head throbbed. He was dizzy and trembled with fright.
The only signs of life in him were his beating heart and pounding head. He attempted to come out of water a third time, but in vain. He sucked for air and got only water. Finally, he stopped making efforts and fell unconscious. All the above details of his gripping, near-drowning experience make us feel that we are experiencing his lurking terror step by step.
Question - 40 : - Justify the title ‘Deep Water’.
Answer - 40 : -
This story is appropriately titled ‘Deep Water’. It unfolds with the narrator deciding to learn swimming aft the YMCA swimming pool. He admitted that he had an aversion to water. This began when he was three or four years old and his father took him to a California beach. Here he was knocked down and swept away by the waves.
Yet another incident aggravated his phobia of water bodies. He was tossed by a robust bully into the deeper end of the swimming pool. He nearly drowned and was terribly frightened. An ‘icy horror’ took possession of him and his legs became paralysed.
He began to avoid going near water bodies. Finally, he decided that it was time to act tough. He engaged an instructor who systematically trained him in the art of swimming. Thus, the ‘deep’ aversion and terror he had of water was finally removed.