DEEP WATER by William Douglas

                           

1. Notice these words and expressions in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.

Treacherous: unpredictable danger; not dependable or trustworthy 

Subdued my pride: to lower or restrain the intensity of self-respect and confidence 

Flailed at the surface: to strike or lash out vigorously at the surface of the water in trying to come out

Fishing for landlocked salmon: to go fishing for a specific variety of salmon available in certain lakes
Misadventure: an incident that turns out to be a disaster
Bob to the surface like a cork: to float or show the characteristics of buoyancy as a cork in water
Curtain of life fell: to indicate that life has ended or a near-death experience
Back and forth across the pool: to swim across the swimming pool from one side to the other



                                                           QUESTION ANSWERS

                                                           Think As you Read (I)

1. What is the “misadventure” that William Douglas speaks about?

Answer: William O.Douglas had just learnt swimming. One day, an eighteen year old big bruiser picked him up and tossed him into the nine feet deep end of the Y.M.C.A. pool. He hit the water surface in a sitting position. He swallowed water and went at once to the bottom. He nearly died in this misadventure.

2. 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: Douglas was frightened when he was thrown into the pool. However, he was not frightened out of his wits. While sinking down he made a plan. He would make a big jump when his feet hit the bottom. He would come to the surface like a cork, lie flat on it, and paddle to the edge of the pool.

3. 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 and shaken by the whole experience. A haunting fear of water took control of his physical strength and emotional balance for many years. As he couldn’t bear being surrounded by water, he was deprived of enjoying any water-related activity.

                                                       Think As you Read (II)

1. 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.

2. How did the instructor “build a swimmer” out of Douglas?
Answer: The instructor built a swimmer out of Douglas piece by piece. For three months he held him high on a rope attached to his belt. He went back and forth across the pool. Panic seized the author every time. The instructor taught Douglas to put his face under water and exhale and to raise his nose and inhale. Then Douglas had to kick with his legs for many weeks till these relaxed. After seven months the instructor told him to swim the length of the pool.

3. 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.
                                                         Understanding the Text

1. 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: Once Douglas was sitting alone at the Y.M.C.A pool waiting for others to come. Then there came a big bruiser of a boy. He tossed him up and threw him into the deep end of the pool. Douglas went deep and swallowed water. He was at the sitting position at the bottom. He was frightened but was not out of his wits. On the way down, he had a strategy in his mind. When his feet touched the bottom, he would make a great spring upward. Then he would paddle to the edge of the pool, but he came up slowly. He opened his eyes and saw dirty water. He was deeply frightened. His legs seemed paralysed. A great force was pulling him down. A stark power overpowered him. He shrieked in the water but only the water heard him. After feeling the tiles under his feet, he jumped withal his might but it made no difference. His lungs ached and heart throbbed. Stark terror took him in its grip. His legs and arms could not move. He again tried for the third time. He searched for air but swallowed water. He felt drowsy and ceased all efforts. He was crossed to oblivion. The curtain of his life fell and he lay unconscious.
2. How did Douglas overcome his fear of water?

Answer: After his misadventure in the pool at the Y.M.C.A, Douglas was amidst the fear of the water. He realized that his fishing trips, canoeing, swimming and boating were over. He tried his best to overcome it but the haunting of the water followed him everywhere. Finally he decided to engage an instructor to learn to swim and overcome his fear. He went to the pool and practiced five days a week, an hour each day. The instructor put a belt around him and a rope was attached to the belt. The rope went through a pulley that ran an overhead cable. Douglas held one end of the rope and went back and forth across the pool. On each trip some of the terror would seize him up. After three months, the tension began to decrease. Piece by piece he shed the panic. He taught him to put his face under water and exhale. He also learnt how to raise his nose and inhale. This exercise was repeated hundreds of times. Now he was able to shed part of the fear that seized him under water. He went to lake Wentworth Triggs island and Slamp act island. He swam two miles across the lake. Now he was determined and he swam on. He shouted with joy and he had conquered his fear of water.

3. 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 had two childhood experiences of terror. One at the California beach when the waves knocked him down and swept over him. He was terror stricken. At the other occasion he was thrown into the deep end of the Y.M.C.A pool by a big bruiser of a boy. A stark terror overpowered and gripped him. It followed and haunted him wherever he went. He realised that his joys of fishing, canoeing, boating and swimming had ruined. Keeping in view its severe consequences, he engaged an instructor who trained him in swimming and Douglas was able to conquer his fear. This experience had a deeper meaning for Douglas. Because he had experienced both the sensation of dying and the terror that the fear of it can produce, he learnt the will to live in great intensity. This experience can only be realized by those who had faced to conquer it. This exactly happened with Douglas. He knew: In death, there is peace., there is terror only in the fear of death.’’ Thus one can estimate what matters is the will to live. As Roosevelt said ‘‘All we have to fear is fear itself.’’ So will to live is great and it can take man to touch the highest peaks of life.


                                                       Talking about the text

1. “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: Roosevelt has appropriately said ‘‘All we have to fear is fear itself.’’ These words have a deeper meaning for all of us. It implies that we fear from fear. Those who have undergone this experience of fear, they can only appreciate its worth. William O. Douglas has faced it twice in life. He had a terrible fear of water. He could not go for swimming, canoeing, boating and rafting etc. He realised that it would ruin his career since it was following and haunting him wherever he went. Fear is our hard core enemy. We must get rid of it at the earliest like Douglas. I too had a terrible experience in my life. A small tributary flows near our village. During the summer vacation, we used to go there for swimming and bathing. Very often, we were made cautious by the villagers not to bathe in it since there is a deeper hole inside the stream. Being children, we never bothered . One day we took out our clothes and plunged into it. By chance, the water was overflowing the bank and the current was fast. While diving, two among us got stuck into the hole. We cried and cried out. We were going deeper and deeper. We thought that it was the end of our life. One of the boys came outside and saw the villagers. He cried and cried. They came and brought us out of the water. But this enabled us to challenge the fears of life and we can take adventurous life.
                                                       

                                                                   Talking about Language

1. 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.

LOST SPRING by Anees Jung

Word                            Meaning

Encounter- Come across
Scrounging- Looking for
Garbage- Waste items (foods, paper etc.)
Glibly- Fluently                                                     
Abound- To be plentiful
Rag pickers- A person who collects and sells rags.
Periphery- The outer limits or edge of an area or object.

Squatter- A person who unlawfully occupies an uninhabited building or unused land.

Tarpaulin- Heavy-duty waterproof cloth, originally of tarred canvas.

Dingy- Dark Colored

Thatched- Covered with straw

 Mounds- Hillocks

Question Answers

Think as you read  (part-I)

 

1. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come from? 

Ans: Saheb is scrounging for gold in the garbage dumps. Saheb is in the neighborhood of the author. He came with his mother in 1971 from the green fields of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

2. What explanation does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?

Ans: Author explained that it is a tradition to stay to barefoot but not the lack of money. He however wonders that if it is just an excuse to explain away a perpetual state of poverty. Author in this connection also recalls a the story of a poor boy who prayed to the Goddess for a pair of shoes.

2. Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall? Explain.

Ans: No, Saheb is not at all happy working at the tea-stall as he is no longer his own master. For Saheb the steel canister seems much heavier than the plastic bag he would carry so lightly over his shoulder. when the bag belonged to him, the canister belongs to the owner of the tea-shop. 

Think as you read  (part II)

 

1. What makes the city of Firozabad famous?

Ans: The city of Forizabad is famous for bangles. The city is the center for India's glass -blowing industry. Nearly all the families of Firozabad s is engaged in making bangles. 

2. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.

Ans: The workers of the glass bangles industry work potentially in hazardous working condition. They use to sit in dark hutments, next to lines of flames of flickering oi lamps. It is due to this reason that their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. As the bangles are manufactured in glass furnaces with high temperature in dingy cells without adequate air, the children often end up losing their eye sight before they become adults. Burns and cuts are also quite common to these workers. These workers are quite prone to disease like lung cancer. 

3. How is Mukesh's attitude to his situation different from that of his family?

Ans: Contrary to his Grandmother's believe that a God-given lineage can never be broken, Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic. He plans to go to a garage and learn what is needed to become a motor mechanic, though the garage is quite far from where he lives. Though born in the caste of bangle makers Mukesh does not want to confine himself to the traditional so called 'God given lineage and wishes to explore beyond it. 

Additional Questions:

1.Where is Saheb coming from? Why did he have to leave his country?

Ans: Saheb, a rag picker who lives in Seemapuri on the Delhi-UP boarder came to Seemapuri from Bangladesh. Hw came along with thousands of others forced by natural calamities there in Bangladesh.

2. ‘Garbage to them is gold.’ Why does the author say so about the rag-pickers?

Ans: For more than 10,000 rag-pickers of Seemapuri garbage is gold wrapped in wonder. The author said so because for a child, it is the source of bread. A source that can sometimes even get a ragpicker a silver coin or more in a heap of garbage. However for the elders it is a means of survival.

 3. Why did the author realize that her advice was ‘hollow?’

Ans: The author realized that his advised to Saheb to go to school was hollow because going to school had never occurred to children like Saheb. For the rag pickers like Saheb it is not the schooling and learning that is important but rag picking is.

4. Why was the author embarrassed when Saheb asked her if her school was ready?

Ans: Out of a sudden emotion on seeing Saheb picking waste, the author once asked Saheb if he would join her school if she started one. Saheb replied in affirmative. Subsequently, on meeting the author on another day Saheb asked her if her school was ready. The author was then embarrassed as she didn't in fact wanted to start a school as told by her and expected by Saheb.

5. How did garbage hold different meanings for adults and children?

Ans: Garbage hold different meanings for both adults and children. For adults rag picking was only a means of survival however for a child it involves a lot of excitement. For a child garbage is gold wrapped in wonder asthere was always a hope of coming across unexpected surprises.

6.Why should there be a hard time for Saheb to believe the meaning of his name?

Ans: Saheb’s full name is Saheb-E-Alam which means the Lord of the Universe. Saheb's name and and his life was a complete pardox as being a poor rag picker, he cannot believe that the Lord of the Universe is supposed to be like him.  It is because of this fact that he would certainly struggle to believe the meaning of his name.

7. How is Seemapuri both near and far away from Delhi?

Ans: Author remarks that Seemapuri is both near and far from Delhi. It is because  geographically Seemapuri is a backward area on the periphery of Delhi but practically if its traditions, standard of life and people are considered Seemapuri is far behind the time and quite far from Delhi.

8.Food is more important for survival than an identity. How is this statement true in the lives of the Seemapurian rag pickers?

Ans: For the thousands of rag pickers of Seemapuri it is the food not the identity that is important. 
Despite of having no identity in the society they are happy of the fact that they get to eat and don't need to starve now as they used to in Bangladesh from where they had come from.

9. How did Seemapuri turn out to be a better place for the Bangladeshis?

Ans: Seemapuri was a deserted area when the Bangladeshis arrived here three decades ago. They were forced to come here due to the natural disasters in Bangladesh. They loved Seemapuri because they could survive here. They had food and shelter here.

10. Why is Saheb keenly watching the neighborhood tennis players?

Sometime Saheb can be found outside the club watching people play tennis. He is not interested in playing tennis. He was content to watch the game from outside. He is more interested in using the swing.

11. Karam and God-given lineage amply tell the sad picture of the stigma of religion that rules the poor people of India? Explain.

Ans: India is still primitive in many spheres of life even in our time. A big majority of Indians in the villages still believe the division of labor system that began centuries ago. When one is not doing any better in life due to the unwillingness to adopt another profession, they accept it as God’s plan and do the same work as if it is a God given lineage.

12. Which are the two hurdles that Mukesh has to break away for a better existence?

Mukesh has realized that being a bangle maker will not alleviate his poverty and therefore he wishes to become a motor mechanic to be successful in his life. But doing any job other than bangle making is out of question in his society. He has to first convince his family and society of the need of undertaking another profession. If the society lets him choose his way, Mukesh has to face an inconvincible group of middlemen, politicians and their watchdogs, the police of Firozabad, who are altogether the sole beneficiaries.

13. What is the vicious circle for the people of Firozabad? Why is it called so?

Ans: The vicious circle of the people of Firozabad is that they believe that the job of bangle making is a god given lineage and they must be happy about this age old traditional occupation prevailing over many generations. However in reality it is a trap surrounded by false notions and traditional  beliefs. It is actually the opportunist section consists of the rich people, politicians, policeman, middleman etc. who want them to believe in such beliefs for their own gain.

14. Do you think Mukesh will reach his goal of becoming a motor mechanic? Give reasons.

Ans: Yes, I do think that Mukesh will one day become a motor mechanic. Most importantly though born in the caste of bangle makers Mukesh does not want to confine himself to the traditional so called 'God given lineage' and wishes to explore beyond it. He is practical in his thinking and decided to go to a garage to learn all it requires to become a mechanic which is quite far from where he lives. After knowing the hard realities of life he decided to change his fate and opted to go for something non-traditional. His dream and goal is therefore obviously reachable if he could overcome all the hurdles on its way. 

THE LAST LESSON by Alphonse Daudet

        

         Word                                  Meaning

1. Chirp-   A short sharp sound made by small birds.
2. Sawmill- A factory in which wood is cut into boards etc. by machinery.
3. Draft- Conscription; ordering people by law to serve in the army.
4. Dread- Awe, Fear
5. Apprentice- A young person who has agreed to work for a skilled employer   for        a fixed period for a low wage, in return for being taught that person's skill.
6. Bustle- Excited activity, tumult.
7. Unison- Saying, singing or doing the something at the same time.
8. Rapping-Striking sharply.
9. Frilled- Having ornamental edging.
10. Thunderclap- Loud crash made by thunder.
11. Commotion- Confusion, Tumult.
12. Solemn- Serious, Sacred.
13. Thumbed- To handle in an awkward manner
14. Mounted- Climbed

Question Answers

Think as you read  (part-I)

1)What was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day?

Ans: Franz was expected to be prepared with participles that day for school, as Mr. Hamel had said that he would question them on participles.

2) What did Franz notice that was unusual about the school that day?

Ans: That day little Franz noticed many unusual things about the school. Usually, in the beginning of the school there used to be a great bustle, which could be heard out in the street. However, it was all quite that day as if it was a Sunday morning. There was no opening and closing desks, there was no melody of unison. Franz through the window saw his classmates already in their places. The teacher's great ruler was also unusually put under M.Hamels arm instead of rapping it on the table.

3) What had been put up on the bulletin-board?

Ans: Franz had  a negative view about the bulletin-board as for the last two years only bad news had come from it. That day was no exception as Germans had put up an order passed from Berlin on the bulletin-board to teach only German in the school of Alsace and Lorraine.

Think as you read  (part-II)

1) What changes did the order from Berlin cause in school that day?

Ans: The order from Berlin caused man changes in the school that day. The entire school seemed strange and solemn. The old villagers were sitting on the back benches of the classroom quietly to thank M. Hamel for his forty years of faithful service and for showing their respect for the country. M.Hamel also had put on his best dress on that day though it was not an inspection or prize day. The order from Berlin also brought a sense of repentance for those who in spite of having time didn't learn the French properly.

2)  How did Franz's feelings about M.Hamel and school change?

Ans: Earlier Franz didn't like M. Hamel much because of his ruler and cranky nature and he would feel fear from him but now all those feelings were entirely changed for M.Hamel.

The message conveyed by M.Hamel about the order from Berlin was a thunderclap for little Franz. He immediately felt sorry for not being sincere in the school and for not learning the French language and other lessons properly. His books, which seemed a nuisance and a burden earlier ere now Franz's old friends.

Additional Questions:

 

 1) Give a brief description of the character of M.Hamel.

Ans: M.Hamel was a teacher of strict discipline. Students were afraid of his cranky nature and iron ruler. He was a true patriot and a sincere teacher who dedicatingly served the school for long forty years. The heart of this true Frenchman totally broke when he received the order from Berlin to vacate his place to make the space for a new German teacher. he remained upset during his last class. This changed his behavior too and he behaved rather very politely and patiently. When Frenz was not able to say his lesson correctly instead of scolding him he just made him understand about the importance and relevancy of learning the mother tongue. he preached everyone presented in the class that important things should never be postponed as time flies very fast.

2) Why was little Franz afraid of being scolded?

Ans: Little Franz was in great dread of a scolding, especially because M. Hamel had said that he would question them on participles butlittle Franz didn't know anything about it.

3) What did M.Hamel say about the French language?

Ans: M.Hamel said that French language was world's most beautiful , clearest and logical
language and therefore it should be guarded and should not be forgotten by them. He also added that the love with one's own language can be proven as the key to the prison for the people who live in enslaved country.

4) Usually how Franz's school began in the morning?

Ans: Usually when Franz's school began, there was a great bustle, which could be heard out in the street. the opening and closing of desk by students was a usual thing on a normal school day. Students also repeated the lessons in unison. They kept their hands over their ears to understand better. The teacher would go on rapping the table with  his great iron ruler.

5) Why did villagers come to school that day?

 Ans: The old men of the village came to the school that day to thank M.Hamel for his forty years of faithful service. they also came to show their respect for the country that was theirs no more.

6) How did Franz react to the words "This is your last French lesson?"

Ans: These unexpected words from M.Hamel were thunderclap to little Franz. He then immediately realized why there was a crowed at the bulletin-board. He also clearly understood why the village people had come to school that day and why his teacher M.Hamel was wearing his best dress, his fine sunday suit.

7) How did Franz find teaching and learning that day?

Ans: Franz found teaching and learning very interesting that day. he was very attentive and careful. Franz also realized that M.Hamel had never explained everything with so much patience. It seemed almost as if the poor man wanted to give them all he knew before going away. M.Hamel wanted to put it all into their heads at one stroke as it there last lesson.

8) Why was M. Hamel dressed differently that day?


Ans: M Hamel dressed differently that day. He was wearing his best dress which he never used to wear except on inspection and prize days because M.Hamel knew that it was his last lesson and it was in honor of this last lesson that he had put on his fine Sunday cloths.



8) How was the order from Berlin going to make a difference to the lives of the students ? (Questin asked by Maha Laxmi)


Ans: The order from Berlin was that the students as well as villagers will be taught only German  in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine.  The whole school seemed so strange and solemn after hearing the order from Berlin. The order from Berlin going to make a drastic difference to the lives of the students as they will no longer be taught French and from the next day they will be taught German. They will not find M. Hamel in their classroom from the next day. The order will make the students realize how precious their language was. 

Very Short Answers 

 

1) What did M.Hamel do when he wanted to go fishing?

Ans: M.Hamel gave holiday to the school whenever he wanted to go fishing.

2) What did little Franz think for a moment that morning?

Ans: For a moment little Franz thought of running away and spending the day out of doors.

3) What were the Prussian soldiers doing that morning?

Ans: The Prussian soldiers were drilling in the open field back of the saw mill.

4) What did Franz see when he passed the town hall?

Ans: When Franz passed the town hall he saw a crowed in front of the bulletin-board.

5) What is the main theme of the story 'The Last Lesson'?

Ans: The main theme of the story 'The Last Lesson' is linguistic chauvinism.

6) How was M.Hamel's behavior that day or during his last lesson?

Ans: M.Hamel was solemn and gentle that day and he was sad throughout his last lesson.

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