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Deep Water Question Bank

1) The document is an excerpt from the chapter "Deep Water" that describes the narrator Douglas' experience with overcoming his fear of water after nearly drowning. 2) Douglas is gripped with "sheer, stark terror" when thrown into the deep end of the pool alone, but is able to relax his body and mind as he loses consciousness. 3) After regaining consciousness, Douglas is still haunted by "tiny vestiges of the old terror" when alone in the pool, but is determined to conquer his fear through repeated exposure to the deep water.

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Vaishnavi Khandelwal
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911 views2 pages

Deep Water Question Bank

1) The document is an excerpt from the chapter "Deep Water" that describes the narrator Douglas' experience with overcoming his fear of water after nearly drowning. 2) Douglas is gripped with "sheer, stark terror" when thrown into the deep end of the pool alone, but is able to relax his body and mind as he loses consciousness. 3) After regaining consciousness, Douglas is still haunted by "tiny vestiges of the old terror" when alone in the pool, but is determined to conquer his fear through repeated exposure to the deep water.

Uploaded by

Vaishnavi Khandelwal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter -3 ‘Deep Water’

1) Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow briefly:

a) “And then sheer, stark terror seized me, terror that knows no understanding, terror that
knows no control, terror that no one can understand who has not experienced.
i) Name the lesson and its writer.
ii) Who does ‘me’ refer to? Where was he?
iii) Why was he gripped with terror?
iv) What does the word ‘sheer’ mean?
Use it in a sentence to bring out it meaning.
b) “Then all effort ceased. I relaxed. Even my legs felt limp; and a blackness swept over my
brain. It wiped out terror.”
i) Which effort is the writer talking of here?
ii) Which words here suggest that he was falling unconscious?
iii) Why did he feel relaxed?
iv) Which words in these lines mean

Stopped, Weak

c) “But I was not finished I still wondered if I would be terror -stricken when I was alone in the
pool. I tried it. Tiny vestiges of the old terror would return.
i) Which pool is mentioned here?
ii) What had the narrator learnt? Why does he say ‘—I was not finished’?
iii) What was he still haunted by?
iv) Which word in the above lines means remaining or remnant?
d) “The experience had a deep meaning for me as only those who have known stark terror and
conquered it can appreciate. In death there is a peace. There is terror only in the fear of
death, as Roosevelt knew when he said “All we have to fear is fear itself”.
i) Who is the narrator? Which experience is he talking of here?
ii) Which fear was he gripped with?
iii) Explain ‘In death, there is peace’?
iv) According to president Roosevelt, what is it that always fills us with fear?
2) Short Questions (30-40 words each) (2 marks each)

a) Douglas had a fear of water even before drowning in the YMVA pool. Why?
b) What is the misadventure that he speaks about?
c) What were the series of emotions and fears that Douglas experienced when he was thrown
into the pool?
d) What was the strategy in his mind to come to the surface? Did he succeed?
e) How did this experience handicap him?
f) “I crossed to oblivion and the curtain of life fell”. Why did the author make this remark?
g) Why was Douglas determined to get over his fear of water?
h) How did the instructor make a swimmer out of Douglas?
i) Give two character traits of Douglas that enabled him to overcome his fear of water.
j) How did Douglas make sure that he conquered the old terror?

3) Long Questions (6 marks) (120-150 words)

a) How did the swimming instructor ‘build a swimmer’ out of Douglas?


b) Roosevelt said “All we have to fear is fear itself”. Do you agree? Take evidence from ‘Deep
Water’ and express your views.

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