deep water- by William Douglas -dob-1898

deep water prose of flamingo class 12

1. English seminar Deep water By Ashwika.P

2. Background of the author: William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898 – January 19, 1980) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 to 1975. Douglas was known for his strong progressive and civil libertarian views and is often cited as the U.S. Supreme Court's most liberal justice ever.

3. Character sketch: William Douglas was a high spirited young man. Even though he feared the water,he made it his sole purpose to learn the art of swimming and was determined to get over his fear at any cost.

4. Chapter Sketch: This story reveals how a young boy nearly drowned in a swimming pool. The author talks about his fear of water and thereafter how he finally overcame it.

5. Theme: The theme of the story Deep Water is Victory in facing the fear. The author's experience of overcoming his fear of water and learning how to swim is a testament to the power of determination and perseverance.

6. Sub theme: Psychological analysis of fear

7. Summary: As a child, when he was 3 or 4 years old, he would go to the beach in California with his father. He would get scared by the might of the huge waves which swept over him and it instilled fear in his subconscious mind.

8. Summary: A few years later, in his eagerness to learn swimming, he joined a swimming pool where an incident further increased his terror. He was pushed into the pool by another boy and experienced death closely.

9. Summary: Many years after that incident, he stayed away from water but the desire to go fishing and swimming in nature was strong enough to motivate him to overcome his fear.

10. Summary: He learned swimming with the help of an instructor who ensured that William knew swimming well enough to be able to swim in huge lakes and waterfalls also. Still, when he would swim, the fear from his childhood experiences, embedded in his subconscious mind would grip him over and over again. He wanted to conquer that fear.

11. Summary: He faced it sarcastically, thinking that now, as he knew how to swim, what harm could it do to him. He challenged his fear in the face of it and finally, it would vanish. It was a baseless fear instilled in his subconscious mind. This experience was valuable for him. He had experienced terror and death. He overcame it and finally conquered it.

12. Summary: William realized that death is peaceful and it is the fear of death that is terrorizing. His will to live life grew intensely as he had overcome his fear and started living fearlessly.

13. Literary devices: Simile: Nine feet were like ninety Like a cork As dead weights Like a great charge of electricity Tender arms like Mother's

14. Literary devices: Repetition I went down, down, endlessly

15. Literary devices: Personification: The water heard me Stark terror seized me Terror that knows no understanding Terror that knows no control Blackness wiped out fear and terror Mr. Terror Gilbert Peak returned the echo

16. Literary devices: Metaphor: Curtain of life

17. Literary devices: Antithesis:Technique that conveys two opposing concepts in a sentence. Eg: ^Hope for the best, prepare for the worst ^ Back and forth ^The instructor was finished. But I was not finished.

18. Literary devices: Climax:Figure of speech in which successive words, phrases, clauses, or sentences are arranged in ascending order of importance. Eg: ^ Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird. ^He held on to the end of the rope, hour after hour, day after day, week after week.

19. Literary devices: Apostrophe: Addresses absent audience Eg: "Trying to scare me, eh? Well, here's to you!"

20. Literary devices: Paradox:Seems contradictory yet it is perhaps true. Eg: ^ “All we have to fear is fear itself ” ^Less is more

21. Question 1. At the end of the experience, Douglas felt (a) happy (b) released (c) sad (d) victorious

22. Question 2. Douglas went down towards the bottom (a) only once (b) twice (c) thrice (d) five times

23. Question 3. Why did Douglas hire an instructor? (a) To be confident in swimming (b) To compete with others (c) To flaunt (d) To overcome his fear of water and learn swimming

24. Thank you for your time and patience