Deep Water - William Douglas

An autobiographical account of how the author tackles and conquers fear.

2. JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

3. William Orville Douglas, (1898 - 1980)
•associate justice of the U.S. Supreme
Court
•His term lasted 36 years
•He is the longest serving justice in the
history of the Supreme Court.
•Douglas contracted polio as a youth, he
escaped permanent paralysis
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

4. • 32nd President (1933-1945)
•4 terms as President
•The only U.S. President to serve
for more than two terms
•Revived the US economy during
the Great Depression
•Led his country successfully in
the World War II
•William D met Franklin D R at
Yale & became an adviser &
friend to the President.
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

5. JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

6. The Yakima River
•It is a tributary of the Columbia River in
Washington state
•It is named for the Yakama people.
•The length of the river is 344 km.
•It is the longest river entirely in
Washington state.
•In the lesson, it is described as
treacherous because many people have
drowned in it.
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

8. Yakima River
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

9. YMCA
• It was founded on 6 June 1844 by Sir
George Williams in London, originally as
the Young Men's Christian Association.
•YMCA is a worldwide youth organization
based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more
than 64 million beneficiaries in 120
countries.
•It aims to put Christian principles into
practice by developing a healthy "body,
mind, and spirit".
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

10. Kids at YMCA Pool in Yakima
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

11. Summary
•William Douglas - wanted to learn
swimming at age 10/11 years
•Two options open before him-
learn at
Yakima River YMCA Pool
- very treacherous - was safe
- mother warned - 3 feet deep shallow end
against the idea - 9 feet deep other end
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

12. Incident at Beach
•He had an aversion to water from the
beginning
•He was 3/4 years old
•Surfing with father - at a beach in California
- waves knocked him down
- swept over him
- he was buried in water
•It frightened him
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

13. YMCA Pool
•It revived unpleasant memories of the
beach
•A misadventure happened
•William was sitting by the side of the pool
•An elder boy - big - around 18 yrs - picked
William & tossed him into the deep end
•William went deep into the pool - swallowed
water - was frightened
•Made plans to come to the surface &
escape
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

14. The Struggle
•Went down the pool & came up 3 times.
•In the process, swallowed more water
•FEAR grips him - terror seized him
•Feels paralysed - stiff, rigid
•Water seems yellowish
•All his efforts ceased - no fear, no struggle
•A blackness swept over him
•He is resigned to his fate.
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

15. Choice of Words - Repetition
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

16. Sentence Construction - the length - use of elipses
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

17. Saved but the trauma persists for years
•Finally saved - was weak, trembling,sick
•He never went back to the pool
•Feared & avoided water
•It ruined his fishing trips
•It deprived him the joy of canoeing,
boating, swimming
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

18. Devised plan to conquer fear
•Got an instructor - determined to learn swimming
– Practised 5 days a week - 1 hr/day
– Belt around William - rope attached to belt - pulley -
overhead cable - instructor held other end of cable
– This continued for 3 months - tension slackened

The instructor taught him to put his face under water
& exhale and to raise nose & inhale.
This was repeated hundreds of times
Instructor held him by the side of the pool & taught
him to kick with his legs.
This was practised for weeks.

STEP -I
STEP - II
STEP - III
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

19. Instructor was finished but not William
•Piece by piece, the instructor built a
swimmer - after each piece was perfected
- he put them together into an integrated
whole
•Now William could swim the length of the
pool without fear - he could swim alone
•But William was not satisfied
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

20. Attaining perfection
•Swam in Lake Wentworth, New
Hampshire
•Swam crawl, breast stroke, side stroke,
back stroke
•Swam in Warm Lake
•He CONQUERED FEAR OF WATER
•He felt released
•His confidence increased as he had
conquered his greatest fear in life.
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS

21. Lake Wentworth
JUDE JOSEPH, PGT ENGLISH, KVS