Chapter- 3 Deep Water
1. Who is the author of the essay ‘Deep Water’?
Answer: The author of ‘Deep Water’ is William Douglas.
2. When and where was William Douglas born?
Answer: He was born in 1898 in Maine, Minnesota.
3. What degrees did William Douglas earn?
Answer: He graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in English and Economics.
4. Where did Douglas teach before starting his legal career?
Answer: He taught high school in Yakima for two years.
5. Who did William Douglas meet at Yale that influenced his career?
Answer: He met Franklin D. Roosevelt at Yale.
6. What role did Douglas have with President Roosevelt?
Answer: He became an adviser and friend to the President.
7. For how many years did Douglas serve as a Justice?
Answer: He served as a Justice for thirty-six years.
8. What is William Douglas known for advocating?
Answer: He was a leading advocate of individual rights.
9. From which book is the excerpt of ‘Deep Water’ taken?
Answer: The excerpt is taken from Of Men and Mountains by William O. Douglas.
10. What experience does Douglas describe in this essay?
Answer: He describes his near-drowning experience as a boy and how he overcame his fear of water.
11. At what age did Douglas nearly drown?
Answer: He was ten or eleven years old.
12. Where did Douglas decide to learn swimming?
Answer: He decided to learn swimming at the Y.M.C.A. pool in Yakima.
13. Why was the Y.M.C.A. pool a good place for him to learn swimming?
Answer: The pool offered safety with gradual depth, unlike the dangerous river.
14. How deep was the shallow end of the Y.M.C.A. pool?
Answer: It was two or three feet deep.
15. How deep was the other end of the pool?
Answer: It was nine feet deep.
16. What did Douglas use to help him swim safely?
Answer: He used a pair of water wings.
17. How did Douglas describe the Yakima River?
Answer: He described it as treacherous.
18. Who warned Douglas about the danger of the river?
Answer: His mother continually warned him.
19. What did his mother remind him about the river?
Answer: She reminded him of the details of each drowning that had happened in the river.
20. How did the essay use autobiographical elements?
Answer: Douglas used his own experience as a young boy to discuss his fear of water.
21. What does the word ‘treacherous’ mean in the context?
Answer: It means dangerous and unsafe.
22. What does the phrase ‘flailed at the surface’ mean?
Answer: It means to move arms and legs wildly while trying to stay afloat.
23. What does ‘bob to the surface like a cork’ mean?
Answer: It means to rise quickly to the top of the water.
24. How does Douglas contrast the Y.M.C.A. pool and the Yakima River?
Answer: The pool was safe, shallow, and gradual in depth, while the river was dangerous and life-threatening.
25. Why did Douglas choose the Y.M.C.A. pool for swimming?
Answer: Because it offered safety and a chance to learn swimming gradually.
26. What feeling does Douglas discuss in the essay?
Answer: He discusses his fear of water.
27. What does ‘subdued my pride’ suggest in the essay?
Answer: It suggests that Douglas had to control his ego and admit he needed help to learn swimming.
28. How is the lesson about fear conveyed in the essay?
Answer: Through Douglas’s personal experience and gradual learning to overcome fear.
29. What does ‘misadventure’ mean in the context?
Answer: It refers to an unfortunate accident or dangerous incident.
30. What is the main theme of ‘Deep Water’?
Answer: The main theme is overcoming fear through patience, practice, and courage.
Answer by Dimpee Bora
