CBSE Class 9 English Main Course Book Unit 2 Adventure Chapter 3 Ordeal in the Ocean
Read the following extracts from the story, and try to puzzle out the meanings of the encircled words from other words and phrases in the extract. Write the clues in the empty boxes. Then give your own explanation of the encircled word.
(See Main Course Book Pages, 34-35)
(a) a group of stars
(b) continuous noise
(d) one which cannot be resisted
Suppose you are on a ship, far out to sea. Something happens, and you find yourself in the water. The ship continues on its journey. Discuss the following with your partner and share your views with the class.
- How long do you think you can stay alive in the water?
- How will you know which way to swim?
- What dangers will you face?
- If sea is not violent then best way is to lie still to stay afloat and conserve energy. One can stay alive for about 24 hours, but it depends on heat and the resultant dehydration.
- This is difficult to guess as it is not easy to find directions when one is at sea. May be the sun’s direction can help. It usually remains in the southern sky in the northern hemisphere. At night the position of stars, planets or moon can also help.
- There are dangers of dehydration and of being killed by a shark.
‘Ordeal in the Ocean’ is the story of Slava Knrilov, a Russian who faced a remarkable trial by water. Slava Kurilov tells his own story. Read …..
(See Main Course Book, Pages 36-39)
Summary of the extract: ‘Ordeal in the Ocean’ is the story of Slava Kurilov, a Russian who faced a remarkable trial by water. While he was on a routine diving, some accident happened. He was left very far from the sea liner he came in. He struggled to stay alive for three nights by keeping him and his courage afloat. Once he was almost near the land but because of one wrong decision he was swept away from it. He was about to surrender to fate but the noise from the breaking waves motivated him to make a last attempt towards the land. He was helped by some huge waves and finally could reach land. This story is about fear and joy of fighting with imminent death.
Below are some incomplete sentences about the story. Complete each sentence appropriately, according to the story.
- Slava Kurilov was in the water because he was…
Evidence for this is the…
- His biggest mistake was when he decided…
- He decided to die because he…
- He was carried towards the lagoon when he decided…
- diving snorkel with him
- to go in the southwest direction
- lost all hopes of seeing another day
- to swim in the direction of the noise of the breaking waves
Below is a map of the area in which Slava Kurilov faced his ordeal. You will also see the major events in the story, in mixed order, each accompanied by a symbol. After you have read ‘Ordeal in the Ocean’, draw the appropriate symbol against each x mark. (One is already drawn for you.) Draw the symbols or number the symbols, and transfer them to the map.)
(See Main Course Book, Page 40)
The author uses many vivid and colourful expressions to describe the ocean, clouds, sky, waves and his own feelings. List the expressions that you like the most.
- Clouds and sky
1. The sun looked out for the last time as if it
Find at least two expressions under each heading.
1. This third night in the ocean was very dark, much darker than the two previous ones.
2. The ocean around me was full of life.
- Clouds and sky
1.The sun looked out for the last time as if it were saying goodbye to me.
2. At first the clouds became deep red and then their edges turned bright orange.
1. It was a gigantic wave with steep, very slowly falling crests.
2. This time the wave quickly grabbed me and carried me at great speed for quite a long distance on its crest.
Another technique adopted by the writer is to use figures of speech such as a simile. A simile is used to express similarity between two things. e.g. He is as fast as lightning. The rain fell heavily on the metal roof like a machine-gun. Similes usually start with ‘like’ or ‘as’. Find two similes in the last section of the story.
- For a moment, I found myself in the air under the crest as if in a cave.
- I left a trail of luminous water and my body glittered like some princess’s ball-gown.
Now try to build your own similes for the following:
- The rock stood…
- The waves leapt…
- The sea shone …
- The sun set…
- The rain fell heavily …
- The birds soared …
- Dawn broke …
- The stars…
- The wind shook the trees …
- like a sentry
- like a cheetah
- like silver
- as if a giant was diving in the sea
- creating noise like a marching platoon
- like a kite
- as if the light at the end of the tunnel finally came near
- glistened like thousand diamonds
- the way a wrestler shakes his weaker opponent
Add any other similes of your own and write them in your notebook.
Now that you have seen some techniques for creating vivid images with language, try to compose a poem or write a short descriptive paragraph using similes and colourful expressions. Work in pairs if you prefer. Then read it out to the class. Choose one of these themes: waves, stars and moon, rocks, sunset or sunrise. Consider the following for your chosen theme:
- What does it look like?
- What does it feel like?
- What does it sound like?
- How does it move?
- Where do we see it?
- When do we see it?
We were sitting atop the famous hillock of the city to have an ideal view of the setting sun in the backdrop of the Kanha lake. It was around 6:30 pm. The sun was turning into a pale fireball. Then it turned bright orange and a little bit oval. The horizontal sky was coloured in different hues of the rainbow. It seemed as if the nature was making a masterpiece on the largest canvas available. Birds flying towards their nest created the perfect dramatic effect as if they were celebrating the march of sun in chorus. Finally, everything became much darker and a faint glimmer of dark orange colour was visible in the far western sky.
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