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Ch 3We're Not Afraid to Die... if We Can All Be Together — Class 11 English (Core), concept-first.

This lesson is a true, first-person adventure account written by Gordon Cook and Alan East. It is told in the voice of the narrator — a 37-year-old British businessman and keen amateur sailor — who, in July 1976, set out with his family to sail round the world.

31

Q&A

5

Concepts

31m

Section weightage

Section C · Literature Textbooks (Hornbill & Snapshots) · across all 16 lessons

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Key concepts

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Ocean Voyage Preparation

Imagine you are about to sail across the Atlantic in a small boat. You cannot stop for supplies halfway. Every item you bring must be enough for the entire journey, and every decision you make before leaving will determi…

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Chapter contents

The NCERT structure, section by section. Open a section to see its questions, then read the concept-first solution.

About the Authors and the Text

This lesson is a true, first-person adventure account written by Gordon Cook and Alan East. It is told in the voice of the narrator — a 37-year-old British businessman and keen amateur sailor — who, i…

1.1

Summary of the Lesson

In July 1976 the narrator, a 37-year-old businessman, sets sail from Plymouth, England, with his wife Mary and their children Jonathan (6) and Suzanne (7), to duplicate Captain James Cook's round-the-…

1.2

Themes

Courage and endurance in the face of death The central theme is human courage against overwhelming odds.

1.3

Character Sketches

The narrative turns on a small group of people thrown together in a life-or-death struggle: the narrator (the skipper), his wife Mary, their children Jonathan and Suzanne, and the two hired crewmen, L…

1.3.1

The Narrator (the Skipper)

The narrator is a 37-year-old businessman and a passionate, highly skilled amateur sailor who has spent sixteen years preparing for this voyage.

1.3.2

Mary

Mary, the narrator's wife, is a steady, courageous and supportive partner. She shares her husband's dream of sailing round the world and stands by him through the ordeal.

1.3.3

Jonathan (Jon)

Jonathan, the six-year-old son, is remarkably brave and mature for his age. Facing almost certain death, he asks his father plainly, 'Daddy, are we going to die?' — and then makes the astonishing stat…

1.3.4

Suzanne (Sue)

Suzanne, the seven-year-old daughter, is the character the narrator admires most of all. Though badly hurt — with a swollen head, two black eyes and a deep cut on her arm — she hides the seriousness o…

1.3.5

Larry Vigil and Herb Seigler

Larry Vigil, an American, and Herb Seigler, a Swiss, are the two crewmen taken on at Cape Town to help tackle the rough southern Indian Ocean.

1.4

Title and Message

The lesson's unusual, quotation-form title is drawn straight from the words of a six-year-old child, and it carries the deepest meaning of the whole story.

1.4.1

Significance of the Title

The title, 'We're Not Afraid to Die... if We Can All Be Together', is taken directly from what little Jonathan says to his father when the situation seems hopeless: 'we aren't afraid of dying if we ca…

1.4.2

Message of the Lesson

The lesson carries several linked messages. First, it celebrates human courage, determination and endurance: however terrifying the odds, people who refuse to give up can survive even the fury of the…

Summary

- Context: A true first-person account by Gordon Cook and Alan East of a family's attempt (July 1976) to sail round the world in their boat Wavewalker, repeating Captain James Cook's voyage.

Understanding the Text

+Understanding the Texti3 questions
  1. Q1List the steps taken by the captain (i) to protect the ship when rough weather began. (ii) to check the flooding of the water in the ship.Free
  2. Q2Describe the mental condition of the voyagers on 4 and 5 January.Preview
  3. Q3Describe the shifts in the narration of the events as indicated in the three sections of the text. Give a subtitle to each section.Preview

Talking about the Text

+Talking about the Texti4 questions
  1. Q1What difference did you notice between the reaction of the adults and the children when faced with danger?Free
  2. Q2How does the story suggest that optimism helps to endure “the direst stress”?Free
  3. Q3What lessons do we learn from such hazardous experiences when we are face-to-face with death?Preview
  4. Q4Why do you think people undertake such adventurous expeditions in spite of the risks involved?Preview

Thinking about Language

+Thinking about Languagei4 questions
  1. Q1We have come across words like ‘gale’ and ‘storm’ in the account. Here are two more words for ‘storm’: typhoon, cyclone. How many words does…Free
  2. Q2Here are the terms for different kinds of vessels: yacht, boat, canoe, ship, steamer, schooner. Think of similar terms in your language.Free
  3. Q3‘Catamaran’ is a kind of a boat. Do you know which Indian language this word is derived from? Check the dictionary.Preview
  4. Q4Have you heard any boatmen’s songs? What kind of emotions do these songs usually express?Preview

Working with Words

+Working with Wordsi3 questions
  1. Q1The following words used in the text as ship terminology are also commonly used in another sense. In what contexts would you use the other m…Free
  2. Q2The following three compound words end in -ship. What does each of them mean? airship flagship lightshipPreview
  3. Q3The following are the meanings listed in the dictionary against the phrase ‘take on’. In which meaning is it used in the third paragraph of…Preview

Things to Do

+Things to Doi3 questions
  1. Q1Given on the next page is a picture of a yacht. Label the parts of the yacht using the terms given in the box. bow cabin rudder cockpit ster…Free
  2. Q2Here is some information downloaded from the Internet on Ile Amsterdam. You can view images of the isle if you go online. | Feature | Detail…Preview
  3. Q3Locate Ile Amsterdam on the world map.Preview

About the Unit

This is a first-person account of an adventurous ordeal that a family experiences. The end-of-chapter tasks are designed to work on different reading, thinking and language skills:

Additional Practice

Extra exam-style practice questions written by us on this lesson — beyond the NCERT textbook's own exercises — for more CBSE board-exam preparation.

+Additional Practicei14 questions
  1. Q1Why did the narrator and his wife set sail from Plymouth in July 1976, and how had they prepared themselves and their boat for the voyage? (…Free
  2. Q2Why did the narrator take on two extra crewmen, Larry Vigil and Herb Seigler, at Cape Town? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Free
  3. Q3What precautions did the narrator take on the morning of 2 January when the waves turned gigantic? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Free
  4. Q4Describe the wave that struck Wavewalker on the evening of 2 January. What happened to the narrator when it hit the ship? (Answer in 30–40 w…Preview
  5. Q5What did the narrator find when he went below deck after Mary cried out that they were sinking? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Preview
  6. Q6How did Suzanne behave about her injuries, and what does this reveal about her character? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Preview
  7. Q7How did the narrator tackle the problem of the flooding when both the hand pumps and the electric pumps failed? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Preview
  8. Q8What did Jonathan say to his father on 5 January, and what effect did his words have on the narrator? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Preview
  9. Q9Why does the narrator call Ile Amsterdam 'the most beautiful island in the world' even though it was only a bare piece of volcanic rock? (An…Preview
  10. Q10Draw a character sketch of the narrator as a captain, a father and a human being, bringing out the qualities that saved Wavewalker and every…Preview
  11. Q11'The family aboard Wavewalker survived because it functioned as a team.' Discuss this statement, showing how Mary, Suzanne, Jonathan and the…Preview
  12. Q12Justify the title 'We're Not Afraid to Die... if We Can All Be Together'. How do a small boy's words become the emotional centre of the whol…Preview
  13. Q13The lesson presents a contest between human endurance and the fury of nature. Discuss this theme with close reference to the incidents of 2–…Preview
  14. Q14Write a critical appreciation of 'We're Not Afraid to Die... if We Can All Be Together', commenting on its first-person narration, its preci…Preview