English 10-1

Short Story Unit Activity

A Secret Lost in the Water (pg. 104 Sightlines)
Background
Roch Carrier is one of Quebecs most widely read writers, both in Canada and
abroad. Born in a village in the Beauce region of Quebec, the majority of Carriers stories
take place in rural settings, and often juxtapose an idyllic agricultural past with the
disillusionment of modernization and migration to larger cities. Nonetheless, the current
of bitterness that runs through much of his work is tempered with irony, humour, and
sentimentality.
Dowsing, the act of using a divining rod to locate water and minerals, dates back
more than seven thousand years. Not everyone is capable of using a divining rod, and
how or why dowsing works still remains a mystery. Birch, nut, and fruit tree branches, as
well as wire, are traditionally used as diving rods. As a dowser approaches a spot with a
concentration of water or minerals underground, the divining rod begins to move,
twitching sometimes with force. To this day, dowsers are used to locate freshwater
springs on farmland.
Pre-Read
What does the word heritage mean?
How is the idea of heritage connected to the concept of personal identity?
After Reading Discussion Questions
1. Why doesnt the rod work for the narrator?
2. Why does the farmer tell the narrator not to feel sorry?
3. What is lost in this story? Why did the author choose the title, A Secret Lost in
the Water?
4. How is the concept of heritage presented in this story?
5. From what point of view is this story told? Why is this an effective choice?
After Reading Written Questions
1. What is the symbolism of the alder bough? What does it mean to the narrator?
What did it mean to the father?
2. What significance is seen in the fact that the branch has not dried out? What
significance is seen in the story ending with the farmer taking back the branch
from the hands of the narrator?
3. What is the theme of this selection? How is the farmer significant in portraying
this theme?
4. The narrator does not reveal his reaction when he holds the alder branch and
nothing happens. How does this short story show how he feels? Is he referring

only to the ability to find water when he says that he has forgotten his fathers
knowledge?