The Portrait of A Lady Extra Questions Important For Class 11 are super important! They help us understand the characters and story better. By answering them, we can think more about the relationships between the grandmother and the writer. It’s like a cool way to explore the deeper meanings and show what we’ve learned.
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The Portrait of A Lady Extra Questions
The Portrait of A Lady Questions
Directions:- Answer the following questions from The Portrait of a Lady Extra Quetions in about 30-40 words each.
Q.1. Why does the writer say that it was hard to believe that his grandmother had once been young and pretty and even had a husband?
Ans. The author had always seen her as old, fat and bent. He had never seen his grandfather alive, and in his portrait he looked a hundred years old with his white beard.
Q.2. Explain the simile, ‘She was like the winter landscape in the mountains, an expanse of pure white serenity breathing peace and contentment.’
Ans. Khushwant Singh compares his grandmother to a snow-capped mountain in winter, exuding pure calm and peace. This is a beautiful reference to the beauty of her pure white dress, hair and tranquil expression.
Q.3. Why did the grandmother say her morning prayers while helping the author get ready for school? (The Portrait of A Lady Extra Questions)
Ans. She was a religious lady, so she was always reciting the prayers. She also hoped that her grandson would learn the prayers by listening to them.
Q.4. Give two reasons why the grandmother accompanied Khushwant Singh to school. (The Portrait of A Lady Extra Questions)
Ans. Firstly, she could pray in the temple to which the school was attached. Secondly, she could feed the village dogs with the stale chapatis she had kept for them.
Q.5. Describe two changes that occurred in the relationship between the grandson and the grandmother when they went to live in the city.
Ans. The grandmother did not go to school with her grandson after they moved to the city. He went to an English school in a motor bus. There were no dogs to feed in the streets and the grandmother fed sparrows in the courtyard of the city house.
Q.6. Why was the grandmother not happy with the English school in the city?
Ans. The school taught western science but nothing about God or scriptures. She could not help her grandson with his lessons now. She also did not believe in what he was taught in the English school.
Q.7. How did the grandmother show her distress with the new subject taught in the school?
Ans. When the author announced that he was being given music lessons, she was very disturbed. Music for her had a vulgar and lewd association. She rarely talked to the author after that. Her silence expressed disapproval.
Q.8. When did the common link of friendship snap and why? (The Portrait of A Lady Extra Questions)
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Ans. The common link between the author and the grandmother was the shared room. When the author joined the university, he was given a separate room to study, so the common link of friendship between the two snapped.
Q.9. What was the happiest moment of the day for the grandmother in the city? (The Portrait of A Lady Extra Questions)
Ans. The grandmother usually fed the sparrows in the afternoon. She would feed them with little-broken breadcrumbs. The birds would chirrup noisily and some would perch on her legs and shoulder. This was the happiest half an hour for her in the day.
Q.10. How did the grandmother react to the snapping of the bond with her grandson? (The Portrait of A Lady Class 11)
Ans. She did not protest at all and accepted the separation silently. She kept herself busy with spinning the whole day and feeding the sparrows in the afternoon.
Q.11. ‘When I left I cherished the moist imprint as perhaps the last sign of physical contact between us.’ Explain this sentence in your own words.
Ans. When the author was leaving for higher studies abroad, his grandmother kissed his forehead at the station. He thought that she might be gone after five years and he might not be able to see her again.
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Q.12. Were the author’s fears about his grandmother proved right or wrong when he returned home? (The Portrait of A Lady Extra Questions)
Ans. The author’s fears about his grandmother proved wrong when he returned home. His grandmother was very much alive and greeted him at the station after five years. She did not look a day older and as usual, was reciting her prayers.
Q.13. How did the grandmother express her happiness on the first day of the author’s coming back? (The Portrait of A Lady Extra Questions)
Ans. She fed the sparrows for a longer time than usual and expressed her happiness by scolding them in a light-hearted manner. In the evening, she didn’t pray. She collected the women of the neighbourhood, got an old drum and started to sing the songs of the home-coming warriors.
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Q.14. What happened to the grandmother the next day when the author came back? (The Portrait of A Lady Extra Questions)
Ans. She fell ill, and the family members thought it was a mild fever, but she knew that her end was near. She stopped talking and only prayed continuously, till she passed away.
Q.15. What was the biggest surprise for the family when they prepared to take her for cremation? (The Portrait of A Lady Extra Questions)
Ans. They were amazed to see thousands of sparrows sitting scattered on the floor near her body. They were absolutely silent, not chirping, as usual. They did not even eat the breadcrumbs offered to them.
The Portrait of A Lady Extra Questions Long Answers
The Portrait of A Lady Extra Questions
Directions:- Answer the following questions from The Portrait of a Lady Extra Questions Class 11 in about 120-150 words each.
Q.1. State facts from the story which reveal that the author and the grandmother shared a beautiful relationship with each other.
Ans. In the village, the grandmother got the author ready for school, cooked food for him, packed his bag and took good care of him. She escorted him to school and brought him back each day. The author went to the school attached to the temple. While he studied in the school, she sat in the temple and prayed.
After they moved to the city, the two no longer shared time, but the grandmother was always concerned about the subjects the author studied at the school. She disapproved of many things taught, but she did not interfere. She never complained when her link with the author snapped. When the author went abroad, she wished him well and kissed his forehead. She waited for his return and welcomed him with songs about the return of warriors.
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Q.2. Comment on the relationship between the grandmother and the author till he went abroad. (The Portrait of A Lady Extra Questions)
Ans. As a child, the author really admired his grandmother. He thought she was beautiful in spite of describing her as short, fat, bent and terribly wrinkled. He described her like the winter landscape, who was serene and calm. He loved her because she did everything for him, while his parents were away in the city.
In the city, she could not accompany him to the school because he went by school bus. She could not teach him as he went to an English school where the teacher taught him western science and music. She disapproved of both, especially music, and was unhappy that they did not teach about God. So a distance developed in their relationship.
The last link between the two snapped when he went to the university. They had separate rooms with total lack of communication between them. The grandmother did not complain. She accepted her seclusion and spent her time in spinning, rarely talking to anyone.
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Q.3. How did the grandmother express her joy at the return of her grandson after five years? Describe grandmother’s relationship with the sparrows.
Ans. When the author came back home after five years, he found his grandmother as her usual self, her lips moving in prayer and her fingers telling the beads of her rosary. Although she did not say a word, she expressed her happiness by feeding the sparrows longer and scolding them in a loving manner. As the evening progressed, a sudden change came in her. She started singing and thumping an old drum.
She sang songs praising the home-coming of warriors. The grandmother had a sentimental relationship with the sparrows. She used to feed the sparrows in the courtyard of the city house. Even the sparrows reciprocated her love and care by sitting silently near her corpse. They did not even touch the breadcrumbs spread for them by the author’s mother and silently flew away after the grandmother’s dead body was taken away for cremation.
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