The portrait of a lady
Questions and Answers
1. Draw a comparison between the village school and the English in the City ?
Ans:- In the village school, the priest taught the children the alphabet and the morning prayer. On the other hand, in the English School of the city English words, little things of Western science and learning, the law of gravity, Archimedes Principal, the world being round etc, were taught.
2. Give two examples of the author's grandmother's love of animals ?
Ans:- The following are the two examples of the author's grandmother's love of animals.
(i) The grandmother used to feed the street dogs stale chapattis when she was in village.
(ii) When she came to the city, she used to feed the sparrows every afternoon and never shooed them away.
3. Mention the old ways in which the author's grandmother behaved just before she died ?
Ans:- The author's grandmother behaved quite strangely just before her death. when the grandmother had fever, she said that her end was near. She refused to talk to anyone because she did not went to waste a single moment without praying she laid that peacefully in bed and started to pray and tell the beads of her rosary till her breath. these are some of the old ways in which the grandmother behaved just before she died.
4. Mention the three ways in which the author's grandmother spent her days after he give up ?
Ans:- The three ways in which the author's grandmother spent her days after he grew up are given below.
Firstly, the grandmother used to spend most of time in praying and telling the beads of her rosary.
Secondly, the grandmother used to spend most of her time by spanning the wheel. From Sunrise to Sunset she sat by her wheel spanning and she rarely left it to talk to anyone.
Thirdly, in the afternoon she fed the sparrows in the city house which seemed to be the happiest half - hour of the day for her.
5. Mention the ways in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author's grandmother died ?
Ans:- The author's grandmother shared and unique bond with the sparrows. When the grandmother died, thousand of sparrows sat silently beside dead body of the grandmother.
There expression showed that they too felt sorry for the grandmother. The author's mother felt bat for them and brought some bread and broke it into little crumbs and threw it to them. But the sparrows look no notice of the bread. When the grandmother's corpse was taken away, the sparrows flew away quietly.
6. Mention the three phases of the author's relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.
Ans:- The three phases of the author's relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad are discussed below.
The first phase of the author's relationship started when the author was a little boy. The author used to live with his grandmother in the village where she used to take care of all the needs of him.
The second phase of the relationship started when they went to the city. That was the turning point in their relationship. In the city, the author used to go to an English Medium School in a motor bus. She could not accompany him to school nor could she help with his studies which made her unhappy.
The third phase of the relationship started when the author's become a University student. At that time the author got busy with his studies and they so loss of each other. Moreover, the author was given a room of his own and the common link of friendship was broken.
7. Describe the changing relationship between the author and his grandmother.
Ans:- The beautiful relation of friendship between the author and his grandmother started in the village. The grandmother used to take care of all the needs of the author. They were spending a beautiful and happy time in the village but the turning point came when both of them went to the city. In the city, the grandmother could not accompany the author to his school nor could she help him with his studies which made her unhappy. Moreover, when she came to know that music lessons were also given to them, she become totally disturbed and rarely talked to him after that. The beautiful relation turned into a distanced one when the author went to the university. At that time he was given a room of his own and the common link of friendship between them was broken.
8. How did the author's grandfather looked in his portrait ?
Ans:- The author's grandfather's portrait was hung above the mantelpice in the drawing room. He wore a big tarban and loss fitting clothes. His long, white beard covered the best part of his chest and he looked at lest a handred years old. For the author, he did not look like the sort of person. Who would have a wife or children. He looked as if he could only have lost and lost of grandchildren.
9. What was the happiest moment of the boy for the grandmother ?
Ans:- The happiest moment of the boy for the grandmother in the city. When she was feelings the sparrows. That Perched on her legs, shoulder and head she never school than away.
10. What was hand to believe about the author's grandmother ? why ?
Ans:- The author's grandmother was terribly old. It was hard to believe that she had ever been young and pretty. It was also hard to believe that she had even a husband.
11. Describe the childhood days spent the village by the author with his grandmother.
Ans:- 'In the Portrait of a Lady' the author beautifully unfolds his relationship with his grandmother, whiledescribing her appearance and dily activities. The author spent his Childhood days with his grandmother in the village. His grandmother used to wake him up in the morning and get him ready for school. She would hand over to him the things required in school. After having thick, stale chappatti with butter and sugar with breakfast, they used to live for school. The author's grandmother always accompany him to school as it was attached to the temple. She was found of carrying some stale chapati to fed the village dogs. The grandmother used to sit inside the temple reading scriptures while the narrator learnt alphabet and prayer in the school. She also helped him with his lessons.
12. Would you agree that the author's grandmother was a person strong in character ? If yes, give instances that show this.
Ans:- Yes, I agree that the author's grandmother was a person strong in character. The grandmother was an image of contentment but had firm conviction about certain things in her life. In the village, she did everything and took perfect care of him. She adjusted to the changed City lifestyle with ingenuity. She never made any comprises in her own lifestyle and routine. She spent all her time spanning the wheel, recited her prayers and fed the sparrows. Even when disapporving of the instructions and cultural orientations of the English School, her protests were never vocal. She loved the author deeply but remained affectionate without being overly demonstrative. Durning the last few hours of her family members, she stopped talking to everyone and took to reciting prayers and telling the beads of her rosary.
13. The author's grandmother was a religious person. What are the different ways in which we come to know this.
Ans:- The author's grandmother was truly a religious lady, she spent most of her time in playing and telling the beads of her rosary. She used to get up early in the morning and did her morning prayer in a monotonousing song. She always used to go to the temple and read scriptures. The grandmother wanted that the children should be taught about God and scriptures. She became disturbed when she come to know that there was no teaching about God and scriptures in the city school. Moreover when she realized that her and was near, she did not spend a single moment in talking with anyone. She laid peacefully in bed praying and telling her beads till the last moment of her life.
AHSEC Solutions For Class 11 English Hornbill The Portrait of a Lady
