The Portrait of a lady

 

Word meaning of “ The Portrait of a Lady”

A veritable bedlam of chirrupings – refers to the noise and confusion caused by the chirrupings of the sparrows

Absurd – Illogical

Accepted her seclusion with resignation- the grandmother accepted a lonely life as she accepted the separation from her grandson without objection

An expanse of pure white serenity – refers to the calm, relaxed and peaceful character of the author’s grandmother

Beads – a small piece of glass or stone threaded with others to make a rosary or necklace

Bedlam – confusion

Blaze – a very large burning fire

Bothered- to be concerned

Cherished – hold something dear

Chirrupings – the noise of a small bird

Clasped – hold tightly

Contentment – a state of happiness and satisfaction

Corpse- dead body

Courtyard- verandah

Cremated – dispose of or burn a body after it is dead

Criss- cross – a pattern of intersecting straight lines

Crude – in a natural state, roughly made

Customary – traditional

Dilapidated – in a state of despair or ruin

Distressed – suffer from extremely sorrow, anxiety or pain

Earthen- made of baked or fired clay

Fables- fictitious stories with a moral teaching

Fetch – go for and then bring back something for someone

Frivolous – not having any serious purpose, light-hearted

Frivolous rebukes – light hearted scoldings

Gentlefolk – People of noble birth

Growling – making a low guttural sound in the throat

Harlots – Prostitutes

Hobbled – walked in an awkward way

Imprint – impression or stamp

Inaudible- unable to be heard

Lewd Association – Indecent or Obscene

Locks- hair

Mantelpiece- a structure of wood, marble, or stone above and around a fireplace.

Moist- wet

Monotonous – dull and boring

Omitted – leave out or exclude something

Overstraining- overdoing something

Pallor – an unhealthy pale appearance

Perched – alight or rest on something

Persuade – to talk someone into doing something, request

Plastered- covered with a layer of plaster

Portrait- painting or picture

Prophets- saints

Protested – express an objection against something or someone

Puckered – a face contract into wrinkles

Rebuke – disapproval of something or someone

Revolting – unpleasant

Rosary- a string of beads for keeping count of number of chants made of a religious prayer

Sagging – sinking downwards

Scattered – disorganized

Scriptures – the sacred writings of a religion

Seclusion – the state of being private and away from the people

Sentimental – a feeling of nostaglia, sadness or tenderness; an emotional feeling

Serenity – the state of being peaceful and calm

Shooed – make a person or animal go away by shouting or saying ‘shoo’

Shroud – a piece of cloth used to wrap a dead person

Slate- a flat plate of slate formerly used for writing on in schools

Snapped- break suddenly and completely

Spinning-wheel – a household machine with a wheel attached to it for spinning yarn

spotless white – she wore clean, white coloured dresses

Stale- no longer fresh and pleasant to eat; hard, musty, or dry.

Stoop – bend one’s body forward

The sagging skins of the dilapidated drum- The loose surface of the worn out drum

The thought was almost revolting- it was very hard for the author to believe

Thumped- hit

Undignified- disrespectful

Untidily – not neat

Veritable – use to describe something which is very interesting or unusual

Wrinkled- having lines or folds

Years rolled by- time passed

 

Lesson 1 – Extract Based Questions

 

Extract-based questions are of the multiple-choice variety, and students must select the correct option for each question by carefully reading the passage.

 

 

 

A Read the given extract and answer the questions that follow:

 

My grandmother, like everybody’s grandmother, was an old woman. She had been old and wrinkled for the twenty years that I had known her. People said that she had once been young and pretty and had even had a husband, but that was hard to believe. My grandfather’s portrait hung above the mantelpiece in the drawing room. He wore a big turban and loose-fitting clothes. His long, white beard covered the best part of his chest and he looked at least a hundred years old.

 

 

 

1. Name the chapter.

A The Portrait of a Lady

B Landscape of the Soul

C Discovering Tut

D We are not Afraid to Die if we can all be Together

Ans A The Portrait of a Lady

 

2. Name the author.

A Khushwant Singh

B A.R. Williams

C Marga Minco

D Kalki

Ans A Khushwant Singh

 

 

3. What literary device is employed in “Like everyone’s grandmother”?

A Metaphor

B Simile

C Transferred Epithet

D Enjambment

Ans B Simile

 

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4. Find out the synonym of ‘Pretty’ from the following?

A Beautiful

B Ugly

C Unattractive

D None of these

Ans A Beautiful

 

B Read the given extract and answer the questions that follow:

 

 

She had always been short and fat and slightly bent. Her face was a criss- cross of wrinkles running from everywhere to everywhere. No, we were certain she had always been as we had known her. Old, so terribly old that she could not have grown older, and had stayed at the same age for twenty years. She could never have been pretty; but she was always beautiful.

 

1. Who is ‘She’ in the above lines?

A Narrator’s Mother

B Narrator’s Grandmother

C Narrator’s Mother-in-law

D None of these

 

Ans B Narrator’s Grandmother

 

2. What was the physical state of hers?

A Middle-aged

B Young

C Old

D None of these

 

Ans C Old

 

3. Which of the following best describes “Fat”?

A Corpulent

B Skinny

C Lean

D None of these

 

 

Ans A Corpulent

 

4. Name the Chapter.

A Discovering Tut

B Ghat of The Only World

C The Adventure

D None of These

 

Ans D None of These

 

C Read the given extract and answer the questions that follow:

 

She hobbled about the house in spotless white with one hand resting on her waist to balance her stoop and the other telling the beads of her rosary. Her silver locks were scattered untidily over her pale, puckered face, and her lips constantly moved in inaudible prayer. Yes, she was beautiful. She was like the winter landscape in the mountains, an expanse of pure white serenity breathing peace and contentment.

 

1. What does the narrator mean by ‘Silver locks’?

A Lock and Key

B Grey Hair

C Attire of Silver colour

D None of these

 

Ans B Grey Hair

 

 

 

2. Which poetic device is employed in “Pale puckered face”?

A Simile

B Metaphor

C Alliteration

D Zeugma

Ans C Alliteration

 

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3. Find out the antonym of ‘Audible’ from the following.

A Unhearable

B Unsounded

C Imperceptible

D All of these

Ans D All of these

 

 

4. What does the word ‘Hobble’ mean?

A Walk quickly

B Limp

C Rush

D Hasten

Ans B Limp

 

D Read the given extract and answer the questions that follow:

 

She used to wake me up in the morning and get me ready for school. She said her morning prayer in a monotonous sing-song while she bathed and dressed me in the hope that I would listen and get to know it by heart; I listened because I loved her voice but never bothered to learn. it. Then she would fetch my wooden slate which she had already washed and plastered with yellow chalk.

 

1. Who looked after the narrator?

A His Grandmother

B His Mother

C His Father

D Both B and C

Ans A His Grandmother

 

2. Where did they both live?

A In a village

B In city

C In a metropolitan city

D None of these

Ans A In a village

 

3. Find out the antonym of ‘Monotonous’ from the following:

A Dull

B Boring

C Obsolete

D Exciting

Ans D Exciting

 

4. What did his grandmother always hold in her hands?

A Rosary

B Wooden Slate

C Food for Narrator

D All of these

Ans A Rosary

 

E Read the given extract and answer the questions that follow:

 

The priest taught us the alphabet and the morning prayer. While the children sat in rows on either side of the verandah singing the alphabet or the prayer in a chorus, my grandmother sat inside reading the scriptures. When we had both finished, we would walk back together. This time the village dogs would meet us at the temple door. They followed us to our home growling and fighting with each other for the chapattis we threw to them.

 

1. What did the grandmother do in the temple?

A Read scriptures

B Play with the kids

C Feed the dogs

D All of these

Ans A Read scriptures

 

2. Who made chapatis for dogs?

A Narrator

B His Grandmother

C Both of them

D None of them

Ans B His Grandmother

 

3. What does the word ‘Chorus’ mean?

A Sing in a group

B Sing alone

C Sing in a group of two

D Sing in a group of three

Ans A Sing in a group

 

4. Which literary device has been used in the line ‘They followed us to our home growling’?

A Onomatopoeia

B Transferred epithet

C Epithet

D Repetition

Ans A Onomatopoeia

 

 

Class 11 English Hornbill The Portrait of a Lady Lesson 1 Multiple Choice Questions

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) are a type of objective assessment in which a person is asked to choose one or more correct answers from a list of available options. An MCQ presents a question along with several possible answers.

 

Q1 What did grandmother feel when the author left for another country?

A Happy

B sad

C not even sentimental

D Sentimental

Ans C not even sentimental

 

Q2 Did the author take the time to memorise his grandmother’s morning prayers?

A yes

B he listened but did not bother to learn

C he could not learn

D no

 

Ans B he listened but did not bother to learn

 

Q3 What do you think of the grandmother’s character in the chapter?

A Emotional

B Strong

C Selfless

D Loving

 

Ans B Strong

 

Q4 How did the sparrows express their grief over grandmother’s passing?

A They didn’t come that day

B they came and sat silently in the verandah

C They ate the bread crumbs

D they chirruped a lot

 

Ans B they came and sat silently in the verandah

 

Q5 How did the grandmother spend her last moments?

A Talked to everyone in the house

B warned about everyone

C Silently praying and telling her beads

D Went to temple

 

Ans C Silently praying and telling her beads

 

Q6 What happened when the grandmother didn’t pray for the first time?

A She fell ill the next day

B She made this her routine

C She took a break and went to the village

D None of the above

 

Ans A She fell ill the next day

 

Q7 What happened after the author spent five years studying abroad?

A grandmother silently kissed his forehead as she said farewell.

B No one came to see him

C Grandmother moved back to village

D Parents moved with him

 

Ans. A grandmother silently kissed his forehead as she said farewell.

 

 

Q8 What did the grandmother do in the city?

A feedings dogs

B reading scriptures

C spinning the wheel

D talking to neighbours

 

Ans C spinning the wheel

 

Q9 What made the grandmother unhappy about the author’s new English School?

A the fact that she could no longer help him with the lessons

B Because they were in city

C Because she didn’t understand English

D Because she didn’t understand English and could no longer help him with the lessons

 

Ans D Because she didn’t understand English and could no longer help him with the lessons

 

Q10 What event marked the friendship between the grandmother and the author as a turning point?

A When he became an adult

B When both of his parents summoned them to the city

C When he abandoned her to move home with his parents in the city

D When they stopped talking

 

Ans B When both of his parents summoned them to the city

 

Q11 Where were the parents of the author?

A Abroad

B City

C Other Village

D Other state

 

 

Ans B City

 

Q12 What literary device is employed in “Like everyone’s grandmother”?

A Metaphor

B Simile

C Transferred Epithet

D Enjambment

 

Ans B Simile

 

Q13 What did the author eat for breakfast?

A thick, stale chapatis with a thin layer of butter and sugar.

B thick bread with butter

C upma

D rice and curd

 

Ans A thick, stale chapatis with a thin layer of butter and sugar.

 

Q14 What did the grandmother do in the temple?

A Read scriptures

B Play with the kids

C Feed the dogs

D All of these

 

Ans A Read scriptures

 

 

Q15 What does “Silver locks” mean in the narrator’s context?

A Lock and Key

B Grey Hair

C Attire of Silver colour

D None of these

 

Ans B Grey Hair

 

Q16 Which poetic device is employed in “Pale puckered face”?

A Simile

B Metaphor

C Alliteration

D Zeugma

 

Ans C Alliteration

 

Q17 Where did the grandmother and the narrator live?

A In a village

B In ashram

C In a metropolitan city

D None of these

 

Ans A In a village

 

Q18 What did his grandmother always hold in her hands?

A Rosary

B Wooden Slate

C Food for Narrator

D All of these

 

 

Ans A Rosary

 

Q19 What was the grandmother’s view about music?

A she was neutral

B she liked musicians

C she disliked it

D not mentioned

 

Ans C she disliked it

 

Q20 Which literary device has been used in the line ‘They followed us to our home growling’?

A Onomatopoeia

B Transferred epithet

C Epithet

D Repetition

 

Ans A Onomatopoeia

 

 

Class 11 English The Portrait of a Lady Question Answers (including questions from Previous Years Question Papers)

In this post we are also providing important short answer questions from Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady for CBSE Class 11 exams for the coming session.

 

 

Q1 Why was it hard for the author to believe that the grandmother was once young and pretty?

Ans The author found it difficult—almost repugnant—to imagine that his grandma had previously been young and attractive. During the last 20 years that he had seen her, he believed she could not get much older. Her playing games as a child seemed rather ridiculous and disrespectful just to think about.

 

Q2 The grandmother has been portrayed as a very religious lady. What details in the story create this impression?

Ans The author remembers his grandma as being a deeply devout person. He recalls her stumbling about the house while counting her rosary beads. He remembers her reading the Bible at the temple and saying her morning prayers. The author describes how she devoted her entire day to prayer during the past three days.

 

Q3 The grandmother had a divine beauty. How does the author bring it out?

Ans The grandmother possessed a wonderful beauty despite not being attractive. She wore pristine white clothing. Her pale, puckered face was covered in unruly silver hair, and her lips were moving inaudibly in a prayer. Her personification of “serenity, breathing peace and satisfaction,” according to the author, is “like the winter landscape in the Alps.”

 

Q4 What proof do you find of friendship between the grandmother and grandson in the story?

Ans The grandma and grandson had a close relationship. They shared a bedroom while she dressed him and walked him to and from his city school. When the author travelled overseas, his grandma silently bid him farewell and welcomed him back five years later by kissing him on the forehead.

 

Q5 The grandmother was a kind-hearted woman. Give examples in support of your answer.

Ans The grandmother was a compassionate person. She would give stale chapatis to the village dogs on her walk home from school. When they moved to the city, she started feeding the sparrows that came and perched on her head, shoulders, and legs.

 

 

Q6 “This was the turning point in our friendship.” What was the turning point?

Ans When they moved to the city, their friendship underwent a sea change. The grandmother was unable to accompany the writer to school and could not comprehend English, so they spent less time together. She didn’t trust science. She was unable to keep up with the author’s modern education from the city school.

 

Q7 Draw a comparison between the author’s village school education and city school education

Ans The alphabet and morning prayers were taught to the kids in the village school, which was connected to a temple. In the hamlet, the author walked to school with his grandmother; in the city, he used the school bus. He received instruction in science and Language but not in religion. He also studied music.

 

Q8 What was the happiest moment of the day for grandmother?

Ans The grandma said that feeding the sparrows in the city made her the happiest. She never pushed them away when they sat on her head, shoulders, or legs.

 

Q9 What was the last sign of physical contact between the author and the grandmother? Why did the author think that to be the last physical contact?

Ans The author spent five years travelling. His grandma gave him a kiss on the forehead. He assumed that this was their last exchange of physical contact. Because he was leaving for five years, he was worried that she wouldn’t make it till he got back.

 

Q10 Everybody including the sparrows mourned the grandmother’s death. Elaborate.

Ans Thousands of sparrows gathered and sat in the courtyard after the grandmother passed away. There were no bird chirps. They paid no attention to the breadcrumbs that the author’s mother had thrown for them. After the cremation, they silently took off after being overcome by grief at her passing.

 

Q11 Describe the author’s grandfather as he looked in his portrait.

Ans The grandfather was depicted as wearing loose-fitting clothing and a large turban. He appeared to be at least a century old because of his long, white beard, which covered the majority of his chest. According to the author, he had a grandfatherly appearance and was too old to have been a child.

 

Q12 How does the author describe his grandmother?

Ans According to the author, his grandma was short, chubby, and somewhat bent. He found it impossible to picture her as a young, attractive woman because, to him, she had remained the same for twenty years. He did, however, discover a beauty in her old age, like the peaceful winter scene.

 

Q13 How does the author react to the idea of the grandmother being young at a point of time and playing games?

Ans The author could not imagine his grandmother playing games and being young and attractive. It resembled one of the myths and fables she had told him, in his opinion.

 

Q14 How did the grandmother prepare the author for going to school?

Ans He was bathed, dressed, and ready for school each morning by his grandmother. She then made him breakfast, painted his wooden slate, and walked him to school. The grandma read the scriptures inside the temple as the author studied the alphabet and sang the morning prayers in the verandah.

 

Q15 Why was the grandmother distressed by the education imparted in the city school?

Ans The author’s grandma objected to their study of science in the English school. She did not believe in science and could not grasp English. She was disappointed that they weren’t taught about God. She disliked the music classes at school because she thought they were inappropriate for polite people.

 

 

Class 11 The Portrait of a Lady Long Answer Questions Lesson 1

 

 

Q1 Elaborate on the beautiful bond of love and friendship between the author and his grandmother.

Ans When the author was still a young child, his parents moved to the city, leaving him in his grandmother’s custody. They had a close friendship. Every morning, she walked him to school after waking him up, bathing, dressing him, and plastering his wooden slate. The grandma read the scriptures inside the temple as he studied in the school verandah which was next to the village temple.

They shared a bedroom when they first moved to the city. She went to the train station to bid the writer farewell when he was leaving on an overseas trip, but she said nothing to him and instead just kissed his forehead. The writer treasured their last physical interaction before he left for a five-year absence, but his grandmother was waiting to welcome him back. When the writer returned after five years, that day, in the evening, she gathered a group of neighbourhood ladies, pounded the drum and sang for hours. That day she forgot to say her prayers for the first time.

 

Q2 The grandmother was not pretty but beautiful. How?

Ans The grandma was diminutive, elderly, chubby, and somewhat bowed. She hadn’t changed in twenty years, and the author thought she was past the point of further ageing. He found it hard to believe that she had been youthful and attractive. She was attractive to him, nevertheless, in a pure and serene way. He recalled her telling the rosary beads with unceasing vigour.

Her lips were constantly moving in an inaudible prayer as her silver hair was left down loosely over her pale, puckered face. She seemed calm and comfortable, just like the Alps in the winter.

 

Q3 Discuss the relevance of the title The Portrait of a Lady.

Ans Khushwant Singh creates a touching pen painting of his beloved and revered grandma. She wasn’t gorgeous, but in the author’s opinion, she was beautiful. She was calm and satisfied, like the peaceful winter scene in the Alps, as she prayed silently while twirling the rosary beads. She had a unique connection to the author.

When his grandma was studying the scriptures inside the temple, she got him ready and walked him to and from school while he sat on the porch. The author relates how, after he returned from his trip abroad, his grandmother gathered women from the neighbourhood, banged the drum, and sung for hours about the return of the warriors.

She forgot to say her prayers for the first time. She was a devout woman who loved her family and even dogs and sparrows; everyone, including the sparrows, lamented her passing. The author humanises and immortalises the elderly woman through his description.

 

Q4 From a foster mother in the village to a lonely old lady in the city describe the grandmother’s journey through the later part of her life.

Ans Khushwant Singh’s parents left his grandmother to take care of him when he was a little child after they moved to the city. They had a close friendship. His grandmother took care of him, helped him get ready, and led him there. Khushwant Singh observed his grandma reading scriptures inside the nearby temple while the other kids played in the school’s verandah.

Their bond changed after they moved to the city. All else had changed except for their shared bedroom. She was unable to walk with him to school as he travelled by the school bus. Their contact subsequently worsened since his grandmother could not comprehend or approve of his education in the city. Later, when he entered the university, he was given a separate room, which severely weakened their relationship. She then worked at her spinning wheel all day long, from dawn until dusk. She spun while saying her prayers as she sat there. She didn’t unwind until the late afternoon when she fed the sparrows.

 

Q5 Write a character sketch of the author’s grandmother based on your reading of the chapter.

Ans Despite not being attractive, the author’s grandma was to him a beautiful woman who embodied calm and contentment. She was a devout and devoted woman who was continuously reciting the rosary and moving her lips in whispered prayer. She was a kind and sympathetic person. She had a unique connection to the author.

Every morning she got him out of bed, gave him a bath, clothed him, painted his wooden slate, fed him breakfast, and walked him to school. She dutifully fed the birds and dogs as well, showing them warmth and generosity. She was a powerful woman who exhibited no emotion while the author was away from home, but when he returned, she gathered neighbours and pounded the drum and sung for hours about the return of the warriors.

 

Q6 The grandmother herself was not formally educated but was serious about the author’s education. How does the text support this?

Ans While she had no formal education, the author’s grandmother took her schooling very seriously. She was able to read the Bible. She understood the importance of education and made sure the author never missed class. She brought him breakfast, dressed him, plastered his wooden slate, and woke him up every morning. In school, they taught him the alphabet and the morning prayers. The granny read her scriptures while he studied in the school verandah.

She was unable to walk with him to school in the city since he opted for the school bus en route. He was currently enrolled in a science-focused English school. She did not believe in science and could not grasp English. She was dissatisfied because they were not taught about God. She was irritated by Khushwant Singh’s music lessons because of its suggestive overtones. She was curious about the author’s education.

 

Q7 Gradually the author and the grandmother saw less of each other and their friendship was broken. Was the distancing deliberate or due to the demands of the situation?

Ans The author’s parents moved to the city when he was a young lad, leaving him with his grandma. They had a close friendship. She spent the entire day with him and went with him to and from school.

But they sent for them once his parents had made a home in the city. This ultimately turned their friendship around. All else had changed except for their shared bedroom. She was unable to walk with him to school as he travelled by the school bus. He was currently enrolled in a science-focused English school.

The grandmother did not believe in science and could not grasp English. She was dissatisfied with his schooling because they were not taught about God. She felt worse after his school started giving music classes. But their relationship was further broken when he enrolled in college and was given a separate room. Although the distancing was not on purpose, the circumstances had a negative impact on their relationship.