CLASS XI-THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY-(QUICK NOTES)

L-1. MAIN POINTS OF The Portrait Of A Lady

DEAR FRIENDS,

Here’s the quick notes for all of you for last minute revision…after revising the notes do attempt the Google form. LINK PROVIDED- GOOGLE FORM LINK.

1. The narrator’s grandmother had been old and wrinkled for twenty years. She had always been short, fat and slightly bent.
2. She moved about the house in spotless white clothes.
3. Her one hand rested on her waist to balance her stoop.
4. With the other hand she was always telling the beads of her rosary.
5. The grandmother and the narrator were good friends.
6. His parents left him with her when they went to live in the city.
7. She woke him in the morning and got him ready for school.
8. She went to school with him because the school was attached to the temple.
9. The narrator’s parents sent for them in the city.
10. It was a turning point in their friendship.
11. 11. The grandmother didn’t like the English school. Nor did she like science and music being taught at the new school.
12. As the years rolled by they saw less of each other.
13. When the narrator went to University, their common link of friendship was broken.
14. From sunrise to sunset she sat by her wheel spinning and reciting prayers.
15. Only in the afternoon she ‘relaxed for a while to feed the sparrows.
16. Hundreds of little birds collected round her. It was the happiest half-hour of the day for her.
17. She came to leave him at the railway station when the narrator went abroad for further studies. _
18. Silently she kissed his forehead. The narrator thought that it was his last meeting with her.
19. After iive years when he came back home she received him at the station.
20. , She collected the women of the neighbourhood.
21. She celebrated the homecoming of her grandson by thumping an old drum and singing songs. She even forgot to pray.
22. She overtired herself and fell ill.
23. She lay peacefully in bed praying and telling her beads. She died in the afternoon.
24. Her dead body was put on a stretcher.
25. , Thousands of . sparrows sat scattered on the floor.There was no chirruping.
26. His mother threw small crumbs of bread to the sparrows. They took no notice of them.
27. The birds flew away quietly when her dead body was carried off.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. What was the turning point in their friendship?

Ans. Their arrival in the city was the turning point in the friendship of the author and the grandmother. She no longer accompanied him to school as he used to go by bus. She could not help him in his studies. They saw less of each other. The common link of friendship was snapped and the distance grew.

Q2. Why was the author’s grandmother unhappy with the city education?

Ans. The grandmother did not like the teaching at English school in the city. She was sad that they did not teach anything about God and the religious scriptures. Nor was she interested in science. She hated music lessons given in the school.

Q3. Draw a comparison between village school education and city school education.

Ans. In the city school English and Science were taught. Music was also one of the subjects. There was no teaching about God and scriptures. The village school was attached to a temple. The priest himself acted as the teacher and taught the children the alphabet and the prayer.

Q4. What used to be the happiest moments of the day for the grandmother?

Ans. The happiest moment of the day for grandmother was the time when she would feed the sparrows. In the afternoon, she sat in the verandah breaking the bread into little bits. Hundreds of sparrows collected around her. Some came and perched on her legs, others on her shoulders. Some even sat on her head. She smiled but never shooed them away. This used to be happiest moment of the day for her.

Q5. How did the grandmother celebrate the homecoming of her grandson?

Ans. Grandmother was overjoyed at the homecoming of her grandson. She collected…