the portrait of a lady

Hornbill Class 11 English

 Question 1:
The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before lie left else country to study abroad.
Answer:
The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad are:

1. childhood – when he went to the village school and the grandmother helped him to get ready and went to school with him.
2. boyhood – when he went to the city school in a bus. He shared a room with grandmother but she could no longer help him in his studies.
3. early youth – when he went to the university and was given a room of him own. The common link of friendship was snapped.

Hornbill Class 11 English

 Question 2:
Three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when m started going to the city school.
Answer:
The three reasons why the author’s grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school are:

1. She hated western Science and learning.
2. She was pained to know that there was no teaching of God and the scriptures there.
3. She was allergic to music. She thought it was not meant for decent people and gentlefolk. It was the monopoly of prostitutes and beggars.

Hornbill Class 11 English

 Question 3:
Three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.
Answer:
The three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up are:

• She lived alone in her room as she had accepted her loneliness quietly.
• She sat at her spinning wheel reciting prayers.
• In the afternoon, she would feed the sparrows for half an hour.

Hornbill Class 11 English 

Question 4:
The odd ways in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.
Answer:
Just before her death, the author’s grandmother refused to talk to them. Since she
had omitted to pray the previous night while she was singing songs of homecoming and beating the drum, she was not going to waste any more time. She ignored their protests. She lay peacefully in bed praying and telling beads.

Hornbill Class 11 English 

Question 5:
The way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.
Answer:
Thousands of sparrows sat silently surrounding the dead body of the author’s grandmother. There was no chirruping. The author’s mother threw some crumbs of bread to them. They took no notice of them. As soon as the grandmother’s corpse was carried off, they flew away quietly. Thus the sparrows expressed their sorrow.