NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill Chapter 1 The Portrait of a Lady

Read the relationship through shared routine. In the village, the routine belongs to both of them: prayer, school, temple and the walk home. In the city, the routine splits. The author enters English education, while the grandmother moves into prayer and sparrow-feeding. At university, physical space confirms emotional distance because the author gets a separate room. The feelings do not become hostile, but daily dependence slowly disappears. The three phases are village companionship, gradual separation after the city school, and almost complete seclusion after the author went to university.

Her distress is not just about school subjects. It is about loss of influence. The village school linked learning with the temple, prayer and scripture. The city school replaces this with English, science and music. She cannot judge or guide these lessons, so she becomes silent. Her disapproval grows because the new education appears to weaken the religious world she trusts. She was disturbed because she lost her role in his schooling, disliked the absence of religious teaching, and disapproved of music lessons.

The grandmother's later life is built around three repeated acts. Spinning shows self-discipline and habit. Prayer shows faith. Feeding sparrows shows tenderness. The text presents these acts as her replacement for the companionship she once had with the narrator. So the answer should not sound empty: these daily actions reveal her dignity and emotional world. She spent her days spinning, praying and feeding sparrows, while living in quiet seclusion.

Her behaviour is odd because it breaks the habit that defines her in the story. She is usually silent, prayerful and controlled, but that evening she becomes public, musical and celebratory. The song about homecoming warriors mirrors the author's return from abroad. The scene also prepares us for her death, because it is her last burst of worldly joy. The odd behaviour was that she stopped praying for once, beat an old drum and sang for hours to celebrate the author's return.

The sparrows mourn through absence of their usual behaviour. They normally chirrup, gather around her and eat the bread she breaks for them. After her death, they become silent and refuse food, which makes their grief visible without human language. Their quiet departure completes the image of her bond with all living beings. The sparrows showed sorrow by sitting silently, refusing bread and flying away quietly after her body was taken for cremation.

The story does not call her religious only once. It surrounds her with prayer. Her rosary, temple visits and scripture reading show a daily practice of faith. Her unhappiness with Western education shows that religion shapes her idea of learning. Her final choice is the clearest sign: she treats prayer as the right way to meet death. We know she was religious from her prayers, rosary, scripture reading, religious values and her decision to pray until death.

The relationship changes because the author's world expands and the grandmother's world becomes smaller. Education, city life, university and foreign study all reduce shared time. Yet the emotional bond remains clear in the station farewell, the moist kiss on his forehead and her joy at his return. So the answer should balance separation with lasting tenderness. Their relationship changes from constant companionship to quiet distance, but their affection for each other remains deep.

Her strength is shown through control over herself. She does not complain when the author's life moves away from hers. She reorganises her own life around work, prayer and sparrows. At the railway station, she hides grief behind prayer and a kiss. At death, she directs her last hours with clarity. That calmness is moral strength. Yes. Her adjustment, restraint, faith, discipline and calm acceptance of death show that she was strong in character.

This question tests expression, not a fixed answer key. The best response uses concrete memory: a voice, a daily habit, a kind act or a farewell. Then it links that memory to the chapter's ending, where silence and small gestures carry grief. A precise personal detail will score better than a general sentence about sadness. Students should write a personal answer, linking a loved elder's habits, affection and absence to the narrator's sense of loss.

The clue lies in the contrast between home and school. English enters the story as part of city education, while the grandmother belongs to the older domestic and religious world. This suggests that daily speech between them was likely in a familiar home language. Because the text does not name it, a cautious answer is the strongest answer. They probably spoke their mother tongue or a regional Indian language, not English, in everyday conversation.

The question brings the chapter into the student's own home. A good response names the language and adds one small reason, such as comfort, respect or habit. For example, a student may say that they use Hindi with grandparents and English with cousins. The mark comes from clear expression, not from choosing a particular language. Students should answer with their own home language, such as Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi, English or another language.

The core word is dilapidated. It does not simply mean old; it means worn, damaged or falling apart. So the translation should carry the feeling of a drum whose skin and frame are no longer strong. A meaning-based translation is better than a stiff dictionary replacement. Write the equivalent phrase in your own language. In English meaning, it is an old and worn-out drum.

The question asks for cultural memory. The grandmother's song celebrates the author's return, so any song of return, welcome or reunion fits the idea. A good answer gives the title, language and mood in two or three sentences. This shows that the theme of homecoming is shared across languages. Students should name any suitable song or poem from their language that expresses return, reunion or longing for home.

The verb tell shifts meaning in each sentence. With beads, it means count. With English words, it means say or make known. With age, it means be certain. With her end, it means inform. This exercise trains students to read meaning from context, not from a single dictionary entry. 1 matches count while reciting; 2 matches make known in words; 3 matches be sure; 4 matches give information.

The first phrase shows a new routine after the move to the city. The grandmother takes to feeding sparrows because village dogs are no longer part of her day. The second phrase marks the sudden illness before her death. Both examples show how English phrasal expressions create meanings beyond the base verb. 'Took to feeding sparrows' means began the habit of feeding sparrows; 'taken ill' means became ill.

The key is to separate walking from other actions. Shuffle, stride, waddle, swagger, trudge and slog can all describe a person's walking style. Ride means travel on something, paddle relates to water movement, haggle means bargain and wriggle means twist the body. Slog belongs in the answer because it can describe moving on foot with great effort. The walking words are shuffle, stride, waddle, swagger, trudge and slog.

The story moves across many layers of time. Simple past tells the main remembered event, while past perfect reaches further back. For example, 'had known her' places the grandmother's old age before the narrator's present act of remembering. This tense helps the memoir keep its time order clear. The past perfect forms show actions or states completed before another past point in the narrator's memory.