Worksheet: The Portrait of a Lady | English Class 11 PDF Download

Fill in the Blanks

Q1: The author of "The Portrait of a Lady" is ___________.

Q2: The author of the story remembers his ___________ as an eternally old woman.

Q3: The grandmother had silver hair scattered messily on her ___________ face.

Q4: The grandmother used to walk around the house in ___________ clothes.

Q5: She spent a lot of time sitting beside her ___________ and reciting prayers.

Q6: The writer went abroad for further studies and his grandmother ___________ get disturbed.

Q7: Thousands of ___________ flew in and sat dispersed around her body to grieve her death.

Q8: The grandmother was not happy with the writer's education in the city because it didn't focus on ___________ and scriptures.

Q9: The grandmother used to give stale chapattis to ___________ on their way back home.

Q10: The writer's grandmother saw him off at the ___________ when he left for abroad.

Assertion and Reason Based

Q1: Assertion: The writer's grandmother was not very pretty.
Reason: The writer compared her calm face with the winter landscape.
(a) Both assertion and reason are true, and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion.
(b) Both assertion and reason are true, but the reason is not the correct explanation of the assertion.
(c) Assertion is true, but the reason is false.
(d) Both assertion and reason are false.

Q2: Assertion: The writer's grandmother felt upset about the subjects he studied in the city.
Reason: She wanted the writer to focus on music lessons.
(a) Both assertion and reason are true, and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion.
(b) Both assertion and reason are true, but the reason is not the correct explanation of the assertion.
(c) Assertion is true, but the reason is false.
(d) Both assertion and reason are false.

Q3: Assertion: The writer's grandmother could foresee her impending death.
Reason: She prayed and recited beads on her deathbed.
(a) Both assertion and reason are true, and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion.
(b) Both assertion and reason are true, but the reason is not the correct explanation of the assertion.
(c) Assertion is true, but the reason is false.
(d) Both assertion and reason are false.

Q4: Assertion: The sparrows sat dispersed around the grandmother's body.
Reason: The sparrows made noise when the grandmother's body was carried away.
(a) Both assertion and reason are true, and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion.
(b) Both assertion and reason are true, but the reason is not the correct explanation of the assertion.
(c) Assertion is true, but the reason is false.
(d) Both assertion and reason are false.

Q5: Assertion: The writer's relationship with his grandmother was broken when he went to the university.
Reason: The writer got a separate room in his house for his university studies.
(a) Both assertion and reason are true, and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion.
(b) Both assertion and reason are true, but the reason is not the correct explanation of the assertion.
(c) Assertion is true, but the reason is false.
(d) Both assertion and reason are false.

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Q1: Describe the grandmother's appearance.

Q2: What kind of clothes did the grandmother wear?

Q3: How did the grandmother spend her time in the village?

Q4: How did the writer's relationship with his grandmother change when they moved to a city?

Q5: What subjects did the writer study at the city school?

Q6: How did the grandmother react to the change in the writer's education?

Q7: What happened when the writer went to a university?

Q8: How did the grandmother spend her time after the writer left for abroad?

Q9: What did the writer think when he saw his grandmother at the airport?

Q10: How did the sparrows react to the grandmother's death?

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1: Describe the writer's grandmother's appearance and her daily activities.

Q2: How did the writer's relationship with his grandmother change when they moved to a city, and why?

Q3: Explain the grandmother's reaction to the writer's education at the city school.

Q4: How did the writer's grandmother spend her time after he left for the university?

Long Answer Type Questions

Q1: Explore the evolving relationship between the writer and his grandmother from their time in the village to the writer's university years.

Q2: Discuss the significance of the sparrows in the story and how they symbolize the grandmother's life and passing.

Q3: How did the writer's grandmother influence his upbringing and education? What values did she instill in him?

Q4: Explain the emotional impact of the grandmother's death on the writer and how it reflects the bond they shared throughout their lives.

Passage Based Questions

1. Read the given extracts and answer the following questions:
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. 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.
Q1: What does the author mean by saying she was "always beautiful"?
A. She looked young and pretty
B. Her inner qualities made her beautiful
C. She was famous for her looks
D. She was always well-dressed

Q2: How does the author's description of the old woman create a sense of serenity?

Q3: Fill in the blank with the correct word from the bracket.
The phrase "criss-cross of wrinkles" indicates that her face had many smooth _____________.(well-cared-for / weathered).

Q4: How does the author's use of contrasting descriptions help develop the old woman's character?

2. Read the given extracts and answer the following questions:
When I went up to University, I was given a room of my own. The common link of friendship was snapped. My grandmother accepted her seclusion with resignation. She rarely left her spinning-wheel to talk to anyone. From sunrise to sunset she sat by her wheel spinning and reciting prayers. Only in the afternoon she relaxed for a while to feed the sparrows. While she sat in the verandah breaking the bread into little bits, hundreds of little birds collected round her creating a veritable bedlam of chirrupings. Some came and perched on her legs, others on her shoulders. Some even sat on her head. She smiled but never shooed them away. It used to be the happiest halfhour of the day for her.
Q1:  What activity did the grandmother spend most of her time doing?
A. Cooking meals
B. Spinning and reciting prayers
C. Reading books
D. Gardening

Q2: How did the grandmother interact with the sparrows during their feeding time?

Q3: Fill in the blank with the correct word from the bracket.
The grandmother's acceptance of her seclusion showed her ______________(happiness / resignation).

Q4: How did the grandmother’s daily routine change after the narrator went to university?

3. Read the given extracts and answer the following questions:
In the evening a change came over her. She did not pray. She collected the women of the neighbourhood, got an old drum and started to sing. For several hours she thumped the sagging skins of the dilapidated drum and sang of the home-coming of warriors. We had to persuade her to stop to avoid overstraining. That was the first time since I had known her that she did not pray. 
The next morning she was taken ill. It was a mild fever and the doctor told us that it would go. But my grandmother thought differently. She told us that her end was near. She said that, since only a few hours before the close of the last chapter of her life she had omitted to pray, she was not going to waste any more time talking to us. 
We protested. But she ignored our protests. She lay peacefully in bed praying and telling her beads. Even before we could suspect, her lips stopped moving and the rosary fell from her lifeless fingers. A peaceful pallor spread on her face and we knew that she was dead.

Q1: What activity did the grandmother engage in during the evening that was different from her usual routine?
A. She cooked dinner
B. She sang and played the drum
C. She read scriptures
D. She went for a walk

Q2: How did the grandmother perceive her illness the next morning?

Q3: Fill in the blank with the correct word from the bracket.
The grandmother’s reaction to her illness indicated that she had a strong belief in ____________(faith / doubt) regarding her life and death.

Q4: What happened to the grandmother shortly after she decided to stop talking and pray instead?