THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY

CLASS: XI PERIODS: 7

EXPECTED BEHAVIORAL OUTCOME

a. The students understand the meanings of the difficult words and learn their pronunciation.
b. The students listen to the loud reading and answer the comprehension questions.
c. The students learn to answer questions.
d. The students learn the grammatical structure and practice the related exercises.

LEARNING EXPERIENCES PROVIDED

a. The teacher asks introduction questions and supplements inputs to elicit answers.
b. The teacher reads aloud the lesson and asks students to follow the pronunciation of
words and phrases.
c. The teacher asks comprehension questions and elicits answers to them.
d. The teacher gives additional questions and answers for practice.

CONTENT

A. Meanings of the following words and phrases are given:

Wrinkled portrait mantelpiece

Turban revolting absurd
Fables prophets criss-cross
Hobbled about spotless stoop
Telling beads rosary untidily
Puckered expanse serenity
Contentment stale scriptures
Growling lewd harlots
Snapped seclusion reciting
Veritable bedlam perched
Shooed clasped frivolous
Rebukes sagging dilapidated
Persuade overstraining pallor
Shroud crude stretcher blaze
Crumbs took no notice

B. The lesson is read aloud stressing on the pronunciation of new words and phrases.

Wrinkled portrait mantelpiece

Turban Fables prophets
Hobbled about Telling beads rosary
Untidily Puckered expanse
Serenity Contentment scriptures
Growling lewd harlots
Bedlam perched Shooed
Clasped frivolous Rebukes
Dilapidated Persuade overstraining
Pallor Shroud crude stretcher

C. The following comprehension questions are asked.

a. What does Khushwant Singh describe in ‘The Portrait of a lady’?

b. Was the narrator’s grandmother once young and pretty? If not, why?
c. Give a pen-picture of the narrator’s grandfather as he appeared in the portrait.
d. Why did the grandmother keep one hand on her waist?
e. Explain: ‘Old, so terribly old that she could not have grown older….’
f. How could the grandmother be ‘beautiful’ without being ‘pretty’?
g. How did the grandmother appear like the ‘winter landscape in the mountains’?
h. How were the grandmother and the narrator good and intimate friends?
 i. Why did she accompany the narrator to his school? What did she do there?
j. What did the priest teach at the village school?
k. Describe the grandmother’s feeding of the village dogs?
l. What was the turning point of their relationship?
m. What opinion did the grandmother form of the English school in the city?
n. Draw a comparision between the village school and the English school in the city?
o. Why did the grandmother hate music?
p. How was the common link of their friendship broken?
q. What were the happiest moments of the day for the grandmother?
r. Why did the narrator think that the grandmother’s kiss was the last sign of physical
contact between them?
s. ‘I would be away for five years, and at her age one could never tell.’ Why did the
narrator think so?
t. How did the grandmother celebrate the homecoming of her grandson?
u. Why did the grandmother stop talking to anybody before her death?
v. How did the sparrows mourn the death of the grandmother?

EVALUATION

A. Introduction questions/Recapitulation questions.

a. Have you been brought up by your grandparents?

b. What is the use of having one’s grandparents?
c. What are the qualities associated with old age?
d. Few questions from the comprehension questions above are used as recapitulation
questions

B. Evaluation questions

a. Was the narrator’s grandmother once young and pretty? If not, why?
b. Explain: ‘Old, so terribly old that she could not have grown older….’
c. How could the grandmother be ‘beautiful’ without being ‘pretty’?
d. How did the grandmother appear like the ‘winter landscape in the mountains’?
e. Why did she accompany the narrator to his school? What did she do there?
f. What was the turning point of their relationship?
g. What opinion did the grandmother form of the English schools in the city?
h. Why did the grandmother hate music?
i. How was the common link of their friendship broken?
j. What were the happiest moments of the day for the grand mother?
k. How did the sparrows mourn the death of the grandmother?

GRAMMAR & STRUCTURE

The following grammatical structure is taught along with related exercises.

a. Short compositions like – Notices, Posters, Advertisements,

b. Tenses
c. Reading Project

SUPPLEMENTARY READER

The following story from the Supplementary Reader is taught.

a. The summer of the beautiful white horse.

NOVEL

The following chapters from the novel The Canterville Ghost are taught.

a. Chapter - 1.

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 THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN ABOUT 30-40 WORDS EACH

a. Was the narrator’s grandmother once young and pretty? If not, why?
b. Explain: ‘Old, so terribly old that she could not have grown older….’
c. How could the grandmother be ‘beautiful’ without being ‘pretty’?
d. How did the grandmother appear like the ‘winter landscape in the mountains’?
e. Why did she accompany the narrator to his school? What did she do there?
f. What was the turning point of their relationship?
g. What opinion did the grandmother form of the English schools in the city?
h. Why did the grandmother hate music?
i. How was the common link of their friendship broken?
j. What were the happiest moments of the day for the grand mother?
k. How did the sparrows mourn the death of the grandmother?

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN ABOUT 120 WORDS EACH

a. Describe in brief the pen-picture of the narrator’s grandmother highlighting her noble
qualities.
b. Describe the unique relationship of the grandmother with the sparrows. How did the
sparrows mourn her death?

THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN ABOUT 30-40 WORDS EACH

a. Was the narrator’s grandmother once young and pretty? If not, why?
b. Explain: ‘Old, so terribly old that she could not have grown older….’
c. How could the grandmother be ‘beautiful’ without being ‘pretty’?
d. How did the grandmother appear like the ‘winter landscape in the mountains’?
e. Why did she accompany the narrator to his school? What did she do there?
f. What was the turning point of their relationship?
g. What opinion did the grandmother form of the English schools in the city?
h. Why did the grandmother hate music?
i. How was the common link of their friendship broken?
j. What were the happiest moments of the day for the grand mother?
k. How did the sparrows mourn the death of the grandmother?

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN ABOUT 120 WORDS EACH

a. Describe in brief the pen-picture of the narrator’s grandmother highlighting her noble
qualities.
b. Describe the unique relationship of the grandmother with the sparrows. How did the
sparrows mourn her death?