Important Questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 1 Prose

Important Questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 1 Prose – The Lament

English literature is a subject where people get to read beautifully crafted poems, stories, and essays by brilliant writers. Each written work has a special meaning that strikes a chord with the reader’s perception. The Class 11 English Woven Words textbook introduces students to a sentimental essay titled “The Lament”, written by an accomplished author – Anton Chekhov. The short story “The Lament” is about a frantic father who feels sorrowful and lonely after his son’s death. Students can learn more about the story through the Important Questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 1 Prose – The Lament.

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The best feature of Extramarks’ online learning assistance is the availability of important questions to help students learn and revise the chapter. Subject matter experts at Extramarks carefully select and provide answers to Extramarks’ important questions. The set of Chapter 1 Prose Class 11 English Woven Words Important Questions is based on essential topics for the CBSE examination. Subject experts accumulate the important questions from NCERT textbooks, CBSE sample papers, CBSE past years question papers, and NCERT revision notes.

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Important Questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 1 Prose – With Solutions

Students benefit from the answers to important questions in order to gain a thorough understanding of the chapters.Students can learn to write detailed and descriptive answers after going through Extramarks’ Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 1 Prose Important Questions.

Below is a list of Important Questions for Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 1 Prose and their solutions for students:-

Question  1. Comment on the indifference that meets Iona’s attempts to share his grief with his fellow human beings.

Answer     1. Iona Potapov son died a few days before. He was filled with grief and sadness and wanted a listening ear for his sorrow. Iona wanted someone to listen to his lament over the death of his son. However, people were too busy to hear him and never paid attention when he started the story about his son’s death. Consequently, he shared his grief with the horse.

Question  2. Who were the three young men in the story?

Answer     2. The three young men were Iona’s passengers in the story. Two men were tall and lean, while the third was quite short and humpbacked. The three young men looked impudent as they were hurling abusive words and did not offer Iona a fair price for the ride. After much all three tried to have a seat and decided that the short guy would stand.

Question  3. What impression of the character of Iona do you get from this story?

Answer     3. Iona was a diligent person who earned his living as a cab driver. He lost his son due to a high fever. The death of his son shocked him deeply, and he lost all hope in his life. The loss of his son made him weak, and his appearance became like an apparition. Iona tried to talk to everybody around him, including his passengers, an officer, and three drunk young men, to share the pain in his heart. He became so lonely and depressed that he did not even notice the snow around him. The concern about  old age was too heavy a burden for Iona, and it wasn’t easy to earn a living. Iona told his horse that it would be difficult to earn a living because his son had died.

However, the burden of becoming financially secure was nothing like the heaviness in his heart due to his son’s death. Iona seemed like a helpless and hopeless man.

Question  4. What was the cause of the pain for Iona?

Answer     4. Iona’s son died of a high fever, and he could not talk to anyone about his son’s death. It had been a week, and he was sorrowful, and no one could patiently listen to his sad story. Iona could not forget how his son fell ill and passed away. The memory of his son’s funeral made him lonely, and he did not have the strength to recall his son’s memories when he was alone. It would be too heartbreaking to think about his son.

Question  5. How does the horse serve as a true friend and companion to Iona?

Answer     5. Iona had no one with whom he could share his grief. He tried telling his passengers, an officer, a cab driver, and some young drunks—about the pain he felt over his son’s death.Unfortunately, everyone was too busy to wait and listen patiently to Iona. Therefore, Iona kept all the painful feelings to himself. He feared thinking about his son when alone since that would be too painful a thought to enter his mind. The horse was the only companion Iona had, who would listen to his sad story about his son’s death. Iona did not have much corn, so he fed the horse with little hay and lamented his son’s death before the horse by telling him everything that happened before and after his son’s death. The horse was Iona’s true friend, who listened to him quietly without interrupting him.

Question  6. The story begins with a description of the setting. How does this serve as a fitting prelude to the events described in the story?

Answer     6.  The setting at the story’s beginning makes the reader picture a situation of hopelessness and suffering. The twilight is dark, and Iona’s surroundings are covered with snow. The coldness is felt in the air, and snow is visible on house rooftops, horses’ backs, people’s shoulders, and hats. Iona looks like a phantom – pale and weak. The atmosphere is grim and becomes associated with the burden of sadness Iona feels as he mourns the loss of his son. The author has carefully penned the story’s setting to make readers aware of Iona’s grief reflected in his surroundings.

Question  7. How would people share their grief? Explain in the context of the story.

Answer     7. Iona is a cab driver whose son passed away before, and he has not been able to share his sadness with anyone. The thoughts of his son’s death are too heavy for him to handle, and he cannot lighten his heart by sharing his grief because no one would listen to him patiently. From Iona’s perspective, the author has mentioned that one should talk about his son’s death to people without haste. While telling, one must share the cause of the son’s death and how he suffered, the funeral details, the journey to the hospital, and the son’s words before death. The readers also know how difficult it must be for Iona to tell his daughter about her brother’s death. Ultimately, Iona feels that people will have sympathy for him after listening to his story.

Question  8. This short story revolves around a single important event. Discuss how the narrative is woven around this central fact.

Answer     8. The main event of the story is the death of Iona’s son. The loss of his son creates an emptiness in Iona’s life, and he feels engulfed with grief and sadness. The death causes Iona to lose all motivation in his life. No one would listen to Iona’s sad story and share the unbearable pain he felt. Iona tried telling the story to his passengers, but they were too busy to give a listening ear to a fellow human being who just wanted to describe the details of his son’s death. Ultimately, Iona’s horse is a true companion who listens to his painful story of his son’s death without turning away.

Question   9. Explain the associations that the colour ‘white’ has in the story.

Answer      9. The use of the colour white is ironic in the story. The story “Lament” is based on a dark theme of sorrow and grief. However, the protagonist’s surroundings are white. The snow, the street lamp, and Iona’s horse are white. Iona himself looks completely white and weak due to sadness. The street lamps are dull and white. The whole context of the story describes Iona’s hopelessness, grief, loneliness, and sadness after his son’s death.

Question    10. Why did Iona roam the streets?

Answer       10. Lona walks through the streets, looking for someone to listen to his heartbreaking story about his son’s death. However, people were too busy to even look at him, let alone listen to the sadness of the mourning father.

Question    11. What was the cause of Iona’s son’s death?

• Iona’s son suffered from a terminal illness
• Iona’s son had a high fever
• Iona’s son died in an accident
• None of the above

Answer      11. Option (2) Iona’s son had a high fever

Explanation:-

• Option (2) is correct. Iona’s son died after suffering from a high fever. He was immediately admitted to the hospital but could not survive.

Question    12. Look at the following set of words and mention what is common to them both in form and meaning

snuffle snort sniffle snore

Answer      12. The words describe various ways of breathing. The meaning of the words have been given below:-

Snuffle:- breathing loudly and noisily through the nose because of cold

Snort:- breathing noisily while expressing anger

Sniffle:- repetitive breathing due to cold or crying

Snore:- noisily breathing through the nose and mouth while asleep

Question  13. Why does Iona avoid thinking of his son in loneliness?

• The son’s memories make him happy
• The son’s memories motivate him to live 
• The son’s memories cause unbearable pain
• None of the above

Answer     13. Option (3)  The son’s memories cause unbearable pain.

Explanation:-

• Option (3) is correct. Iona’s son died of a high fever, greatly shocking him. Iona did not dare to think of his son’s death when alone because it made him sad and caused an unbearable amount of pain.

Question  14. What does the phrase ‘as if he were on needles’ mean? Can you think of another phrase with a similar meaning substituting the word ‘needles’?

Answer     14. The phrase on needles and pins means to wait anxiously about future events. A similar phrase would be “on tenterhooks”, which means agitation about the suspense of a future event.

Benefits of Solving Important Questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 1 Prose 

Short stories are scintillating written works consisting of deep messages. The central themes of short stories are complex for students to understand. However, students can refer to the end text and important chapter questions to determine the short stories’ main message.

Here are some benefits of solving the Important Questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 1 Prose:-

• Students can gain extra points in exams after learning from important questions.
• The English Woven Words Class 11 Chapter 1 Prose Important Questions are based on the contents given within the chapter.
• By going through the solutions and explanations given for each question covered in our question  bank, students will acquire more insights about the given chapters.
• Extramarks’ solutions for Important Questions Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 1 Prose follows strict guidelines for writing answers as per CBSE guidelines. So students can fully rely on our solutions.
• Our set of important questions covers questions from the entire chapter.  So going through our important questions will help students summarise and revise chapters fully before exams.

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