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CLASS 11 · WOVEN WORDS · CHAPTER 1

The Lament

Student-friendly answers to every end-of-chapter activity in Anton Chekhov's story.

13 worked answersOriginal sample responses

13 worked answers · short steps first, explanations when you need them

Understanding the Text

Textbook pages Understanding the Text

Question Understanding the Text 1

How do people respond when Iona tries to tell them about his son's death?

Steps only

Name the people he approaches and describe their lack of attention.

Answer

Everyone Iona approaches ignores, interrupts, or dismisses him, leaving him alone with his grief.

Question Understanding the Text 2

What impression do you form of Iona from the story?

Steps only

Describe his gentleness, patience, loneliness, and need to share his sorrow.

Answer

Iona is gentle and patient but deeply lonely; he needs someone to listen to his grief.

Question Understanding the Text 3

How does Iona's horse act as his true friend and companion?

Steps only

Contrast the horse's quiet presence with the people's refusal to listen.

Answer

The horse stays beside Iona and listens quietly, giving him the companionship that people deny him.

Talking about the Text

Textbook pages Talking about the Text

Question Talking about the Text 1

Discuss the view that people can feel intensely alone when society lacks empathy.

Steps only

Use Iona's failed attempts to speak and explain why listening matters.

Answer

Iona feels alone among people because none listens to his grief. A patient listener can help someone feel understood.

Question Talking about the Text 2

Discuss how people in public-facing jobs may carry private joys and sorrows they want to share.

Steps only

Contrast how passengers see Iona at work with what he is experiencing privately.

Answer

Passengers see only a cabdriver, while Iona is a grieving father who needs someone to hear his story.

Appreciation

Textbook pages Appreciation

Question Appreciation 1

How does the opening description prepare us for the events of the story?

Steps only

Link the cold, bleak setting and Iona's stillness to the story's lonely mood.

Answer

The snowy twilight and Iona's stillness establish a bleak mood that reflects his loneliness.

Question Appreciation 2

What is the effect of the detailed descriptions of Iona's passengers?

Steps only

Show how distinct passenger details make their common lack of sympathy clear.

Answer

Vivid details distinguish the passengers, while their shared indifference highlights Iona's loneliness.

Question Appreciation 3

How is the story organised around one central event?

Steps only

Explain how repeated attempts to discuss his son's death lead to the final scene with the horse.

Answer

Iona's son's death shapes each encounter, and his repeated failures to speak lead to the final telling to his horse.

Question Appreciation 4

Why is it significant that the story begins and ends with Iona and his horse?

Steps only

Describe the shift from silence to Iona telling the horse his story.

Answer

The frame changes from silence to Iona confiding in the horse, showing both relief and human indifference.

Language Work

Textbook pages Language Work

Question Language Work 1

What do snuffle, snort, sniffle, and snore have in common in form and meaning?

Steps only

Mention the shared 'sn' beginning and their connection with breathing sounds.

Answer

They begin with 'sn' and describe sounds or actions connected with breathing.

Question Language Work 2

Group the listed words by their closeness in meaning to: snigger, wriggle, squeak, jeer, and sigh.

Steps only

Match each word with a similar action or sound; explain choices that may overlap.

Answer

Possible groups: A titter, chuckle, giggle, chortle, guffaw; B sneak, sidle, scramble, straggle, plod; C squawk, pant, croak, shriek; D boo; E gasp. Some choices overlap by context.

Question Language Work 3

What associations does the colour white carry in the story?

Steps only

Connect the snow's whiteness with the cold mood and Iona's ghostlike isolation.

Answer

White snow creates a bleak winter mood and makes Iona seem ghostlike and isolated.

Question Language Work 4

What does 'as if he were on needles' mean, and what is a similar expression?

Steps only

Explain the restless feeling and give a familiar comparison.

Answer

It means very restless and uncomfortable; a similar phrase is 'sitting on hot coals.'

Questions and activities were checked against the official NCERT chapter PDF ↗. Answers are written in original wording; no literary passage or illustration is reproduced.

Learnivelle is not affiliated with NCERT.

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