The Portrait of a Lady Vocabulary Flashcards

Appearance: For $20$ years, she appeared old and wrinkled, described as being “terribly old.” She was short, fat, and slightly bent, often seen in spotless white with one hand on her waist and the other telling the beads of her rosary.
Comparison: Her presence was likened to a winter landscape in the mountains, an “expanse of pure white serenity” breathing peace and contentment.
Religious Devotion: Her lips moved constantly in inaudible prayer, and she regularly read scriptures while waiting at the temple.
The Grandfather: His portrait hung above the mantelpiece; he wore a big turban and loose-fitting clothes, appearing at least $100$ years old with a long, white beard.

Early Education: In the village, she woke the student for school, sang morning prayers, and prepared the wooden slate, ink-pot, and red pen.
Temple School: The school was attached to a temple where the priest taught the alphabet and prayer while she sat inside reading scriptures.
Village Dogs: They followed the pair home from school, fighting over stale chapattis thrown to them.

The Turning-Point: Moving to the city changed their friendship; she no longer went to school with the student, who now traveled by motor bus to an English school.
Educational Rejection: She was distressed by the teaching of Western science, the law of gravity, and $\text{Archimedes' Principle}$ , as there was no teaching about God or scriptures.
View on Music: She believed music had "lewd associations" and was the “monopoly of harlots and beggars,” leading her to rarely speak after music lessons were introduced.

Solitary Routine: After the student entered University and received a private room, she accepted her "seclusion with resignation," spending her days at a spinning-wheel and reciting prayers.
The Sparrows: Every afternoon, she fed hundreds of birds in the courtyard, creating a “veritable bedlam of chirrupings.” The birds sat on her legs, shoulders, and head, but she never shooed them away.
Study Abroad: When the student left for $5$ years, she showed no emotion at the railway station, continuing her prayers and kissing his forehead as a final sign of physical contact.

The Homecoming: Upon the student’s return after $5$ years, she collected neighborhood women and sang of the “home-coming of warriors” while thumping a “dilapidated drum.” This was the first time she omitted her prayers.
Illness: She developed a mild fever and predicted her end was near, refusing to waste time talking and choosing to pray and tell her beads instead.
The End: She died peacefully in bed; the rosary fell from her lifeless fingers, and a “peaceful pallor” spread over her face.
The Sparrows’ Mourning: Thousands of sparrows gathered silently in the room and verandah. They ignored bread crumbs offered to them and flew away quietly once her corpse was carried off.

Question: What were the three phases of the author's relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad?
Response: The first phase was their close companionship in the village; the second was the turning-point when they moved to the city and began to drift apart; the third was when the student went to University and the common link of friendship was snapped.
Question: What were three reasons why the author's grandmother was disturbed when he started going to the city school?
Response: She could not help with his lessons, she disapproved of the focus on Western science over God and scriptures, and she was disturbed by the inclusion of music lessons.
Question: List three ways in which the author's grandmother spent her days after he grew up.
Response: She spent her time at the spinning-wheel, reciting prayers, and feeding the sparrows in the afternoon.
Question: Describe the odd way in which the author's grandmother behaved just before she died.
Response: She stopped praying for the first time to sing with a drum for the return of her grandson, and later insisted on praying in silence, refusing to talk to anyone as she predicted her imminent death.
Question: How did the sparrows express their sorrow when the author's grandmother died?
Response: Thousands of sparrows sat scattered on the floor in total silence, making no chirruping sounds and refusing to eat any bread crumbs.