Important Questions and Answers for Class 11 English Chapter 1 A Photograph 2025-26

1. In the poem "A Photograph", what does the 'cardboard' refer to?

• (a) A sea holiday
• (b) A photograph mounted on a cardboard
• (c) A greeting card
• (d) A cardboard box

Answer: (b) A photograph mounted on a cardboard. The poem begins by referring to a photograph stuck on a piece of cardboard, a common way to preserve old photos.

2. The sea in the poem “A Photograph” symbolizes:

• (a) Change and instability
• (b) Childhood
• (c) Permanence and continuity
• (d) Fear

Answer: (c) Permanence and continuity. The poet contrasts the unchanging sea with the fleeting nature of human life.

2. Very Short Answer (VSA).

1. What do the words "terribly transient feet" mean?

Answer: "Terribly transient feet" refers to the temporary nature of human life, showing the fragility and fleeting moments compared to the eternal sea.

2. What is the poet’s mother remembering as she looks at the photograph?

Answer: The poet’s mother remembers her sea holiday with her cousins, Betty and Dolly, recalling how they were dressed for the beach.

3. Short Answer Questions.

1. How does the poet relate her own sense of loss to her mother’s?

Answer: The poet relates her own sense of loss to her mother’s by reflecting that her mother lost her childhood joys, just as the poet has lost her mother. Both experienced the pain of loss, though in different ways—her mother longed for her past, while the poet mourns her mother.

2. Discuss the use of imagery in the poem "A Photograph".

Answer: The poem uses vivid imagery, such as the “cardboard” photograph, “smile through their hair,” and “sea washed their terribly transient feet,” to evoke nostalgia and the swift passage of time, contrasting unchanging nature with human transience.

4. Long Answer Questions.

1. “The sea holiday was her past, mine is her laughter.” Explain the significance of this line in the context of the poem.

Answer: This line highlights the generational gap and the personal histories each individual carries. The poet’s mother cherished memories of her beach holiday, making them part of her own past. For the poet, her mother’s laughter, shown when she looked at the photograph and talked about her childhood, becomes a precious memory after her mother’s death. This contrast underscores how people’s sources of nostalgia and loss differ with time and experience, yet the sense of longing remains universal.

1. Mother’s memories rooted in the sea holiday.
2. Poet’s memories attached to her mother’s laughter.
3. Both signify different yet profound personal losses.

2. How do the three stanzas of the poem depict three different phases? Elaborate with reference to the poem.

Answer: The poem’s three stanzas describe three distinct time phases. The first stanza shows a childhood memory frozen in a photograph. The second describes the poet’s mother as an adult, reminiscing about her past. The third stanza focuses on the poet herself, dealing with her mother’s death and her own feelings of loss. Each stanza moves the reader through time, reflecting change and permanence in life and nature.

1. Stanza 1: Childhood memory in a photograph.
2. Stanza 2: Mother’s adulthood, reminiscing her youth.
3. Stanza 3: Poet’s reflection on her mother’s absence.

5. Assertion–Reason type questions.

Assertion (A): The poet calls her mother’s feet “terribly transient.”
Reason (R): Human life is short and fleeting compared to nature.

• (a) A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
• (b) A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
• (c) A is true, but R is false
• (d) A is false, but R is true

Answer: (a) Both statements are true, and the Reason correctly explains the Assertion that the poet sees human life as momentary compared to the sea.

6. Case-based questions.

Read the excerpt: “All three stood still to smile through their hair At the uncle with the camera. A sweet face, My mother’s, that was before I was born. And the sea, which appears to have changed less, Washed their terribly transient feet.”

(i) Who are “all three” in this extract?

Answer: “All three” refers to the poet’s mother and her two girl cousins, Betty and Dolly.

(ii) What does the poet mean by “smile through their hair”?

Answer: It means the girls’ hair was flying over their faces as they smiled, captured naturally by the camera.

(iii) How does the poet contrast the sea and the girls’ feet?

Answer: The sea remains unchanged and eternal, while the girls’ lives are described as transient or short-lived.

(iv) What theme of the poem is evident in this passage?

Answer: The passage highlights the theme of change, loss, and the passage of time.

Key Takeaways from “A Photograph” for Students

Learning with Class 11 English Important Questions and Answers PDF helps you learn core concepts of “A Photograph.”

Find both short and long A Photograph Class 11 Important questions and answers designed for CBSE. Each solution follows NCERT understanding, covering Class 11 English Chapter 1 short question answer patterns for clarity. Step-by-step explanations help build confidence and good study habits.

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