NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 1
NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Chapter 1 My Watch – complete answers & explanations
This NCERT solutions blog for Class 11 English Chapter 1 My Watch is designed to help students understand the humorous essay in a clear, structured, and exam-oriented manner. Written by Mark Twain, the essay humorously narrates the author’s frustrating experiences with watch repairers. Through exaggerated imagery and satire, Twain criticises incompetent mechanics and human foolishness. These solutions strictly follow the latest NCERT textbook (Woven Words) and present answers in the exact order of the exercises without adding or omitting any question.
What this NCERT chapter covers?
1. Humour and satire in prose
2. Personification of objects
3. Exaggeration as a comic device
4. Irony in everyday situations
5. Sentimental attachment to objects
6. Characterisation of repairers and “tinkerers”
How to use these NCERT solutions?
1. Read the essay carefully and note exaggerations
2. Identify humorous comparisons and personification
3. Understand Twain’s satirical tone
4. Attempt answers independently before checking
5. Quote short phrases to support answers
Important tips & tricks for students
1. Focus on hyperbole (exaggeration) in descriptions
2. Notice how the watch is treated like a living being
3. Identify satire directed at repairers
4. Write structured answers with textual references
5. Highlight comic imagery in explanations
NCERT Solutions – Complete Answer Key
Look for these expressions and words in the text and guess the meaning from the context
bodings – Fears or forebodings
human cabbage – A foolish or stupid person
vicious happiness – Cruel delight
prised – Forced open
brained him – Hit him on the head
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
1. What was the importance of the watch to the author?
The watch was extremely precious to the author. It had run perfectly for eighteen months without losing or gaining time. He considered it infallible and almost imperishable, treating it like a living being.
2. What were the attempts made by the author to get his watch repaired?
The author took the watch to several watchmakers. One pushed the regulator, another cleaned and oiled it, one repaired the king-bolt, another adjusted the crystal and mainspring, and yet another gave absurd mechanical suggestions. Each attempt worsened the condition of the watch.
3. Why did the author finally give up on his watch?
After repeated repairs and enormous expense, the watch behaved unpredictably—gaining, losing, stopping, spinning rapidly, or making strange noises. The author realised that repairers had completely ruined it, and further repairs were useless.
4. What was Uncle Williams’ comment on the ‘tinkerers’ of the world?
Uncle William remarked that a good watch remains good until repairers get hold of it. He wondered what happened to all the unsuccessful tinkers, engineers, and other mechanics who spoil good things.
5. Explain these lines
a. ‘I seemed to detect in myself a sort of sneaking fellow-feeling for the mummy in the museum, and a desire to swap news with him.’
The author humorously suggests that his watch had slowed down so much that he felt as if he were living in the distant past. He felt lonely and outdated, like a mummy preserved in a museum.
b. ‘Within a week it sickened to a raging fever and its pulse went up to a hundred and fifty in the shade.’
The author personifies the watch by comparing it to a sick human being with fever and a racing pulse. This exaggeration adds humour to describe how fast the watch began to run.
c. ‘She makes too much steam—you want to hang the monkey wrench on the safety valve!’
This absurd mechanical advice compares the watch to a steam engine. The exaggeration highlights the incompetence of the repairer and increases comic effect.
TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT
1. Replacing old machines with new is better than getting them repaired.
This statement can be debated. In the essay, repeated repairs worsened the watch, suggesting replacement may be better. However, sentimental value may make people prefer repair over replacement.
2. It is difficult to part with personal items like a watch which have a sentimental value attached to them.
Yes, the author’s attachment shows how sentimental value can prevent a person from discarding even a troublesome object.
APPRECIATION
1. How is humour employed to comment on the pains that the author took to get his watch set right?
Humour is created through exaggeration, personification, and absurd imagery. The watch is described as having fever, pulse, and moods. The repairers’ absurd diagnoses add further comic effect.
2. ‘The author’s treatment of the subject matter makes the readers identify themselves with the experience.’ Comment.
The situation of dealing with incompetent repairers is common. Twain’s humorous narration makes readers recall similar frustrations, creating relatability and amusement.
3. Identify some of the improbable images the author has used to effect greater humour.
The watch having a pulse and fever
The hands spinning like a spider’s web
The watch running into November while it is October
The absurd steam-engine comparison
LANGUAGE WORK
Expressions that imbue the watch with human attributes
grieved about it
sickened to a raging fever
its pulse went up
enjoying the snow
kicked back like a musket
buzz like a bee
SUGGESTED READING
1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
2. The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories by Mark Twain
Why NCERT solutions help students?
NCERT solutions help students understand humour, satire, and literary devices clearly. Structured and textbook-aligned answers enhance comprehension and exam preparation.
Master humorous prose and literary analysis with expert-guided NCERT solutions.