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‘My Watch’ by Mark Twain is the first essay in the NCERT Class 11 English Woven Words textbook. This humorous essay narrates the author’s frustrating experiences with his watch and the repeated, ineffective attempts by various watchmakers to repair it. This essay explores themes of human folly, misplaced trust in expertise, and the absurdity of overcomplicating simple problems. In this blog, you will get the summary, character sketch, themes, and key events of the essay to help you revise the chapter. You can also download the free PDF of these notes for effective revision.
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Explore Notes of Class 11 English Woven Words
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NCERT Notes Class 11 English Woven Words Essay 1: My Watch
Here we have provided the NCERT notes for Class 11 English Woven Words Essay 1: My Watch, including author highlights, synopsis, character sketches, themes, and a detailed summary.
About the Author and Key Highlights
Mark Twain, an American writer and humorist, is renowned for his sharp wit and satirical style, often reflecting on human nature and societal quirks. In My Watch, Twain recounts his exasperating journey with a once-reliable watch that, after a series of misguided repairs, becomes utterly unreliable. The essay humorously critiques the incompetence of so-called experts and the narrator’s growing frustration. Key highlights include Twain’s vivid storytelling, the exaggerated descriptions of the watch’s erratic behaviour, and the comical portrayal of watchmakers whose interventions only worsen the situation.
Synopsis of the Essay
The essay begins with the narrator describing his once-perfect watch, which ran flawlessly for eighteen months. However, after he accidentally lets it run down, the watch’s troubles begin. A jeweller declares it four minutes slow and adjusts the regulator, causing it to gain time excessively, racing “thirteen days ahead of the almanack.” Frustrated, the narrator takes it to a watchmaker who cleans and oils it, only for it to slow down drastically, lagging into “the week before last.” Subsequent repairs reveal new issues: a swollen barrel, a broken king-bolt, a bent crystal, and a crooked mainspring. Each fix introduces new problems, such as the watch running erratically or spinning wildly. The narrator, having spent far more on repairs than the watch’s original cost, encounters a final watchmaker, a former steamboat engineer, who absurdly suggests the watch “makes too much steam” and needs a “monkey-wrench on the safety valve.” Enraged, the narrator humorously claims to have “brained” this watchmaker. The essay concludes with a reflection from the narrator’s uncle, who remarks that a good watch remains good until repairers meddle with it, leaving the narrator wondering about the fate of incompetent craftsmen.
Also Read: NCERT Notes Class 11 English Woven Words Chapter 7: Glory at Twilight (Free PDF)
Main Characters in the Essay
Understand the key figures who drive the narrative:
- The Narrator (Mark Twain): The protagonist, a frustrated owner of a once-reliable watch, humorously recounts his futile attempts to have it repaired. His exasperation and wit shape the essay’s tone.
- The Chief Jeweller: The first to tamper with the watch, confidently adjusting the regulator despite the narrator’s protests, setting off the chain of malfunctions.
- Various Watchmakers: A series of craftsmen who attempt to fix the watch, each diagnosing new issues (e.g., a swollen barrel, broken king-bolt, bent crystal) but failing to restore its functionality, often worsening its condition.
- The Steamboat Engineer-Watchmaker: A comically incompetent repairer who likens the watch to a steamboat, suggesting absurd fixes. The narrator humorously claims to have “brained” him.
- Uncle William: A minor figure mentioned at the end, whose wisdom about good watches and incompetent repairers underscores the essay’s moral.
Themes in the Essay
The essay explores several significant themes, explained below in simple terms:
- Human Folly and Incompetence: The watchmakers’ repeated failures highlight the absurdity of trusting unqualified experts who overcomplicate simple issues.
- Frustration and Futility: The narrator’s growing exasperation reflects the futile cycle of seeking repairs that only create new problems.
- Satire of Expertise: Twain mocks the overconfidence of professionals who, despite their apparent expertise, fail to deliver effective solutions.
- Exaggeration and Humour: The essay uses hyperbole to depict the watch’s wild malfunctions (e.g., racing into November or lagging into “week before last”), amplifying the comedic effect.
- Material Value vs. Emotional Cost: The narrator’s significant financial and emotional investment in the watch contrasts with its deteriorating utility, highlighting misplaced priorities.
Literary Devices in the Essay
Mark Twain employs various literary devices to enhance the narrative:
- Hyperbole: Exaggerated descriptions, such as the watch gaining “thirteen days ahead of the almanack” or spinning “like a bee,” amplify the humour and absurdity.
- Personification: The watch is given human-like traits, such as “sickening to a raging fever” or “lingering alone in the week before last,” to emphasise its erratic behaviour.
- Irony: The irony lies in the watchmakers’ confident diagnoses and repairs that consistently worsen the watch’s condition.
- Humour: Twain’s witty tone and exaggerated scenarios, like the narrator “dancing around in anguish” or “braining” the watchmaker, create a comedic narrative.
- Metaphor: The final watchmaker’s comparison of the watch to a steamboat needing a “monkey-wrench on the safety-valve” humorously underscores his incompetence.
Class 11 English Essay 1: My Watch Summary
The essay My Watch by Mark Twain is a humorous account of the narrator’s futile attempts to maintain his once-perfect watch. Below is a detailed summary of the key events in a clear and concise manner:
- Initial Perfection: The narrator describes his watch, which ran flawlessly for eighteen months until he let it run down one night, grieving as if it foretold calamity.
- First Repair Attempt: The narrator visits a chief jeweller to set the watch, who declares it four minutes slow and adjusts the regulator despite protests. The watch begins to gain time excessively, racing “thirteen days ahead of the almanack” within two months, causing financial strain.
- Second Repair Attempt: A watchmaker cleans and oils the watch, but it slows drastically, lagging into “the week before last.” The narrator feels isolated, comparing himself to a museum mummy.
- Third Repair Attempt: Another watchmaker diagnoses a “swelled barrel” and repairs it, but the watch runs erratically, alternating between rapid bursts and slow periods, averaging well but inconsistently.
- Fourth Repair Attempt: A watchmaker fixes a broken king-bolt, but the watch now runs and stops unpredictably, “kicking back like a musket,” forcing the narrator to pad his chest for protection.
- Fifth Repair Attempt: Another repairer identifies a bent crystal and crooked mainspring, but post-repair, the watch occasionally spins wildly, reeling off twenty-four hours in minutes before stopping abruptly.
- Final Encounter: Frustrated after spending far more on repairs than the watch’s original cost, the narrator meets a former steamboat engineer turned watchmaker, who absurdly claims the watch “makes too much steam” and needs a “monkey-wrench on the safety valve.” The narrator humorously claims to have “brained” him.
- Reflection: The narrator recalls his uncle William’s saying that a good watch remains good until repairers interfere, wondering about the fate of incompetent craftsmen.
Moral of the Essay – My Watch
Below are the key moral lessons from the essay:
- Blind trust in so-called experts can lead to disastrous outcomes.
- Overcomplicating simple problems often creates new issues rather than solutions.
- Humour and resilience help in coping with frustration and futility.
- The value of an object lies in its functionality, not in repeated, costly attempts to fix it.
Download more NCERT Solutions of Class 11 English ‘Woven Words’ here!
| Essay 1: My Watch |
| Essay 2: My Three Passions |
| Essay 3: Patterns of Creativity |
| Essay 4: Tribal Verse |
| Essay 5: What is a Good Book? |
Explore Notes of Other NCERT Class 11 Subjects
| Geography | History | Political Science | Psychology | Sociology |
FAQs
The narrator persists due to his emotional attachment to the watch and hopes that a competent repairer might restore its original perfection, reflecting his frustration and misplaced trust in expertise.
The engineer’s absurd suggestion to “hang the monkey-wrench on the safety-valve” highlights the peak of incompetence and Twain’s satire of unqualified professionals, pushing the narrator to his breaking point.
Twain employs hyperbole, irony, and absurd scenarios (e.g., the watch racing into November or the narrator “braining” the watchmaker) to create a comedic critique of human folly and ineffective repairs.
For NCERT study material, follow the NCERT Notes and Solutions Class 11 English by Leverage Edu now.
