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This section provides NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Woven Words Essay 1: My Watch, which is prepared to deepen students’ understanding of the essay’s themes of human folly, frustration, and the critique of incompetent expertise. The solutions analyse the essay’s tone, themes, and literary devices, helping students in effective exam preparation. You can also download the free PDF for quick revision.
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NCERT Solutions Class 11 English Woven Words Essay 1: My Watch
Here are the NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Woven Words Essay 1: My Watch, crafted to enhance comprehension of the essay’s themes, humour, and narrative style for effective revision.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
1. What was the importance of the watch to the author?
The watch held significant importance to the author as it initially performed flawlessly for eighteen months, leading him to believe it was “infallible in its judgments about the time of day” and had an “imperishable” constitution. This reliability made it a trusted companion, and when it ran down, the author grieved “as if it were a recognised messenger and forerunner of calamity,” indicating an emotional attachment. Its subsequent malfunctions and the costly, futile repair attempts further highlight its value, as the author invested heavily, spending “two or three thousand” on repairs for a watch originally worth two hundred dollars, reflecting both practical and sentimental significance.
2. What were the attempts made by the author to get his watch repaired?
The author made multiple attempts to repair his watch, each time encountering new issues:
- First Attempt: He visited a chief jeweller to set the watch, who declared it “four minutes slow” and adjusted the regulator, causing it to gain time excessively, reaching “a fraction over thirteen days ahead of the almanack.”
- Second Attempt: A watchmaker cleaned and oiled the watch, but it slowed drastically, lagging into “the week before last.”
- Third Attempt: Another watchmaker diagnosed a “swelled barrel” and repaired it, but the watch ran erratically, alternating between rapid bursts and slow periods.
- Fourth Attempt: A watchmaker fixed a broken king-bolt, but the watch began to run and stop unpredictably, “kicking back like a musket.”
- Fifth Attempt: A repairer corrected a bent crystal and crooked mainspring, but the watch occasionally spun wildly, reeling off “twenty-four hours in six or seven minutes.”
- Final Attempt: A former steamboat engineer turned watchmaker suggested the watch “makes too much steam” and needed a “monkey-wrench on the safety-valve,” prompting the author’s humorous claim of having “brained” him.
3. Why did the author finally give up on his watch?
The author finally gave up on his watch due to the repeated, ineffective repairs that consistently worsened its condition, leading to frustration and financial loss. Each repair attempt introduced new malfunctions, from gaining excessive time to lagging drastically, running erratically, or spinning wildly. The watch, originally costing two hundred dollars, incurred repair costs of “two or three thousand,” making it an unsustainable burden. The final encounter with the incompetent steamboat engineer-watchmaker, who offered an absurd solution, marked the breaking point, as the author humorously claims to have “brained” him, indicating his exasperation and decision to abandon the watch.
4. What was Uncle Williams’ comment on the ‘tinkerers’ of the world?
Uncle William’s comment was that “a good horse was a good horse until it had run away once, and that a good watch was a good watch until the repairers got a chance at it.” He further wondered “what became of all the unsuccessful tinkers, and gunsmiths, and shoe-makers, and engineers, and blacksmiths,” highlighting his belief that incompetent craftsmen, or “tinkerers,” ruin perfectly good objects like the author’s watch through their meddling, and their whereabouts remain a mystery.
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.’
This line reflects the author’s humorous sense of isolation and stagnation when his watch, after being cleaned and oiled, slowed drastically, lagging into “the week before last.” The exaggerated backwards drift of time makes the author feel disconnected from the present world, as if he were “all solitary and alone.” The “mummy in the museum,” preserved and out of touch with the living world, mirrors this feeling, and the desire to “swap news” is a playful exaggeration of his longing for connection with something equally outdated, highlighting the absurdity of his situation.
b. ‘Within a week it sickened to a raging fever and its pulse went up to a hundred and fifty in the shade.’
This line uses personification and hyperbole to humorously describe the watch’s malfunction after the chief jeweller adjusted its regulator. The watch, initially “four minutes slow,” began to gain time excessively, likened to a person falling ill with a “raging fever” and an accelerated “pulse” of “a hundred and fifty in the shade.” This vivid imagery exaggerates the watch’s rapid timekeeping, which, within two months, was “a fraction over thirteen days ahead of the almanack,” comically portraying its dysfunction as a life-threatening illness.
c. ‘She makes too much steam—you want to hang the monkey-wrench on the safety-valve!’
This line, spoken by the final watchmaker, a former steamboat engineer, humorously illustrates his incompetence by likening the watch to a steamboat producing excessive “steam.” The absurd suggestion to “hang the monkey-wrench on the safety-valve” reflects his misunderstanding of the watch’s mechanics, applying irrelevant engineering jargon to a delicate timepiece. The line underscores the essay’s satirical critique of unqualified experts, prompting the narrator’s exaggerated reaction of “brainwashing” him, highlighting the ridiculousness of the situation.
TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT
Discuss in pairs or groups of four
1. Replacing old machines with new is better than getting them repaired.
This topic can be discussed using the essay’s narrative. In My Watch, the author’s repeated attempts to repair his watch lead to worsening malfunctions, from gaining excessive time to lagging drastically, costing him “two or three thousand” compared to the watch’s original two hundred dollars. This suggests that replacing the watch might have been more practical than enduring costly, ineffective repairs. However, the watch’s initial perfection and sentimental value, as seen in the author’s grief when it ran down, indicate an emotional reluctance to replace it. Students can debate whether the financial and emotional toll of repairs outweighs the benefits of replacement, considering modern contexts where technology evolves rapidly, making replacements more feasible, versus the value of preserving cherished items.
2. It is difficult to part with personal items like a watch which have a sentimental value attached to them.
The essay illustrates the difficulty of parting with personal items through the author’s emotional attachment to his watch, which he initially believed was “infallible” and “imperishable.” His grief when it ran down, “as if it were a recognised messenger and forerunner of calamity,” and his persistent efforts to repair it despite mounting costs reflect a sentimental bond. Students can discuss how this mirrors real-life attachments to items like watches, heirlooms, or gifts, which carry memories or symbolic value. The counterargument might highlight practical considerations, as the watch’s repeated failures caused frustration and financial strain, suggesting that letting go of malfunctioning items, even sentimental ones, can sometimes be necessary.
Also Read: NCERT Solutions Class 11 English Hornbill Poem 1 A Photograph (Free PDF)
APPRECIATION
1. How is humour employed to comment on the pains that the author took to get his watch set right?
Humour in My Watch is employed through hyperbole, personification, and irony to highlight the author’s frustrating efforts to repair his watch. Hyperbolic descriptions, such as the watch racing “thirteen days ahead of the almanack” or lagging into “the week before last,” exaggerate the absurdity of its malfunctions, making the author’s persistence comical. Personification, like the watch “sickening to a raging fever” or “kicking back like a musket,” humorously portrays it as a living entity with erratic behaviour, amplifying the futility of repairs. Irony arises from the watchmakers’ confident interventions, each worsening the problem, culminating in the absurd suggestion to “hang the monkey-wrench on the safety-valve.” These devices mock the author’s relentless, painful efforts, turning his exasperation into a source of amusement for readers.
2. ‘The author’s treatment of the subject matter makes the readers identify themselves with the experience.’ Comment on this statement.
Mark Twain’s treatment of the subject matter in My Watch makes readers identify with the experience by vividly capturing the universal frustration of dealing with unreliable repairs and misplaced trust in experts. The narrator’s initial pride in his “infallible” watch resonates with anyone who cherishes a reliable possession, while his growing exasperation, as repairs lead to absurd malfunctions like spinning “like a bee” or stopping “with a bang,” mirrors common experiences of failed attempts to fix valued items. Twain’s humorous exaggerations and relatable emotions, such as the “anguish” of watching the jeweller adjust the watch or the desire to “swap news” with a mummy, create a vivid, empathetic narrative. Readers connect with the cycle of hope, disappointment, and eventual resignation, reflecting their own encounters with malfunctioning objects or incompetent service.
3. Identify some of the improbable images the author has used to effect greater humour.
Twain uses improbable images to enhance the essay’s humour, including:
- The watch “sickened to a raging fever and its pulse went up to a hundred and fifty in the shade,” humorously likening its excessive time gain to a life-threatening illness.
- The watch racing “a fraction over thirteen days ahead of the almanack” and “enjoying the snow” while “October leaves were still turning,” absurdly portraying it as living in a future season.
- The narrator, “lingering alone in the week before last” and feeling a “sneaking fellow-feeling for the mummy in the museum,” comically exaggerates the isolation caused by the watch’s backwards drift.
- The watch “kicks back like a musket,” requiring the narrator to “pad my breast,” humorously depicting it as a dangerous weapon.
- The hands spinning “so fast that their individuality was lost completely, and they simply seemed a delicate spider’s web,” creating a vivid, absurd image of chaotic malfunction. These improbable images amplify the ridiculousness of the watch’s behaviour, making the author’s plight hilariously entertaining.
Download NCERT Solutions Class 11 English Woven Words Essay 1: My Watch
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| Essay 2: My Three Passions |
| Essay 3: Patterns of Creativity |
| Essay 4: Tribal Verse |
| Essay 5: What is a Good Book? |
| Essay 6: The Story |
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