Class 11 English (Elective) Essay Chapter 2- My Three Passions Important Question Answers from Woven Words Book
Class 11 English (Elective) My Three Passions Important Question Answers – Looking for questions and answers for CBSE Class 11 English (Elective) Essay Chapter 2 – My Three Passions? Look no further! Our comprehensive compilation of important questions will help you brush up on your subject knowledge. Practising Class 11 English question answers can significantly improve your performance in the exam. Improve your chances of scoring high marks by exploring Essay Chapter 2 – My Three Passions now. The questions listed below are based on the latest CBSE exam pattern, wherein we have given NCERT solutions to the chapter’s extract-based questions, multiple choice questions and Extra Question Answers
Also, practising with different kinds of questions can help students learn new ways to solve problems that they may not have seen before. This can ultimately lead to a deeper understanding of the subject matter and better performance on exams.
- My Three Passions NCERT Solutions
- My Three Passions Extract Based Questions
- My Three Passions Multiple Choice Questions
- My Three Passions Extra Question Answers
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My Three Passions Textbook Questions (NCERT Solutions)
From the context of the passage, guess the meaning of the words and phrases in the box
wayward course:
ocean of anguish:
verge of despair:
mystic miniature:
unfathomable:
abyss:
apprehend:
reverberate:
Ans.
wayward course: A path or direction that is not straight, planned, or steady
ocean of anguish: Severe mental or physical suffering
verge of despair: The very edge or point of being completely without hope.
mystic miniature: A small, mysterious, or symbolic representation.
unfathomable: Impossible to understand completely; too deep to measure.
abyss: A deep, bottomless hole or vast empty space.
apprehend: To understand or grasp something, especially an idea or concept.
reverberate: To echo or re-echo, like a sound bouncing back repeatedly.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
1. Why does Russell call the three passions ‘simple’?
Ans. Russell calls them ‘simple’ because they are fundamental, basic, and very powerful emotions or desires. They are not complicated thoughts or ideas, but rather strong, core instincts that have driven his entire life.
2. Why has he compared the three passions to great winds?
Ans. He compares them to “great winds” because, like powerful winds, these passions have been an unstoppable force in his life. They have pushed him in various directions (“blown me hither and thither”), sometimes causing a difficult and unpredictable journey (“wayward course”) over a “deep ocean of anguish,” much like a ship tossed by strong winds.
3. What, according to Russell, is the importance of love in life?
Ans. According to Russell, love is important because it brings extreme joy (“ecstasy”), so much so that he would sacrifice everything else for it. It also relieves the terrible feeling of loneliness, a deep isolation of one’s consciousness. Finally, in the unity of love, he saw a mystical glimpse of a perfect, heavenly state.
4. How does Russell’s definition of knowledge differ from what is commonly understood by the term?
Ans. Russell’s definition of knowledge is broader and more philosophical than just learning facts. While he does mention wanting to know “why the stars shine” (a factual scientific question), he also seeks to “understand the hearts of men” (which is about empathy and human nature) and “apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway over the flux” (which is about deep, abstract mathematical principles and the underlying order of the universe). This goes beyond simple information gathering; it’s a quest for fundamental understanding of existence.
5. Why is the quality of pity earth-bound while the other two passions are elevating?
Ans. Pity is considered “earth-bound” because it constantly brings Russell back to the harsh realities of human suffering in the world. Love and knowledge, for him, are “elevating” because they lead “upward toward the heavens,” offering moments of ecstasy, profound understanding, and glimpses of ideal states. Pity, however, anchors him to the visible pain, poverty, and injustice on Earth, preventing a complete escape into lofty intellectual or emotional realms.
6. How have the three passions contributed to the quality of Russell’s life?
Ans. The three passions have given Russell’s life its profound meaning and purpose. Love brought him immense joy and relieved his deepest loneliness. Knowledge offered him a relentless quest for understanding the universe and human nature. Pity, though painful, kept him grounded in empathy and aware of the real world’s challenges. Despite the anguish caused by pity, these passions collectively made his life “worth living,” and he would gladly experience it all again, indicating they led to a rich, full, and purposeful existence.
Read the summary of Martin Luther’s King’s distinction between three kinds of love given below.
| King’s sixth point was central to the method of non-violent resistance. He believed that the importance of non-violence rested in the fact that it prevented physical violence and the ‘internal violence of spirit’. Bitterness and hate were absent from the resister’s mind, and replaced with love. However, the kind of love King was talking about was not the affectionate type but, instead, the type that meant ‘understanding, redeeming good will for all people’. He further explained that in the Greek New Testament, there were three words for love and each had a different meaning. Eros was romantic love and philla was a reciprocal love. Neither of these two types of love were the kind that King advanced. Agape, which was not a passive love, was the kind of redemptive love he referred to. According to King, “It is an overflowing love which is purely spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless and creative. It is not set in motion by any quality or function of its object. It is the love of God operating in the human heart.”
Additionally, it was a love that was disinterested. The act of loving was not for one’s own good but for the good of another. It did not distinguish between worthy and unworthy people or friends and enemies. Furthermore, it was love that fulfilled the need of another person. A person was in greatest need of love when a sinner. King also believed that agape sought to preserve and create community. As a result, no distance was too far to travel in the attempt to restore community. Agape was, …a willingness to forgive, not seven times, but seventy times to restore community. The cross is the eternal expression of the length to which God will go in order to restore broken community. The resurrection is a symbol of God’s triumph over all the forces that seek to block community. The Holy Spirit is the continuing community creating reality that moves through history. He who works against community is working against the whole of creation. Thus, hateful responses promote a broken community and instead one must respond to hate with love in order to avoid becoming depersonalised and to fix a broken community. Lastly, agape means that every aspect of life is interrelated. All human beings are related to one another and by harming another they harm themselves. Martin Luther King was a man who believed that the power of love could be the most effective weapon against the social ills of society. He promoted resistance that was nonviolent and, in the end, it proved to be the most successful method against an unjust system of segregation. |
How does Russell’s concept of love and pity tie up with King’s concepts of agape?
Ans. Russell’s concept of pity ties up quite well with aspects of King’s agape, especially in their shared focus on suffering humanity and the desire to alleviate it. Russell’s pity is described as an “unbearable” feeling for the “suffering of mankind,” witnessing “Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people.” He “longs to alleviate the evil,” but feels he “cannot, and I too suffer.” This reflects King’s idea that agape is a love that responds to the “need of another person,” particularly when they are “in greatest need.” Both men feel a deep, non-reciprocal concern for those who are struggling or oppressed, regardless of their personal connection to them. However, Russell’s love, as described, seems more focused on personal ecstasy, connection, and even a “prefiguring vision of heaven,” which aligns somewhat with King’s eros (romantic love) or philia (reciprocal love) in its personal fulfillment aspect, though Russell’s love is broader. King’s agape, on the other hand, is explicitly “disinterested,” “purely spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless and creative.” While Russell’s pity is certainly groundless and unmotivated by personal gain, his love includes personal ecstasy as a key component. So, Russell’s pity strongly resonates with King’s agape through its selfless focus on alleviating universal suffering and acknowledging the interconnectedness of humanity. Russell’s love, while profound, incorporates personal fulfillment that is not the primary characteristic of King’s agape, which is more about unconditional goodwill for all, even enemies, and the creation of community.
CBSE Class 11 English (Elective) Essay Chapter 2 My Three Passions Extract-Based Questions and Answers
Answer the following extract-based questions.
A.
Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.
Q1. What are the three main passions that guided Russell’s life?
Ans. The three passions are the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.
Q2. How strong does Russell say these passions are?
Ans. He says they are overwhelmingly strong.
Q3. What does Russell compare these passions to?
Ans. He compares them to great winds.
Q4. What kind of course have these passions blown him in?
Ans. They have blown him in a wayward course.
Q5. What “deep ocean” has he been blown over by these passions?
Ans. He has been blown over a deep ocean of anguish.
B.
I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy— ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness—that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love, I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought and, though it might seem too good for human life, this is what at least I have found.
Q1. What is the first reason Russell sought love?
Ans. He sought love because it brings ecstasy.
Q2. How much would Russell have sacrificed for a few hours of love’s joy?
Ans. He would often have sacrificed all the rest of life.
Q3. What feeling does love help to relieve, according to Russell?
Ans. Love helps to relieve loneliness.
Q4. What does Russell see in the “union of love”?
Ans. He sees a “prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined.”
Q5. Did Russell find what he sought in love?
Ans. Yes, he says, “this is what at least I have found.”
C.
With equal passion, I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway over the flux. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.
Q1. With what intensity did Russell seek knowledge?
Ans. He sought knowledge with equal passion for love.
Q2. What did Russell wish to understand about people?
Ans. He wished to understand the hearts of men.
Q3. What question about stars did he wish to know the answer to?
Ans. He wished to know why the stars shine.
Q4. What specific mathematical power did he try to understand?
Ans. He tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which numbers hold sway over the flux.
Q5. How much knowledge does Russell claim to have achieved?
Ans. He achieved a little of this, but not much.
D.
Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer. This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered to me.
Q1. Where did love and knowledge lead Russell?
Ans. They led upward toward the heavens.
Q2. What passion always brought Russell back to earth?
Ans. Pity always brought him back to earth.
Q3. What kind of sounds does Russell hear “reverberate” in his heart due to pity?
Ans. He hears echoes of cries of pain “reverberate” in his heart due to pity.
Q4. What does Russell say makes a mockery of what human life should be?
Ans. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty and pain makes a mockery of what human life should be.
Q5. How does Russell feel about his life in the end?
Ans. He has found it worth living, and would gladly live it again.
Class 11 My Three Passions Multiple-Choice Questions
Q1. What are the three passions that have governed Russell’s life?
A. Wealth, power, and fame
B. Love, knowledge, and pity for suffering
C. Adventure, wisdom, and justice
D. Family, career, and travel
Ans. B. Love, knowledge, and pity for suffering
Q2. How does Russell describe the effect of these passions on his life’s course?
A. They bring him ecstasy leading to heaven.
B. They led him upward toward the heavens
C. They blew him “hither and thither, in a wayward course”
D. They brought him back to earth.
Ans. C. They blew him “hither and thither, in a wayward course”
Q3. What is the “deep ocean” that his passions have blown him over?
A. Of joy
B. Of knowledge
C. Of anguish
D. Of success
Ans. C. Of anguish
Q4. What is the first reason Russell sought love?
A. To gain power
B. Because it brings ecstasy
C. To avoid work
D. To find a partner
Ans. B. Because it brings ecstasy
Q5. What would Russell often sacrifice for a few hours of love’s joy?
A. His knowledge
B. His pity
C. All the rest of life
D. His possessions
Ans. C. All the rest of life
Q6. What is the “terrible loneliness” that love helps to relieve?
A. Loneliness from being away from family
B. The feeling of being isolated in one’s own consciousness.
C. Loneliness from having no friends
D. Loneliness from losing a job
Ans. B. The feeling of being isolated in one’s own consciousness.
Q7. What did Russell see in the “union of love”?
A. A perfect friendship
B. A vision of heaven that saints and poets imagined.
C. A way to gain more knowledge
D. A solution to all human problems
Ans. B. A vision of heaven that saints and poets imagined.
Q8. What does Russell say he has “at least found” concerning love?
A. It was not worth seeking
B. It was too good for human life
C. It caused him only pain
D. It was a prefiguring vision of heaven
Ans. D. It was a prefiguring vision of heaven
Q9. With what intensity did Russell seek knowledge?
A. With mild curiosity
B. With great caution
C. With equal passion as love
D. With only a little effort
Ans. C. With equal passion as love
Q10. What did Russell wish to understand regarding “the hearts of men”?
A. Their weaknesses
B. Their motivations
C. Their secrets
D. Their desires
Ans. B. Their motivations
Q11. What scientific phenomenon did Russell wish to know the reason for?
A. Why the stars shine
B. Why rivers flow
C. Why plants grow
D. Why the moon changes phases
Ans. A. Why the stars shine
Q12. What specific mathematical power did Russell try to apprehend?
A. Euclidean geometry
B. Pythagorean power
C. Newtonian physics
D. Archimedean principle
Ans. B. Pythagorean power
Q13. How much knowledge does Russell claim to have achieved?
A. A great deal
B. Nothing at all
C. Almost everything he sought
D. Only a little, but not much
Ans. D. Only a little, but not much
Q14. What effect did “Love and knowledge” have on Russell?
A. They led downward toward despair
B. They led upward toward the heavens
C. They kept him balanced on earth
D. They caused confusion
Ans. B. They led upward toward the heavens
Q15. What brought Russell “back to earth” always?
A. Disappointment in love
B. Failure in knowledge
C. Pity for the suffering of mankind
D. The call of duty
Ans. C. Pity for the suffering of mankind
Q16. What kind of sounds reverberate in Russell’s heart due to pity?
A. Echoes of happy songs
B. Echoes of cries of pain
C. Echoes of laughter
D. Echoes of silence
Ans. B. Echoes of cries of pain
Q17. Which of these examples of suffering does Russell NOT mention?
A. Children in famine
B. Victims tortured by oppressors
C. Helpless old people a hated burden to their sons
D. Wild animals in traps
Ans. D. Wild animals in traps
Q18. What does widespread loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of?
A. Human achievements
B. What human life should be
C. Scientific progress
D. Religious beliefs
Ans. B. What human life should be
Q19. What does Russell long to do, but cannot?
A. To travel the world
B. To live forever
C. To gain more fame
D. To alleviate the evil
Ans. D. To alleviate the evil
Q20. At the end of the essay, how does Russell feel about his life?
A. He regrets it
B. He found it worth living
C. He wishes it had been easier
D. He would not live it again
Ans. B. He found it worth living
CBSE Class 11 English (Elective) Essay Chapter 2 My Three Passions Extra Question Answers
Answer the following questions.
Q1. What are the three main passions that guided Bertrand Russell’s life?
Ans. The three passions were the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.
Q2. Why did Russell seek love, according to the essay?
Ans. He sought love because it brought immense ecstasy, relieved loneliness, and offered a glimpse of a perfect, heavenly vision.
Q3. What kind of knowledge did Russell wish to gain?
Ans. He wished to understand the hearts of men, why stars shine, and the mathematical power that governs the universe.
Q4. What passion always brought Russell “back to earth” from his pursuit of love and knowledge?
Ans. His “unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind” always brought him back to earth.
Q5. How did Russell ultimately feel about his life, despite the suffering he witnessed and felt?
Ans. He found his life worth living and said he would gladly live it again if he had the chance.