Class 11 commerce students can refer to Chapter 2 The Address notes given below which is an important chapter in the class 11 English book. These notes and important questions and answers have been prepared based on the latest CBSE and NCERT syllabus and books issued for the current academic year. Our team of English teachers has prepared these notes for class 11 English for the benefit of students so that you can read these revision notes and understand each topic carefully.

The Address Notes Class 11 English

Refer to the notes and important questions given below for The Address which is really useful and has been recommended by Class 11 English teachers. Understanding the concepts in detail and then solving questions by yourself will help you to learn all topics given in your NCERT Books.

MAIN POINTS:

• Marga Minco is the narrator. She was a girl of fifteen or seve-:een. Her family was Jewish and Hitler was planning to kill all the Jews in Germany, Holland, Austria, etc..
• The war led to exodus of Jewish families towards safer places. They were forced to abandon their homes and belongings.
• This short story is a touching account of a daughter who goes ir search of her mothers’s belongings after the War, in Holland.
• When she finds them, the objects evoke memories of her old life However she decides to leave them all behind and resolves to move on
• A lady named Dorling comes to Mrs. S’s house to give pre-war info to Mrs. S.
• The narrator happens to meet Mrs. Dorling on one of her visits to her house and remembers her taking away a suitcase full of their belongings.
• Mrs. S tells her daughter that Mrs. Dorling has good intentions of keeping their belongings safe during the war time. She has offered to help the narrator’s family by carrying their
  house hold utensils, furniture and all the other valuables.
• When the war was over and the Jews were feeling safe in these countries, Marga (the narrator) returned to her house (which was no more!) and lived in a small hut. She has lost her mother and misses her dearly.
• One day, Marga thinks of the woman (Mrs. Dorling) who had taken all her possessions. She recalls her address – 46, Marconi Street and goes to the address by train.
• Mrs. Dorling opens the door and is surprised to see the narrator. When the narrator introduces herself she refuses to recognize her. Perhaps Mrs. Dorling was not expecting that she would ever return after the war.
• On the other hand, the narrator recognizes the woolen cardigan which Mrs. Dorling was wearing as it belonged to her mother.
• Marga was terribly pinched, hurt, disappointed and betrayed by the behavior of Mrs. Dorling. Anyhow, the first visit ends on a sad note.
• She grew impatient after a while and decided to visit Mrs. Dorling once again.
• When she rang the bell at house number 46, Mrs. Dorling’s daughte- meets the narrator and offers her a cup of tea. Marga goes inside.
• She recognizes many articles that once belonged to her mother but were now being used in a distasteful manner by the Dorling family.
• Marga is hurt and disgusted at the shrewdness of Mrs. Dorling. She loses the desire of taking back her mother’s belongings as they evoke sad memories of the war and painful loss of the mother in her heart.
• She resolves to forget the address and move on in life.

Short Answer Type Questions 

Question. Why did the narrator’s mother ask her to remember the address by heart?
Ans. The narrator’s mother asked her to remember the address by heart because she gave a number of household valuable articles to Mrs. Dorling during the war time. She thought that her daughter would collect all that after the war was over.

Question. How did Mrs. Dorling’s daughter treat the narrator?
Ans. Unlike Mrs. Dorling, the daughter invited the narrator inside her house. She offered her a cup of tea.

Question. Why did the narrator decide not to collect her belongings?
Ans. The narrator was disappointed after recognising her belongings in a stance and dirty environment. She didn’t feel comfortable on seeing all those valuable articles in Mrs. Dorling’s house.

Question. Why did the narrator go to Mrs. Dorling’s house?
Ans. The narrator went to Mrs. Dorling’s house to collect her valuable belongings which her mother had given to her during war time. She wanted to renew her past memories.

Question. Why was the narrator confident that she had reached the correct address?
Ans. The narrator remembered the house No. 46. She recognised her sweater with its buttons. On seeing her cardigan with Mrs. Dorling, she was confident that she had reached the correct address.