CBSE Class 12 English An Elementary School Classroom In A Slum Assignment

About the poet:

Stephen Spender (1909-1995) along with W. H. Auden and Cecil Day Lewis, who were his contemporaries at the Oxford University, pioneered the poetic movement of 1930s. A product of the modern age, Spender who had been through the devastating effects of the wars, resorted to being a pacifist.A modern man’s dilemma of disorientation and alienation was his too. These sensitive individuals were trying to find new values to sustain themselves. Like most of the poets of the 30s, Spender too was influenced by Marxist and Freudian philosophies. His socialist spirit is reflected in his concern for the underprivileged children of the slums. One must remember that during the war of Spain, these poets supported the Republicans against the Monarchy. He longed to abridge the distance between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’. 

Summary:

In ‘An Elementary….’ Spender makes a frantic appeal to the educated and affluent sections of the society, to better the lot of the slum children through education. The style adopted by Spender is simple and lucid which is dominated by the usage of similes, imagery and metaphors. He has done away with the regular rhyme inorder to convey the effect of social disorder, confusion and chaos.

The poet begins the poem by giving the image of ‘gusty winds’ and tells us how these children grow up with pale faces, far from the lap of nature and beauty of nature. He goes on to give a vivid description of the students in the classroom. He compares their hair to the ‘rootless weeds’, meaning dry uprooted grass. He then focuses on a tall girl whose head is weighed down by the atrocities of abject poverty and misfortune. There is also a paper seeming boy, thin undernourished and famished but with ‘rat’s eyes’ looking for some food. We see one with a stunted growth, whose only inheritance unfortunately is his father’s rheumatism. No wealth ironically but a disfigured body. Finally, there is one sweet and young yearning to play the squirrel’s game and to escape the drudgery of this classroom in the slum. All images of deprivation and abject poverty.

In the second stanza, the poet gives a touching description of the slum classroom saying how poor and ill-equipped their environment is. The sour cream walls were perhaps painted with donations long ago. This further adds to the sad ambiance of the poem. The mention of Shakespeare’s head in an area where the value of education is minimal, the reference to such literary personalities raises hope and aspiration, which will never be fulfilled. The slum is dull and monotonous. It is squeezed and suppressed under the so called civilized domes. The children here are unaware of the beauty of the sky at dawn. The poet goes on to use expressions such as ‘belled flowers’, ‘Tyrolese Valley’ to show the natural beauty, the children are deprived of. They spend their entire lives on slag heaps. Unfortunately, their world is untraceable on the map they see. For them what they see from the broken windows is their world. A world covered with fog suggesting their world is bleak and unclear. Their home is a narrow congested stretch with a lead sky (heavily polluted) which is far from rivers, capes and stars.

In the third stanza, the poet calls Shakespeare wicked and the map a bad example as in their life literary training is a far cry. The ships, sun and love symbolise the brighter aspects of life whereas their life is in utter darkness. To reach the world beyond they are even tempted to steal. This existence in cramped holes is foggy and sometimes totally dark. They make a pathetic sight sitting on the slag heaps, wearing skin on bones and spectacles of steel with glass like bits of bottles on the stones. Their future seems blurred and their dreams are shattered.The poet goes on to say that their maps must be blotted with slums which are as big or as worse as doom. 

In the final stanza, Spender makes a frantic appeal to the city authorities to liberate them from the existence of a life buried in the debris of discarded waste- to break out of these catacombs and see the azure sky, the green fields, the glittering golden sands, to enable them to educate themselves with it all for “History theirs whose language is the sun.” It is only the educated who can change the course of history. The poem ends in an optimistic note. 

Stephen Spender (1909-1995) is an English poet and essayist who took active part in politics.

“An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum” by Stephen Spender pictures a classroom in a slum highlighting subtlety the plight of the children and the themes of social injustice and inequalities. The poet uses vivid images and appropriate expression to reflect the difficulties faced by the underprivileged children that is still prevalent in the world of ours.

SUMMARY:

Stanza 1 : Stephen Spender shows us that the condition of the children in a slum school is pathetic. Their world is far from our healthy, fresh environment. They are like rootless weeds, unwanted and cast out. Their hairs are unkempt and untidy and their faces clearly show the plight of their existence. A particular tall girl is described by the poet. She has a bowed down head which shows the burden of the stressed life she leads. Another boy who is as thin as a paper too has the same under nourished look on his face. He has a scared expression in his eyes. These unlucky children have only acquired diseases and bad luck from their parents. One of them is even not able to get up from his desk to read out the lesson. However, the poet says there is one particular boy who is a little younger than the rest has still his hopes and dreams with him. He waits for the time when he can go out in the open to play. The environment of gloom has not yet engulfed his dreams and hopes.

Stanza 2 : In the second stanza, the poet describes the classroom which is also dirty and neglected like its inhabitants. The classroom too exhibits an atmosphere of depression and glum. The walls are cream in colour and on them the names of the donors are engraved. A bust of the great poet Shakespeare with a background of a sky is put on. The walls have pictures of splendid Tyrolese valley which is a sharp contrast to the atmosphere of the classroom. There are maps on the walls which show them the harsh world from their classroom windows. Their world presents a future to them which is dark and cruel. The poet brings out a harsh reality of these children. These children are trapped in a hopeless situation and their world is far from the beautiful nature such as rivers, valleys and seas.

Stanza 3 : Stephen Spender suddenly attacks Shakespeare and calls him ‘wicked.’ He says so because he feels Shakespeare has poisoned the children’s mind by misleading them that their world is beautiful; it has corrupted the young minds which in turn had made them to steal and escape from their confinements. The poet feels deep rooted sadness for the condition of the slum children. The children are so skinny that they seem to be wearing skins. The glasses of the spectacles seem to have been mended several times. The total appearance of the children show their deprivation and under nourished conditions. The poet feels that the classroom should have pictures of huge slums instead of those scenic graphics.

Stanza 4:
In the final stanza of “An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum” the poet uses a pacifying tone and appeals to the governor, inspector and the visitors to do something about the condition of these slum schools. The map showing the beautiful world can be their reality too if a little will and effort are put together. The poet hopes for a better future of these children. He wants the authorities to realize their responsibilities and free the children from such grave-like confinements. He wants the barriers to be pulled down. The children must break away from the school boundaries and enjoy the world beyond.
Only that way they can enjoy the nature- the green fields and the golden sands. The poet wants them to sail, explore and discover the world so that someday their names are found in history books.
The tone of the poem is somber and philosophical. The theme revolves around the profound problem that affects our society at large. The universal gap between rich and the poor is highlighted. It also highlights the irony of the life in the twenty-first century where the world has made so many advancements yet an atmosphere of gloominess prevails.

GIST OF THE POEM

• In this poem the poet focuses on the theme of social injustice and inequalities.
• He presents the pathetic and miserable picture of the elementary classroom in a slum.
• These children have pale and lifeless faces.
• They are like rootless weeds which are uncared and unwanted with their disorderly hair torn around their faces.
• They are depressed and oppressed with the burdens of life and keep their heads down.
• They have stunted growth.
• They inherit the diseases of their father.
• Some of them do have dreams. A sweet young boy is sitting at the back of the dim classroom. He is dreaming of a squirrel's game in the trees and probably other interesting things.
• The walls are dirty and creamy and on them are hung the donations given by the rich and also Shakespeare's portrait.
• A civilized dome found in the cities and Tyrolese valleys with beautiful flowers are also put up.
• The map on the wall shows the children, the beautiful world outside; but for these children of the slum it is meaningless.
• The children studying in these schools do not have the means to go and explore the world. For them what they see through their classroom windows, the narrow street and the lead sky is the world.
• Shakespeare is wicked for them as he has written only about the rich, beautiful world tempting them to steal.
• The map is of no interest to them because it does not reflect the world they live incramped and dark lanes.
• Their lives start in darkness and ends in utter darkness.
• They are undernourished and their poverty has distorted their vision as they spend their whole time in foggy slums.
• The poet feels that the map which shows beautiful and exotic places should be replaced with slums as it is not the world they live in.
• Unless the governor inspector and visitor play a vital role in bringing about a change, their lives will remain in dark.
• The slum children will be able to peep through the window only when the gap between the two worlds is bridged.
• They should break the barriers till they come out of the dirty surroundings and their world should be extended into the green fields, golden sands and bright world.
• They should have the freedom of expression and their outlook be broadened.
• For, only the educated and learned people can create history whose language has strength and power.

QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS:

Question. What do you think is the colour of ‘sour cream’? Why do you think the poet has used this expression to describe the classroom walls?
Answer: Sour cream indicates the colour cream or dirty white. The poet has used this expression to describe the poor dull and ill-equipped environment of the classroom. The walls were painted long ago by donations and since then no attention has been given to them. We see the neglect these children face. It adds to the dull ambiance.

Question. The walls of the classroom are decorated with pictures of Shakespeare, buildings with domes, world maps and beautiful valleys. How do these contrast with the world of these children?
Answer: All these totally contrast with the world of the children in the slum. They get half education, the value of education for the children is minimal and to have these pictures which are symbols of high quality education is incongruous here. The buildings with domes are examples of a civilised world, the world unknown to them. The world map is irrelevant to them because the slums, their
world cannot be located by them. Finally, the beautiful valley with rivers and capes is meaningless to them. They just have the polluted sky to watch from the broken window panes.
These children are deprived of natural beauty.

Question. What does the poet want for the children of the slums? How can their life be changed?
Answer: ‘History theirs, whose language is the sun.’ Only the educated can change the course of history. Hence, the poet wants the children of the slums to be educated so that they are ready to face all odds in their lives. The poet makes a frantic appeal to all the authorities to liberate these children from the darkness of their lives and to bring light into their lives.

Important Questions NCERT Class 12 English Flamingo Poetry 2 An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

Question. What message does Stephen Spender convey through the poem : ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’?
Answer. In ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’, Stephen Spender has concentrated on the themes of social injustice and class inequalities. He wants all the barriers that keep true education away from these unfortunate children to be pulled down, so that they can also find their place in the sun.

Question. The poet says, “and yet for these children, these windows, not this map, their world”. Which world do these children belong to? Which world is inaccessible to them?
Answer. Unfortunately, the children of the slum belong to a gloomy world where the dense black fog darkens everything, even their future. The narrow, dirty lanes are a symbol of their poor and miserable life. The world, which belongs to the sophisticated, where everything is sunny and beautiful, the world with clean rivers, mountains, valleys are easily visible, is the world inaccessible to the slum children.

Question. Why does Stephen Spender say that the pictures and maps in the elementary school classroom are meaningless?
Answer. “So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.” What Stephen Spender wants to convey here is that the world of the slum children is foggy, bleak and gloomy. They do not know anything beyond this world, the slag heap in it, the “narrow street sealed with a lead sky”; it’s a world, which is far from rivers, capes and Tyrolese valley. An actual map of the world, promising great adventures and a cheerful life, is of no use to them. The slum children should be able to relate with the maps taught to them.

Question. How is ‘Shakespeare wicked and the map a bad example’ for the children of the school in a slum?
Answer. Here, in this line, the poet means to say that just as Shakespeare and his work are of no use to the children in slum school, maps too do not depict the world the slum children can relate to i.e., “narrow streets .... far far from rivers, capes...”. Both Shakespeare and maps represent a beautiful world and high values, which the slum children have never experienced, which could tempt them to steal.

Question. Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor;
The tall girl with her weighed-down head.

(a) Who are these children?
Answer. They are slum children studying in an elementary school classroom in the slum.

(b) Which figure of speech has been used in the first two lines?
Answer. (i) Repetition – Far far
(ii) Metaphor – Gusty waves
(iii) Simile – Like rootless weeds

(c) Why is the tall girl’s head weighed down?
Answer. The tall girl’s head is weighed down perhaps by the burden of her everyday worries and anxieties. Depression, due to extreme poverty and physical and mental exhaustion, may also be the reason of her head being bowed down.

(d) What does the word, ‘pallor’ mean?
Answer. The word ‘pallor’ means pale colouring of the face, especially because of illness. 

Question. The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At the back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young.

(a) Who is the unlucky heir?
Answer. The ‘unlucky heir’ is the boy with twisted bones and stunted growth.

(b) What will he inherit?
Answer. The boy will inherit the gnarled disease and twisted bones from his father.

(c) Who is sitting at the back of the dim class?
Answer. An unnoted, sweet and young boy is sitting at the back of the dim class.

Question. To whom does the poet in the poem, “An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum” make an appeal ? What is his appeal?
Answer. The poet, in the poem “An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum”, makes an appeal to the governor, inspector and visitors.
The appeal that he is making is for them to come to the rescue of the slum children from the world of misery and hopelessness shown in the outside world.

Question. On their slag heap, these children
Wear skins peeped through by bones and
spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.

(a) Who are these children?
Answer. These children are the poor and impoverished children of the slum.

(b) What is their slag heap?
Answer. Their slag heap is the slum in which they are living.

(c) Why are their bones peeping through their skins?
Answer. Their bones are seeping through their skins because the slum children are malnourished and physically weak.

(d) What does ‘with mended glass’ mean?
Answer. ‘With mended glass’ means the slum children are too poor to afford spectacles. They use steel frames, lenses of which are broken.

Question. To whom does the poet in the poem, “An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum” make an appeal ? What is his appeal?
Answer.The poet, in the poem “An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum”, makes an appeal to the governor, inspector and visitors. The appeal that he is making is for them to come to the rescue of the slum children from the world of misery and hopelessness shown in the outside world.

Question. Which words/phrases in the poem, ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’ show that the slum children are suffering from acute malnutrition? 
Answer.In the poem, ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’, there are several words/ phrases, such as “the paper-seeming boy with rats eyes”, “Skins peeped through by bones”, etc., which show that the slum children are suffering from acute malnutrition.

Question. What message does Stephen Spender convey through the poem : ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’? 
Answer.In ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’, Stephen Spender has concentrated on the themes of social injustice and class inequalities. He wants all the barriers that keep true education away from these unfortunate children to be pulled down, so that they can also find their place in the sun.

Question. In spite of despair and disease pervading the lives of the slum children, they are not devoid of hope. How far do you agree?
Answer.In spite of despair and disease pervading the lives of the slum children, they are not devoid of hope. The little boy at the back of the classroom in “An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum” seems to be full of hope in the future. Despite leading a miserable life, he finds pleasure in a squirrel’s game, in the tree room, etc. Similarly, we come across two slum children in Anees Jung’s “Lost Spring”, Mukesh and Saheb. While the former aspires to become a motor mechanic, the latter wants education.

Question. The poet says, ‘And yet, for these children, these windows, not this map, their world.’ Which world do these children belong to? Which world is inaccessible to them?
Answer.The stinking, dingy slums is the world that belongs to these poverty stricken, miserable, underfed children. The narrow lanes and dark, cramped holes, which provide nothing except hopelessness are also a part of their world. To the slum children, the world of the rich is inaccessible. Such a world is full of luxury, comfort and joy, which is beyond their reach.

Question. How does the poet describe the classroom walls? 
Answer.The sour cream walls of the classroom are decorated with the donated pictures of Shakespeare, buildings with domes, world maps and beautiful Tyrolese valley.

Question. The poet says, “and yet for these children,these windows, not this map, their world”.Which world do these children belong to? Which world is inaccessible to them?
Answer.Unfortunately, the children of the slum belong to a gloomy world where the dense black fog darkens everything, even their future. The narrow, dirty lanes are a symbol of their poor and miserable life. The world, which belongs to the sophisticated, where everything is sunny and beautiful, the world with clean rivers, mountains, valleys are easily visible, is the world inaccessible to the slum children.

Question. “So blot their maps with slums as big as doom”, says Stephen Spender. What does the poet want to convey? 
Answer.“So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.” What Stephen Spender wants to convey here is that the world of the slum children is foggy, bleak and gloomy. They do not know anything beyond this world, the slag heap in it, the “narrow street sealed with a lead sky”; it’s a world, which is far from rivers, capes and Tyrolese valley. An actual map of the world, promising great adventures and a cheerful life, is of no use to them. The slum children should be able to relate with the maps taught to them. 

Question. What does the poet wish for the children of the slums?
Answer.For the children of the slum, the poet wishes good education in order to widen their horizon.He wants to take the children closer to nature and liberate them from their miserable condition.

Question. What does Stephen Spender want to be done for the children of the school in a slum?
Answer.Stephen Spender wants the slum children to get education related to their life. He wants nature to be used as a teacher and that the rich and powerful people get involved in solving the problems of the slum children.

Question. How is ‘Shakespeare wicked and the map a bad example’ for the children of the school in a slum? 
Answer.Here, in this line, the poet means to say that just as Shakespeare and his work are of no use to the children in slum school, maps too do not depict the world the slum children can relate to i.e., “narrow streets .... far far from rivers, capes...”. Both Shakespeare and maps represent a beautiful world and high values, which the slum children have never experienced, which could tempt them to steal.

Question. Stephen Spender in his poem, ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’ paints a dismal picture of poverty. Comment. 
Answer.Stephen Spender indeed paints a dismal picture of poverty in his poem ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’. He describes the children in the slum school as pale and lacking energy. They are malnourished and heir to gnarled diseases. Stephen Spender likens them to the unwanted weeds. The classroom too is dingy, with yellowing walls depicting images, which are of no significance to these children because they cannot relate to the fascinating sights. However, they can relate to their grim surroundings, cramped living, slag heap and a future that is foggy.

Question. How does the map on the wall tempt the slum children ? 
Answer.The map shows beautiful rivers, mountains and Tyrolese valley. The world depicted in the maps is unknown and unrelatable to the slum children. They live in cramped places. The sky above their head is darkened and foggy due to the factory smoke. They are surrounded by slag heap. The maps just tempt them without giving them an opportunity to live in the real world.

Read the given extract and answer the question that follow :

1.Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor;
The tall girl with her weighed-down head.

Question. Who are these children?
Answer.(a) They are slum children studying in an elementary school classroom in the slum.

Question. Which figure of speech has been used in the first two lines?
Answer.(i) Repetition – Far far
(ii) Metaphor – Gusty waves
(iii) Simile – Like rootless weeds

Question. Why is the tall girl’s head weighed down?
Answer.The tall girl’s head is weighed down perhaps by the burden of her everyday worries and anxieties.Depression, due to extreme poverty and physical and mental exhaustion, may also be the reason of her head being bowed down.

Question. What does the word, ‘pallor’ mean?
Answer.The word ‘pallor’ means pale colouring of the face, especially because of illness.

2. Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor;
The tall girl with her weighed-down head.

Question. Who are these children?
Answer.The children referred to in the poem are slum children who attend an elementary school in that slum.

Question. What does the poet mean by ‘gusty waves’?
Answer.By ‘gusty waves’ the poet means all that the slum children have been deprived of, such as better living conditions, happiness, progress, etc.

Question. What has possibly weighed-down the tall girl’s head?
Answer.The tall girl’s head is possibly weighed-down because of the troubles and tribulations of living in abject poverty and thinking of a future within the hopeless confines of a slum.

Question. Identify the figure of speech used in these lines.
Answer.(i) Simile – “Like rootless weeds”
(ii) Repetition – “far, far”
(iii) Metaphor – “gusty waves”
(iv) Alliteration – “far, far from”

3. On their slag heap, these children
Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.

Question. Who are these children?
Answer.These children are the poor and impoverished children of the slum.

Question. What is their slag heap?
Answer.Their slag heap is the slum in which they are living.

Question. Why are their bones peeping through their skins?
Answer.Their bones are seeping through their skins because the slum children are malnourished and physically weak.

Question. What does ‘with mended glass’ mean?
Answer.‘With mended glass’ means the slum children are too poor to afford spectacles. They use steel frames, lenses of which are broken.

4. At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,
Of squirrel’s game, in tree room, other than this.

Question. Why is the class dim?
Answer.The class is dim because it is poorly lit and the walls have yellowed. It is a slum school, which reflects the deprivation of the surroundings and also the bleak grey world of poverty.

Question. Why is the child called ‘sweet and young’?
Answer.The child is called sweet and young because unaffected by the surroundings, he looks happy and innocent.

Question. What does the child want to enjoy?
Answer.The child wants to enjoy the freedom of the squirrel, enjoy dreaming of a better world outside the dimly lit classroom.

Question. What is the significance of the phrase,‘other than this’? 
Answer.‘Other than this’ signifies that the child does not want to remain in the class and wants to escape.

5. The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At the back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young.

Question. Who is the unlucky heir?
Answer.The ‘unlucky heir’ is the boy with twisted bones and stunted growth.

Question. What will he inherit?
Answer.The boy will inherit the gnarled disease and twisted bones from his father.

Question. Who is sitting at the back of the dim class? 
Answer.An unnoted, sweet and young boy is sitting at the back of the dim class.

6. On sour cream walls, donations. Shakespeare’s
head, Cloudless at dawn, Civilized dome
riding all cities Belled, flowery, Tyrolese
valley. Open – handed map Awarding the
world its world.

Question. Name the poem.
Answer.The name of the poem is ‘An Elementary Schools Classroom in a slum’.

Question. What are the donations on the wall?
Answer.The donations on the wall included portrait of Shakespeare, a flowery Tyrolese valley, etc.

Question. What does the map award the world?
Answer.The map awards the world, its world.

Question. Why does the poet mention ‘Tyrolese Valley’? 
Answer.The poet mentions Tyrolese Valley because it is beautiful picture of Tyrot an Autrian Alpine province.

7. With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal...
For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night?

Question. Who are ‘them’ referred to in the first line?
Answer.The word ‘them’ refers to the poor and deprived children studying in the slum school.

Question. What tempts them?
Answer.The children of the slum school are easily tempted by the ships, sun and love, in other words, the beautiful world outside the slum.

Question. What does the poet say about ‘their’ lives?
Answer.According to the poet, the children live in miserable conditions. They live in cramped holes in desolation. Their existence is foggy and there is no hope for their future.

8. And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this map, their world,
Where all their future’s painted with a fog,
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky
Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.

Question. Who are the ‘children’ referred to here?
Answer.The children referred to here are those who study in an elementary school in a slum.

Question. Which is their world?
Answer.Their world is the slum they live in. It is far-far away from rivers, capes and stars. Theirs is a world of poverty and deprivation with narrow streets scaled in with a lead sky.

Question. How is their life different from that of other children?
Answer.Unlike other children, children in the slums spend their whole life confined in ‘their cramped holes’ like rodents. They lack the basic necessities of life like proper food, clothing, shelter and health benefits. Their future is bleak without any hope or progress.

9. And, yet for these
Children, these windows, not this map, their
world,Where all their future’s painted with a fog,

Question. Which map is the poet talking about in the above lines?
Answer.In the above lines, the poet is talking about the map of the world displayed on the classroom wall.

Question. To what do the words, “these windows, their world”, refer?
Answer.“These windows, their world” refers to the world of slum, the pathetic living condition of the slum children visible from the windows of their classroom.

Question. What sort of future do the slum children have?  
Answer.The future that the slum children have is dark, bleak, hopeless and uncertain.

10. Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad example,
With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal—
For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night? On their slag heap,these children
Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.

Question. Why is Shakespeare described as wicked?
Answer.The poet describes Shakespeare as wicked because not only classic literature of Shakespeare is beyond the understanding of slum children, they also cannot relate their life of hardships with the beautiful world depicted in his works; such a world is denied to the slum children.

Question. Explain: ‘from fog to endless night’.
Answer.By ‘from fog to endless night’, the poet draws some light upon the miserable, bleak, cheerless and hopeless life of the slum children and their gloomy future.

Question. What does the reference to ‘slag heap’ mean? 
Answer.‘Slag heap’ refers to the miserable and unhygienic living conditions of the slum children due to their extreme poverty.

11. Break O break open till they break the town
And show the children to green fields, and make their world
Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues
Run naked into books the white and green leaves open
History theirs whose language is the sun.

Question. To whom does ‘they’ refer?
Answer.The word ‘they’ refers to inspectors,visitors and governor.

Question. What would they break?
Answer.They would break the mental and physical barriers, break the boundaries of discrimination which would enable the slum children to acquire proper education.

Question. What other freedom should they enjoy?
Answer.The children should enjoy free and happy life away from slum. They deserve the freedom to explore the world of which a clear blue sky, golden sand, green fields, etc. are a part.

12. ....On their slag heap, these children
Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.
All of their times and space are foggy slum.
So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.

Question. Which two images are used to describe these slums?
Answer.The two images used to describe these slums are :
(i) Slag heap (ii) slums as big as doom

Question. What sort of life do these children lead?
Answer.In the dirty and unhygienic surroundings of the slum, children lead a pathetic and miserable life full of wants, poverty, hopelessness and uncertainty.

Question. Which figure of speech is used in the last line?
Answer.The poet has used simile in the last line. 

SOLVED QUESTIONS

1. "Unless, governor, inspector, visitor,
This map becomes their window and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs."

Question. Why does the poet invoke 'governor, 'inspector' and 'visitor'?
Answer: The poet invokes the 'governor,'inspector' and 'visitor' because they are the powerful people who can bring about a drastic change in the miserable lives of the slum children. They can remove the social injustice and class inequalities.

Question. What does 'this map' refer to? How can it become 'their window'?
Answer: This map refers to the beautiful world of the rich. Their window refers to holes and the stinking slums of the unfortunate children of the slum. This can become their window only when the difference between the two worlds is abridged.

Question. What have 'these windows' done to their lives?
Answer: These windows have cramped their lives, stunted their physical and mental growth shutting them inside filthy and dingy holes, keeping them away from the vast world of development and opportunities .

Question. What do you understand by catacombs?
Answer: Catacombs are long underground graves. Here they stand for the dirty slums which blockin which the slum children are confined.

Question. Which literary device has been used here ? Explain.
Answer: Simile has been used here to describe the oppressive effect of the surroundings on their pathetic lives. The slum walled in against the world of opportunities and development is similarised to catacombs.'

Question. What is the theme of the poem?
Answer: This poem deals with the theme of social injustice and class inequalities. The poet presents it by talking of the two different and incompatible worlds- the world of the rich and the civilized and the world of the poor and the deprived. This gap can be bridged by the administrative authorities and through education.

Question. 'So blot their maps with slums as big as doom'. What does the poet want to convey?
Answer: The poet is angry at the social equalities in the world. There are two worlds - the dirty slums and the prosperous and the beautiful world of the rich. The poet wants the map of the world should also have blots of slums as big as the 'doom'. In reality he wants the gap to be reduced.

Question. 'History is theirs whose language is the sun'. Explain.
Answer: This statement means that those who have the courage and conviction to break free from the constraints of life are the ones who create history. One can make a mark only if one can outshine others. Education only can give them power and strength like the sun which will bring about a change in the lives of the people.

Text Book Exercises:

Question. What do you think is the colour of 'sour cream'? Why do you think the poet has used this expression to describe the classroom walls?
Answer: The colour of 'sour cream' is off-white. The poet has used this expression to suggest the decaying aspect.
Actually the walls symbolise the pathetic conditions of the lives of these children. However, there is an implied hope in these.

Question. The walls of the classroom are decorated with the pictures of 'Shakespeare', 'buildings with domes', 'world maps' and beautiful valleys. How do these contrast with the world of these children?
Answer: They beautifully contrast with the world of these children. These pictures mean progress, prosperity and well-being. But the present conditions of these children are miserable. They are underfed, poor and live in grim poverty.

Question. What does the poet want for the children of the slums? How can change be effected in their lives?
Answer: The poet wants these children to be removed from their dirty surroundings. New and open surrounding would provide ideal conditions for their learning. They will then land in a world full of progress and prosperity. There will be no social injustice.

MCQs :

Question. Pick the quote that highlights the contrasting image portrayed in the poem.
(a) The worst form of inequality is to try and make unequal things equal.’
(b) An imbalance between the rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.’
(c) We must work together to ensure equitable distribution of wealth, opportunity and power in our society.’
(d) No amount of artificial reinforcement can offset the natural inequalities of human individual.’

Answer: B

Question. A child in the slum experiencing the dreary life would have the least access to
(a) shelter.
(b) information.
(c) water.
(d) education.

Answer: B

Question. Choose the quote that best describes the poet’s attitude to education in the poem ‘ The Elementary School Classroom in a Slum;
(a) The cure of boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity-Dorothy Parker
(b) Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever-Mahatma Gandhi
(c) Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. Nelson Mandela
(d) The highest result of education is tolerance. Hellen Keller

Answer: C

Question. Pick phrases that portray ‘poverty and hopelessness’ in the poem.
1. slag heap
2. spectacles of steel
3. gusty waves
4. run azure on gold sands
5. mended glass
6. squirrel’s game
7. language is the sun
(a) 2, 4 and 7
(b) 1, 3 and 5
(c) 3, 4 and 6
(d) 1, 2 and 5

Answer: D

Question. Based on the poem, choose the correct option with reference to the two statements given below.
Statement 1: The poet is in anguish at the plight of the children in slums and is sympathetic towards them.
Statement 2: The poet presents an exaggerated version of the struggles of the slum children, to garner sympathy.
(a) Statement 1 is true but Statement 2 is false.
(b) Statement 1 is false but Statement 2 is true.
(c) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 are true.
(d) Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 cannot be inferred

Answer: A

Question. Which pair of concepts is explored in this poem?
(a) Old people and children
(b) Nature and artifice
(c) Education and ignorance
(d) Power and powerlessness

Answer: D

Question. The metaphor ‘lead sky’, is used by Stephen Spender to bring out
(a) the image of sky-high constructions in the slum.
(b) a response to death and destruction.
(c) the strong dreams and aspirations of the children.
(d) a sense of hopelessness and despair.

Answer: D

Question. Spender’s use of imagery in “His eyes live in a dream, of squirrel game, in tree room, other than this”, brings out
(a) the similarity between the frail bodies of a squirrel and the children in the classroom.
(b) the contrast between studying in the dreary classroom and playing outside freely.
(c) the comparison of the dingy home of the squirrel and the dreary classroom.
(d) the difference between the games of the squirrel and those of the children

Answer: B

Question. From the first stanza of the poem ,where the poet describe the students of the elementary school classroom in a slum, which of the following can be inferred?
(a) The students do not pay attention in some way
(b) The students are all damaged in some way
(c) The students feel difficulty to manage in class
(d) The students are new and struggling to cope

Answer: B

Assertion Reasoning Type Questions:

Question. A: The small boy is dreaming of squirrel‘s game.
R: The boy is not interested in the lesson as it is boring.
(a) A is true but B is false
(b) A is false but B is true
(c) Both A and B are true but B is the correct explanation of A
(d) Both A and B are true but B is not the correct explanation of A

Answer: D

Question. A: The classroom walls are painted in ‗sour cream‘
R: The colour symbolizes the bleak future of the slum children.
(a) Both A and B are true but B is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and B are true but B is not the correct explanation of A
(c) A is false but B is true
(d) A is true but B is false

Answer: A

Question. The following words show that the children suffer from acute malnutrition‘:
1. Stunted 2. Twisted bones 3.paper-seeming 4.skin peeped through
(a) 1 and 2 are true
(b) 2 and 3 are true
(c) 3 and 4 are true
(d) All are true.

Answer: D

Question. Statement 1: The slum children were like bottle bits of stones.
Statement 2: The slum children were thin and weak but look beautiful.
(a) 1 is true but 2 is false
(b) 1 is false but 2 is true
(c) Both 1 and 2 are true but 2 is the correct explanation of 1
(d) Both 1 and 2 are true but 2 is not the correct explanation of 1

Answer: C

Question. A: Ships, Sun and love tempt the children to steal
R: The slum children have the tendency to steal.
(a) A is true but B is false
(b) A is false but B is true
(c) Both A and B are true but B is the correct explanation of A
(d) Both A and B are true but B is not the correct explanation of A

Answer: A

Question. A: The slum children should be taken to the green fields outside.
R: The slum children were forced to stay inside the classroom.
(a) B is the explanation of A
(b) A is the explanation B
(c) A is the problem and B is the solution
(d) B is the problem while A is the solution

Answer: D

Question. A: The poet wants the children to break barriers and be free.
R: The poet doesn‘t want them to be superstitious.
(a) Both A and B are true but B is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and B are true but B is not the correct explanation of A
(c) A is false but B is true
(d) A is true but B is false

Answer: D

Question. A: The slum children consider Shakespeare wicked.
R: The slum children are evil and they have malice against him.
(a) Both A and R are true but R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A
(c) A is false but R is true
(d) A is true but R is false

Answer: D

Question. A: The stunted unlucky heir of twisted bones is reciting a father‘s gnarled disease.
R: The boy has been born with polio.
(a) A is true but B is false
(b) A is false but B is true
(c) Both A and B are true but B is the correct explanation of A
(d) Both A and B are true but B is not the correct explanation of A

Answer: C

Question. A: The slum children‘s faces are like rootless weeds and their hair unkempt.
R: The slum children were malnourished.
(a) Both A and R are true but R is the correct explanation of A
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A
(c) A is false but R is true
(d) A is true but R is false

Answer: A

More Important Questions For CBSE Class 12 English An Elementary School Classroom In A Slum Assignment......

Extract Based MCQs :

1. Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor:
The tall girl with her weighed-down head. The paper-seeming boy, with rat’s eyes.
The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,

Question. ‘The tall girl with her head weighed down’ means
(a) the girl is ashamed of something
(b) has untidy hair
(c) is ill and exhausted
(d) is shy

Answer: C

Question. One of the following phrases implies unhealthy children. It is
(a) unlucky heir
(b) these children’s faces
(c) a paper seeming boy
(d) from gusty waves

Answer: C

Question. Through the description of the slum children, the poet wants to express the prevailing in society
(a) social injustice and class inequalities
(b) poverty
(c) disease
(d) slums

Answer: A

Question. ‘The stunted unlucky heir of twisted bones’ means the boy
(a) is short and bony
(b) is poor and unlucky
(c) is sad and unwell
(d) has an inherited disability

Answer: D

2. Surely, Shakespeare is wicked,
The map a bad example
‘’with ships and sun and love
Tempting them to steal-
For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night?’’

Question. Who is the poet of these lines?
(a) W.B. Yeats
(b) Stephen spender
(c) Robert Frost
(d) Pablo Neruda

Answer: B

Question. What does the map represent?
(a) World of the rich and the powerful
(b) World of the poor
(c) World of the slum children
(d) A world which poet desires for these slum children

Answer: D

Question. What all tempts these children?
(a) Pictures of Shakespeare
(b) Pictures of sun, ships and love
(c) Pictures of Tyrolese valley
(d) All of these

Answer: D

Question. What does the expression ‘cramped holes’ imply?
(a) Small holes in school walls
(b) Very small houses
(c) Dingy congested shacks
(d) None of above

Answer: C

3. Open-handed map
Awarding the world its world. And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this map, their world,
Where all their future’s painted with a fog,

Question. How are the pictures in contrast to the classroom life of the children?
(a) walls are not clean
(b) brightness required in the class to see the pictures clearly.
(c) sour cream walls are not a good background
(d) dull and dim class with weak children.

Answer: D

Question. What does 'open-handed map' mean?
(a) maps are drawn on the orders of powerful people or conquerors expanding their territories.
(b) map of the children where they can go
(c) Powers of the rulers who command the teachers
(d) open map or political map of the country

Answer: A

Question. Which are the two worlds does the poet is bringing out here?
(a) beautiful scenes & slum children
(b) The poverty world and the slum children.
(c) Map of the rich and slum children
(d) The world of poverty of the slum children & the prosperity of the rich.

Answer: D

Question. What do the pictures on the wall suggest?
(a) happiness, richness, well- being and beauty
(b) donations of the rich people.
(c) generosity of the rich
(d) charity of the rich

Answer: A

4. And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this map, their world,
Where all their future's painted with a fog.

Question. Who is the poet of the poem 'An Elementary School Clssroom in a Slum'?
(a) Stephen Spender
(b) Slender
(c) Kamal Das
(d) John Keats

Answer: A

Question. 'future painted with fog' means 
(a) Classroom is as foggy and unclear
(b) Fog is painted in the wall
(c) Future of slum children is unclear
(d) Broken classroom walls

Answer: C

Question. Which is their world mentioned here?
(a) The rich world is reflected
(b) Their world is limited to the window of the classroom.
(c) the beautiful scenes of the class room
(d) the outside world is beautiful

Answer: B

Question. How is the world of the slum children?
(a) It is full of happiness
(b) It is full of hopelessness.
(c) It is full of beautiful scenes.
(d) It is full of despair and despondency.

Answer: D

5. A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky.
Far far from rivers, capes and stars of words.

Question. What does 'stars of words' mean?
(a) Literacy aspect of books that these slim children don't understand
(b) Stars in the sky are far away
(c) Words which are written in the book
(d) Stars that look bright in the sky

Answer: A

Question. Far far from rivers, capes and stars of words. Which poetic device is used.
(a) simile
(b) metaphore
(c) repetition
(d) pun

Answer: C

Question. What does the poet mean by 'a narrow street'?
(a) There is no wide scope available for the slum children' future growth.
(b) roads are very narrow
(c) Narrow roads traffic jam
(d) Narrow roads in their streets

Answer: A

Question. How are the 'rivers , capes and star of words' far for the slum children?
(a) They are away from the books.
(b) They are living far away from their rivers.
(c) peaceful living and deprived from knowledge and education.
(d) There are no schools.

Answer: A

Read the passage given below and answer the following questions……..

Break O break open till they break the town
And show the children to green fields, and make their world
Run azure on gold sands and let their tongues
Run naked into books the white and green leaves open
History theirs whose language is the sun.

Question. Whom does ‘they’ refer to?
(a) The authorities.
(b) The teachers.
(c) The children.
(d) The rich patrons.
Answer: A

Question. The prose chapter, “Lost Spring” represents the plight of slum children in a similar manner with the poem. Which of the following is not common among the two?
(a) Ill health due to unhygienic living conditions.
(b) Deprived of proper education.
(c) Neglect by the society.
(d) Enthusiasm for having a better future.
Answer: D

Question. What does the poet want for the children?
(a) Proper education for children to get the light of knowledge.
(b) To go to the fields and learn the art of agriculture.
(c) Children should create a world for themselves and enjoy.
(d) The story of these children should be written in history books.
Answer: A

Question. Choose the correct option out of the ones given.
I. Simile: Language is the sun
Metaphor: white and green leaves
II. Simile: Green fields, gold sands
Metaphor: Run naked into books
III. Symbolism: Green fields, gold sands
Metaphor: white and green leaves
IV. Simile: white and green leaves
Imagery: Language is the sun
(a) Option I.
(b) Option II.
(c) Option III.
(d) Option IV.
Answer: C

Far far from gusty waves, these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor:
The tall girl with her weighed down hea(d) The paperseeming
boy, with rat’s eyes. The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At the back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,
Of squirrel’s game, in tree room, other than this.’

Question. Which of the following is not likely to be in the classroom?
(a) Under nourished children.
(b) Deformed body.
(c) Enthusiastic children.
(d) Clean and well-dressed children.
Answer: D

Question. Why are the children compared to ‘rootless weds’?
(a) They are unwanted and insignificant as weeds.
(b) They suffer from various ailments.
(c) They have no future.
(d) They are deprived of education.
Answer: A

Question. Which of the following phrases/words does not indicate that the children are undernourished?
(a) Paper-seeming.
(b) Rat’s eyes.
(c) Stunte(d)
(d) Tall girl. 
Answer: D

Question. Identify the correct combination?
1 Gusty waves               A Metaphor
2 Rat’s eyes                   B Simile
3 Reciting a father’s       C Imagery
gnarled disease
4 Like rootless weeds     D Pun
1:A, 2:B, 3:C, 4:D
1:C, 2:A, 3:D, 4:B
1;D, 2;C, 3:B, 4:A
1:B, 2:D, 3:A, 4:C
Answer: B

Read the passage given below and answer the following questions……..

The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,
Of squirrel's game,in tree room, other than this

Question. Who is the unlucky heir?
(a) A burly boy
(b) Boy with stunted growth
(c) Boy with twisted lip
(d) Boy with a rippling muscle
Answer: B

Question. What had the boy inherited?
(a)Twisted bones and stunted growth
(b) Deformed body and long hair
(c) Twisted hand
(d) Twisted bones, stunted growth and Gnarled disease
Answer: D

Question. Who is sitting at the back of the dim class?
(a) Intelligent boy
(b) Delighted students
(c) Late comer students
(d) Dreamy boy
Answer: D

Question. Which game is referred to in the last line?
(a) The squirrel’s game
(b) Hide and seek
(c) The unlucky hair’s game
(d) The rabbit’s game
Answer: A

Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad example,
With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal-
For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night.

Question. Why is Shakespeare wicked?
(a) His works have given way to these children.
(b) His works are popular only with grown- ups.
(c) His works are motivating for these children.
(d) His works are of no use to children.
Answer: D

Question. What tempts the children in the classroom to steal?
(a) The dream of achieving a better life for themselves.
(b) Desire to travel
(c) Dream to work
(d) Dream to visit places.
Answer: A

Question. Why is the map a bad example?
(a) Does not depict world as a whole.
(b) Does not depict some less important countries.
(c) Does not depict the narrow lanes of the slums
(d) Does not depict the details of the city.
Answer: C

Question. What is the condition of these children as described in these lines?
(a) Their lives are full of brightness.
(b) Their lives are full of Hopes for the future.
(c) Their lives are full of dullness.
(d) Their lives are full of surprises.
Answer: C

SOURCE-BASED QUESTIONS

Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad example,
With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal-
For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night?

Question. Which two things the poet considers as bad influence?
(a) Shakespeare and ships
(b) Shakespeare and map
(c) Shakespeare and sun
(d) Shakespeare and love
Answer: B

Question. What is the poet's tone in the above line?
(a) Satiric
(b) Humorous
(c) Indifferent
(d) Insightful
Answer: A

Question. How does poet show the indignity suffered by the poor?
(a) The slum dwellers are compared to insects.
(b) The slum dwellers live a secret and unknown life.
(c) The slum dwellers don't live in homes but holes.
(d) The slum dwellers live in holes under the earth.
Answer: C

Question. What does the poet mean by 'fog to endless night'?
(a) Weather of England
(b) Lack of street lights
(c) Uncertainty and despair
(d) Cataract and night blindness
Answer: C

On sour cream walls, donations. Shakespeare's head,
Cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities.
Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map
Awarding the world its worl 

Question. What was the impact of the colour of the classroom walls?
(a) Bright and attractive
(b) Dirty and depressing
(c) Yellow and livel
(d) Maintained but unattractive
Answer: B

Question. What does 'cloudless at dawn' refer to?
(a) Shakespeare’s bald head
(b) Beautiful sight of dawn
(c) Beginning of a new day
(d) Clarity of purpose
Answer: B

Question. How does Tyrolese valley and cities complete the scene?
(a) It talks of both urban and rural landscape.
(b) The highlights domes and bells.
(c) It presents cloudless sky and flowers.
(d) It is two sceneries decorating the wall.
Answer: A

Question. What award does the map give?
(a) City
(b) Valley
(c) World
(d) Dawn
Answer: C

Read the passage given below and answer the following

Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old, and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
‘Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms;
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms

Question. What is the figure of speech used in ‘cooling covert’?
(a) Repetition
(b) Metaphor
(c) Alliteration
(d) Paradox
Answer: C

Question. ‘Mighty dead’ refers to:
(a) Kings and Queens
(b) Powerful people
(c) Common men
(d) Martyrs
Answer: D

Question. Beautiful things help us to
(a) Fight against all odds
(b) Provide us shade
(c) Makes us greedy
(d) Manipulate people
Answer: A

Question. The thick bushes in the mid-forest have abundant growth of
(a) watermelons
(b) muskmelons
(c) musk roses
(d) musk shells
Answer: C

All lovely tales that we have heard or read;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink

Question. Name the poem and the poet.
(a) The Thing of Beauty, William Wordsworth
(b) A Thing of Beauty, William Wordsworth
(c) The Thing of Beauty, John Keats
(d) A Thing of Beauty, John Keats
Answer: D

Question. Why is the fountain termed as ‘endless’?
(a) It is a continuous source of joy.
(b) It gives us nectar.
(c) It is at the brink of heaven.
(d) It makes people immortal.
Answer: A

Question. The figure of speech used in ‘immortal drink’
(a) Metaphor
(b) Simile
(c) Personification
(d) Alliteration
Answer: A

Question. What is the correct synonym of ‘brink’?
(a) End
(b) Edge
(c) Tip
(d) Front
Answer: B

Read the passage given below and answer the following questions by selection correct option.

The tall girl with her weighed-down hea
The paper-seeming boy with rat’s eyes. The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,
Of squirrel’s game, in tree room, other than this.

Question. Name the poem and the poet of the above lines.
(a) An Elementary School Classroom in a slum by Stephen Spender
(b) My Mother at Sixty -six by Kamala Das
(c) Keeping Quiet by Pablo Neruda
(d) An Elementary School Classroom in a slum by Stephen Johnson
Answer: A

Question. Which literary device is used in the second line
(a) Hyperbole
(b) Simile
(c) Metaphor
(d) All the above except B
Answer: D

Question. In the above lines the poet is talking about the ---------------
(a) children who have lost their parents
(b) children who are malnourished due to extreme poverty
(c) children who are involved in rag picking
(d) parents who were suffering from different types of diseases
Answer: B

Question. What was the boy reciting?
(a) A poem from his book
(b) A folklore
(c) his father’s gnarled disease
(d) A prayer
Answer: C

…. And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this map, their world,
Where all their future’s painted with a fog,
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky
Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.

Question. Who does ‘children’ refer to in the above lines
(a) The children of the slum
(b) All the children of Tyrolese valley
(c) Poor children who did not have books
(d) Children who could not pay the school fee
Answer: A

Question. Why is their future painted with fog?
(a) Due to the extreme poverty they do not have clear vision of their future
(b) Due to lack of schools
(c) due to lack of teachers
(d) Because they were weak in study
Answer: A

Question. Why is the world shown in the map is not their world?
(a) Because their language was different slum
(b) Because they were from different planet
(c) Because the map has shown a rich and beautiful world which contrasted with the
(d) Because they did not like the rich and beautiful world shown in the map
Answer: C

Question. Where did the children live?
(a) in a classroom of an elementary school
(b) in a narrow, dingy, congested lane of the slum
(c) in a house constructed by the government
(d) in a camp
Answer: B

THEME: Social injustice and class inequalities

Main Points

Stanza-1

(1) The poem portrays a picture of an elementary school in a slum area

(2) Deprived of basic facilities such as-nutritional food, balanced diet, air, sun. shine and potable water, children are least interested in studies

(3) The tall girl and paper seeming boy-all are victims of malnutrition; they are suffering from various diseases

(4) A boy sitting at the back is dreaming of squirrel's game. He has no interest in class-room activity.

Stanza-2

(1) The class-room wall contains pictures and paintings -like Shakespeare's head developed cities with skyscrapers Tyrolese valley aesthetically beautiful, problem free world (cloudless at down)-they came by donations.

(2) These pictures belong to the world of the rich and prosperous.

(3) The world of these poor and deprived children contrasts with the world depicted on classroom walls.

(4) The rich have drawn an open handed map which is of no use to them as their world is limited to the end of the street.

(5) Far from rivers, capes and stars of words, their future is bleak and uncertain

Stanza-3

(1) Shakespeare is wicked and map a bad example as they do not correspond to their limited, narrow world.

(2) Ships and Sun depicted on the wall tempt them to experience the world of the rich with all its glory.

(3) However, they can not get this opportunity as the responsible people do not want it.

(4) These malnourished children wearing mended glasses oscillate between fog and endless night, having uncertain life with no future.

(5) They pass all their time and space in the hell (the slum). This hell is a blot on the civilised world.

Stanza-4

(1) The poet calls upon governor, inspector and visitor (representing power and position) to review the system before it is too late.

(2) The revised system should empower these children to break away from the shakles of poverty and deprevation.

(3) He urges the civilised people to help them enjoy all the facilities such as blue-sky, sun- shine, sea-waves, fresh air, good and sufficient nutritious diet.

(4) Let the pages of wisdom be open for them and their tongues may run freely on the white leaves of books.

(5) Only those people find a place in history whose language has the warmth and power of the sun.

Major features:

1- Poetic device: Simile-
Like rootless weeds
Like bottle bits on stones
Like catacombs
Slums as big as doom

Metaphors
Rat's eyes, gnarled disease, Paper Seeming boy
Squiriel's game
White and green leaves etc.

Alliteration
Far far from gusty waves
Surely Shakespeare
Bottle-bits

2- Imagery /Symbols
(i) Gusty waves
(ii) Rootless weeds
(iii) Paper-seeming boy
(iv) Sour-cream walls

Extract-1

On Sour cream walls, donations, Shakespeare's head.
Cloudless at down, civilized dome riding all cities
Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open handed map
Awarding the world its world.

Question. Which walls are mentioned in the first line?
Answer: Class-room walls in a slum area are mentioned in the first line

Question. Why is the map 'open handed?'
Answer: It is drawn at will irrespective of realities.

Question. Explain the line-'Awarding the world its world?'
Answer: The luxurious world of the rich is imposed upon the poor unjustifiably.

Question. How is the sky at dawn?
Answer: It is clear and cloudless
Explain the Last line of the poem
'History theirs whose language is the sun'
Explanation: History belongs to those who speak the language of the sun-meaning Power, energy, caliber, radiance and strength.

Extract-2

Unless governor, inspector, visitor,
This map becomes their window and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs,
Break o break open till they break the town

Question. Who are called upon by the poet in the first line?
Answer: Governor, inspector, visitor, all those in power

Question. What does the poet want them to do?
Answer: To help the slum-dwellers lead respectable life with all the facilities.

Question. What is the poetic device used in the third line?
Answer: Simile_like_catacombs

Question. Explain, "Break ........................... town"?
Answer: The edu system should empower and liberate the children from the shackles and boundries imposed by the rich and powerful.

Question. Why is Shakespeare wicked?
Answer: Shakespear is a literacy icon and stands for the elite and seems irrelevant to these children from the slum them.

Question. Describe, in brief, the conditions surrounding these slum children?
Answer: Poverty, diseases, malnourishment, uncertainity, bleak future.

Question. Present the two worlds depicted in the poem?
Answer: (1) Slum dwellers
(2)The rich and prosperous