2. An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum Stephen Spender
(Notes Prepared
by Shish Pal Chauhan)
Summary: ‘An
Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’
The
children of the elementary school of a slum area live miserable life. Their
faces are pale. Their bodies are weak and ill-fed. They suffer from poverty,
hunger, filth, and diseases. The pictures hung on the walls of the classroom are
meaningless to them. Their world is small and limited. They see this world
through the windows of their classroom. It is far from the rivers, capes and stars
of the world. The poet calls Shakespeare’s bust wicked and the map a bad
example. These may corrupt and tempt them to steal. In the end, the poet makes
an appeal to the civilized world to improve the lot of those poor children. They
should be taken out of poverty and slum. Only then education will be meaningful
to them.
Short
Ans/questions :
Q.1 How does the poet describe the faces of the
children in the classroom?
Ans. The poet says
that the faces of the slum children are pale. Their hair is untidy and hung
over their pale face like rootless weeds.
Q.2 How does the poet describe some of the
children in the classroom?
Ans. First, the
poet describes a tall girl. She is sitting with her head bent down. Then he
describes a boy who is very weak - as thin as a paper. His eyes are like those
of a rat. Another boy has twisted bones Lastly, at the back of all, a sweet little boy is sitting. His eyes are
dreamy.
Q.3 What is there on the walls of the classroom?
Ans. There are
some donated pictures on the walls. These are of Shakespeare’s head (bust), of
cloudless dawn, a cathedral (church’s) dome, and a flowery valley. There is also a map of the world.
Q.4 What does the poet say about the
‘open-handed map’?
Ans It is called
open-handed because it shows all the seas and lands of the world But the poet
says that the world of these poor children is very small.
Q.5 What does the poet say about the world of
the poor children?
Ans. The world of poor children is very small. They see their limited world from the windows
of their classroom. It is just a narrow street, far from the open world of
rivers, capes, and golden sands. It is blocked in their foggy streets.
Q.6 Why does the poet say that ‘Shakespeare is
wicked’?
Ans. The pictures,
the map, and Shakespeare’s bust are meaningless for the poor children of the
slum. Shakespeare has been called wicked because it will corrupt them. They
will be tempted to steal it.
Q.7 What has the map been said to be ‘a bad
example’?
Ans. The map of
the world for the poor children is also meaningless. They live in a small
world, which has only hunger, poverty, dirt, a disease for them. ‘The open-handed
map’ for them is quite useless.
Q.8 How has the life of children living in slums been
described?
Ans. The homes of
these poor children are very small. They are weak and skinny as they suffer
from poverty and hunger. Their life is miserable.
Q.9 What does the poet want the governor, the inspector, and the visitor to do?
Ans. The poet
wishes that these people should come forward to improve the condition of the
poor children. They should be taken out of the slum in which they live. They
should be taken in a world where they can study and play in the lap of nature.
Q.10 What message does Stephen Spender want to
convey in his poem ‘An Elementary School classroom in a slum’?
Ans. The poet
gives a message to the governments and the people of all countries that no child
should live a miserable life. They should be taken out of poverty and slum.
Then the education will have some meaning to them.
For Brilliant
Students: Some more Qs & Ans.
Q1. Why
did the poet call the children’s faces like ‘rootless weeds’?
Ans. The rootless weeds become yellow in colour as they become dead. So the
poet used the phrase ‘rootless weeds’ to describe the paleness on the
children’s faces because they are cut off from the mainstream of life.
Q2.
What poetic device has the poet used in the line “Like rootless weeds, the hair
torn around their pallor.”
Ans. The poet has used a simile.
Q3. What has been said about the tall girl?
Ans. The tall girl has been described with her head bent because it was too
heavy for the girl’s neck to bear its weight.
Q4. How has the poet called the boy
‘paper-seeming’?
Ans. The poet has
called the boy paper-seeming because it was ill-fed and weak.
Q5.Which poetic device has been used to
describe the boy in the line “The paper-seeming boy, with rat's eyes.”
Ans. Simile and metaphor. “The paper-seeming …boy” is a simile and ‘with rat’s
eye’ is a metaphor that also creates imagery.
Q6.Explain: ‘unlucky heir of twisted bones’
Ans. The boy is unlucky because he has inherited a disease
(arthritis-type) from his father. That
is why his bones are not normal. These are twisted.
Q7.Why do you think the class was dim?
Ans. There was no proper light inside the classroom because the last boy was
not visible to the poet.
Q 8. Who was sitting at the back of the class?
Ans. A charming boy having dreamy eyes was sitting at the back of the
class.
Q9.What was the little one dreaming of?
Ans. He was dreaming of a squirrel’s game.
Q10. Explain the
words: ‘other than this’
Ans. The boy wished to have a room
like that of a squirrel to have the freedom to play like it. He did not like his
classroom.
Q11.What type of walls has been referred to in these
lines?
Ans. The walls are
dirty and give out a foul smell like that of sour cream.
Q12.What is meant
by ‘sour cream walls’?
Ans. The walls gave
out a foul smell like that of sour ice cream. Ice cream becomes sour due to
heat. There was suffocation in the classroom. So suffocation and dampness of
the walls were creating a foul smell inside the room.
Q13.What donations are there on the walls?
Ans. The donations are the pictures like the scenery of dawn without clouds, a picture of the main church of a district, of the Austrian
Tyrol valley with bell-shaped flowers and the map of the world, Shakespeare’s
head, etc.
Q14.Why has the map been called to be ‘open-handed’?
Ans. The map has
been drawn with generosity describing the world outside the ignored world of
the children of the slum.
Q15.What does the map on the wall signify?
Ans. The map presents a sharp contrast to the world of
the children living in the slum areas.
Q16.What kind of their future is seen by the
poet?
Ans. Their future
is dark in which there is no ray of hope for the bright world in the near
future.
Q17. What poetic
device has been used in “Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.”
Ans. Alliteration has been used here.
Q18.Why has the
map been called ‘a bad example’ by the poet?
Ans. The map shown
in the picture may be tempting to the children. It shows a very attractive
world to them. It produces a sharp contrast to the world they are living in.
Q19.‘Tempting them to steal.’ What does the word ‘them’
refer to?
Ans. ‘Them’ refer
to the children living in slum area.
Q20.What kind of
their life do they live?
Ans. They live a
very miserable life.
Q21.Why is Shakespeare described as wicked?
Ans. He may tempt
them for stealing.
Q22. Write the synonyms of the words:
(i) wicked (ii)
slyly
Ans. (i) bad, evil
(ii) cautiously, clandestinely
Q23.Explain: ‘From fog to endless night.’
Ans. Their days
are full of fog. It means their future is dim and their days are foggy. Their
nights are endless because they do not sleep properly. Here the nights may
symbolize sufferings for them. These are endless as there is no ray of hope for
their betterment in near future,
Stanza 1 - Far
far from gusty waves ........ from his desk
Q.1 Name the poet and the poem.
Ans. The poet is Stephen Spender. The poem is ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum”
Q.2 How are the children’s faces described here?
Ans. i) Their
faces looked very pale
ii) Their untidy hair hung around their pale faces.
iii) Their untidy hair looked like rootless weeds.
iv) All the above
Ans. iv) All the above
Q.3 What has been said about the tall girl? Ans. She was sitting with her head weighed
down.
Q.4 What is said about the unlucky little boy? Ans. The boy had
swollen joints as his father had. He had inherited the disease from his father.
He had twisted bones.
Q.5 What does ‘with rat eyes, ‘paper seeming
boy’ mean?
Ans. The paper seeming
boy means that the boy was weak and underweight. ‘Rat-eyes’ means his eyes
were bulging out due to his weak body and had terror in them.
Stanza -2 “At the back of the dim class ........... other
than this.”
Q.1 Why do you think the class was dim? Ans. It was
because it had no windows and ventilators. It was situated in a dark corner, having no electric light.
Q.2 Who was sitting at the back of the class? Ans. A sweet and
young boy.
Q.3 What was
the little one dreaming of? Ans. He was dreaming of the game that a
squirrel could be playing in her tree room.
Q.4 What does ‘other than this’ mean? Ans. It means that
the boy dreams not only about the classroom but also about the ‘tree room.’
Stanza -3 “On sour cream walls ........... its world’
Q.1 Which walls? Ans. The
wall of a classroom is an elementary school in a slum.
Q.2 What does sour cream walls’ signify? Ans. It
signifies that the walls gave out a four smell like that of ‘sour cream’ There
were damp.
Q.3 What pictures are there on the walls?
Ans. i) Of
Shakespeare’s bust
ii) of a cloudless down
iii) of a cathedral dome and of a flowery valley
iv) all the above
Ans. iv) all the above
Q.4 Why has the map been said to be
‘open-handed’?
Ans. i) It gives
the knowledge about all the seas and lands of the world
ii) it shows all the world
iii) It tells us about the world free of cost
iv) All the above
Ans. iv) All the above
Stanza -4 “And yet, for these ........... stars of
words”
Q.1 Who do these children refer to? Ans. The children who are poor. They live
in a slum of an elementary school in a slum
Q.2 Which is their world? Ans. The narrow
street under the dull sky.
Q.3 What has been said about their future? Ans. It is painted with fog. It is hopelessly
dim.
Q.4 What does the poet mean by - ‘Stars of the world’ ?
Ans. It means the
tall promises made by politicians to the slum-dwellers.
Stanza 5 “Surely, Shakespeare is wicked,
From fog to endless night
Q.1 What does the poet mean by ‘Surely Shakespeare
is wicked’ ?
Ans. It means that
Shakespeare’s bust is out of place in that classroom (useless).
Q.2 Why has the map been said to be a bad
example? Ans. Because it shows a world that is fully
different from the world of poor children.
Q.3 ‘Tempting them to steal’ who are ‘them’ here?
Ans Here ‘them’
refers to the poor children of an elementary school in a slum.
Stanza 6 - On their slag heap ........ as big as doom.”
Q.1 What has been referred to as ‘slag heap’? Ans. Bloodless bodies of the poor children.
Q.2 What peeps through their skin? Ans. Their bones
Q.3 Their spectacles look like ........... An . They
look like bottle bits on stones.
Q.4 Why does the poet want to remove the maps of
the world from the classrooms of the poor children?
Ans. It is because
the poor children do not know about the outside world.
Stanza-7 Unless, governor, inspector ............ they break the town’
Q.1 What is meant by ‘this map’? Ans. The map of the world hung in the classroom.
Q.2 What are these windows which the poet talks
of? Ans. These are the windows of the classroom.
Q.3 What has been referred to as ‘catacombs’? Ans. These
are the small houses of the slum-dwellers.
Q.4 What does the poet wants from the governor,
inspector, visitor, etc.?
Ans. .... to
improve a lot of the slum dwellers.
Stanza-8 “And show the children to green fields
...... in the sun.”
- The poet wants to take the poor children to
the green fields and make them play on golden sands.
- ‘Green leaves’ means the leaves of the trees
not these of the books.
- According to the poet, history belongs to
those whose language is the sun-who are free to enjoy anything under the sun.
- Who can move freely on the earth.
