CHAPTER

AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASS ROOM IN A SLUM

—Stephen Spender (1909-1995)

Chapter Analysis

Question Type Year & Marks 2016 2017 2018

D OD OD D OD

SA 1 1

LA 1 1

Introduction:

Stephen Spender was a poet who visited the Gemini Studios in Bombay. He had left his learning and felt deeply for the poor and the downtrodden. He was not against progress and prosperity, but he wanted that the poor and the downtrodden should have equal opportunities to share the benefits. In this poem, he wants to draw the attention of the society and the government to the dismal conditions under which those children live and study. There is a map that shows beautiful cities, ships and love all around. But these children are deprived of these. He wants that children should be given education in a conducive atmosphere

Summary:

Stephen Spender visited an elementary school in a slum. The classroom was dim. The paint on the walls was faded. Children were sick and undernourished.

A girl sat with her head weighed down in despair. A child's growth was stunted. His bones were twisted. A boy looked dreamy. He was thinking of a squirrel's game.

On the wall, there was a portrait of Shakespeare and a map of the world. The map showed beautiful cities under a cloudless sky at dawn. There were ships and love. It had symbols of modern progress and liberal attitude. But by contrast, the lives of the children were dark and dismal. Their future was written in fog.

The poet thinks that the map and Shakespeare had no significance for the children who lived in houses just like graves.

He pleads that these windows should be broken and the children should be moved to the bright daylight. They should experience the sun, the sky and the sea. They should be educated. They should have equal opportunities like others.

1. Far far .....

......

......

..... other than this.

The poem begins with a description of the children sitting in a school classroom which is located in a slum. The poet has compared these children to rootless weeds as they are not given any importance by any member of the society. They are unwanted like the rootless weeds or useless plants. Their faces are pale and untidy hair fall all over their faces.

Then, the poet describes a few children sitting in the classroom, there is a tall girl who sits with her head down due to poverty or some affliction. She seems to be in a depressed state. There is a boy who is very thin and has eyes which bulge out like that of a rat. His physical appearance clearly depicts that he is undernourished and his eyes seem to be always in search of food like a rat. There is one more boy who is unlucky as he had inherited a gnarled bone disease from his father. His physical growth is stunted and he recite his lesson from his desk as he can't stand. Another boy is seated at the back of that dull and dim room, there is a sweet boy who is not paying any attention to the class. Rather he is day-dreaming about the outside world where a squirrel is playing in the hollow of a free. It is in contrast to his own life. He also wants to go out and play like a squirrel but cannot do so.

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Oswaal CBSE Chapterwise & Topicwise Question Bank, ENGLISH CORE, Class-XII

Simile <math>\rightarrow</math> Like rootless weeds

1. On sour cream .....

...............

................

...............

..... stars of words.

The poet then proceeds to give a detailed description of the classroom which has sour cream walls. They are dirty and yellow and are unpleasant to look at. There is a picture of Shakespeare's head on the wall. Apart from this, a cloudless sky at dawn, the domes of buildings, the beautiful scene of the Tyrolese valley with its beautiful flowers and bells are all painted on the walls. But these things have no meaning for the slum children. The names of people who have given donations for the school have also been displayed on the sour cream walls. Open handed maps have also been drawn on the walls of the classroom but they are of no use as their area has not been shown in it. This map does not have their world in it. Their world is foggy, dull and bleak. There is no ray of hope in it. Their life has no future and they live a life of uncertainty. They are doomed to live in narrow streets, with a dull, leaden sky. Rivers, capes and stars are natural beauties but for these children, they represent a world which has no meaning for them.

Metaphor → Future's painted with a fog

1. Surely Shakespeare .....

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

......

..... as big as doom.

Shakespeare's head on the map on the walls of a classroom of a slum is wicked because they can't imagine any other world except their own. The pictures of ships and sun are a bad example for these children because they tempt them to run away from their dark world to the world of adventure which is represented by the ships and the world of the rich. Their houses have been compared to narrow holes where their future is foggy and like an endless night. The slum children are emaciated as their bones seem to be peeping through their skins. They wear steel spectacles which have mended glass. The poet is comparing the mended glass to the small pieces of broken glass on stones as the world of the slum children is also broken due to their unfulfilled desires. They are supposed to use the discarded things of the rich. The slums are not marked on the maps but it should be done. The slums should be spotted and drawn on the maps so that the slum children should feel one with the others and realise that their slums can also be located on the maps.

Alliteration <math>\rightarrow</math> Spectacles of steel

Space are foggy slum

From Fog to endless night

like bottle bits on stones

Simile <math>\rightarrow</math> like bottle bits on stones

1. Unless governor .....

.....

.....

..... is the sun.

The poet further moves on saying that these miserable conditions of the slum will continue unless some governor, inspector or visitor visits this place and tries to improve the conditions of the classroom in a slum. The windows of the classroom symbolise the environment of the slums which blocks the progress of the slum children. They should not be bound to live in these places which are like catacombs. Let these children go out and face the world. Let them see the green fields which are a sign of prosperity. Let them lead a life of freedom represented by golden sands. Give them the opportunity to express themselves freely because only those people make and create history, who fight for a cause and are able to overcome their surroundings. The slum children should also be given an opportunity of being memorable.

Simile <math>\rightarrow</math> lives like catacombs

Repetition → Break or break open till they break the town

Extracts for Comprehension

[4 marks each]

Q.1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: [Delhi Set I/II/III, 2017] 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.

1. Who are these children?

[Delhi Set I/II/III, 2017, Delhi Set I, 2015]

Ans. Value Points : From deprived and poor sections

of society/slums/elementary class room students.

[CBSE Marking Scheme, 2017] 1

Detailed Answer: These children are from

deprived and poor section of the society.

(b) What has possibly weighed-down the tall girl's

head?