An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum by Stephen Spender

 

 An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

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.

NCERT Book Solution

Page No: 93

Think it Out

1. Tick the item which best answers the following.

(a) The tall girl with her head weighed down means the girl ______________________.

(i) is ill and exhausted

(ii) has her head bent with shame

(iii) has untidy hair

Answer: (ii) is ill and exhausted

(b) The paper-seeming boy with rat's eyes means the boy is ______________________.

(i) sly and secretive

(ii) thin, hungry and weak

(iii) unpleasant looking

Answer: (ii) thin, hungry and weak

(c) The stunted, unlucky heir of twisted bones means the boy ______________________.

(i) has an inherited disability

(ii) was short and bony

Answer: (i)has an inherited disability

(d) His eyes live in a dream. A squirrel's game, in the tree room other than this. This means the boy is ______________________.

(i) full of hope in the future

(ii) mentally ill

(iii) distracted from the lesson

Answer: (iii) distracted from the lesson

(e) The children's faces are compared to 'rootless weeds'. This means they ______________________.

(i) are insecure

(ii) are ill-fed

(iii) are wasters

Answer: (iii)are wasters

Page No: 94

2. 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 the sour cream is pale yellow. The poet has used this expression to show the poor and grim environment of the classroom. Instead of bringing cheer to the unhappy existence of the children, these walls add to their misery and dreariness.

3. 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:  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.

4. What does the poet want for the children of the slums? How can their lives be made to change?

OR

What does Stephen Spender want to be done for the children of the school on a slum? 2016 Delhi SET I

Answer:  The elementary school in the slum does not serve any purpose with its poor infrastructure and disinterested students. The poet feels that the governor, inspector and visitors should take initiative to bring about a real change in their situation. The poet wants that the children of the slums should get rid of their dismal lives. The apathy of the affluent classes towards them has to come to an end. The children should be able to enjoy the intrinsic beauty of nature and break down all barriers that confine them to such gloomy life. They need opportunity, encouragement and optimism to be able to live life with purpose and zest.

Q. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

On their slag heap, these children

Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel

With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.        (2018 Delhi)

(a) Name the poem and the poet.

(b) Explain : ‘slag heap’.

(c) What future awaits these children ?

(d) Name the figure of speech used in the third line.

Answer: (a) Poem: An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

 Poet: Stephen Spender.

(b) The poet describes the children “on their slag heap.” Their emaciated wasted bodies are compared to slag (waste) heaped together.

(c) Uncertain and gloomy future awaits them.

(d) Simile. The children are compared to the bottle bits of stone.

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 time and space are foggy slum.

So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.        (2018 Comptt. Delhi)

(a) What does ‘slag heap’ refer to ?

Answer: ‘Slag heap’ here refers to the bodies of hunger-stricken children, which seem to be garbage heaps.

(b) What do these children wear on their eyes ?

Answer: These children wear spectacles of steel with mended glass on their eyes.

(c) What other example shows their poverty ?

Answer: ‘Wear skins peeped through by bones’ is another example which shows their poverty.

(d) Name the figure of the speech in the last line.

Answer: The figure of speech used in the last line is simile:- slums as big as doom.

Q. 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.     (2017 Delhi)

(a) Who are these children ?

Answer: These are from children of deprived and poor sections of society who are elementary class room students.

(b) Which figure of speech has been used in the first two lines ?

Answer: Simile(like rootless weeds)/ Alliteration(far from) /Metaphor( gusty waves)/ Repetition (far far)/ Imagery (gusty waves).

(c) Why is the tall girl’s head weighed down ?

Answer: The tall girl’s head is weighed down probably because of poverty, responsibilities, burden of life, miserable condition or mentally and physically exhausted.

(d) What does the word, ‘pallor’ mean ?

Answer: ‘Pallor’ means dull or pale face.

Q. 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………………    2016, Delhi, Comptt., SET I

(a) Name the poem and the poet.                                                      

Answer: The name of the poem is An Elementary School Classroom in Slum composed by Stephen Spender.

(b) Who are the ‘children’ referred to in these lines?                   

Answer: The ‘children’ referred here are the slum children studying in an elementary school.

(c) What does the poet want for the children?                                 

Answer:  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. 

(d) What is the poet’s attitude towards these children?                 

Answer:  The poet is worried and concerned about the future of the slum children so he has a sympathetic attitude towards them.

Q. With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal.

For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes

From fog to endless night?    2014, Delhi, SET I

(i) Who are ‘them’ referred to in the first line?              

Answer: The slum children studying in the school are referred to as “them”.

(ii) What tempts them?                                                         

Answer: The ships, sun and love are symbolic of the joy and brightness of life. So to reach out this life these objects tempt them.

(iii) What does the poet say about ‘their’ lives?              

 Answer:  According to the poet, those children spent their whole lives like rodents confined in ‘their cramped holes’. The undernourished bodies of those children looked almost like skeletons. Their steel-framed spectacles with repaired glasses made them look like, the broken pieces of a bottle scattered on stones. Since their entire lives revolved, around slums, their future also seemed blotted.

1.The stunted, unlucky heir

Of twisted bones, reciting a fathers 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.               2013, Outside Delhi, SET I & 2012, DELHI, SET I

(a) Who is this ‘unlucky heir’ and what has he inherited?                         

Answer: The boy who has twisted bones and is sitting in the slum school classroom is the unlucky heir. He has inherited the gnarled disease of twisted bones from his father.

(b) What is the stunted boy reciting?                                    

Answer: It seems the stunted boy is reciting his father’s gnarled disease and his lessons.

(c) Who is sitting at the back of the dim class?                  

Answer: At the back of the dim class, there is an unnoted, sweet and young boy who is dreaming of squirrel’s game, is sitting.

2. 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.

(a) What are the donations on the wall?

Answer:  A picture of the bust of Shakespeare, a scenic picture of Tyrolese Valley with its beautiful flowers and a map are the donations on the wall.

(b) What does the map award the world?

Answer: The civilized world is the world of education, rich prosperity, flowers, bells and domes. So these powerful people draw their own map. The dirty slums find no place in them. These are like little hells. The rich do not want to blot their maps with slums like that of the Tyrol valley.

(c) Why does the poet mention ‘Tyrolese Valley’?

Answer: The poet mentions ‘Tyrolese Valley’ because of its natural beauty, which the slum children are deprived of.

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

(a) Which two images are used to describe these slums?

Answer: The images used to describe the slums are: ‘slag heap’, ‘bottle bits on stones’ and ‘slums as big as doom’.

(b) What sort of life do these children lead?

Answer: The life of these slum children is pathetic, full of misery and poverty.

(c) Which figure of speech is used in the last line?

Answer: A simile has been used in the last line where slums are compared to a living hell.

4. ……………….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.        2014, Outside Delhi, SET I

(a) Who are the ‘children’ referred to here?                                   

Answer: The slum children who study in an elementary school are referred to here.

(b) Which is their world?                                                                 

Answer: Their world comprises of what they see from the window of their classroom. The view is full of despair and their future seems blurred and vague. They are confined to the narrow streets of the slum, far away from the open sky and rivers.

(c) How is their life different from that of other children?                

Answer: Unlike other children, the children in the slums spend their whole life confined in ‘cramped holes’ like rodents. They lack the basic amenities of life like proper food, clothing, shelter and health benefits. In fact, they are also deprived the freedom to leave the shackles of this life and enjoy the ‘green fields’ that other children enjoy.

5. 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.

(a) Why is Shakespeare described as wicked?                            

Answer: Shakespeare is described as wicked because there is no correlation between Shakespeare’s works and the life of the slum children. The great poet is meaningless for them.

(b) Explain: ‘from fog to endless night’.                                        

Answer: This phrase describes the miserable, bleak and hopeless life of the slum children who have an uncertain future.

(c) What does the reference to ‘slag heap’ mean?                         

Answer: The reference to the slag heap signifies the misery and extreme poverty of the slum children.

6. 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 the green leaves open
History is theirs whose language is the sun

(a) To whom does ‘they’ refer?

Answer: ‘They’ refers to the children of the slum sitting in the classroom of an elementary school.

(b) What would they break?

Answer: They would break free from the chains of the slum. They would break all the windows which have sealed their fate and enjoy a new lease of life and freedom.

(c) What other freedom should they enjoy?

Answer: They should enjoy equal rights like other citizens and given proper education and should have a bright future like others.

Q. Answer the following questions in 30-40 words each:

Q. How is ‘Shakespeare wicked and the map a bad example’ for the children of the school in a slum?             2016 Outside Delhi SET I

Answer: While describing the pitiable condition of the slum school children, the poet points out that that their slum dwellings are their narrow confines of foggy existence. They for are devoid of education. The map on the wall picture of Shakespeare and other gifts are meant for their temptation. They will urge them to steal rather than pave way to progress and education. The poet calls Shakespeare ‘wicked’ sarcastically as the slum children never experienced the world described in the magnificent words of the playwright.

Q. 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? 2013, Delhi, SET II

Answer: Through these words, the poet is conveying the message that the children dwelling in the slums have no idea of the outer world. They are living a dark, gloomy life, with no future or hope. The world map hanging in their classroom is meaningless to them. They have the view of the outer world only through these windows of the classroom. So, these children should be shown the real world outside the slums.

1. Why does Stephen Spender say that the pictures and maps in the elementary school classroom are meaningless?  2009, DELHI, SET I

Answer: The pictures and maps in the elementary school classroom are meaningless because the map does not include their world of narrow lanes. Their world is all what that they see from the windows of the classrooms, which show them only a foggy street under a dull sky.

2. How does the world depicted on the classroom walls differ from the world of the slum children?

Answer: The pictures on the wall suggest the prosperity, progress, well being and development of the civilized world. But the slum world of these poor children is in the troubled state of life. They are devoid of education, money and other necessities of life. They are underfed and live in dire poverty on the heaps of waste. Their bonny bodies can be seen through their skins. So the poet contrasts the poor world with the rich and civilized world.

3. ‘So blot their maps with slums as big as doom’, says Stephen Spender. What does the poet want to convey? 2010, DELHI, SET III

Answer: The civilized world has drawn its own map. This world has been separated from the world of slums. The dirty slums with their narrow lanes and cramped holes are little hells. The poet protests against social injustice and class inequalities. He wants that the islands of prosperity should be flooded with the stink and dirt of the slums.

4. What message does Stephen Spender convey through the poem ‘An Elementary school Classroom in a Slum’? 2013, Delhi, SET I

Answer:  In this poem Stephen spender conveys the theme of social injustice and class inequalities of civilized and poor slum people. The civilized world is educated progressive and developed. The other world belongs to the slum children who need education and they live in cramped holes. He wants to fulfil this gap and requests the civilized people to civilize and raise them.

5. To whom does the poet in the poem, ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’ make an appeal? What is his appeal?    2014, Delhi, Comptt., SET I

Answer: In a conciliatory tone the poet appeals to the governor, inspector and visitor to do something to improve the condition of these slum children. The poet hopes the authorities would realise their moral responsibilities and free these children from their grave-like entrapments. He wants all the barriers to be pulled down; barriers that keep away true education from them. The children must be given freedom to experience the wholesome bounties of nature-view the green fields and run on ‘gold sand’. Let them read books and let them breathe in fresh air.

6. Which words/phrases in the poem show that the slum children are suffering from acute malnutrition?      2014,Outside  Delhi, Comptt., SET I

Answer: The words/phrases in the poem, “An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum” that show that the slum children are suffering from acute malnutrition are: ‘paper seeming boy’ and ‘stunted with twisted bones’.

7. How does the map on the wall tempt the slum children?

Answer: The map on the wall shows different countries, mountains, oceans and rivers etc. whereas the world of the slum children only consists of stinky and shanty lanes with narrow slums covered with a lead sky. The beautiful world of the map is unknown to them. So the map tempts them without giving them an opportunity to live in the real world.