“CBSE Important Questions An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum” will provide you with the summary, theme, questions and answers, and MCQ for the students of class 12 English (CBSE and HBSE). “CBSE Important Questions An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum” is the assurance that students will get 100% of the questions in their upcoming examination of class 12 English.
Summary of An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum, The school is “far from rivers, capes, and stars of words”, Stephen Spender has concentrated on themes of social injustice and class inequalities. Clear discrimination toward slums is vital in the poem, An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum, where students are partially treated in the slum school. I will be discussing the summary, theme, questions and answers, and MCQ for the students of class 12 English (CBSE and HBSE). The teaching material is designed by an expert teacher who has taught class 12 English for the last 25 years.
About the poet: An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
Stephen Spender(1909-1995) was an English poet and essayist. “Sir Stephen Harold Spender CBE (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist, and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry by the United States Library of Congress in 1965″. He left University College, Oxford without taking a degree and went to Berlin in 1930. He took interest in politics and declared himself to be a socialist and pacifist. Books by Spender include Poems of Dedication, The Edge of Being, The Creative Element, and The Struggle of Modern. In, An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum, he has concentrated on themes of social injustice and class inequalities.
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CBSE Imp. Questions An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum Summary CBSE/HBSE Class 12 English
Introduction
Stephen Spender, in his poem, An Elementary School in a Slum, explains the social injustice and class inequalities. The structure of the school is poor as it is generally found in a slum.
Main points of summary of An Elementary School in a Slum
The poet clearly depicts the difference between a normal school and a school in a slum. An elementary school in a Slum is in a congested area where there was no fresh air ‘far from gusty waves’. The children of these schools are very weak and dry, much like “rootless weeds.” The tall girl is very slim to bear the weight of her head. The boys are like “paper”, which means they are underweight due to malnutrition and their eyes are like “rat’s eye”. Their bones are twisted. The students of slum schools are compelled to attend the classes in dim light as there are no windows in an elementary school classroom in a slum. The poet further tells us that the dreams of slum students are the same as those of other children’s schools.
The poet further explains the infrastructure of An Eementary School in a Slum. The walls are already faded and are like “sour cream walls”. The future of the students is bleak as there are no facilities in the school. The poet explains the miserable conditions of students, and they look like “rootless weeds,” with pale faces and very weak bodies, and their eyes were like “rat’s eyes.” Students have dreams but no system to fulfil them as they are never cared for by the elite classes and politicians. Their future is like a fog. The streets are very narrow and sealed like “a lead sky” in such schools. It means An elementary school in a Slum is like lead, which can be broken at any time as the promises are made but never fulfilled.
The poet further explains in the third stanza that talking about Shakespeare and the map of the world is useless for such students in slum areas as their bones are visible through their skins. Their “spectacles are of steel,” which means their future is dark without any hope. Slums have ruined their future and their lives have become a “doom”. The poet compares their life with hell.
Conclusion of the poem’s summary
Therefore, we can say that the poet attacks the system where there is inequality among schools. Everyone should get an equal opportunity to excel in their life. They can’t learn from old Shakespeare plays. Students in slums must be exposed to greenery and the open sun. Students can make history if they are exposed to open fields and the sun.
An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum Questions and answers, and stanza comprehension are critical for the examination for CBSE and HBSE students in class 12. These were created by an eminent English teacher who is currently employed as a Lecturer in English. We guarantee that the questions and answers are genuine and of high quality. The students are advised to read the summary, important words, and phrases of An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum. This way of learning will help you to understand the questions and answers in a better way.
CBSE Sure Theme Questions An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
Q.1. Explain the theme of the poem’ An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’.CBSE/HBSE
Or
What is the message that Stephen Spender wants to convey through the poem,’ An elementary school in a Slum’?
or
Q. 4. What does the poet want for the children of the slums? How can their lives be made to change?
Stephen Spender, a poet, discusses the injustice and inequality in our educational system. In the school system, social justice reigns supreme. Students in slum schools face discrimination in a variety of ways. The infrastructure of slum schools is deteriorating.
The poet describes the differences in schools, and students in slum schools are extremely poor and physically weak. Their eyes are like rats’ eyes, which indicates that they are physically very weak. The girls’ bodies are frail, and their necks are unable to support the weight of their heads. The rooms are dark and lack natural light. Their gaze is constantly drawn to dreams that cannot be realised under these conditions. Rich people live and move in a comfortable city. They simply donate something to such schools and are unconcerned about the future of students in slum schools.
As a result, the future of students in such schools is as bleak and dim as the light in their classrooms. They also have the right to move freely in open spaces to enjoy the sun and nature. The sun is a symbol of progress, and these students deserve to have the sun in their lives as well.
CBSE Important Textual Questions An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
Textual Questions: An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum (NCERT)
Think it out
Related: My Mother at Sixty- six MCQs
CBSE/HBSE Questions(2017,18,19,20):An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
(1) How can the condition of the slum children be improved?
Ans. The condition of the slum children can be improved by opening their school in the lap of nature. The rooms should be airy and big with all the facilities like other schools.
(2) What does the poet say about polished traffic?
Ans. The poet spoke about the polished traffic of rich people who are never worried about the poor students of slum schools.
(3) How does the poet describe the faces of the children in the elementary school classroom.
The poet describes the faces of the children in the elementary school classroom are like rootless weeds. There is no shining on their faces and they are very weak.
(4) How can the condition of slum children be improved?
The condition of the slum children can be improved by opening their school in an open area.
(5) What does Stephen Spender find on the walls of the classroom? 2017
The poet finds old donation boards and old Shakespeare photographs on the sour cream walls.
CBSE Sure-Shot Comprehension Questions An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
Comprehension: An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum Comprehension (CBSE/HBSE)
1. Read the stanza given below and answer the questions that follow :
At the back of the dim class (2020 B)
One unnoted, sweet and young.
His eyes live in a dream of squirrel’s game,
in the tree room, other than this.
Questions :
(i) Why do you think the class was dim?
There was no natural light.
(ii) Who was sitting at the back of the class?
A little boy was sitting at the back of the class.
(iii) What was the little one dreaming of?
He wanted live like a squirrel in an open area.
(iv) What comparison does the poet make in the words: “other than this”?
The poet contrasts school life and squirrel life, or open versus crowded life.
(v) Name the poem and the poet.
In an Elementary School Classroom in a Slum, The name of the poet is Stephen Spender.
2. Read the stanza given below and answer the questions that follow :
At the back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in
a dream,
Of squirrel’s game, in the tree room, other than
this.
(i) Name the poem.
(ii) Name the poet.
(iii) Why is the class dim?
(iv) Why is the child called ‘sweet and young’?
(v) What does the child want to enjoy?
- An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum.
- The name of the poet is Stephen Spender.
- There was no window in the classroom.
- He is a small boy and wanted to play like a squirrel in an open tree.
3. Read the stanza given below and answer the questions that follow :
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. And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this map, their
world,
Where all their future is painted with a fog,
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky
Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.
(i) Name the poem and the poet.
(ii) Where are donations and Shakespeare’s head placed?
(iii) How does the poet paint the future of the children?
(iv) Explain “Sour cream walls”.
(v) Find words from the stanza which mean the same as :
(a) Faded
(b) Globe
Answers:
- An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum and the name of the poet is Stephen Spender.
- They are placed on sour walls.
- Their future is like fog.
- It means a dull wall.
- Faded: sour, Globe: World.
An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum Questions for practice
Q.1. The tall girl with her head weighed down means…
Ans. The girl is too weak.
Q.2. The paper-seeming boy with a rat’s eye means, The boy is…
Ans. The boy is very thin due to malnutrition.
Q.3. The stunted, unlucky heir of twisted bones means: The boy…
Ans. The boy’s bones are bent due to weakness.
Q.4. His eyes live in a dream. A squirrel’s game, in the tree room other than his means
Ans. Slum children also have dreams like normal children.
Q.5. The children’s faces are compared to ‘rootless weeds’.
Ans. There is no shining on their faces.
Q.6.What is the name of the poet of an elementary school in a slum?
The name of the poet is Stephen Spender.
Q.7. In An Elementary School Classroom in a slum, tell us about:
Ans. The poor condition of slum schools.
Q.8. What is the opposite word of rich?
Ans. Poor
Q.9. What is the meaning of “gusty waves”?
Ans. Fresh air
Q.10. What is the meaning of “rootless weeds”?
Ans. Without energy
Q.11 What is the title of the book from which the poem is taken?Elementary school in a slum?
Ans. Flamingo
Q.12. The word malnutrition is represented in the poem “An Elementary School in a Slum.”
Ans. “rootless weeds”
Q.13. The school’s walls are:
Ans. spoiled or sour cream walls.
Q.14.Their future is like a fog. What does it mean?
Ans. No future.
Q.15. What is the name of the poet?
Ans. Stephen Spender
Q.16. Name the literary terms used in “slum as big as doom”
Ans. Simile
Q.17. What literary device is used in “whose language is the sun?”
Ans. Metaphor
Q.18. What does it mean, “break of break”?
Ans. all bathers
Q.19. Write the literary terms used in, “spectacles of steel.”
Ans. Metaphor
Q.20. ” spectacles of Steel”, a symbol for students
Ans. The future is not clear.
Q.21. What is the meaning of “azure”?
Ans. Blue color
Q.22. What is the use of the map for children in the poem?
Ans. The maps are useless.
Q.23. Who are “governor, inspector”?
Ans. Rich people.
Q.24. What are the “catacombs” for students in the poem?
Ans. dark graves mean their future is not clear.
Q.25. What should be available for slum students?
Ans. Open windows, and airy rooms in schools.
Q.26. What are “gold sands”?
Ans. No floor or natural sand.
Q.27. What does the sun symbolize in the poem?
Ans. Progress
Q.28. Why is Shakespeare so bad for students?
Ans. Only bookish knowledge or impractical knowledge.
Q.29. Why is the map a bad example for the slum students?
Ans. Students need open fields and golden sands.
Q.30. Why are students compared to frogs?
Ans. Live in a congested area.
Q.31. What is the meaning of “mended glass”?
Ans. Uncertain future
Q.32. “All of their time and space are…”
Ans. wasted or spoiled.
Q.33. What is the meaning of “blot”?
Ans. blemish
Q.34. What are “sour cream walls”?
Ans. Broken walls
Q.35. What is the meaning of “civilized dome”?
Ans. Rich people of the city.
Q.36. Synonyms for “cloudless”
Ans. Clear
Q.37. Synonyms for “donation”
Ans. Charity
Q. 38. Antonyms for “civilized”
Ans. Uncivilized
Q.39. What does’ future’s painted with fog’mean’?
Ans. Dark future.
Q.40. “Far from gusty waves” indicates
Ans. Away from open fields.
Q.41. How are children’s faces?
Ans. Pale faces
Q.42. What is the meaning of “pallor”?
Ans. Pale
Q.43. Why is the girl bent over?
Ans. Weakness
Q.44. How does paper appear to be the same as a boy?
Ans. Children are weightless like paper.
Q.45: What does “the stunted unlucky heir” mean in this context?
Ans. The ancestor of poor people
Q.46:Are ‘hair’ and ‘heir’ the same words?
Ans. No.
Q.47. How is the classroom?
Ans. Dark and uncleaned.
Q.48. What is the antonym of unnoted?
Ans. Noticed
Q.49. What is the theme of the poem?
Ans. Discrimination against slum children in education.
Q.50. Stephen Spender was born in…
Ans. 1909.
Q.51. What is the meaning of “heir”?
Ans. Ancestor.
CBSE Important Poetic Devices Questions An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
Answers to the above questions about The Last Lesson will give a complete knowledge of The Last Lesson. For any other query, you can ask a question or write a comment in the comment box just below all the articles.
Poetic devices are used by a poet to create effects in poetry, and they are called literary devices, such as structure, rhythm, grammar, and verbal and visual elements. It is a style used by poets of different ages to create appealing effects in their poems. Do poetic devices and elements play any role in understanding poetry? Poetic devices and poetic elements will assist you in comprehending the poetry of An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum. Metaphor, simile, metaphor, symbol, and imagery are poetic devices. There are certain elements like structure and plot, meter, rhyme, subject, speaker, poetic devices, theme, tone and mood, and syntax. Written by an eminent teacher with more than 25 years of experience as a lecturer in English
Metaphor: “A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase denoting one kind of object or action is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them”
Stephen Spender in his poem, An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum, uses a lot of metaphorical words to explain his point of view on social injustice and class inequalities:
- The rich schoolchildren are compared to “gusty waves”, which means they are healthy and energetic as compared to slum children.
- “future painted with a fog”: slum children’s future is like a fog where nothing is visible. Their future is dark and bleak.
- “sealed in with lead sky”: it means the poet compares the future of slum children with the lead sky, which means grey and unclear.
- Another metaphor used by the poet to explain the values of Shakespeare’s words, which are valuable today but in the future slum children are of no value.
- “from fog to endless night”: Slum students’ future is like fog on an endless night. It means a bleak future.
- “wear skins peeped through by bones”: exposed bones without flesh as they are very weak. With rat eyes, they live a dark life.
- “whose language is the sun”: the future of good schools Children are like the sun and slum schools. Children are like fog in an endless night
Simile: It represents a part of speech that involves the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different type to make the idea in the poem more clear and more appealing.
- The poet explains the pathetic condition of children in a slum area, and they are compared with “rootless weeds.” Nothing can flourish without roots, and the future is dim as they are lacking energy in their bodies. They are discriminated against by society.
- “like bottle bits on stones,” “their future painted with fog“; the children’s expressions on their spectacles are dull and difficult to understand. Their faces are like stones, which means very rough and hard.
- “windows that shut upon their lives like catacombs”: schools in slum areas lack windows, and no light comes into classrooms. So, they are like underground graves for them. The poet uses catacombs for the students’ classroom, where there is no light or air.
“Similes and metaphors are both figures of speech that are used to make a comparison between two things that are not alike. The difference is that similes make the comparison by saying that something is like something else but metaphors make the comparison by saying that something is something else.”
Imagery: It is an element of the poem which appeals to our senses to represent some ideas, actions, and objects.
- “weight down”: The poet uses this phrase to show the poverty of the slum children, who are unable to bear the burden of their necks. The tall girl could not bear the weight of her head.
- “rat’s eyes”: It refers to weakness in all children and their eyes are not visible. They have become very small.
I assume you’ll be able to grasp the lyrical devices.
Symbols: The poet uses symbols to compare and contrast the different things in the poem.
- “squirrel’s game”: Used for escapism from reality. The students want ‘squirrel’s game’ to escape from their pathetic conditions.
- “civilized dome riding all cities”: The rich people consider them civilised and are least bothered about the inhumane conditions of slums’ students.
- “open-handed map”: The map is only useful for rich people. Poor students are unable to use such maps as these are only in books and maps but no progress in their life.
- “map with slums as big as doom”: Slums’ students are poverty-stricken.
- “fog”: Fog symbolises darkness where nothing is visible. Students’ future is like fog.
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“ships and sun”: Ships are for the rich and the sun is the symbol of progress, but in slums’ schools, children live in the dark and are unable to see the sun means no progress in their life.
- “windows”: It symbolises the way to move ahead, but in the poem, there are no windows in the school. It means a bleak future. Their future is like fog.
- “green fields, gold sand”: Symbols of positivity and progress.
- “run azure”: Positive symbol where things are clear like a blue sky
- “sun”: Symbol of progress and prosperity.
Repetition: In the world of poetry, repetition is in the forms of words, phrases, sentences, and stanzas. Repetition emphasises the idea, and feeling, and creates rhythm in the poem.
“Break O break open till they break the town,”
‘ Far, far’
