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Tick the item which best answers of the following:
The stunted, unlucky heir of twisted bones means the boy
 has an inherited disability
Â
was short and bony.
B.
 has an inherited disability
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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?
The walls of the colour is “sour cream” that suggests of white but it has a sour smell. It exhibits the depression, dejection and disappointment on the faces of slum school children. These walls suggest the decaying aspect and thereby the slum children are too in the pitiable as well as miserable state of affairs. They need the attention of the civilized people.
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?
Here through these pictures the poet wants to suggest the prosperity, progress, wellbeing 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.
What does the poet want for the children of the slums ? How can their lives be made to change?
The poet has a keen desire that these slum children should break the bonds of living in a slum area. They should not remain dejected, depressed and isolated from the rest of the civilized world. So he urges the governors, teachers, inspectors, invigilators and visitors to come forward and educate the slum children. They should be taken to the horizons of the blue sky so that they can progress and cope with the other world. Through education their lives can be made to change.
Have you ever visited or seen an elementary school in a slum? What does it look-like?
So many time we get a chance to visit an elementary school in a slum. There the conditions are far from satisfaction. These are often devoid of basic infrastructure for education. Most of the students can be seen whiling away their time aimlessly. The parents too belong to the poor strata of society so they too are unable to provide them necessary items of life.
How does Stephen Spender depict the life of the children of ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum?
The children in a slum school classroom have pale, depressed and dejected faces. Their broken and untidy hair cover their faces. They are a rootless lot like the weeds. They are physically weak with small rat’s eyes. They are stunted, boney and diseased. It is a miserable lot there.
What is the unnoted boy doing at the back of the classroom?
The classroom is untidy and dim. It lacks the infrastructure of a classroom. The teaching is going on. But a sweet, young boy is looking out of the window. He is unnoted by the teacher. He is enjoying through the window the squirrel’s game in the tree. He has dream in his eyes about the other things as well.
How is the future of the children of an elementary school in a slum depicted by poet Stephen Spender?
Stephen Spender paints the school children of the slum shut up in catacombs. In the elementary school of the slum their future is dark and misty because of the slum environment. They have nothing new and encouraging in their lives. They are trapped in their miseries of despair, diseases and utter poverty. In these narrow streets their fate is sealed. Their future is dark like an endless night.
Why does Stephen Spender call the slum children of Tyrol as unsung fighters? What is his appeal for them?
Stephen Spender points out the grim state of poverty writ large on the poor and skinny faces of slum children. They are cut off from the educated world. These children are unsung fighters since they are struggling to advance in life inspite of inadequate facilities. So the poet appeals to people of all walks of life to come forward and uplift them.
How does Spender interpret the poverty stricken yet onward struggling men in the poem : ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum?’
Spender points out that the life of slum children in Tyrol is devoid of proper educational facilities. Their classroom windows are their world. Though the flowery valley of Tyrol resonates with church bells yet it brings no light because the slum is their world. They are lost in foggy environment and these are like big dooms. They seem to be struggling for a brighter future. So the poet urges the educated people to help them.
How does Stephen Spender picturise the children in ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’?
Or
How is the utter poverty of children depicted?Stephen has very craftly picturised the slum school children of Tyrol. Their faces are pale, depressed and broken. Their untidy hair cover their faces like rootless weeds. They are physically weak with small eyes like rats. They are stunted, bony and diseased.
Explain “For these children these windows, not this world, are world”.
Or
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?The civilized world is the world of the rich. They draw their own maps. The dirty slums and scramped holes find no place in them. The slum children are aloof to the Tyrolese valley which blooms with flowers, rivers and birds. Their lot is confined to the classroom windows. The world of the rich and civilized is inaccessible to them.
How does the world depicted on the classroom walls differ from the world of the slum children?
The world depicted on the class-room walls differs from the world of the slum children in the sense that the pictures on the walls mean progress, prosperity and well-being. But the children of slum children live in a troubled state. They are devoid of education, money and other necessities of life. They are underfed, poor and live in grim poverty.
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What is the impact of the world map, the dome and the Shakespeare’s bust have on the children of the slum?
In reality the world map, the dome and the Shakespeare bust are the marks of the path of progress through education in this world. But the poet opines adversely by saying that these things will have a negative effect on the children. They will be lured towards these shining and beautiful articles. They will steal them and thereby they will be pushing themselves to darkness.
In what way does the poet request the people to help the slum children?
Or
What does the poet wish for the children of the slums?
Or
What does Spender want for the children of the slums? How can their lives change ?The poet is much aggrieved at heart to see the miserable life of slum children since they are devoid of education and the outer world. In order to bring a ray of cheer on their faces, he urges the governor, teacher, inspector and the visitor to take steps to help these children. He wants them to take than out of the slum where they can study, play and enjoy in the nature. This will change their lives.
What specific message does ‘Stephen Spender’ want to convey through this poem?
In this poem Stephen Spender describes 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 of Tyrol valley who need education and they live in cramped holes. He wants then to fulfil this gap and requests the civilized people to educate and raise them.
The slum children are crushed under poverty. What types of dreams do they have?
The slum children lead a miserable life of poverty, undernourishment and filthy environment. Their world is shut from the education and the progress of the other world. Their bones are visible through their skins and the crampled holes are their only living places. Their future is foggy and uncertain but they have dreams of open seas, green fields, higher education and the other games as well.
Explain ‘So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.”
Or
‘So blot their maps with slums as big as doom. What does the poet want to convey?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 and scramped holes 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.
Explain the metaphor used in the poem—“History is theirs whose language is the sun.”
Stephen Spender uses a fine metaphor “History is theirs whose language is the sun.” All know that the world is governed by the rich, dictator and the powerful people. But there are people who create their history through their own language, ideas and views. They influence the public through warmth of speech and ideas. So their language must contain the warmth and strength of the sun to create history.
Why does Spender call Shakespeare ‘wicked’ and the map a ‘bad example’?
Or
Why does the poet Stephen Spender call the map a bad example?While describing the pitiable condition of the slum school children in Tyrol Valley, Spender points out that their slum dwellings are their narrow confines of foggy existence. They 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.
What does Stephen Spender say that the pictures and maps in the elementary School Classroom are meaningless?
The pictures and the maps on the wall of the elementary school classroom will adversely affect the children. They will have a negative impact according to the poet. They will be lured towards them. They will rather urge them to steal other than paving the way to progress and education.
How does the poet describe the class-room walls?
The poet describes the school classroom in a slum. Its walls are decorated with the pictures of Shakespeare, buildings with domes, world maps and beautiful valleys.
Describe the life of the children of the Elementary School in a Tyrolese Slum Valley?
Or
What are the main ideas in this poem?
Poet Stephen Spender has presented a true picture of the life of the school children of the Tyrolese valley of slum in Austrian Alpine province. The children are in a very miserable condition due to their poverty and illiteracy. They are depressed. Their pale faces express the sadness and disease. They look lean, skinny and bony. They are like rootless weeds which can’t resist anything for their existence. Their scattered untidy hair cover their faces. They are physically very weak being undernourished.
They feel shy and have rat’s eyes. The boys and the girls cannot go to the outside world beyond their slum. Their classrooms are dark, dingy and unkempt. The school does not offer them sufficient facilities for their education, for their proper education. They lack confidence and eagerness.
The children have to stick to the classroom windows and the narrow streets of their world. For them there is no world beyond this. All the beautiful, shining and lovely things tempt them to steal. Their lives are pushed from bad to worse and from worse to the stage of endless darkness. The poet calls educated people to educate these children immediately and create a History. It will remove social injustice and class inequality.
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,
his lesson, from his desk.
Questions:
(i) Name, the poem and. the poet of these lines.
(ii) Where do these children live?
(iii) What is the condition of these children?
(iv) Why is the boy unlucky heir?
(v) Why has the girl bowed her head?
(i) These lines are taken from the poem ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’ written by Stephen Splender.
(ii) They live in the slum at Tyrol valley far away from the gusty waves of the sea.
(iii) They have pale faces, tom hair scattered on faces, paper seeming having rat’s eyes with twisted bones.
(iv) He is called unlucky heir because he is suffering from the hereditary gnarled disease.
(v) The girl has bowed down her head out of depression.
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,
his lesson, from his desk.
The tall girl has bowed down her head:
Questions:
(i) Who is being described in the lines?
(ii) What is he doing?
(iii) What does he have in his eyes?
(iv) Why is the classroom dim?
(i) A young, sweet boy is being described here.
(ii) He is dreaming the game of squirrel.
(iii) He has dreams of other places as well.
(iv) The classroom is dim because there is no proper facility of light.
At 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.
The young and sweet boy is dreaming about:
the game of squirrals
the dance of a peacock
the song of a nightingale
riding his motorbike
A.
the game of squirrals
At 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.
The classroom is dim because:
it is full of smoke
it is full of dust
it lacks proper ventilation
there is no proper facility of light
D.
there is no proper facility of light
On sour cream walls, donations.
Shakespeare’s heady
Cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities.
Belled’ flowery, Tyrolese valley.
Openhanded map
Awarding the world its world
Questions:
(i) What is the condition of the classroom walls?
(ii) What are the two things mentioned to show a civilized race?
(iii) What is the speciality of the Tyrolese valley?
(iv) Explain: “Awarding the world its world.
(i) The creaming layer of walls is falling down.
(ii) The Shakespeare’s statue and the high rising dome point out that of a civilized race.
(iii) The Tyrolese valley is full of coloured flowers and resonates with the bells.
(iv) The rich and the dictators award and divide this world according to their will. Thus it is the world of rich and powerful people.
On sour cream walls, donations.
Shakespeare’s heady
Cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities.
Belled’ flowery, Tyrolese valley.
Openhanded map
Awarding the world its world
are recently white-washed
wear an ugly look
are ugly looking since their creaming layer has fallen down
are ill-decorated
C.
are ugly looking since their creaming layer has fallen down
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On sour cream walls, donations.
Shakespeare’s heady
Cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities.
Belled’ flowery, Tyrolese valley.
Openhanded map
Awarding the world its world
might is right
wealth has magical powers
the world is the monopoly of the rich and powerful people
the poor live and die unknown
C.
the world is the monopoly of the rich and powerful people
Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map
Awarding the world its world.
And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this world, are world,
Where all their future’s painted with a fog,
A narrow street sealed in with a leady sky,
Far far from rivers, capes and stars of words.
(i) Who are these children?(ii) What does ‘fog’ mean in the above lines?
(iii) Explain : Far far from rivers, capes and stars of words.
(i) These are the slum children of Tyrol Valley.
(ii) Here the ‘fog’ means that the future of the children is quite dim. As we can’t see things in the fog, in the same way the future of these children is looming under darkness. Their future is bleak.
(iii) The world of slum children is much far away from rivers, capes and stars. In a way their fate is closed in narrow surroundings.
Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, and 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? (Expected)
Questions:
(i) What two things are criticized in the opening line and how?
(ii) What are the things that tempt the slum children to steal them?
(iii) Why are the slum children tempted to steal the things?
(iv) Explain : ‘Fog to endless night.’
(i) Shakespeare is called wicked, and ‘the map’ is called a bad example as the slum children have no access to the educated world.
(ii) The wonderful things of the world like the sun, love and all the beautiful things tempt the slum children to steal them.
(iii) They want to steal the things because they do not possess them.
(iv) ‘Fog’ is the symbol of their ignorance which keeps them away from knowing good or bad. So they are pushed to darkness, like that of an endless night.
Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, and 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? (Expected)
they are criminal
they are destitutes
they are paupers
they do not possess the desired things
D.
they do not possess the desired things
Fog is the symbol of the slum children’s:
stupidity
vulgarity
ignorance
darkness
C.
ignorance
i) What does ‘slag heap’ refer to in these lines?
(ii) According to the poet, what do the children wear?
(iii) What is the other example that shows their poverty?
(iv) What is all time and space to these school children of the slum?
(v) What blot their maps?
(i) Here ‘slag heap’ refers to the waste material of Tyrol slum.
(ii) Beacuse of their miserable condition, these children are very weak, They remain naked. Through their skins their bones are visible.
(iii) Even their spectacle glass is broken into pieces, repaired and being used by the school children of the slum.
(iv) All their time and space is their cramped holes.
(v) This slum stains the map of the civilized world.
Slag heap’ here refers to:
the waste material of Tyrol slum
the urban rubbish dumped in the slum area
pile of garbage
the dirty surroundings
A.
the waste material of Tyrol slum
(i) Who have been appealed to help the lot of slum children?
(ii) How can the map become their windows to real world?
(iii) According to the poet who do make the history?
(iv) Explain : ‘Run azure on gold sands’.
(i) The poet Stephen Spender appeals the governor, teacher, inspector, visitor to come ahead to educate the children of the slums.
(ii) The map will become their windows to the real world by educating and helping them break open their closed window.
(iii) Those whose language has the warmth and power of the sun, make the history.
(iv) They who get educated can make their world of miseries full of pleasures.
Run azure on gold sands refers to:
prosperity
enrichment
blossoming
making the world of miseries, full of pleasure
D.
making the world of miseries, full of pleasure
Run azure on gold sands refers to:
prosperity
enrichment
blossoming
making the world of miseries, full of pleasure
D.
making the world of miseries, full of pleasure
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?
(b) What is their slag heap?
(c) Why are their bones peeping through their skins?
(d) What does 'with mended glass' mean.
(a) These children are the students sitting in the elementary class in the slums.
(b) The 'slag heap' refers to the bodies of these children.
(c) Their bones are peeping through their skins because these children are malnourished.
(d) 'Mended glass' means broken spectacles. This shows their poverty and inability to buy new glasses.
(a) The children referred to here are those who study in an elementary school in a slum.
(b) Their world comprises of only what they are able to see from the window of their classroom. The view is full of despair where their future seems blurred. They are confined to the narrow streets of the slum, far away from the open sky and rivers.
(c) Unlike other children, the children in the slums have a future that is hopeless and it seems as if it is painted with a fog. They lack the basic necessities of life like proper food, clothing, shelter and health benefits.
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 the tree room, other than this.
(i) Who is the unlucky heir and what has he inherited?
(ii) What is the stunted boy reciting?
(iii) Who is sitting at the back of the dim class?
i) The unlucky heir refers to the little boy from the slum who has inherited a disfigured, gnarled and diseased body.
ii) The stunted boy is reciting an account of his father’s incurable diseases.
iii) A sweet little fellow was sitting at the back of the dim class unnoticed and unobserved by all.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
and
On their slag heap, them children
Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones
(a) Who are these children?
(b) What is their slag heap?
(c) Why are their bones peeping though their skins?
(d) What does 'with mended glass' mean?
(a) These children are the students of an elementary classroom in the slums.
(b) The 'slag heap' refers to the bodies of these children.
(c) Their bones are peeping through their skins because these children are malnourished.
(d) 'Mended glass' is used for the spectacles with broken glasses that these children wear. They are so poor that they can’t afford to get a new pair.
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?
(b) Explain: 'from fog to endless night'.
(c) What does the reference to 'slag heap' mean?
a) Shakespeare is described as wicked because the beautiful world depicted by Shakespeare is denied to the slum children.
b) The poor slum children are subjected to a life of misery and hopelessness and extreme poverty.
c) Their emaciated wasted bodies are compared to slag (waste) heaped together. He returns to their thin, malnourished bodies, stating that they, “wear skins peeped through by bones.”
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
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?
(b) Which figure of speech has been used in the first two lines?
(c) Why is the tall girl’s head weighed down?
(d) What does the word, ‘pallor’ mean?
(a) The poet is talking about the children who go to the elementary school in a slum.
(b) The two figures of speech used in the two lines are:
Alliteration- “Far from gusty waves”
Simile- “Like rootless weeds”
(c) The head of the tall girl is weighed down because she is ill and exhausted.
(d) The word “pallor” describes the pale and unhealthy appearance of the slum children.
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