Class 12 English Poetry|Chapter – 2|An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum: Welcome to bodotutor.com ! Here you will get complete Class 12 English notes based on the AHSEC|ASSEB syllabus. We are starting with Class 12 Chapter – 2: An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum, and we’ll continue to provide clear, easy-to-understand notes for every chapter to help you in your exams. Stay connected for regular updates and more study materials!
Class 12 English Poetry|Chapter – 2|An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
Short Type Question and Answer
1. What does the poet compare the children’s faces to?
Ans: The poet compares the children’s faces to rootless weeds, showing their poverty and lack of stability.
2. What is the condition of the tall girl in the classroom?
Ans: The tall girl has a weighted-down head, indicating the burden of her environment and struggles.
3. What is the description of the ‘paper-seeming boy’?
Ans: The boy is described as having “rat’s eyes,” symbolizing malnourishment and poor health.
4. How does the ‘stunted, unlucky heir’ recite his lesson?
Ans: The stunted boy recites a father’s gnarled disease, hinting at inherited poverty and physical deformities.
5. What is the mood of the child sitting at the back of the classroom?
Ans: The child at the back seems to be daydreaming, as his eyes live in a dream of a different world.
6. What do the ‘sour cream walls’ symbolize in the poem?
Ans: The ‘sour cream walls’ represent the bleak and dreary environment of the classroom, which reflects the children’s living conditions.
7. What is the significance of Shakespeare’s head on the wall?
Ans: Shakespeare’s head symbolizes the contrast between the children’s impoverished world and the idealized, civilized world depicted in the classroom.
8. What is the poet’s view of the map in the classroom?
Ans: The poet views the map as a bad example because it depicts an idealized world that is far removed from the children’s harsh reality.
9. What is the future of these children according to the poet?
Ans: The poet believes that the children’s future is bleak, painted with fog and trapped in narrow streets, far from the world of opportunities and dreams.
10. What does the poet hope for the children in the slum?
Ans: The poet hopes for the children to be freed from the slum, given access to the beauty of nature, and allowed to learn and grow without the constraints of their environment.
Long Type Question & Answer
1. How does the poet describe the condition of the children in the slum school?
Ans: The poet describes the children in the slum school as having lifeless, malnourished bodies. Their faces are compared to rootless weeds, indicating their lack of stability or hope. The paper-seeming boy has rat-like eyes, suggesting illness and deprivation. One boy, the stunted heir, recites his lesson with the inherited disease of his father’s twisted bones. The children’s physical conditions are a reflection of their poverty, as they wear ragged clothes that barely cover their frail bodies. Their world, as represented in the classroom, is confined to the fog of poverty, and they have no hope for a brighter future.
2. What is the poet’s criticism of the education system in the poem?
Ans: The poet criticizes the education system for being disconnected from the realities of the children’s lives. The classroom, with its idealized portraits of Shakespeare and maps of the world, offers an escape that the children cannot access. Shakespeare and the map symbolize a distant, civilized world that these children can never truly experience, as they are trapped in the harsh slums. The poet calls the map a “bad example” because it tempts the children with a false vision of love, freedom, and opportunity, which they cannot attain in their current situation. He suggests that education should open the windows of their lives, but instead, it shuts them in a metaphorical catacomb.
3. What is the significance of the children’s environment as described in the poem?
Ans: The children’s environment is described as bleak, foggy, and stifling, both physically and metaphorically. The classroom is located in a slum, where the children wear ragged clothes, have weak bodies, and suffer from poor health. The poet emphasizes how their lives are confined to narrow streets and lead skies. The ‘slum’ and ‘fog’ symbolize the oppressive nature of poverty, and the poet uses this imagery to suggest that the children’s futures are equally trapped. The bleak environment reflects the larger social injustice that these children face, with little hope of escaping their circumstances unless they are given the opportunity to learn and grow in a different world.
4. What is the poet’s hope for these children?
Ans: The poet’s hope for the children is for them to be freed from the constraints of their environment and allowed to live a life full of opportunities. He dreams of a world where their lives are no longer confined to the slums, where they can run “azure on gold sands.” The poet wishes for them to break free from their “slum” existence and reach green fields, where they can experience the beauty and vastness of life. He hopes for the children to access education that is not just theoretical but that empowers them to become individuals whose “language is the sun,” implying that they should speak the language of knowledge and hope.
Comment-Based Questions
1. Comment on the significance of the title “An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum.”
Ans: The title reflects the core theme of the poem, which deals with the stark contrast between the idealized, civilized world depicted in the classroom and the harsh reality of the children’s lives in a slum. The word “elementary” suggests the basic nature of the education system, which is meant to provide the foundation for the children’s futures. However, the classroom is located in a slum, and the children are trapped in poverty, with no chance of moving beyond their limited circumstances. The title underscores the gap between the education they receive and the world they live in, highlighting the social injustices that prevent them from achieving their dreams.
2. Explain the poet’s perspective on the world shown to the children through their classroom.
Ans: The poet critiques the classroom’s portrayal of the world as a false and unattainable ideal for the children. Shakespeare’s portrait and the world map symbolize a beautiful, cultured world far removed from the slum children’s harsh realities. The classroom presents these ideals as though they are within the children’s reach, but in truth, the children are trapped in their impoverished environment. The poet suggests that the children are shown a world full of possibilities and beauty that they cannot access. This gap between their education and their actual lives serves as a commentary on social inequality, where the poor are denied the same opportunities as the privileged.
