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Q1 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 (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 (c) The stunted, unlucky heir of twisted bones means The boy (i) has an inherited disability (ii) was short and bony (d) His eyes live in a dream, A squirrel’s game, in the tree room other than this means The boy is (i) full of hope in the future (ii) mentally ill (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 Ans: (a) (ii) is ill and exhausted
(b) (ii) thin, hungry and weak
(c) (i) has an inherited disability
(d) (iii) distracted from the lesson
(e) (iii) are wasters
Q2 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? Ans: The colour of ‘sour cream’ is referred to the white-yellowish colour which appears on the walls of the classroom. And the poet used this expression to show that the these slum children don’t have bright future and is faded just like the colour of the walls.
Q3 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? Ans: The pictures of ‘shakespeare’ on the walls reflect that they would be getting good and quality education but in reality there was nothing like that. Children were living in the slum. They get half education. The buildings with domes reflect the civilized world which is unknown to them. The world map has no meaning to them because of slum, this world map shows here that history is only created by rich and powerful people not by slum people. The beautiful valley is meaningless to them as they can only see the polluted sky through the broken window panes and shows their dark future.
Q4 What does the poet want for the children of the slums? How can their lives be made to change? Ans: The poet wants that these children should also get good education as other children gets. They should also get a bright future, they should the break the boundaries of their slums and experience a better life just like a other people.
The poet feels that the governor, inspector and visitor should take a initiative against their current situation to bring some changes for them and to ensure a better way of living for them, they should provide a proper education and provide freedom from their present confines. They only need some opportunities and encouragement to be able to live life freely and with zest.
Chapter 2 An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
The poets here described the life of slum children. In the stanza 1 the poet says the poet metaphorically explains that the lives of slum children are different from normal lives. In the stanza 2 poet described the description of class. He says the walls of the classroom are of white-yellowish colour which symbolizes their dull future. And in stanza 3 he described Shakespeare as wicked, the map as a bad example, which tempts slum children to steal. Slums are considered as cramped holes because they only surrounded with dirtiness and slum. In the stanza 4, he seeks for governor, inspector, visitor to bring some changes in the lives of slum children. And make their world beautiful as a normal people have.
Exercise 1 ( Page No. : 94 )
Popular Questions of Class 12 English - Flamingo - Poetry
- Q:-
What does the poet want for the children of the slums? How can their lives be made to change?
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What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
- Q:-
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(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(c) The stunted, unlucky heir of twisted bones means
The boy
(i) has an inherited disability
(ii) was short and bony(d) His eyes live in a dream, A squirrel’s game, in the tree room other than this means
The boy is
(i) full of hope in the future
(ii) mentally ill
(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 - Q:-
Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?
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Why do you think Aunt Jennifer created animals that are so different from her own character? What might the poet be suggesting, through this difference?
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What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
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Do you think the poet advocates total inactivity and death?
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What will counting upto twelve and keeping still help us achieve?
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What pleasure does a beautiful thing give us? Are beautiful things worth treasuring?
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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?
Recently Viewed Questions of Class 12 English - Flamingo - Poetry
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List the things that cause suffering and pain.
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What will counting upto twelve and keeping still help us achieve?
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What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
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Why is ‘grandeur’ associated with the ‘mighty dead’?
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Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’?
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What is the ‘childish longing’ that the poet refers to? Why is it ‘vain’?
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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?
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Interpret the symbols found in this poem.
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What pleasure does a beautiful thing give us? Are beautiful things worth treasuring?
- Q:-
Why do you think Aunt Jennifer created animals that are so different from her own character? What might the poet be suggesting, through this difference?
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