Chapter-2. AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM IN A SLUM Stephen Spender(POETRY)

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

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?

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?

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. 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

Have you ever visited or seen an elementary school in a slum?  What does it look like?