Flamingo P2 An Elementary School Classroom In a Slum (Important Question Answer)

P2 AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM IN A SLUM

IMPORTANT QUESTION ANSWER

Question.1. What change does the poet hope for in the lives of the slum children? 
Answer. The poet wishes for a better life for the children of the slums. They should have access to education because education is the key to prosperity. They should be given countless opportunities to explore the world. They need to break free from the confines of their weak world into a world which should welcome them with open arms. The self-centred attitude of the affluent classes should be broken to relieve the children from all misery.

Question.2. To whom does the poet in the poem, ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’make an appeal? What is his appeal? 
Answer. The poet makes an appeal to his readers, especially the educated and well-off people, to help the poor children of the slum come out and get free from their miserable surroundings. His appeal is that these children should be given quality education, because education holds the key to their emancipation.

Question.3. Which words/phrases in the poem, ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’ show that the slum children are suffering from acute malnutrition?
Answer. The words/phrases in the poem which show that the slum children are suffering from acute malnutrition are “the hair torn round their pallor”, “paper seeming boy”, “stunted, unlucky heir of twisted bones” and “wear skins peeped through by bones.”

Question.4. 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?
Answer. The children belong to the world of poverty and misery in the dingy slum areas. The world of the rich, with all the comforts and luxuries of life, is inaccessible to them.

Question.5. How does the poet describe the classroom walls?
Answer. The walls of the classroom are pale and dirty. They are decorated with the donated picture of Shakespeare, a scene depicting buildings with domes, a world map and beautiful valleys, which stand in sharp contrast to the dingy, dismal and gloomy atmosphere in which these slum children live.

Question.6. What message does Stephen Spender convey through the poem, ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’? 
Answer. The poet wants that the children of the slums should get rid of their dismal lives. They should be educated and brought out from their ugly surroundings. He feels that it is the responsibility of the affluent classes to free these poor children from the life of hunger and misery.

Question.7. Why does Stephen Spender say that the pictures and maps in the elementary school classroom are not meaningful? 
Answer. The pictures and maps in the school are meaningless for the slum children because they stand in sharp contrast to the dingy, dismal and gloomy atmosphere in which these slum children live. These things have no meaning for those who are deprived of the basic amenities of life.

Question.8. What does the poet wish for the children of the slums?
Answer. The poet wants that the children of the slums should break free from the rut of their dreary existence. They should experience nature at its best, as well as frolic around in a carefree manner. They should be educated and be able to transform themselves.

Question.9. Why does the poet Stephen Spender call the map a bad example? 
Answer. The map represents the beautiful and wonderful world outside. However, this world is beyond the reach of the slum children. Their hopes and aspirations are confined to their world of despair and diseases. So Stephen Spender calls the map a bad example.