Ans: The following words/phrases bring out these images of despair and disease: ‘Rootless weeds’; ‘the air tom round their pallor’;
The tall girl with her weighed-down head’
; The paper-seeming boy, with rat’s eyes’.
What were the imagery used in the opening lines of despair and disease?
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.
What images does the poet use to describe the helplessness of the boy?
Answer: The images used to describe these slums are: ‘
slag heap
‘, ‘bottle bits on stones’ and ‘slums as big as doom’. 2.
How does the poet create a scene of despair and dejection in the first stanza?
The poet wishes a better life for the children of the slums. The poet outburst his dejection and despair
by potraying poverty of the life of the slum children
in the poem. The faces of the children are dull. They are malnutritioned and not properly educated.
Why has the poet used images of cloudless dawn and civilized dome in the poem an elementary school classroom in a slum?
‘Cloudless dawn’ and ‘civilized dome’
suggest the monotonous life in the slum
. These slums are surrounded by the civilized city and the children cannot experience the beauty of the sky at dawn and are unaware of it. All around them are concrete structures of the cities.
Which two images are used to describe these slums?
The images used to describe these slums are: ‘
slag heap’
, ‘bottle bits on stones’ and ‘slums as big as doom’. 2. These children lead a life worse than death.
Which images in the poem keeping quiet show that the poet condemns violence?
Answer:
The images of fishermen not harming the whales in the sea and wars leaving behind no survivors to celebrate
victory show that the poet condemns violence. The poet’s refusal to have any association or dealings with death also shows that he isn’t in favour of any form of violence.
What modern imagery has been used in the poem?
The poet has made use of distinctive and effective imagery to bring out the true significance of the poem.
The faces of the children are compared
to rootless weeds to create an image of not being wanted by the society. Paper seeming boy symbolises malnutrition.
In what ways has the poet expressed his sense of dejection and despair in the poem an elementary classroom in a slum?
In the first stanza, the poet spells a scene of dejection and despair by
using words such as the “rootless”,“stunted”, “twisted”, “gnarled”, “dim” and “diseased”
. The poet speaks of the children’s faces as “rootless weeds”—unwanted, ugly and parasitic. They were unkempt and exhausted, sickly lean and like rodents.
What are the images of the slums in the third stanza?
Q9. Which images of the slums in the third stanza pr sent the picture of social disparity, injustice and class inequalities. Answer:
The slum dwellers slyly turn in their ‘cramped holes’ from birth to death i.e.
‘from fog to endless nights’. Their surroundings are ‘slag heap’.
What does the poet mean by gusty waves?
Answer : By ‘gusty waves’ the poet means
the beautiful sights of nature which are not visible in the slum
. “Gusty waves” is used as a metaphor and probably refers to the lively and energetic. aspect of a child’s life which is lacking in the faces of the children mentioned in the passage.
Why does Stephen Spender say that the pictures and maps in the elementary school classroom are not meaningful?
Answer: According to the poet the pictures and maps in the elementary school classroom are
meaningless because the map does not include their world of narrow lanes
. They live like rats in their cramped holes where fog and darkness dominate their lives. … The pictures suggest beauty, well-being and prosperity.
What were various pictures that were used to decorate the walls of the classroom?
The walls of the classroom are decorated with the pictures of
‘Shakespeare, ‘buildings with domes’, ‘world maps’ and ‘beautiful valleys’
.
What is the poetic device used in the phrase cloudless dawn?
Cloudless and dawn are two contrasting ideas. Hence the poetic device used is
Antithesis
.
What is the meaning of cloudless dawn?
Madhura Sarkar answered this. The poet is describing
an early morning that is not overcast with clouds
.
What theme did the poet concentrate on in the poem?
Q2- What theme did the poet concentrate on in the poem? A)
themes of social injustice and class inequalities
.
What does the poet portray in the poem an elementary school classroom in a slum?
The poet aims to portray
the conditions of the youngsters residing in the slum
. The poet compares the conditions of the “haves” (Privileged children) and the “have-nots ‘(Underprivileged children of slum).
Which images in the poem show that the poet condemns or?
Answer: The images in the poem, ‘Keeping Quiet’, which show that the poet condemns violence are,
that he is totally against alienation among communities, races and violence
. The poet is against chemical and nuclear wars which leave no survivors. He wants to bring all the destructive activities to a standstill.
What is the theme of the poem an elementary school classroom in a slum How has it been presented?
What is the theme of the poem ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’ ? How has it been presented? Ans: In this poem Stephen Spender deals with the theme of
social injustice and class inequalities
. He presents the theme by talking of two different and incompatible worlds.
What is the theme of the poem an elementary school classroom in a slum?
Answer Expert Verified
The theme of the poem, ‘An elementary school classroom’ is
the plight of poor children living in slums
. The poet, Stephen Spender wants the life of the slum children be changed. He wants their poverty to end. He wishes them to live in healthier, hygienic and beautiful environment.
What image does the poet use to describe the beautiful bounty of the earth?
ANSWER : The poet uses the image of
‘an endless fountain of immortal drink
‘ to describe the beautiful bounty of the earth. The earth, like a fountain, pours unto us numerous beautiful sights like the sun, the moon, flowers, rivers and greenery.
What is the exotic moment that the poet refers to in the poem keeping quiet?
Which is the exotic moment that the poet refers to in ‘Keeping Quiet? Answer: The poet refers to
the moment of stillness and quietness
as an exotic moment because it will initiate peace and brotherhood. There would be no movement, no talk, no activity and consequently, no violence.
What modern imagery has been used in the poem an elementary school in slum?
The faces of the children are compared to rootless weeds to create an image of not being wanted by the society
. Paper seeming boy symbolises malnutrition. The sour cream walls of the classroom are suggestive of the meagre donations that the school gets.
What are the images found in the poem?
About Imagery
Imagery is the name given to the elements in a poem that spark off the
senses
.
What are the 7 types of imagery?
To reinforce their messages, poets employ
auditory, gustatory, kinesthetic, olfactory, organic, tactile or visual imagery
, which are the seven major types that literary authorities recognize.
How has the poet expressed his despair and hope?
Answer The poet has expressed his despair through
the paper-thin boy who has inherited his father’s gnarling disease
and his hope through the unnoted boy who sits on the last seat and dreams of squirrel’s game Out-side the class room in the tree- trunk.
What does future’s painted with fog mean?
All their time and space is foggy slum
the poet uses a metaphor to show that their life is dark, dirty and without hope.
What did she relate the picture in the school wall to?
(ii) What did she relate the pictures in the school wall to? Answer: (i)
The new hope was that she would become learned like others. People would listen to her
.
Why dont maps and pictures on the wall of the classroom have any reference to the children sit there?
Answer: There is the image of a map which helps all in its own way. But for these children the map of the world is
irrelevant because the slum where they live is different from what is shown in the map
. Their world is only what they see out of the window of the classroom….
What does bottle bits on stones signify?
The phrase “with mended glass, like bottle bits on stones” is used for
the poor students sitting in an elementary school of a slum area
. … According to the poet, these poor and unhealthy students with spectacles on their eyes (also shows lack of vision due to poverty) look like pieces of glass bottle scattered on stone.
What image has the poet created describing a classroom in a slum school?
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. With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones. (a) Who are these children?
What is the children’s attitude towards the Shakespeare’s picture hung on the wall?
They are
living in an environment of utter hopelessness
. They are given a glimpse of the outside world through the pictures hanging on their classroom walls. These seem to be totally meaningless to them.
What is gnarled disease?
If someone has gnarled hands, their hands are twisted as a result of old age or illness. … gnarled old men. His hands were gnarled with
arthritis
.
Why is the head of the tall girl down?
The head of the tall girl is weighed down
because she is ill and exhausted.
What is the ambience of the elementary school in a slum?
Ambience means
atmosphere
. In the poem, the children are in pathetic condition. They have weak bodies, disorders, unhygienic conditions and absolutely no concept of education. The school wall is full of foul smell and pale colour.
Which two images are used to describe the slums?
1. The images used to describe these slums are: ‘
slag heap’
, ‘bottle bits on stones’ and ‘slums as big as doom’. 2.
What does Stephen Spender say that the picture?
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.
What does the poet Stephen Spender mean when he says blot their maps with slums ‘?
Question 12 : “So blot their maps with slums as big as doom”, says Stephen Spender. What does the poet want to convey? Answer : The poet wants to convey that the slums are
blots on the map of the civilised and the rich world
. Moreover, the slums are not shown on the maps so the maps are useless for the slum children.
Why has the poet used images of cloudless dawn and civilized dome in the poem an elementary school classroom in a slum?
‘Cloudless dawn’ and ‘civilized dome’
suggest the monotonous life in the slum
. These slums are surrounded by the civilized city and the children cannot experience the beauty of the sky at dawn and are unaware of it. All around them are concrete structures of the cities.
What is the figure of speech used in the phrase Lead Sky ‘?
Here, in the phrase a narrow street sealed in with a lead sky, the poet uses
Alliteration
.
Why does the poet evoke hard sharp images bones steel glass bottle bits stones?
On their slag heap, these children. Wear skins peeped through by bones’ and spectacles of steel. With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones. … This shows
their poverty and inability to buy new glasses
.
