FLAMINGO –AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM IN A SLUM (POETRY)
ASSIGNMENT 1 Q 1. Choose the correct option for the following questions: 1 What awards the ‘world its world’? Open handed map a. Donations b. Civilized dome c. Tyrolese Valley d. Open- Handed map 2 The children’s faces are compared to rootless weeds, which Malnourished means they are? a. Insecure b. Malnourished c. Uneducated d. Disabled 3 ‘Their future’s painted with a fog’ means the future is: Without hope a. Without hope b. Full of hope c. Secretive d. Tempting 4 The poem An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum speaks Social injustice about: a. Child labour b. Gender discrimination c. Social injustice d. Language Inequalities 5 What does ‘stars of words’ signify? Knowledge and a. Twinkling of stars empowerment b. Sparkled in the sky c. Knowledge and empowerment d. A clear sky to generate hope
Q 2. Complete the following sentences:
1 The colour of lead sky is Grey 2 Slum children receive ………as an Disease / poverty/ despair inheritance 3 The poetic device used in ‘like rootless Simile weeds is 4 ‘Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley’ refers Clean environment / natural beauty to 5 The images of ‘cloudless dawn’ and Show growth and progress in the city/ ‘civilised dome’ have been used to modernisation and industrialisation/civilised world
Q 3. Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:
1 Far far from…with rat’s eyes. a. In an elementary school classroom
a. Where are the children sitting? in slum. b. Which poetic device is used in the b. Simile second line? c. Burdens of life/ lack of c. Why is the girl’s head weighed down? confidence / mentally and d. Explain: ‘The paper- seeming boy, physically exhausted. with rat eyes’ d. Describes the malnourished boy, keeps looking for things to eat just as a hungry rat looking for food. 2 The stunted, unlucky… other than this a. An Elementary School Classroom a. Name the poem and the poet. in a Slum, Stephen Spender. b. Why is the boy called ‘the unlucky b. Because he has inherited a heir’? disease of deformed bones from c. What does the boy’s dream signify? his father. d. What is the stunted boy reciting? c. He doesn’t want to stay in these dismal surroundings and wants to be in a happy place, playing with the squirrel d. Actually, his lesson from his desk / metaphorically, father’s gnarled disease. 3 On sour cream walls … world its world. a. Off white/ pale yellow. a. What is the colour of the walls? b. Shakespeare’s head/ civilised b. Name two things that show progress dome/ belled, flowery, Tyrolese and advancement: valley. c. Explain ‘civilized dome riding all c. It stands for progress and cities.’ advancement/ civilised outer d. How does the open- handed map world which is inaccessible to the award the world its world? children of the slum. d. The map shows the world to the people of the world. 4 And yet, for these… stars of words. a. Windows of the classroom/ narrow a. Which is the world of slum children? streets of the slum. b. Explain: their future’s painted with a b. Their future is bleak and fog. uncertain. c. How is the life of slum children c. Life restricted to all the dull different from other children? surroundings/ no access to the d. Which poetic device is used in line 4? basic necessities of life/ no proper education and freedom of expression unlike other children. d. Metaphor.
Q 4. Answer the following in 30-40 words:
1. Describe the children in the elementary school classroom in a slum. : malnourished, ill, exhausted, thin, hungry, weak and insecure, inherited diseases, 2. How do the pictures on the walls in the classroom present a picture of social disparity, injustice and class inequality? : signify progress and advancement/ civilised outer world which is inaccessible to the children of the slum. 3. Which world do the slum children belong to? Which world is inaccessible to them?: Slum; civilised outer world 4. What does the poet say about the future of the students in the elementary school? : bleak and uncertain as their life is restricted to all the dull surroundings/ no access to the basic necessities of life/ no proper education. 5. What is the central idea of the poem? : The poet is raising voice against social injustice and class inequality and appeals to the people in power to a bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. He feels that the power of education can reform the society.