Question Bank — An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

NCERT Class 12 English · Chapter 16 · CBSE Board Pattern

Class 12 English Chapter 16 Question Bank CBSE Board Pattern

Section A — MCQs (10 questions, 1 mark each)

  1. The phrase “rootless weeds” in the poem is used to describe the children’s:
    (a) Playfulness (b) Poverty and lack of nourishment (c) Love for nature (d) Cleanliness
    Answer: (b)

  2. The “paper-seeming boy” with “rat’s eyes” suggests the child is:
    (a) Healthy and alert (b) Malnourished and fearful (c) Wealthy (d) Dreaming of squirrels

  3. Assertion (A): The poet calls Shakespeare “wicked” and the map “a bad example.”
    Reason (R): The beautiful world shown in books and maps tempts the slum children to steal because they can never attain it.
    (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
    (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
    (c) A is true but R is false.
    (d) A is false but R is true.

  4. The image “spectacles of steel / With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones” highlights:
    (a) The children’s love for reading (b) Their extreme poverty and broken condition (c) Modern technology (d) School donations

  5. Assertion (A): The poet wants the maps of the slum children to be blotted out.
    Reason (R): The existing maps show a world of ships, sun and love that is meaningless and painful for children living in fog and endless night.
    (a) Both A and R true, R explains A.
    (b) Both true, R does not explain A.
    (c) A true, R false.
    (d) A false, R true.

  6. The phrase “catacombs” in the poem refers to:
    (a) Green fields (b) Windows that shut upon the children’s lives like tombs (c) Tyrolese valley (d) Shakespeare’s head

  7. The only child who is “unnoted, sweet and young” and lives in a dream is shown to emphasise:
    (a) The joy of all children (b) The contrast between one child’s imagination and the general misery (c) The success of the school (d) The beauty of the classroom

  8. “History theirs whose language is the sun” means:
    (a) Only the rich own history (b) The slum children must be given a bright future and their own voice (c) Shakespeare should be removed (d) The map should remain as it is

  9. The donations and pictures on the sour cream walls represent:
    (a) The school’s prosperity (b) An ironic contrast with the children’s reality (c) The children’s achievements (d) The governor’s kindness

  10. The poem ends with a call to:
    (a) Close the windows (b) Break open the barriers so that children can reach green fields and knowledge (c) Remove Shakespeare (d) Keep the map unchanged

Section B — Reference to Context (3 extracts, 4 marks each)

Extract 1

“Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor:”

(i) Who is the speaker and what is the context?
(ii) Explain the comparison “like rootless weeds”.
(iii) Identify the literary device used in “rootless weeds”.
(iv) What does the phrase “far far from gusty waves” suggest about the children’s lives?

Extract 2

“Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad example,
With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal—”

(i) Name the poet and the poem.
(ii) Why does the poet call Shakespeare “wicked”?
(iii) Identify the figure of speech in “ships and sun and love tempting them to steal”.
(iv) What does this extract reveal about the gap between the children’s world and the world shown in books?

Extract 3

“Break O break open till they break the town
And show the children to green fields, and make their world
Run azure on gold sands…”

(i) Who is being addressed in these lines?
(ii) What does the poet want to “break open”?
(iii) Name the literary device used in the repetition “Break O break open”.
(iv) What change in the children’s lives does the poet visualise?

Section C — Short Answer (5 questions, 3 marks each)

  1. Why does the poet describe the children as “rootless weeds”?
  2. What does the “tall girl with her weighed-down head” symbolise?
  3. How does the poet contrast the world inside the classroom with the world outside?
  4. Why does the poet want the map to become the children’s window?
  5. What is the significance of the line “History theirs whose language is the sun”?

Section D — Long Answer (2 questions, 6 marks each)

  1. “An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum” is a powerful comment on social injustice. Discuss with reference to the images used by Stephen Spender.
  2. How does the poet present the theme of hope and despair in the poem? What solution does he offer at the end?

Section E — Language and Writing (2 questions, 4 marks each)

  1. Vocabulary/Grammar task
    From the poem, pick out two compound words and two examples of vivid imagery. Explain how each image helps convey the condition of the children. (4 marks)

  2. Writing task
    You are a visitor to the elementary school described in the poem. Write a short paragraph (80–100 words) describing what you saw and felt, and suggest two ways in which the situation of the children can be improved. (4 marks)

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Section A

  1. (b) 2. (b) 3. (a) 4. (b) 5. (a) 6. (b) 7. (b) 8. (b) 9. (b) 10. (b)

Section B (Marking: 1 mark per sub-question)
Extract 1: (i) Stephen Spender describing slum children (ii) Children are unwanted, malnourished and without support (iii) Metaphor (iv) Children are cut off from nature, freshness and freedom.
Extract 2: (i) Stephen Spender, “An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum” (ii) Beautiful literature mocks their miserable lives (iii) Personification (iv) Highlights the cruel gap between reality and the tempting world of books.
Extract 3: (i) Governor, inspector, visitor (ii) The walls/windows that confine the children (iii) Repetition (iv) Children should reach open spaces, knowledge and a bright future.

Section C (Key points – 1 mark each for any three valid points)
1. Malnourished, unwanted, growing without care or roots.
2. Exhaustion, burden of poverty, loss of childhood.
3. Classroom = fog, narrow street, catacombs; outside world = ships, sun, love (unattainable).
4. So that the beautiful world becomes accessible and real for them.
5. Children must own their future and write their own bright history.

Section D (Key content points expected)
1. Images of “rootless weeds”, “rat’s eyes”, “twisted bones”, “slag heap”, “catacombs”, “fog to endless night” show social neglect; contrast with Shakespeare and map shows inequality; final appeal shows poet’s protest.
2. Despair in first half (fog, night, cramped holes); hope in second half (break open, green fields, azure, gold sands, language of the sun). Solution: social intervention by authorities.

Section E

  1. Compound words: rootless, paper-seeming; Imagery: “spectacles of steel / With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones”, “wan, pale as a late winter’s moon” (wait, use only slum poem images). Award 2 marks for words + 2 for explanation.
  2. Diary/Paragraph: Format – personal observation + feelings + two suggestions (better infrastructure, exposure to outside world). Split: 1 format + 2 content + 1 language.
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All questions are answerable from the NCERT chapter text. Reviewed by GFIS faculty.