Question

What are the ‘children’ referred to here?​

Answer 1

Answer:

(a) The ‘children’ referred to here are the poor children living in the slum.

(b) Their world comprises of the dull and unpleasant classroom and its windows, amongst the dirty surroundings of the slum

(c) The children of the slum are emaciated and poverty-stricken, as against the other children who are healthy and have all the comforts and luxuries of life. The life of the slum children is filled with darkness and hopelessness.

(d) The future of these children is dark and uncertain. So, the speaker says that it is painted with a fog.

Answer 2

Answer:

In the poem, the children being referred to are slum children.

Explanation:

• In the poem, "An Elementary School in The Slum" by Stephan Spender, the children referred to are the children living in the slum.
• The poem comments on the state of these children whose futures look dull due to the fact that they are stuck within the confines of their slum.
• Education which is represented by the classroom in the poem is the only way these children can make a better future for themselves.
• The pictures in the room such as the one depicting the sun rising and the world map, are only something that these children can dream about.
• The poem also talks about how each of these children appears in the classroom, some weighed down by their own heads, some extremely unhealthy and some in a dream world.

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