The School Boy - Worksheets

CBSE WorkSheet 01
The School Boy
  1. What is the boy fond of doing? (The School Boy)
  2. What will happen if the tender plants are stripped of joy? Answer according to the story The School Boy.
  3. Why does the boy compare himself to a caged bird?
  4. How does William Blake compare a child to a plant?
  5. Read the extract given below and answer the following questions. (1x5 = 5)
    But to go to school in a summer morn,
    Ol it drives all joy away,- Under a cruel eye outworn,
    The little ones spend the day,
    In sighing and dismay.
    1. What kills the joy for the boy?
    2. Explain the meaning of the phrase, under a cruel eye outworn.
    3. How do the little ones spend their days?
    4. Who is the speaker of these lines?
      1. The schoolboy
      2. The poet
      3. The mother
      4. The school teacher
    5. Whose plight is the boy describing?
      1. His own plight
      2. The plight of the school boys
      3. The school teacher’s plight
      4. The father’s plight
  6. Read the stanza carefully and answer the questions that follow:
    I love to rise in a summer morn,
    When the birds sing on every tree;
    The distant huntsman winds his horn,
    And the skylark sings with me.
    O! what sweet company.
    1. Who sings with the poet?
    2. What is the sweet company of the child?
    3. How does the poet greet the summer morn?
CBSE WorkSheet 01
The School Boy
Solution
  1. The boy is fond of waking up in a summer morning and spending his time observing birds in the tree and admiring elements of his natural surroundings.
  2. If the tender plants are stripped of joy, unhappiness spreads. As spring is the season of flowers, everything shall bloom to its best and not be succumbed to the elements to spread sorrow, fear and dismay.
  3. Like a caged bird, the boy is also not free to do any thing at his own will. He wants to lead a life of freedom but he can’t because there are many restrictions on him.
  4. A child and a plant are similar in many ways. Both of them are a joy to watch. The plant is happy with its buds and flowers. The child is happy with his games. Pluck the bud and the flowers and the plant looks unhappy. Moreover, it will not bear fruit if you do so. In the same way, deprive the child of his freedom and the child becomes sad. Moreover, such a child will not be very useful to society.
    1. For the boy, going to school kills all the joy.
    2. The phrase, ‘under a cruel eye outworn' could mean under the surveillance of someone like a teacher who doesn’t allow them any respite from the dull and boring routine of school.
    3. The little ones spend their days in sighing and dismay as they hate going to school.
    4. The Schoolboy is the speaker.
    5. The plight of the schoolboys is what the poet is describing.
    1. The skylark sings with the poet.
    2. The birds, the distant huntsman and the skylark is the sweet company of the child.
    3. The poet loves to rise in the summer morn.