Worksheet: Poem - The School Boy | English Class 8 PDF Download

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

Q1: What does the schoolboy enjoy in the summer morning?
(a) Studying at school
(b) Sleeping late
(c) Listening to bird songs
(d) Playing video games

Q2: Who entertains the schoolboy in the summer morning?
(a) His teacher
(b) A hunter
(c) His classmates
(d) His parents

Q3: What does the schoolboy dislike in the poem?
(a) Summer mornings
(b) Going to school
(c) Birds singing
(d) Clarion blowing

Q4: According to the poem, where would the child rather be than at school?
(a) In the garden
(b) In the classroom
(c) In the library
(d) In the kitchen

Q5: What analogy does the poet use to convey the impact of fear and tension on a child?
(a) Caged bird
(b) Blooming flower
(c) Running river
(d) Flying eagle

Fill in the Blanks

Q1: The schoolboy loves to rise in a summer morning when _______________ are singing on the trees.

Q2: Instead of enjoying the pleasures of summer, the child has to spend tense hours in _______________.

Q3: According to the poem, a child, if remained under the umbrella of fear and tension, cannot enjoy the natural instincts of _______________.

Q4: The schoolboy tries to make his parents understand that if a budding child is picked and swept off early in life, he cannot _______________.

Q5: The poet compares a child under the supervision of a strict teacher to a bird that cannot sing a sweet song when _______________.

Extract Based Questions

Q1: Read the passage and answer the following questions.
But to go to school in a summer morn,
O ! it drives all joy away ;
Under a cruel eye outworn,
The little ones spend the day,
In sighing and dismay.
(i) What is the joy of a summer morning?
(ii) What is it that he hates to do in a summer morning?
(iii) Whose eye is being referred to?
(iv) Who shies and where?

Q2: Read the passage and answer the following questions.
How can the bird that is born for joy,
Sit in a cage and sing.
How can a child when fears annoy,
But droop his tender wing,
And forget his youthful spring.
(i) What is natural for a bird?
(ii) Who is being compared to a caged bird?
(iii) What does the phrase ‘tender wing’ refer to?
(iv) Find the phrase which means ‘childhood days of joy’.

Q3: Read the passage and answer the following questions.
How shall the summer arise in joy,
Or the summer fruits appear?
(i) Who is the author of the poem?
(ii) What is the summer a symbol of?
(iii) What is meant by ‘summer fruits’?
(iv) Find the word in the passage which means, ‘emerge’.

Q4: Read the passage and answer the following questions.
Ah! then at times I drooping sit,
And spend many an anxious hour.
Nor in my book can I take delight
Nor sit in learning’s bower,
Worn thro’ with the dreary shower.
(i) Why does he sit ‘dropping5?
(ii) How does he spend his school hours?
(iii) Why couldn’t he ‘take delight’ in his book?
(iv) Explain ‘worn thro’ with the dreary shower.

Answer the following Questions

Q1: Why child hates going to school?

Q2: How child happiness turn into sorrowness?

Q3: Find three or four words/phrases in stanza 1 that reflect the child’s happiness and joy.

Q4: According to the poem, where does the child wish to be instead of at school?

Q5: What analogy does the poet use to convey the consequences of a child being under the influence of fear and tension?

You can access the solutions to this worksheet here.