Class 8 English Notes Chapter 5 (The Summit Within ; The School Boy) – Honeydew Book
Alright students, let's focus on Chapter 5 from your Honeydew book. This chapter is unique as it combines a powerful prose piece, 'The Summit Within', with a poignant poem, 'The School Boy'. Both offer valuable insights and are important for your exam preparation. Pay close attention as we break them down.
Chapter 5: The Summit Within; The School Boy
Part 1: The Summit Within
- Author: Major H.P.S. Ahluwalia
- About the Author: Major Hari Pal Singh Ahluwalia was a member of the first successful Indian expedition to Mount Everest in 1965. He is an mountaineer, author, and social worker. He suffered a bullet injury in the 1965 Indo-Pak war, confining him to a wheelchair, but his spirit of adventure remained undimmed.
- Genre: Personal Essay / Reflective Account
- Context: This piece reflects on the author's experience of climbing Mount Everest and the profound psychological and spiritual changes it brought about.
Themes:
- The Challenge of Physical Achievement: Climbing Everest is depicted as the ultimate physical endurance test, requiring strength, willpower, and persistence.
- The Inner Struggle (The Summit Within): The author emphasizes that climbing the summit of one's own mind (overcoming fears, doubts, limitations) is an equally, if not more, difficult challenge.
- Humility and Spirituality: Reaching the summit evokes feelings of humility before the grandeur of nature and a sense of communion with a higher power.
- Self-Discovery and Transformation: The experience of climbing changes a person fundamentally, providing lasting lessons and memories.
- Endurance, Persistence, and Willpower: These qualities are essential not just for mountaineering but for overcoming any obstacle in life.
Detailed Summary & Key Points for Exams:
- Feelings on Reaching the Summit:
- Standing on Everest, the author felt a mix of emotions: joy, thankfulness, but predominantly humility.
- A sense of sadness also lingered – because having achieved the ultimate in climbing, there was nothing higher left to climb; the journey down would begin.
- Why Climb Mountains?
- The author addresses the common question, "Why Everest?"
- Answers: Because it is there; its beauty and majesty pose a great challenge; it's a way to overcome obstacles; humans take delight in overcoming hurdles.
- For Ahluwalia, mountains were a means of communion with nature.
- He also mentions a personal, almost mystical draw – mountains are "nature at its grandest."
- The Other Summit – The Summit Within:
- This is the central idea. The physical act of climbing is paralleled with the internal climb of conquering one's mind.
- This internal summit is "within yourself," "in your own mind."
- It involves understanding oneself, one's fears, and limitations.
- The author suggests climbing this internal summit might be more difficult than climbing Everest. Both require endurance, persistence, and willpower.
- Lessons from Mountaineering:
- The climb teaches camaraderie – climbers depend on each other. Success is often shared.
- It demonstrates endurance, persistence, and willpower in the face of extreme difficulty.
- Facing challenges squarely builds character.
- It fosters humility and a sense of smallness in the vast universe.
- Spiritual Aspect:
- The author felt a deep spiritual connection on the summit.
- He left a picture of Guru Nanak. Rawat left a picture of Goddess Durga. Phu Dorji left a relic of the Buddha. Edmund Hillary (who climbed earlier) had buried a cross.
- These acts show reverence and are symbols of conquering the peak, not just physically, but with respect. They represent individual faith yet a shared human experience.
- Lasting Impact:
- The experience provides lifelong joy and changes the climber's perspective forever.
- The memory of the climb helps face life's other "painful" experiences.
- Climbing provides "the firmness, endurance, and willpower" to face life's challenges.
- The adventure is risky but worthwhile for the spiritual and emotional fulfillment it offers.
Important Vocabulary:
- Summit: The highest point of a hill or mountain.
- Panorama: A view of a wide area.
- Exhilarating: Making one feel very happy, animated, or elated; thrilling.
- Formidable: Inspiring fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful, intense, or capable.
- Endurance: The ability to endure an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way.
- Persistence: Firm continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.
- Willpower: Control exerted to do something or restrain impulses.
- Communion: The sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially on a mental or spiritual level.
- Reverence: Deep respect for someone or something.
- Fleeting: Lasting for a very short time.
- Ordained: Meant to be; destined.
Part 2: The School Boy
- Poet: William Blake
- About the Poet: William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. His works often explored themes of innocence, experience, nature, and criticism of societal norms.
- Genre: Lyric Poem
- Context: Likely from Blake's "Songs of Experience," this poem contrasts the joy and freedom of nature with the restrictive and dull environment of formal schooling in Blake's time.
Themes:
- Freedom vs. Confinement: The natural world represents freedom, joy, and spontaneous learning, while the schoolroom represents restriction, boredom, and forced learning.
- Loss of Childhood Joy: Formal education, as depicted here, crushes the natural happiness and curiosity of a child.
- Nature as a Teacher: The poem implies that learning can happen naturally and joyfully in the outdoors.
- Critique of Formal Education: Blake criticizes an education system that ignores a child's emotional well-being and natural inclinations.
Stanza-wise Explanation & Key Points for Exams:
- Stanza 1: The speaker (a schoolboy) expresses his love for summer mornings – the birds singing, the distant huntsman's horn, the skylark. These represent freedom, nature, and joy. "Sweet company" refers to these natural elements.
- Stanza 2: The mood shifts dramatically. The thought of going to school "drives all joy away." The school environment is oppressive ("cruel eye outworn" – the watchful, tired/uninspired teacher). The day is spent in "sighing and dismay" (unhappiness and disappointment).
- Stanza 3: The boy sits "drooping" (lacking energy, bored) in the classroom. He cannot take delight in his book or the "learning's bower" (place of learning, here used ironically). He feels trapped, like a bird born for joy sitting in a cage. This is a key metaphor.
- Stanza 4: A rhetorical question is posed: How can a child, who is naturally active and joyful ("annoy" here means bothered by restrictions), thrive in such an environment? How can a caged bird sing? The poem argues that suppressing a child's natural spirit is harmful.
- Stanza 5: The poem uses the metaphor of seasons. If the "buds are nipped" and "blossoms blown away" in the "spring of day" (childhood), then there can be no "summer" (fruitful adulthood). Sorrow and cares in youth destroy future potential and joy. This stanza highlights the long-term negative effects of joyless schooling.
Literary Devices:
- Imagery: Vivid descriptions of nature (birds, skylark, huntsman) and the classroom (drooping boy, cruel eye).
- Metaphor: The boy is compared to a caged bird; childhood is compared to spring, adulthood to summer.
- Contrast: Joy of nature vs. sorrow of school; Freedom vs. confinement.
- Rhetorical Questions: Used in Stanzas 4 & 5 to emphasize the argument against restrictive schooling.
- Personification: (Implicit) Nature is presented as lively and engaging ("sweet company").
Important Vocabulary:
- Morn: Morning.
- Huntsman: A person who hunts.
- Skylark: A type of bird known for its singing.
- Drives all joy away: Makes happiness disappear.
- Cruel eye outworn: Refers to the teacher's strict and uninspiring supervision.
- Sighing and dismay: Expressing sadness and disappointment.
- Drooping: Hanging down weakly; lacking energy.
- Bower: A pleasant shady place under trees or climbing plants in a garden or wood. (Used ironically here for the classroom).
- Nipped: Pinched or bitten off; destroyed in the early stages.
- Blasts: Strong gusts of wind (here implying destructive forces).
- Dismay: Concern and distress caused by something unexpected.
Significance for Exams:
- Understand the central contrast in both pieces: Physical vs. Internal Summit (Ahluwalia); Nature vs. School (Blake).
- Be ready to explain the themes and messages.
- Know the key metaphors and literary devices, especially in the poem.
- Vocabulary questions are likely from both texts.
- Comprehension questions might ask about the author's/speaker's feelings and arguments.
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs):
-
According to Major H.P.S. Ahluwalia in 'The Summit Within', what feeling was predominant when he stood on the summit of Everest?
a) Excitement
b) Pride
c) Humility
d) Fatigue -
What does Ahluwalia refer to as 'The Summit Within'?
a) The peak of Mount Everest
b) Conquering one's own mind and limitations
c) The highest point in one's career
d) Achieving camaraderie with fellow climbers -
Which of the following was NOT mentioned by Ahluwalia as a reason people climb mountains?
a) Because they pose a great challenge
b) To earn fame and money
c) Because of their beauty and majesty
d) To overcome obstacles -
In 'The Summit Within', leaving pictures and relics on the summit symbolized:
a) Claiming territory
b) Disrespect for the mountain
c) Reverence and a spiritual connection
d) A competitive spirit -
What word best describes the schoolboy's feeling about the summer morning in the first stanza of 'The School Boy'?
a) Boredom
b) Joy
c) Fear
d) Indifference -
In 'The School Boy', the phrase "cruel eye outworn" refers to:
a) A bird of prey
b) The harsh weather
c) The teacher's strict and uninspiring supervision
d) An old clock in the classroom -
What metaphor does the schoolboy use to describe himself in the classroom?
a) A drooping flower
b) A caged bird
c) A silent huntsman
d) A weary traveller -
What is the main theme of William Blake's poem 'The School Boy'?
a) The importance of strict discipline
b) The joy of learning in a classroom
c) The beauty of the summer season
d) The crushing effect of formal schooling on a child's natural joy -
In 'The Summit Within', the word 'formidable' means:
a) Easy to overcome
b) Inspiring fear or respect due to difficulty
c) Very beautiful
d) Lasting for a short time -
In 'The School Boy', what does the poet imply will happen if childhood joys ("blossoms") are destroyed?
a) The child will become stronger
b) The child will appreciate school more
c) There will be no fruitful or happy adulthood ("summer")
d) Nature will cease to exist
Answer Key for MCQs:
- c) Humility
- b) Conquering one's own mind and limitations
- b) To earn fame and money
- c) Reverence and a spiritual connection
- b) Joy
- c) The teacher's strict and uninspiring supervision
- b) A caged bird
- d) The crushing effect of formal schooling on a child's natural joy
- b) Inspiring fear or respect due to difficulty
- c) There will be no fruitful or happy adulthood ("summer")
Study these notes carefully. Understanding the core message and the specific details will help you tackle any question related to this chapter. Good luck with your preparation!