Memories of Crossgates School

by George Orwell

Complete Explanation for the Short Story included in the CHSE +2 Alternative English book ‘Approaches to English – I’.

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Activity 2 (Comprehesnion)

a. At what time of the day did the writer bathe in the sea?
Answer – The author, along with a few of his friends, bathed in the sea in summer afternoon. On other occasions, he enjoyed his swimming at around nine at night in the company of his friends.

b. Did he enjoy swimming among the chalk boulders or have a sense of suffering for it? Which words in the text tell you the answer?
Answer – He really enjoyed swimming among the chalk boulders despite the bruises and cuts he suffered in the process. ‘still wonderful’ in the next sentence shows that he enjoyed his swimming among the chalk stones.

c. What was the boy’s ‘special treatment’ in midsummer evenings?
Answer -During midsummer evenings, the author, along with his friends, was allowed to wander carefree in the long evenings culminating in a swimming bath at about 9 pm.

d. Who were Orwell’s favourite authors in his boyhood?
Answer -The author enjoyed reading the works of Ian Hay, Kipling, Thackeray, and H. G. Wells.

e. What are the different kinds of caterpillars that Orwell mentions in the passage?
Answer – The author was fascinated by myriad species of caterpillars in the surroundings. They had many colours – silky green, purple, ghostly green etc.

f. What does Orwell say about his ‘hopeless love affair’?
Answer – The author took to cricket – the real Englishman’s game, but failed to make a mark in it. Such love affairs were non-starters.

g. What does Orwell learn from his experiences of Crossgates school?
Answer – Orwell found the school system a bit stifling. It killed a child’s natural interests in the many curious things they stumbled across in Nature. On the whole, he felt constrained and chained to a dry and draconian system.