4.2 To Sir, with Love
Writer:- E.R. Braithwaite: (1912-2016)
Eustace Edward Ricardo Braithwaite, known as E.R. Braithwaite, was a Guyanese-American writer, teacher and diplomat. He was best known for his stories of social conditions and racial discrimination against black people. He was the author of one of the famous autobiographical novels, ‘To Sir, with Love’. He wrote a number of books exposing racial discrimination in post-war Britain, all of which were inspired by his personal experiences.
About Novel: ‘To Sir, with Love’
It is an autobiographical novel. The narrator is an engineer, but to earn money, he accepts the job of a teacher in ‘East End school’ at London. The school is full of troublemaker students who were rejected from other schools for their behaviour. At the beginning, the narrator is ridiculed and humiliated by the students, but later his calm behaviour and desire to see them succeed gradually earn him their respect.
Introduction of Characters:-
Ricky Braithwaite- Narrator and Teacher
Mr. Florian- Head Master
Mrs. Dale-Evans- Teacher
Miss. Phillips- Teacher
Mr. Watson- Teacher
Miss. Gillian Blanchard- Teacher
Denham- Student
Miss. Dare- Student.
Miss Joseph- Student.
Patrick Fernman- Student.
Jackson- Student.
Miss Pegg- Student.
Dodd- Student.
Pamela Dare- Student
Theme of the Novel:
Student-teacher relationship, prejudice and racism are the major themes of the novel.
Synopsis of the Novel extract:
In this extract, Braithwaite recounts the half-yearly report of the Students’ Council, in which the students of the school report to the faculty and other students on what they have been studying thus far. Braithwaite’s class representatives speak knowledgeably about their coursework and place a considerable amount of emphasis on how much they have learnt about different people, cultures, customs, and the importance of international and interracial cooperation. The students presented their humanitarian and broad outlook on the background of racism and discrimination of that time. They also showed respect to other students and the teachers. The extract also deals with the clash between the student Denham and the teacher Mrs. Dale-Evans about the need of P.T. in the curriculum of school. Here Mrs. Dale-Evans outwitted Denham by telling the importance of P.T. Denham accepted his defeat.
Story events:
1) Activity arranged in the school:-
The half-yearly report of the Students’ Council arranged on November 15th. It was one of the important days in the calendar of Greenslade School. It was entirely children’s day. It was arranged, presented and controlled by them.
2) Introductory speech:-
Mr. Florian, the headmaster of the school, addressed the school. He spoke at length, reiterating the aims and policy of the school and of the important contribution each child could make to the furtherance of those aims. He gave praise wherever it was indicated, but insisted that there was yet a great deal to be done, by themselves, towards a general improvement in conduct, cleanliness and the pursuit of knowledge.
3) Students’ representatives:-
Miss Joseph and Denham, the two most senior students, sat on the stage. They were the representative of the students and continued the session.
4) Second Speech:
Miss Joseph stood up, and gave a short explanation of the Council’s purpose and its activities. Each class would report, through its representatives, on the studies pursued during the half year which began after Easter, a representative having been chosen for each subject. When all the classes had completed their reports a panel of teachers would be invited to occupy the stage and answer questions from the body of the hall on matters arising out of the various reports.
5) Procedure of Selection of teachers:-
The selection of the panel, as with everything else, was entirely at the discretion of the children and no members of the staff knew either how many or which teachers would be invited to sit.
6) Actual presentation of reports:
The reports began with the lowest or youngest class first. These were mainly twelve-year-olds who had joined the school the previous summer. Most of them were shy and rather frightened at standing up before the entire school, but nevertheless they managed it creditably; they had been newly introduced to the difficulties of seeking information for themselves, so their report was understandably rather short.
7) Essence of the reports:-
Throughout all the reports, the emphasis was on what the students understood rather than on what they were expected to learn.
8) Presentation of Narrator’s class:-
Potter- Arithmetic
Sapiano- Nature Study
Miss Pegg & Jackson- Geography
Miss Dare & Fernman- Physiology
Miss Dodd- History
Denham- P.T. & games
Miss Joseph- Domestic Science
9) What students said in their presentation:-
Miss Joseph:-
She said that their lessons had a particular bias towards the brotherhood of mankind, and that they had been learning through each subject how all mankind was interdependent in spite of geographical location and differences in colour, races and creeds.
Potter:-
He explained the work the relationship between the kilogram and the pound as well as the metre and the foot. He said that throughout the world one or other of those two methods was either in use or understood, and that it was a symbol of the greater understanding which was being accomplished between peoples.
Sapiano:-
He spoke of the study the class had made of pests. He showed how many countries had pooled their knowledge and results of research on the behaviour, breeding habits and migration of these pests, and were gradually reducing the threat they represented to these important products.
Miss Pegg and Jackson:-
They divided the report on Geography between them. Jackson spoke first on the distribution of mineral deposits and vegetable produce over the earth’s surface. He made it clear how a country rich in one was often deficient in the other. So their interchange and interdependence is inevitable.
Miss Pegg dealt with human relationships, stressing the problems facing the post-war world for feeding, clothing and housing its populations. She also made a reference to the thousands of refugees, stateless and unwanted; and to the efforts and programmes of U.N.I.C.E.F.
Fernman:-
He had a trump card up his sleeve. By using the skeleton, Fernman began to speak. Calmly he told them that it was a female skeleton; that was a fact and could easily be proved. But he could not say with any assurance whether she had been Chinese or French or German or Greek; nor could he say if she had been brown or white or a mixture of both. And from that, he said, the class had concluded that basically all people were the same; the trimmings might be different but the foundations were all laid out according to the same blue- print.
Miss Dare:-
She spoke about the problems which all humanity has to face in terms of sickness and disease, and of the advantages gained by interchange of knowledge, advice and assistance.
Miss Dodd:-
She reported on the period of History the class had studied – the Reformation in England. She told of the struggles of men of independent spirit against clerical domination and of their efforts to break from established religious traditions. From those early beginnings gradually grew the idea of tolerance for the beliefs and cultures of others, and the now common interest in trying to study and understand those cultures.
Denham:-
His report was a bit of a shock. He severely criticized the general pattern of P.T. and games, emphasising the serious limitations of game activities. He complained that the P.T. was ill-conceived and pointless, and its routine was monotonous. He could see no advantage in doing it. He would prefer a jolly good game instead of P.T..
Teachers selected for giving answers to students:-
Mr. Weston, Mrs. Dale-Evans and Miss Phillips.
Question and Answer session:-
The questions were mostly from the two top classes, probably because the young children were either too timid or too uninformed to formulate their questions. The teachers had no briefing, and were often caught out stammering in their indecision. The frilly, seemingly brainless Miss Euphemia Phillips proved to be the coolest and best informed of the three. She answered the questions with honesty and authority, and would often intervene skillfully to assist one of the others without causing embarrassment. She outwitted Denham and showed the importance of P.T. in the curriculum.
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Sample Questions and answers on 4.2 To Sir, with Love
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1) Half yearly report of the student’s council highlights the conduct of Braithwaite’s’ class. Justify.
Answer:
The novel ‘To Sir, with Love’ describes the Half Yearly Report of the school where the narrator Braithwaite was working as a teacher. During the work, students of his class were behaving like professionals. They allocated proper tasks to various students for the program. They discussed with other about their arrangements. They dressed smartly. Denham conducted the proceedings with courtesy. He called the girl students giving respect. Other students from his class presented their reports perfectly. There was variety in the presentation their reports. They managed the event showing good conduct. So it is rightly said that ‘Half yearly report of the student’s council highlights the conduct of Braithwaite’s’ class’.
2) In the questioning session Denham was expressing few students’ feelings. Illustrate.
Answer:
The novel ‘To Sir, with Love’ describes the Question-and-answer session. This session was arranged to give a chance to students to express their queries freely. Denham raised his objections about the necessity of P.T. and games. He severely criticized the general pattern of P.T. and games. He emphasised the serious limitations of it. He complained that the P.T. was ill-conceived and pointless, and its routine was monotonous. He could see no advantage in doing it. When he was voicing this, few children cheered him loudly. They were appreciating his objections. There was noise everywhere. So it is true that in the questioning session Denham was expressing few students’ feelings.
(Remaining Questions will be available soon)
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