CBSE|UP BOARD|ENGLISH SOLUTION|ENGLISH LITERATURE|CLASS 9th|
Today, I will dive in deep to discuss all the important points of the Chapter ‘ The Fun They Had’ written by Isaac Asimov. I ensure you will get a complete idea to write the summary, theme, and explanation in an orderly. You will be able to write a good answer. After reading this page you will find the secret to score outstanding marks in your examination.
Let’s get started
- Summary Of the Chapter
- Theme and main Ideas
- Keywords and Quick Point after each Stanza
- Videos just like a live class
- Relevant Quotations and statements
- Difficult words
- Question Answer
Summary: The Fun They Had
This story was written in 2018, around 139 years preceding the current year of the story. Here, an eleven years old girl, Margie writes a diary on 17th May 2157 about the book her brother discovered from the store room. She was shocked when she came to know about today’s school system.
In contradiction to her time of school system, where a Television sort of box teaches in accordance with the age of the student, and the assignments are to be submitted in a code system via a blank space in that above-mentioned box, she finds our schooling system quite interesting, where every child goes to a building called ‘school’, and there, a person teaches us various subjects compulsorily; and in between the time the children enjoy too.
Theme: The Fun They Had
This story highlights the modern day lifestyle of people who are being slave to the technology , confiscating themselves in a techno oriented world.
Difficult Words
crinkly: with many folds or lines, something that is crushed.
attic: a space just below the roof, used as a storeroom
scornful: contemptuous; showing you think something is worthless, show your dislike for something
slot: a given space, time or position
geared (to): adjusted to a particular standard or level
blanked out: it has been erased
loftily: in a superior way
regular: here, normal; of the usual kind
betcha(informal): (I) bet you (in fast speech): I’m sure
dispute: disagree with when you are opposing something.
nonchalantly: not showing much interest or enthusiasm; carelessly
Quiz: Check Yourself
Great Bro!
Sorry Dear!
Question-Answer: The Fun They Had
1) How old are Margie and Tommy?
Answer: Margie is of eleven years of age while Tommy is of thirteen years.
2) What did Margie write in her diary?
Answer: In her diary, Margie wrote about a book that her brother discovered in the storeroom. It was an old book with yellow, crinkly pages, about the classroom system of studying.
3) Had Margie ever seen a book before?
Answer: No, Margie had not seen a book before the discovery of that book from her storeroom, which was about the present-day schooling system.
4) What things about the book did she find strange?
Answer: Being from a very mechanical era, where she has seen the virtual books only, she found it strange that whenever she flipped the page, the words on the printed book did not move.
5) What do you think a tele book is?
Answer: A tale book is an electronic book, which is available on internet for virtual reading.
6) Where was Margie’s school? Did she have any classmates?
Answer: Margie’s school was in her home. In a room next to her bedroom, a Television sort of box was adjusted to her level of learning.
No, she didn’t had any classmates.
7) What subjects did Margie and Tommy learn?
Answer: Margie and Tommy learnt subjects like- Geography, History and Mathematics.
8) What kind of teachers did Margie and Tommy have?
Answer: Margie and Tommy had mechanical teachers. They were Television sort of boxes which had preloaded lessons on different subjects according to the learner’s level. Whenever they malfunctioned, they were opened and repaired.
9) Why did Margie’s mother send for the County Inspector?
Answer: Margie was consecutively failing the Geography tests, so her mother guessed it to be the malfunction in the teaching device. So in order to check the device, she called the County Inspector.
10) What did he do?
Answer: When the County Inspector opened and checked the teaching device, he found that the Geography sector was set on a higher level, so he settled it to Margie’s level and closed it.
11) Why was Margie doing badly in geography? What did the County Inspector do to help her?
Answer: Margie was failing in the Geography tests as the teacher had developed a fault. The County Inspector told Margie’s mother that Margie was not at fault. Her progress was good. He reset the teacher to Margie’s level.
12) What had once happened to Tommy’s teacher?
Answer: Once the entire section on History had been deleted in Tommy’s teaching device(his teacher). So, it’s repairing took a whole month.
13) Did Margie have regular days and hours for school? If so, why?
Answer: Yes, Margie studied at the same time everyday, except Saturday and Sunday.
The reason behind her punctuality was that her mother was very strict about her studies and that is why, she had told Margie, that she would learn better if she studied at the same time every day.
14) How does Tommy describe the old kind of school?
Answer: Tommy said that in the old kind of schools, all the students sit together, and a man teacher taught them things, gave them homework, and asked them questions.
15) How does he describe the old kind of teachers?
Answer: He says that the old teachers were not the regular kind they had. They were human beings and taught them things, gave them homework, and asked them questions. In addition to that, he was as knowledgeable as the machine teacher.
16) What are the main features of the mechanical teachers and the schoolrooms that Margie and Tommy have in the story?
Answer: Margie and Tommy were taught by mechanical teachers(i.e. teaching devices), which had large black screens on which the lessons appeared. The lessons were followed by questions. The students had to insert homework and test papers in the slots provided.
They had to write down the work in a punch code which was a computing language. Thereafter, the teaching device checked the papers and gave the marks within a fraction of a second. These classrooms were in the student’s home itself. Every student studied from his respective mechanical teacher.
Each teacher was adjusted according to the level of the learner(i.e. as per the learner’s age). They did not have classmates; and they studied subjects like- Geography, History, and Mathematics.
Margie studied every day at the same time except Saturdays and Sundays, as her mother says that she would learn better if she studied punctually. They found the learning process to be dull and boring.
17) Why did Margie hate school? Why did she think the old kind of school must have been fun?
Answer: Margie hated school because she was fed up with sitting so long in front of a box for studying as her life too had become mechanical like the device, and it had no fun.
According to her, the mechanical teacher and the learning process lacked life, as It was like a machine carrying out the usual work, and there was nothing new, no fun or laughter. Also, Margie was failing consecutively in the tests of Geography, given by her mechanical teacher, which was later discovered to be the device’s fault due to which it was giving her tests of a higher level.
She thought that the children in the past must have had a lot of fun when they went to school with fellow children as she found it amazing to study together, the same things and to discuss studies and help each other with the homework too.
As per her, the human teachers would not behave like machines, and that is why the human aspect of education in the past made her feel that the school of the past was fun.
We started in Charge, now we are slave to our own technology
Jim Fitzgerald
Content Writer- Vaishnavi Tripathi…… Edited by- Shadab Akhtar.