End of Term (David Daiches)

Summary

In this essay, the author has described his school life experience and his feelings on various occasions. He says that he never loved school life because of the bulk of homework and boring routine. He narrates that when he was in school, he had to get up early every day and prepare for the school. He loved summer vacations and remembered it as a period of joy and happiness. He liked Sunday and waited for it the whole week. He enjoyed the weekend.

The writer tells that he felt relaxed at the arrival of Friday as there would be two solid days between Friday and Monday, the next working day. So, Friday morning was a special one. The worst night of the week was Sunday night.

The writer received little pocket money. He hardly utilizes it, it was put into saving box. His parents could not afford a tricycle for him. He had not enough money to buy him ice cream. He used to linger upon the hawkers with a hope of getting something out of sympathy. At the end of the term and when the summer holidays arrive, he visited his home jointly.

Questions Answers Notes

Q. 1: What was Daiches attitude towards the weekend as a schoolboy? Why did he long for it?

 Ans: As a schoolboy, he felt joy at the arrival of the weekend. He walked home like an escaped prisoner. He longed for it to get rid of the daily burden of school.

Q. 2: What was his general view of school life?

  Ans: He was a good student and often enjoyed the actual classroom work. School life was full of labor and tough competitions. Teachers gave them a lot of homework. This daily grind of school made him long for holidays.

Q.3: He liked holidays for their freedom- freedom for what?

  Ans: He liked holidays for their freedom-freedom from waking up early in the morning, from a large number of classes and from the grind of routine school work.

Q. 4: How did he spend his summer holidays?

  Ans: The summer holidays were a long period of bliss. He spent his summer vacation in his village with his grandparents. He played cricket in July sunshine; he enjoyed these holidays very much.

Q. 5: Wishes don’t come true in this life, writes Daiches. What are the things he longed for but could not have?

  Ans: He wished to get a tricycle in his early childhood and later a bicycle. He wished to get ice-cream and sweet free of cost. These wishes of the writer did not come true.

Q. 6: What did he do with his pocket money?

  Ans: He kept his savings in money-box because he was not allowed to spend his pocket-money.

Q. 7: Why was the Friday morning rose-colored for the writer?

  Ans: Friday morning was positively rose colored because it was a weekend. Moreover, they were going to have two consecutive holidays to enjoy themselves.

Q. 8: What were unexpected respites?

 Ans: Unexpected respites mean the sudden dismissal of school before usual time due to some crises, celebration, and football match. But these were few and far between.

Q. 9: When did he buy his first bicycle?

  Ans: He bought his first bicycle at the age of 21 with the prize money he won at Edinburgh University.

Q.10: What was the most frightening day of the week for Daiches?

  Ans: Monday was the most frightening day of the week for Daiches. Waking up on Monday morning was a dismal experience for the writer.

Q.11: What were the feelings of the writer on Saturday and Sunday?

  Ans: Saturday night had the charm for the holiday between it and the Monday morning. But Sunday night was full of the threat of Monday morning.