Educational Galaxy

Chapter 2: A Concrete Example — EG's own notes, in simple words

Book: Poorvi (CBSE, Class 8)  |  Chapter 2  |  Unit 1: Wit and Wisdom  |  Medium: English

Diagram (labels are printed on the image): Diagram (labels are printed on the image): A teacher showing a growing plant as a real example to learners. A general picture about learning by seeing; it is not a scene from the book.

A student helping a friend on the school steps. A general picture about good examples in daily life, not a book scene.

What the lesson is about

This short poem, by Reginald Arkell, is told by a speaker about his next-door neighbour, Mrs. Jones. Her garden is, at first sight, a garden full of stones: a winding, crazy path, a lily pond, a rockery, and a sundial with a strange device that Mrs. Jones thinks rather nice. The speaker's first impression is that it is hardly a garden at all.

Between the stones, Mrs. Jones grows little plants. They are so delicate and small that the speaker says they do not mean anything at all, and jokes that he cannot think how she gets them in unless she plants them with a pin. The humour comes from his failure to look closely: smallness, to him, means unimportance.

One day Mrs. Jones invites the speaker round to see her stones. They stand talking about a flower for a full quarter of an hour. Then the speaker asks where this lovely thing is — and Mrs. Jones replies that he is standing on it. The joke turns back on him: the flower was under his feet all along, and he had been talking about it without seeing it.

The title works two ways, and that is the poem's wit. Concrete points to the literal stones and rockery of the garden, and it also means clear and definite: the poem gives a concrete example of how people miss what is small, quiet and close at hand when they do not look carefully.

Chart / Table: The poem at a glance

Item	Detail
The garden	Stones, crazy path, lily pond, rockery, sundial.
The plants	Tiny and delicate, growing between the stones.
The visit	A quarter of an hour talking about a flower.
The punch line	The speaker is standing on the very flower.

Language focus — Let us learn

• Choosing the right word: replace underlined words in lines from the poem with the best word from brackets — for example, finding the closest word for strange in a sundial with a strange device, or for delicate in they are so delicate. Read the whole line before choosing, because the poem's tone decides the fit.
• Device, tool, implement, equipment, appliance: sort these words by meaning — a small hand instrument, a mechanical or electronic thing, something worked by hand, and household equipment — and add an example of each, such as a hammer, a spade or a cricket bat.
• Symbol: the word concrete and the word stones are used in every stanza. Ask what the stones stand for beyond themselves: hardness, plainness, and things people walk past without noticing.

Listen, Speak, Write, Explore

• Listen: a presentation about the Rock Garden of Chandigarh, built by Nek Chand — listen for where it was featured, what its sculptures are made of, and how it is divided.
• Speak: apologising — informal words for a friend or family member, formal words for a person in authority such as a Principal. Practise both, and note how tone changes the apology.
• Write: Nature Club writing about a garden — describe what you saw closely, as Mrs. Jones's visitor failed to do, so the reader can picture the small details.
• Explore: Amrit Udyan near Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi — a large garden with many attractions. Compare its scale with Mrs. Jones's tiny stone garden.

Practice set — try it yourself

1. Why does the speaker say the plants 'don't mean anything at all'?
   Hint: Think about size: what does he wrongly connect smallness with?
2. What is funny about planting with a pin?
   Hint: Think about how tiny the plants must be for that joke to work.
3. Why does Mrs. Jones invite the speaker to see her stones, not her flowers?
   Hint: Think about what she knows about her garden and what he has missed.
4. How long do they talk about the flower, and why does that time matter?
   Hint: Think about the surprise: a long talk about something he cannot see.
5. What does the poem suggest about looking carefully?
   Hint: Think about what is under your own feet that you might be missing.

Questions with Answers

1. Describe Mrs. Jones's garden as the speaker first presents it.
   It is full of stones, with a crazy winding path, a lily pond, a rockery, and a sundial with a strange device that Mrs. Jones thinks rather nice.
2. What does the speaker say about the little plants between the stones?
   They are so delicate and small that they do not mean anything at all, and he jokes that she must plant them with a pin.
3. What happens when Mrs. Jones invites the speaker round?
   They stand talking about a flower for a quarter of an hour. When he asks where this lovely thing is, she replies that he is standing on it.
4. Why is the poem called 'A Concrete Example'?
   For two reasons: the garden is literally made of stone and concrete, and the poem is a clear, definite example of how people overlook small and quiet things.
5. What is the poem's message?
   Look closely before judging. Small, delicate things can hold beauty and meaning, and a careless eye misses what is right underfoot.

Extension questions — go further

1. True or false: Mrs. Jones's garden has no flowers.
   False. It has tiny flowers between the stones; the speaker simply fails to notice them.
2. Which word best describes the speaker's attitude at the start — admiring, dismissive, or frightened?
   Dismissive. He treats the tiny plants as meaning nothing.
3. Why is the quarter of an hour important to the humour?
   Because the longer they talk about a flower he cannot see, the funnier and sharper the final reply — he is standing on it — becomes.
4. Give the two meanings of concrete in the title, in your own words.
   (1) The hard stone material of the garden. (2) Clear and definite, as in a concrete example that proves a point.
5. What does the sundial tell us about Mrs. Jones?
   She finds beauty in odd, old-fashioned things — a strange device that she thinks rather nice — while the speaker only sees stones.
6. Rewrite the punch line in your own words, without copying the poem's lines.
   The speaker asks where the flower is, and learns he has been standing on it all the time. (Any faithful paraphrase earns the mark.)
7. How does this poem belong in a unit called Wit and Wisdom?
   Its wit is the surprise ending, and its wisdom is the lesson: pay attention to small things and small people before dismissing them.
8. Name one thing in your school or home that people walk past without noticing.
   Open answer — a small plant, a notice board, a classmate's good work. Name it and say why it deserves a closer look.
9. Why does the poet repeat the neighbour's name at the start of each stanza?
   The repetition keeps the poem chatty and neighbourly, like gossip over a fence — and it makes the final surprise feel personal.
10. Write two lines of your own about something tiny you noticed closely today.
    Open answer — checked for close observation, not for copying the poem.

• Read the summary and say the Key Terms in your own words.
• Try the practice set without looking.
• Check yourself with the Questions with Answers.
• Attempt the extension questions for full NCERT coverage.
• Ask your teacher or parent to check your answers.

How to use this page: Read the summary, say the Key Terms in your own words, then try the practice set without looking. Use the Questions with Answers to check yourself afterwards. Ask your teacher or parent to check your answers.