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Did I Miss Anything? Summary & Exercise | Compulsory English Class 10 / SEE by Suraj Bhatt
Did I Miss Anything?
ABOUT THE POEM
Did I Miss Anything? by Tom Wayman
The poem 'Did I Miss Anything?' has been composed by Canadian Tom Wayman. This poem is about the frustration of a teacher who has frequently been troubled by the absent students, asking, 'Did I miss anything?" The tone of this poem is angry, sarcastic, and even humorous. Each stanza in the poem begins with 'nothing' and 'everything'. Both words represent the tone of the poem. The speaker, who is a teacher, gets quite angry when an absent student asks, "Did I miss anything?" In response, the speaker uses alternative sentences and explains what he missed and what he did not. The stanzas with 'Nothing' initially are sarcastic and humorous, while those beginning with 'Everything' show his anger.
SUMMARY OF THE POEM
Did I Miss Anything? by Tom Wayman
The poem "Did I Miss Anything?" has a mocking or sarcastic tone - say things opposite to what you mean. For example, the speaker in this poem is pretending to answer the student's question honestly, but in fact, he is taking a roundabout way to say that there's something wrong with the way the student is. This poem arose because this question that students ask is really quite an aggressive one, although many students are unaware of this aspect of the words they utter when they've been away. In this poem, each alternate stanza takes opposing views. On the one hand, it says the students missed nothing when they missed class because class is literally worthless. It's especially worthless because the students weren't there, and if they don't think it was worth attending, that could actually be so!
STANZA WISE SUMMARY
Did I Miss Anything? by Tom Wayman
Stanza -1
The speaker begins by saying, "Nothing" and adds that he missed nothing as they (the teacher and students) realised that the absentee was not there, and hence they sat silently for two hours with their hands folded on the desks. The teacher and the students seem quite sarcastic.
Stanza -2
In this stanza, the teacher's anger is revealed. He tells the absentee that he taught the lessons, which covered forty percent of the term syllabus, and also assigned the students a quiz, which is worth fifty percent of the term paper's marks.
Stanza -3
The tone again shifts to sarcasm. According to the speaker, the absentee missed nothing, as the course has no value or meaning. So he should remain absent, as all the activities that take place in the class have no purpose for himself or for the absentee.
Stanza -4
In this stanza, the speaker says that shortly after he began teaching, an angel just appeared and told them about the ways to get wisdom in life and also that this is the last class after which they will have to spread the good news to the world. This stanza is a direct satire on religious faiths, like Christian and Jewish religious practices and beliefs. It was believed that angels descended from the sky to impart wisdom to the clergy, who later conveyed that message to the common people.
Stanza -5
The tone again reverts to sarcasm. The speaker asks the student how anything can happen in the class without him (the student) being present.
Stanza -6
In this final stanza, the teacher says that the classroom is a world full of human experiences that were gathered for the absentee to learn, examine, and understand. It was an opportunity that he missed.
GLOSSARY FOR YOU
microcosm: a miniature version of something larger
assign: to provide a person a particular task
descend: to come or go down from a higher to a lower level
reveal: to make something known to others
assemble: to bring people, ideas or things together as a group
undertake: carry out; perform
shaft (of light): a narrow strip of light
the hereafter: life after death
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