Class 8 English — Chapter 3: The Selfish Giant

What you'll learn

• ▸The Giant's Initial Selfishness
• ▸The Perpetual Winter in the Garden
• ▸Personification of Nature
• ▸The Children's Return and the Garden's Transformation
• ▸The Giant's Redemption and Change of Heart
• ▸The Significance of the Little Boy
• ▸Themes of Sharing, Love, and Forgiveness
• ▸Symbolism and Allegory
• ▸Vocabulary and Archaic Language

Chapter Summary

--- PAGE 1 --- 0850CH03 3 The Selfish Giant I * The Giant’s garden was beautiful, and children loved to play in it. * The Giant, who was selfish, built a high wall round his lovely garden. * Children did not enter the garden thereafter. Nor did Spring and Summer till the Giant experienced a change of heart. EVERY afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant’s garden. It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the springtime broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them. “How happy we are here!” they cried to each other. One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend, the Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years. When he arrived …

Practice Questions from this Chapter

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1. Explain why seasons change. Get Solution →
2. List famous walled cities. Get Solution →
3. Describe acts of kindness. Get Solution →
4. Where did the children used to play every afternoon after school? Get Solution →
5. How long was the Giant away visiting his friend, the Cornish ogre? Get Solution →
6. What did the Giant do to keep the children out of his garden? Get Solution →
7. What message was written on the notice-board the Giant put up? Get Solution →
8. Besides the North Wind and Hail, who were the only 'people' pleased that it was always Winter in the garden? Get Solution →

Did you know?

• 💡 The first formal gardens were created over 4,000 years ago in ancient Egypt.
• 💡 Winter is caused by Earth's tilt, not its distance from the sun.
• 💡 Giving to others can release 'happy' chemicals in your brain.
• 💡 Some trees 'talk' to each other by releasing chemicals or through root systems.
• 💡 The Great Wall of China is over 21,000 kilometers long.

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