1) The story is set in the year 2157 when books and schools may no longer exist as they do today. Tommy finds an old paper book from centuries ago and is surprised that the words do not change like they do on screens. 2) Margie is frustrated with her mechanical home teacher that keeps failing her on geography tests. A county inspector fixes the issue with the teacher. 3) Tommy tells Margie about old-fashioned schools from over 100 years ago where children went to a special building to be taught by a human teacher alongside other children their age. Margie finds this idea of school more fun than her solitary home lessons.

1. INDIAN SCHOOL DARSAIT
ENGLISH
CLASS - IX

5. Pre-reading Task
Read these questions and share your responses with your friends:
At what time do you go to
your school? Do you like
going to school? Why, or Why
not?
What would happen if your
teachers were replaced by
computers?
How long does it take you to
reach your school? Do you
enjoy the journey?
Do you like
vacation? Why?
What would you prefer:
studying at home or going
to school?
How many hours do you
work on a computer in your
school? Would you like to
work longer?

6. Isaac Asimov (1920–92) was a
prolific Russian-born American writer well-
known for his science fiction. He had the
canny knack of transporting young reader’s
imagination to the future world dominated by
computers and robots.
It is a world of fun and fantasy, but the
frightening spectacle of totally mechanical
existence leads to meaningful introspection
too.
Asimov’s popular works include Nightfall, Foundation, Second
Foundation,
The Caves of Steel and The End of Eternity.
He was known for his works of Science fiction and Popular
science. Asimov was a prolific writer who wrote or edited more
than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards.

7. INTRODUCTION
The story ‘The Fun they had’ is set in future when books and
schools, as we have today perhaps will not exist. Two students of
the period which is about a hundred and fifty years from today,
find a printed book. Surprised as they are, they talk about the
schools and books of the olden times. They compare those schools
with that of their own which are usually located inside their
homes. They have mechanical teachers to teach them. Naturally,
they find their own schools dull and boring. They think that it
would have been a great fun to study in the schools of olden times
when all the students went to a particular place to learn. They
seem to be excited by the fact that students of a particular age
group used to learn the same thing and were taught by a human
teacher.

8. Setting
The story is set in the future i.e in 2157 when books
and schools as we know them will perhaps not exist.
The picture shown will give you an idea.

9. THEME
The theme of the story “The Fun They Had” is
transformation by technology. The whole story focuses
on two eras: One is Digital Era in which Tommy and
Margie live and the other is the Normal Era, about
which they learned through their grandparent’s diary.
‘The Fun They had’ builds a comparison between the
method of education used in the past and the present.
The importance of the traditional form of education has
been highlighted in the story. The computerized form of
education had replaced the traditional form.

11. VOCABULARY
•crinkly : something full of creases or
wrinkles
•attic : a space or room inside or partly
inside
the roof of a building
•scornful : showing displeasure
•superior: an overly high opinion of oneself
•loftily : an arrogant or haughty manner
•dispute : an argument
•nonchalantly : a casually calm and relaxed

12. SUMMARY
It is the year 2157. Margie makes a diary entry which reveals that
Tommy has come across a book printed on paper. The pages of the
book have turned yellow and wrinkled which proves that it
existed centuries ago. The book is peculiar in the sense that it had
the same words on it that it had when they read it the first time.
They were not moving like that on a computer/television screen.
Tommy calls it waste because once the book is read it is of no use.
Their television screen has had a million books on it and one
cannot throw it away. Margie is of the same opinion but she is
curious to know what the book is about. Tommy tells her that it is
about school. She hated school, but now she hated it more than
ever because her mechanical teacher had been giving her test
after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse.
Her mother sends for the County Inspector who is a round little
man.

13. He takes the television teacher apart and sets it
right within an hour which only increases Margie’s
disappointment. He tells her mother that it was not
Margie’s fault but the geography sector of the
mechanical teacher was geared a little too quick
and he has slowed that to an average ten-year
level. He assures Margie and her mother that there
will be no problem henceforth.
Margie is curious to know about the school that
existed in the past. Tommy tells her that it is not
their kind of school. That is the old kind of school
that they had centuries ago. The students had a
human teacher who taught them and gave them
homework and also asked them questions. Margie

14. Tommy further tells her that the teachers didn’t live in
the house. They had a special building and all the kids
went there. The kids of the same age learned the same
thing. Now it is Margie’s school time. She goes into the
schoolroom which is right next to her bedroom and the
mechanical teacher is on and waiting for her. She puts
her homework in the slot with a sigh.
She is still thinking about the old schools they had when
her grandfather’s grandfather was a little boy. All the
kids from the whole neighborhood came, laughing and
shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the
schoolroom, going home together at the end of the day.
Those schools were far better than the schools of
today because they offered great fun to the students.

15. CONCLUSION
‘The Fun They Had’ throws light on an interesting aspect
of the technological world we will have in the future.
Consequently, it is set in the future where two children
discuss the way things functioned in the earlier days.
Further, they talk about the ‘books’ which comprise of
paper instead of the telebooks they have now. It is rather
interesting to read about the conversation between the
little kids. They get fascinated by the concept of ‘school’
which prevailed in the days of their grandparents.
Moreover, they also talk about how those days were
much more fun. ‘The Fun They Had’ does show us the
reality of technology taking over in the near future.