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Tiger: Learning Outcomes
Tiger: Learning Outcomes
Learning outcomes
By the end of the poem, students will be able to:
● explain the visual contrast in the two situations.
● identify words that point out the animal’s state of mind.
● infer that animals have a life.
● express the tiger’s frustration.
● debate the thoughtlessness of such situations.
Poem summary:
The tiger paces softly around his cage in the game park, controlling his anger. He should have been
walking stealthily among tall grass stalking the fat deer that come to the water-hole. He should have
been growling at the huts on the edge of the forest scaring the villagers. But, instead, he is locked in a
cage to pace it relentlessly, ignoring the visitors who come to see him. At night, he hears the patrol cars
that are keeping a watch and stares at the bright stars helplessly.
Pre-reading
● Where do you think all animals would like to live—in the zoo or in the forest? Why?
● How do you think the animals in the zoo must be feeling?
● What can you do to let animals and birds be free? (Stop caging them.)
Understanding the Poem instances? (In the first instance, the word quiet means
‘silent’—the tiger walks without making a noise; the
Play the poem on the screen, in parts. / Read the
word quiet in the fourth line of the stanza means
poem in parts. Pause to explain / discuss / check
‘suppressed’— He controls his rage at being confined
comprehension.
in this manner.)
He stalks in his vivid stripes…deer pass.
He should be…brilliant stars.
Ask students: What should the tiger be doing instead of being in
What are the words in the first stanza that show a cage? (He should be frightening the villagers who
that the tiger’s life is restricted? (few steps) What live on the edge of the forest with his roar.) What is he
kind of space is the tiger accustomed to? Why does reduced to doing during the day? (To pace around
the tiger control his anger while walking around his cage, ignoring the visitors who come to see him)
his cage? What would he love to do? (He would What does he do at night? (He hears the sound of
love to be in his natural habitat in the wild, stalking the patrolling cars and stares helplessly at the bright
deer for food.) The word ‘quiet’ is used twice in the stars.) What is the contrast portrayed in the last
first stanza. What does the word convey in the two two lines of the poem? (1. The confined tiger, from
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Post-reading
Discussion:
● Why do we have zoos? How do we enjoy the zoo?
● Is it fair for us to enjoy ourselves at the expense of the wild creatures in captivity?
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TIGER
Explain the contrast portrayed in the poem Tiger.
The speaker in the poem presents two contrasting situations of the tiger—his natural way of life and the
life man has made for him.
The tiger should be hunting deer during the day and during the night he should be roaring to frighten
the villagers living on the edge of the forest. Instead, he paces angrily around in his cage and stares at the
shining stars in the sky. The cars patrolling outside are set against his longing for freedom.
The contrast in his situation brings out the contrast in his mood too: He is angry and frustrated in his cage
whereas he would have been happy in the wild.
TIGER
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Words in Use
1. PROWL 2. POUNCE 3. CHASE 4. STALK
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