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TIGER

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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his restricted space stares into the vast expanse that b. During the night, he hears the siren of the
signifies openness. 2. His eyes shine as brilliantly as the patrol cars and stares up at the stars in
stars, yet these very eyes stare from an enclosure while frustration.
the shining stars of the sky are where they belong. ) The contrast in his situation brings out the contrast
in his mood too: He is angry and frustrated in his
Appreciating the Poem
cage whereas he would have been happy in the
Visual imagery: The speaker in the poem presents wild.
two contrasting pictures of the tiger—his natural
Theme: The inhumaneness of human beings.
way of life and the life man has made for him.
● As he should be: Poetic devices:
a. During the day, he should be hunting deer Rhyme: Lines 2 and 4 rhyme in verses 1, 2, 3 and 4:
that come to drink at the water-hole. cage-rage; grass-pass; edge-village; cars-stars: abcb
b. During the night, he should be roaring to Repetition: He should be; brilliant
frighten the villagers living on the edge of
Metaphor: His paws are compared to pads of velvet
the forest.
● As man has made him to be:
a. During the day, he paces angrily around his
cage ignoring the people who come to see
him.

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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QUESTION BANK WITH ANSWER KEY

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.

STUDENTS’ BOOK ANSWER KEY

TIGER

Understanding the Poem


A. 1. The tiger moves about quietly as though it were stalking a prey.
2. The first four lines of the poem indicate the tiger’s rage.
3. In a jungle, the tiger’s actual home, the water hole is a place where other animals come to drink
water. This is the place where the tiger can hunt its prey. But in the zoo, the tiger does not get to
hunt. The speaker thinks that the tiger should be there in the jungle, doing what it naturally does,
instead of not waiting for someone to give it food.
4. The tiger does not like visitors at the zoo—we know this because he ignores them and walks
away.
B. 1. a. Animals do not like it when they are kept in zoos and have to live within a small space. That is
the reason for their rage and anger. The tiger’s ‘quiet rage’ is caused by his inability to get out of
the cage. He silently fumes with anger.
b. The tiger’s paws are padded to give his tread the advantage of silence. The padded parts are
soft, almost like velvet and when it touches the ground, the sound is barely audible.
2. a. The lines here convey how the tiger’s life should have been ideally whereas the earlier lines
described the unfortunate and tragic circumstances of him being in captivity.
b. The tiger should be snarling round the houses at the jungle’s edge to terrorise the villagers
instead of being captured by them.
c. The fangs and claws are mentioned to point out the natural ferocity of the animal and to
highlight how it belongs to the wild.

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C. The tiger should be lurking in the shadows of long blades of grass or near the waterhole to catch his
prey. He should be snarling around houses near the jungle’s edge, baring his fangs and terrorising the
villagers. The tiger is a wild animal and should ideally be in the jungle.

Appreciating the Poem


1. In the poem, the speaker draws a contrast between the tiger’s present condition and where
it should have been. The speaker begins by describing where the tiger is and what it is doing.
Phrases like ‘quiet rage’ and ‘stalks in his vivid stripes’ highlight the tiger’s power. This is further
stressed when the poet talks about how the tiger should have been snarling and terrorising
humans, making us realise the true strength and purpose of the tiger. At the end of poem, we
understand the helplessness of the tiger when the speaker says that it is ‘locked in a concrete cell’,
‘stalking the length of his cage’ and that he longingly stares at the stars in the sky.
2. a. the velvet quiet and quiet range: The word ‘quiet’ is repeated show a contrast between what
the tiger is capable of and what it is actually doing.
b. brilliant eyes and brilliant stars: Here the word brilliant is repeated to compare the tiger’s eyes
to the stars. They both are powerful and shiny.

Words in Use
1. PROWL  2. POUNCE  3. CHASE  4. STALK

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