A Tiger in the Zoo
Thinking About the Poem
1. Find the words that describe the tiger’s movements and actions in the cage and in the wild. Also describe the two places.
Answer:
In the Cage
The tiger stalks, moves on pads of velvet quiet, remains in quiet rage, ignores visitors, hears the patrolling cars, and stares at the brilliant stars.
The cage is described as a concrete cell, surrounded by bars, where the tiger can move only within the limited length of his cage.
In the Wild
The tiger would be lurking in the shadow of long grass, sliding through the grass, waiting near a water hole, snarling around houses, baring his white fangs and claws, and terrorising the village.
The wild setting includes long grass, a water hole, deer and the edge of the jungle.
The poet uses these contrasting images to show the difference between the tiger’s natural freedom in the jungle and his helpless captivity in the zoo.
2. What is the effect of the repetition of words such as “quiet” and “brilliant” in the poem?
Answer: The repetition gives special emphasis to the tiger’s condition.
The phrase “velvet quiet” describes the soft and silent movement of the tiger, while “quiet rage” shows his suppressed anger and helplessness inside the cage.
Similarly, the repetition of “brilliant” connects the tiger’s bright eyes with the shining stars. It highlights the contrast between the tiger’s imprisoned life and the free world outside.
3. Are zoos necessary for the protection and conservation of animals? What are the alternatives?
Answer: Zoos can sometimes help protect endangered animals, support breeding programmes and educate people about wildlife. However, animals should not be kept in small or unsuitable enclosures merely for entertainment.
Better alternatives include wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, protected forests and nature reserves, where animals can live in conditions closer to their natural habitats.
4. Give your opinion for or against zoos.
Answer: Zoos can play a useful role when they are properly managed for conservation, rescue, scientific study and education. Endangered animals may receive protection from poachers and other dangers.
However, wild animals need freedom, space and a natural environment. Keeping them in small cages can cause stress and prevent them from behaving naturally. Therefore, wildlife sanctuaries and protected reserves are generally better because they combine conservation with greater freedom for animals.
Additional Questions and Answers
5. What would the tiger be doing if it were in its natural habitat?
Answer: If the tiger were free in the jungle, it would move silently through the long grass, hide near a water hole to hunt deer and roam near the edge of the forest. It might also growl near houses and frighten people living close to the jungle.
6. What is meant by “his strength behind bars”?
Answer: The phrase means that although the tiger is physically strong and powerful, his strength is useless inside the cage. The bars prevent him from using his natural power and freedom.
7. What is a water hole? Why should the tiger be lurking near it?
Answer: A water hole is a place where wild animals come to drink water. The tiger would hide quietly near it because deer and other animals often come there, giving him an opportunity to hunt.
8. Where should the tiger be snarling, and how would he terrorise the village?
Answer: The tiger should be near the edge of the jungle, snarling around houses close to the forest. He would frighten the villagers by showing his white fangs and claws and by making aggressive sounds.
9. “He stalks in his vivid stripes.” Who does “he” refer to? What are “vivid stripes”?
Answer: “He” refers to the tiger.
“Vivid stripes” refers to the tiger’s clearly visible and striking dark stripes on its bright coat.
10. How does the tiger behave at night?
Answer: At night, the tiger remains inside his cage. He hears the sound of the patrolling cars and looks at the bright stars with his brilliant eyes.
This behaviour reflects his silent loneliness and desire for freedom.
11. How does the tiger react to the visitors?
Answer: The tiger ignores the visitors. He does not show interest in the people who come to see him because he is unhappy and frustrated by his captivity.
12. Why does the tiger move quietly in the cage?
Answer: The tiger naturally moves softly on padded feet. However, his quiet movement also reflects his suppressed anger and helplessness because he cannot escape from the cage.
13. Why is the tiger described as being in “quiet rage”?
Answer: The tiger is angry because he has lost his freedom, but he cannot express or act upon his anger. Therefore, his rage remains silent and controlled inside the cage.
14. Why does the tiger ignore visitors?
Answer: The tiger ignores visitors because they do not matter to him. He is more concerned with his loss of freedom and his unnatural life inside the cage.
15. Why does the tiger stare at the brilliant stars?
Answer: The tiger looks at the stars because they belong to the free world outside his cage. The stars may remind him of the open sky and the freedom he has lost.
16. What contrast does the poet create between the tiger in the zoo and the tiger in the jungle?
Answer: In the jungle, the tiger would be free, powerful and active. He would hide in long grass, hunt near a water hole and move freely through his natural surroundings.
In the zoo, however, he is confined to a small concrete cage. He can only walk a short distance, ignore visitors and silently express his anger.
This contrast highlights the difference between freedom and captivity.
17. What is the central idea of the poem “A Tiger in the Zoo”?
Answer: The poem highlights the cruelty and sadness of keeping a powerful wild animal confined in a cage. It contrasts the tiger’s natural life in the jungle with his helpless existence in the zoo.
The poet suggests that wild animals are meant to live freely in their natural habitats.
18. What does the poem tell us about freedom?
Answer: The poem shows that freedom is essential for all living beings. Physical strength has little value when freedom is taken away. The caged tiger remains powerful, yet he is unable to live naturally because he is imprisoned.
19. Why is the tiger helpless despite being strong?
Answer: The tiger is helpless because the strong bars and concrete walls of the cage restrict him. Although he has great physical strength, he cannot use it to escape or live according to his natural instincts.
20. Why does the poet use the tiger as the central figure in the poem?
Answer: The tiger is a powerful symbol of strength, freedom and wild nature. By showing such a strong animal trapped in a cage, the poet makes the contrast between natural freedom and captivity more striking.
Long Answer Questions
21. Describe the life of the tiger in the zoo.
Answer: The tiger’s life in the zoo is restricted and unhappy. He moves slowly and silently inside a small concrete cage. His soft paws make little sound, but he is filled with suppressed anger.
The tiger cannot hunt, roam through the jungle or use his natural strength. He ignores the visitors because they cannot give him the freedom he wants.
At night, he hears patrolling cars and looks at the brilliant stars through the bars. His life is therefore marked by helplessness, frustration and loneliness.
22. Describe the life the tiger should have in the wild.
Answer: In the wild, the tiger would live freely and naturally. He would move silently through the long grass and hide near a water hole where deer come to drink.
He would hunt for food, roam through the jungle and use his natural strength. At the edge of the forest, he might frighten villagers by growling and showing his fangs and claws.
Such a life would allow the tiger to behave according to its natural instincts.
23. How does the poet show the helplessness of the caged tiger?
Answer: The poet shows the tiger’s helplessness by contrasting his great strength with the narrow limits of his cage. The tiger is physically powerful but can do nothing more than walk a few steps inside his concrete cell.
His anger remains silent, and he ignores visitors. Even at night, he can only look at the distant stars from behind the bars.
These images make it clear that captivity has taken away the tiger’s freedom and natural power.
24. Explain the contrast between freedom and captivity in the poem.
Answer: The poem presents two completely different pictures of the tiger.
In captivity, the tiger walks quietly inside a small concrete cage. His movements are restricted, his anger is suppressed and he has no interest in visitors.
In contrast, the imagined tiger in the jungle is active and free. He hides in long grass, waits near a water hole, hunts deer and moves around the forest edge.
Through this contrast, the poet strongly suggests that the jungle is the tiger’s true home and that captivity is unnatural for such a powerful wild animal.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The word “rage” means—
(a) Get up
(b) Raise
(c) Anger
(d) Speed
Answer: (c) Anger
2. In the poem, “he” refers to—
(a) the poet
(b) the tiger
(c) the visitor
(d) the zoo keeper
Answer: (b) The tiger
3. The eyes of the tiger are described as—
(a) dull
(b) red
(c) brilliant
(d) closed
Answer: (c) Brilliant
4. Who passes near the water hole?
(a) The tiger
(b) A plump deer
(c) An elephant
(d) A hunter
Answer: (b) A plump deer
5. In the zoo, the tiger is kept in—
(a) a cave
(b) a concrete cell
(c) a forest
(d) an open field
Answer: (b) A concrete cell
6. Where should the tiger hide if it were free?
(a) Behind a wall
(b) In the shadow of long grass
(c) Under a house
(d) Near the visitors
Answer: (b) In the shadow of long grass
7. “Snarling” means—
(a) singing softly
(b) making an aggressive animal sound
(c) crying
(d) whispering
Answer: (b) Making an aggressive animal sound
8. What does the tiger look at during the night?
(a) The moon
(b) Visitors
(c) The brilliant stars
(d) The trees
Answer: (c) The brilliant stars
9. Which is personified in the poem?
(a) The grass
(b) The tiger
(c) The stars
(d) The water hole
Answer: (b) The tiger
10. “Shadow” in the poem refers to—
(a) the long grass
(b) the concrete cell
(c) the cage
(d) the village
Answer: (a) The long grass
11. How does the tiger react to visitors?
(a) It attacks them
(b) It welcomes them
(c) It ignores them
(d) It plays with them
Answer: (c) It ignores them
12. “Pads of velvet” refers to the tiger’s—
(a) eyes
(b) paws
(c) stripes
(d) tail
Answer: (b) Paws
13. The phrase “jungle edge” means—
(a) the middle of the jungle
(b) the border of the forest
(c) the deepest part of the jungle
(d) a river in the jungle
Answer: (b) The border of the forest
14. The tiger’s rage in the cage is—
(a) loud
(b) quiet
(c) joyful
(d) playful
Answer: (b) Quiet
15. Why is the tiger unable to use its strength?
(a) It is weak
(b) It is asleep
(c) It is behind bars
(d) It is afraid of visitors
Answer: (c) It is behind bars
16. What does the tiger hear at night?
(a) Birds singing
(b) Patrolling cars
(c) Village music
(d) Thunder
Answer: (b) Patrolling cars
17. Where would the tiger naturally hunt?
(a) Near a water hole
(b) Inside a house
(c) Near the zoo gate
(d) On a road
Answer: (a) Near a water hole
18. “Vivid stripes” refers to—
(a) faint marks
(b) clearly visible and striking stripes
(c) white spots
(d) scars
Answer: (b) Clearly visible and striking stripes
19. The poem mainly contrasts—
(a) day and night
(b) village and city
(c) freedom and captivity
(d) summer and winter
Answer: (c) Freedom and captivity
20. What is the main message of the poem?
(a) Tigers enjoy living in cages.
(b) Wild animals should live freely in their natural habitats.
(c) Zoos are always better than forests.
(d) Tigers are dangerous only at night.
Answer: (b) Wild animals should live freely in their natural habitats
Human Generate Question Answer
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The word ‘rage’ means:
(i) Get up
(ii) Raise
(iii) Anger
(iv) Speed
Ans: (iii) Anger.
2. In the poem, ‘He’ refers to:
(i) The poet
(ii) The tiger
(iii) The zoo incharge
(iv) The visitor
Ans: (ii) The tiger. (Note: This is an example of personification, as the poet uses “He” instead of “It”.)
3. The eyes of the tiger look:
(i) Red
(ii) Bright
(iii) Sad
(iv) Dull
Ans: (ii) Bright. (The poet describes them as “brilliant eyes”.)
4. Who passes near the water hole?
(i) The tiger
(ii) A plump deer
(iii) A hunter
(iv) An elephant
Ans: (ii) A plump deer.
5. In the first and last stanzas, the tiger is in:
(i) A jungle
(ii) A concrete cell
(iii) A cave
(iv) A forest
Ans: (ii) A concrete cell.
6. Where should the tiger hide himself if he were free?
(i) In a house
(ii) In the shadow of long grass
(iii) Under a tree
(iv) Behind the visitors
Ans: (ii) In the shadow of long grass.
7. “Snarling” refers to:
(i) The chirping of birds
(ii) The aggressive sound made by an animal
(iii) The laughter of people
(iv) The rustling of leaves
Ans: (ii) The aggressive sound made by an animal.
8. What does the tiger look at at night?
(i) The moon
(ii) The patrolling cars
(iii) The brilliant stars
(iv) The cage bars
Ans: (iii) The brilliant stars.
9. What is personified in the poem?
(i) The grass
(ii) The tiger
(iii) The stars
(iv) The water hole
Ans: (ii) The tiger.
10. “Shadow” in the poem refers to the hiding place in:
(i) The long grass
(ii) The concrete cell
(iii) The village
(iv) The cage
Ans: (i) The long grass.
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