A Tiger in the Zoo Summary Class 10, Explanation, Question Answers

A Tiger in the Zoo Summary, Explanation with Video, Question Answers

CBSE Class 10 English First Flight Book Poem 3 Summary and explanation

A Tiger in the Zoo – Here is the Class 10 English First Flight Poem 3 A Tiger in the Zoo Summary and Detailed explanation of the poem along with meanings of difficult words. Also, the explanation is followed by the literary devices used in the Poem. All the exercises and A Tiger in the Zoo Question Answers given at the back of the lesson have been covered. Solutions of extra questions have also been covered

A Tiger in the Zoo Class 10 English Poem 3

A Tiger in the Zoo Summary

The poem written by Leslie Norris explains the agony and helplessness of a caged tiger that lives in a zoo. The poet explains what his life could be if he had been a free animal. The poet has tried to explain about the condition of animals that are caged by human beings for their own fun.

The poem begins with a description of a tiger that is very beautiful and is walking in his little cage. He has beautiful stripes on his skin and has velvet like soft paws. But the tiger is not happy and is quite angry about being confined in the cage. The poet says that if the tiger was not confined to the zoo cage, he would have been hiding himself behind the long grass near some water body, in order to catch its prey that is the deer. Also, he would have terrorised the residents of the villages around the forest area. But the reality is totally opposite to this. He was confined in a cage which was made up of strong building material and he was helpless there. He could not show his power to the visitors, therefore, never tried to terrorize them. The tiger is described as being powerless and agonized by the poet. He says that during night also he is alone, hearing the voice of the patrolling vehicles of police and looking at the stars. The cage life has totally changed the tiger’s personality. The poet is trying to say that the animal which is famous for its fearlessness and freedom is confined and sad due to the human beings who want to derive pleasure by looking at him in the zoo cage.

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Theme of the Poem

The comparison between wild animals’ freedom and their lives in captivity is the theme of Leslie Norris’ poem “A Tiger at the Zoo.” The poem examines the feelings of loss and imprisonment that a tiger in a zoo experiences, as well as the contrast between the animal’s wild, untamed soul and the constrained life it is forced to live in captivity.

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A Tiger in the Zoo Summary in Hindi

कविता एक बाघ के वर्णन से शुरू होती है जो बहुत सुंदर है और अपने छोटे से पिंजरे में चल रहा है।

उसकी त्वचा पर सुंदर धारियाँ होती हैं और मुलायम पंजे मखमली है। लेकिन बाघ खुश नहीं है और पिंजरे में कैद होने को लेकर काफी गुस्से में है।

कवि का कहना है कि यदि बाघ चिड़ियाघर के पिंजरे तक ही सीमित नहीं होता, तो वह अपने शिकार यानी हिरण को पकड़ने के लिए किसी जल निकाय के पास लंबी घास के पीछे छिपा होता।

साथ ही वह वन क्षेत्र के आसपास के गांवों के निवासियों को भी आतंकित कर देता लेकिन हकीकत इससे बिल्कुल उलट है।

उसे एक पिंजरे में बंद कर दिया गया था जो मजबूत निर्माण सामग्री से बना था और वह वहां असहाय था।

वह आगंतुकों को अपनी शक्ति नहीं दिखा सका, इसलिए, उन्हें कभी भी आतंकित करने की कोशिश नहीं की। कवि ने बाघ को शक्तिहीन और तड़पता हुआ बताया है।

पिंजरे के जीवन ने बाघ के व्यक्तित्व को पूरी तरह से बदल दिया है। कवि यह कहने की कोशिश कर रहा है कि जो जानवर अपनी निडरता और स्वतंत्रता के लिए प्रसिद्ध है, वह मनुष्यों के कारण सीमित और दुखी है जो उसे चिड़ियाघर के पिंजरे में देखकर आनंद प्राप्त करना चाहते हैं।

A Tiger in the Zoo Video Explanation

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A Tiger in the Zoo MCQ Questions

zoo

A Tiger in the Zoo Poem Explanation

Poem
He stalks in his vivid stripes
The few steps of his cage,
On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage.

Word Meaning
Stalks: follows
Vivid: bright colored
Pads: paws of tiger
Rage: anger

Explanation of the poem passage above – Here the poet says that the tiger that is confined in the zoo moves around in the cage under his bright coloured skin. He further says that the tiger can take only a few steps because the cage is small and it is not easy to move in it. One cannot hear his footsteps because he has very soft feet, like velvet because of which there is no sound of the tiger’s footsteps. The tiger tries to control his anger by quietly walking in the limited area of his cage. He is angry because he is not free.

Literary Devices
Rhyme scheme: abcb (cage-rage)
Personification: The tiger is personified because the poet refers him as ‘he’.
Metaphor: Tiger’s paws are compared with velvet (pads of velvet)
Enjambment: Sentence is continuing to next line without any punctuation mark.
Imagery: poet tries to create an image about the tiger (He stalks in his vivid stripes The few steps of his cage)
Consonance: use of ‘s’ sound (stalks, his, stripes)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘I’ (in his vivid stripes)
Oxymoron: use of adjectives opposite in meaning (quiet rage)

deer

Poem
He should be lurking in shadow,
Sliding through long grass
Near the water hole
Where plump deer pass.

Word Meaning
Lurking: To be hidden as to wait for your prey

Explanation of the poem passage above – The poet says that if this tiger was free, he would have hid himself behind the long grass near the water bodies so that he could easily catch a deer in order to have it as its food. Basically, the poet wants to say that the actual life of a tiger is to live in jungle where he could catch his prey and eat it but the tiger in the cage can not do so.

Literary Devices/ Poetic Devices
Rhyme: rhyme scheme is abcb (grass-pass)
Enjambment: Line continues to next line without punctuation marks. (Sliding through….deer pass)
Alliteration: use of sound ‘p’ at the start of two words (plump pass)
Imagery: The poet has tries to create an image of tiger’s activities (lurking in shadow).

Poem
He should be snarling around houses
At the jungle’s edge,
Baring his white fangs, his claws,
Terrorising the village!

Word Meaning
Snarling: warning sounds made by animals
Baring: uncovered
Fangs: Sharp tooth of animals

Explanation of the poem passage above- The poet says that if the tiger would have been free, he would have snarled around the houses located at the outskirts of the forest. He would terrorise people with his sharp tooth and claws. This would create fear among the people living in the villages.

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Literary devices
Rhyme Scheme: abcb rhyme scheme is followed (edge, village)
Enjambment: Line continues to next line without punctuation marks (He should be snarling around houses At the jungle’s edge,)
Onomatopoeia: using words which denote sound (snarling)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘o’ and ‘I’ (should, around, houses), (Baring, his, white, his)
Consonance: use of consonant sound ‘s’ (his, fangs, his, claws)

Poem
But he’s locked in a concrete cell,
His strength behind bars,
Stalking the length of his cage,
Ignoring visitors.

Word Meaning
Concrete: building made of bricks, cement, sand and water

Explanation of the poem passage above- Now the poet comes to the reality of the tiger that is inside the cage. He says that the tiger is confined in a strong cell which is made of strong building material. He further says that as the tiger is behind bars, so his ferociousness is also behind the bars. He just stalks in the cage. He never tries to terrorise the visitors because his power is restricted by the cage. Therefore, he never tries to terrorise the visitors as he cannot attack them.

Literary devices
Rhyme Scheme: abcb rhyme scheme is followed (bars-visitors)
Personification: The tiger is personified because the poet refers him as ‘he’.
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘e’ (he, locked, concrete, cell)
Consonance: use of consonant sound ‘s’ (his, strength, bars)
Alliteration: use of sound ‘b’ at the start of two words (behind bars)

Poem
He hears the last voice at night,
The patrolling cars,
And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.

Word Meaning
Patrolling: to guard, to vigil

Explanation of the poem passage above- The poet says that in the night, the tiger hears the sounds of the patrolling cars. Patrolling cars are the vehicles of police which are used to guard at night. So, in the night the tiger hears the sounds of these cars. He then stares at the shining stars with his shining eyes. The poet wants to say that the tiger is sad and as he is confined in the cage, so, he cannot do anything. Therefore, he stares at the stars in the night and tries to divert his thoughts towards them.

Literary devices:
Rhyme Scheme: abcb rhyme scheme is followed (cars-stars)
Enjambment: Line three continues to line four without any punctuation mark. (And stares with his brilliant eyes At the brilliant stars.)
Alliteration: use of sound ‘h’ in the starting of two words (he hears)
Assonance: use of ‘I’ sound (with, his, brilliant)

A Tiger in the Zoo Question Answers

Q1- Read the poem again, and work in pairs or groups to do the following tasks.

(i) Find the words that describe the movements and actions of the tiger in the cage and in the wild. Arrange them in two columns.

(ii) Find the words that describe the two places, and arrange them in two columns.

Now try to share ideas about how the poet uses words and images to contrast the two situations.

A1- (1)

In the cage	In the wild
Stalks, quiet rage, ignoring visitors, hears the sound of patrolling cars, stares at stars	Lurking in shadow, sliding through the long grass, snarling around houses, baring his white fangs, terrorizing the village

(2)

CAGE	WILD
Few steps of his cage	Shadow, long grass
Locked in concrete cell	Snarling around houses
His Strength behind bars	Baring his white fangs, his claws
Terrorising the village	Ignoring visitors

Q2- Notice the use of a word repeated in lines such as these:

(i) On pads of velvet quiet, In his quiet rage.

(ii) And stares with his brilliant eyes At the brilliant stars.

What do you think is the effect of this repetition?

A2- The poet has repeated the words to give a nice impact to his poem. Like the use of quiet with velvet pads describes that the tiger has to walk in the limited area of his cage. He cannot run as he would have done had it been in the forest. Whereas ‘quiet rage’ shows the hidden anger inside him which has grown stronger because of his confinement in the cage. The next word he used is ‘brilliant’. The word brilliant in the first line means the twinkling bright stars and the brilliant words used for the tiger’s eyes shows the sadness of the tiger who would have led a free and fearless life if it were in the jungle.

A Tiger in the Zoo MCQ Questions

A Tiger in the Zoo Extra Extract based Questions

1.He should be lurking in shadow,
Sliding through long grass
Near the water hole
Where plump deer pass.

i) who is “he”?
A. “He” is the tiger. Tiger has been personified in the poem.

ii) Select a synonym of “chubby”
A. Plump

iii) Why should ‘he’ lurk and slide?
A. He lurks and hides to hide from the prey. He waits for the right moment to attack it.

iv) Why do deer pass to reach the water hole?
A. Deer go to the water hole to quench thirst.

v) The scene in this stanza is of a _______
a. Zoo
b. Forest
c. Museum
d. can’t say
A. b

2.He should be snarling around houses
At the jungle’s edge,
Baring his white fangs, his claws,
Terrorising the village!

i) Why should ‘he’ do all the activities mentioned in this stanza?
A. A tiger does all these activities as a part of its natural behaviour.

ii) Choose a synonym of ‘showing’
A. Baring

iii) Fangs means ______
A. moustache
B. teeth
C. claws
D. paws
A. B

3.But he’s locked in a concrete cell,
His strength behind bars,
Stalking the length of his cage,
Ignoring visitors.

i) According to the stanza, the cell is made of ______
a. Cement
b. Concrete
c. Stone
d. can’t say
A. b

ii) What does the line “His strength behind bars” mean?
A. It means that the tiger cannot use its power and attack people because it is locked in a cell.

iii) Choose a synonym of “walking”
A. Stalking

iv) Why does “he” ignore the visitors?
A. He ignores the visitors because he cannot be his true natural self. He cannot scare or attack them because he is locked in the cell.

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