How to Tell Wild Animals (Carolyn Wells) — Practice

Question 1

How does the poet suggest you identify the Bengal Tiger?

Accepted Answer

✦ Answer: The poet says the Bengal Tiger has 'black stripes on a yellow ground' and appears 'noble'. The 'simple rule' to confirm: 'Just notice if he eats you.' This is dark irony — by the time the tiger eats you, identification is pointless.

Question 2

Explain the humour in the bear stanza.

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — Setup.
  'If when you're walking round your yard, / You meet a creature there' — casual, like meeting a neighbour.

Step 2 — The identification.
  The creature 'hugs you very, very hard' — a BEAR HUG.

Step 3 — The joke.
  'If you have any doubts, I guess / He'll give you just one more caress.'

Step 4 — Irony.
  'Caress' = gentle, loving touch. But a bear's hug CRUSHES you. Calling a deadly attack a 'hug' and 'caress' is darkly funny.

Step 5 — 'Very, very hard'.
  Repetition emphasises the absurdity — the 'hug' that kills.

✦ Answer: The bear stanza uses dark irony — calling a deadly attack a 'hug' and a 'caress'. 'If you have any doubts, he'll give you one more caress' — the second 'caress' would kill you. The contrast between gentle language and violent reality creates humour.

Question 3

Analyse 'How to Tell Wild Animals' as a poem of irony and humour.

Accepted Answer

Step 1 — The premise.
  The poem pretends to be a HELPFUL GUIDE for identifying wild animals in the jungle.

Step 2 — The central irony.
  Every 'method' of identification requires the animal to ATTACK FIRST. Lion roars 'as you're dyin''. Tiger eats you. Leopard leaps. Bear crushes. The guide is useless — you'll be dead before you can use it.

Step 3 — Humour techniques.
  • DEADPAN TONE — giving absurd advice seriously.
  • DARK HUMOUR — death is treated lightly ('roars at you as you're dyin'').
  • COMIC UNDERSTATEMENT — 'This simple rule may help you learn.'
  • PERSONIFICATION — animals 'hug', 'smile', 'weep' like humans.
  • REPETITION — 'lep and lep again', 'very, very hard'.
  • COMIC SPELLING — 'lept' for 'leapt'.

Step 4 — The chameleon stanza.
  Climax of the joke: 'If there is nothing on the tree / 'Tis the Chameleon you see.' Because it CAMOUFLAGES perfectly. The ultimate useless guide — you can't see it, but that proves it's there.

Step 5 — Deeper layer.
  Beyond humour: the poem reminds us that wild animals ARE dangerous. The guide's uselessness reflects the REAL DANGER of approaching wild animals. Nature is not safe or predictable.

Step 6 — Why it works.
  The rhythmic ABABCC structure, the bouncy rhythm, the mock-serious tone, and the repeated punchlines make the irony LAND. Students laugh while learning animal characteristics.

✦ Answer: Wells creates irony by structuring the poem as a field guide whose every identification method gets the reader killed. Dark humour (death as punchline), deadpan delivery, comic understatement, personification, and the brilliant chameleon ending combine into a uniquely funny yet pointed poem that teaches both irony and respect for wild animals.

Practice — How to Tell Wild Animals (Carolyn Wells)

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