English Language & Literature — CBSE Class 10 board question

No, it is not ethical to enclose wild animals in cages. In the poem A Tiger in the Zoo, the poet Leslie Norris shows the tiger pacing in his cage, feeling helpless and enraged. The tiger should ideally be lurking in the shadows of the forest, terrorising villages, and sliding through long grass near water holes — living freely in his natural habitat. Caged in a zoo, he ignores visitors and stares at the brilliant stars with his quiet rage. Confining wild animals denies them their natural instincts, freedom, and dignity, which is both cruel and unethical.

Source: A Tiger in the Zoo, First Flight (Poem)

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• The examiner expects you to state your position clearly (Yes/No + reason) and then support it with specific references from the poem — the tiger's natural habitat (forest/water hole), its behaviour in the cage (pacing, quiet rage, staring at stars).
• Avoid just retelling the poem; link the images to the ethical argument.
• 3 marks = position + 2–3 poem-based points. Don't write more than ~80 words.