1. What feelings do you have for the fox in the fi rst fi ve lines of this poem?
2. What had the fox done to make the farmer furious?
3. What picture of the fox in the fairground forms in your mind? What is he doing? What happens to him?
4. ‘Furtively, he foraged for food’ – what do you think ‘furtively’ means? Write your defi nition, and then check your dictionary to
fi nd out if you were right.
5. What adjectives in the fi nal ten lines of the poem best describe the pitiful state of the fl eeing fox?
6. Describe your image of the fox in the fi nal three lines of the poem.
C is for canary … D is for dragon … H is for hippo … Choose a bird or animal – real or imaginary – and write the best description you can of this creature. Go to your Writing Skills Book to plan your description.
❍ You might decide to write your description in the form of a poem. If you do, try to include some alliteration!
❍ Do some rough drafts. ❍ Try out diff erent stanza lengths.
❍ Then, when you are happy with your work, write the complete poem.
