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Stepping into the Absurd World of the Funny Man
Reading For Comprehension · read-aloud
The poem's central comic device is physical inversion — shoe on head, hats on feet — paired with impeccable courtesy; keep the read-aloud playful so students feel the absurdist tone before analysis begins. The word ‘funny’ is deliberately paired with the wrong sense word in each stanza (sounding sight, feeling sound), so flag this as something to watch for rather than explain it now. Students who read a different poem or no poem at home can still participate fully since the text is read in class.
0–8Invite students to look around and recall things or people that make them laugh. Take two or three quick responses aloud to warm the room.
8–28Read the full poem “A Funny Man” aloud, teacher modelling expression; students follow in their books (p.59–60). Pause after each stanza to let the image settle.
28–40Return to the pre-reading bubbles task from “Let us read” (p.59): students share what struck them as funny or surprising in the poem, building a brief class list on the board.
Learning outcome. Student identifies and interprets literal and inferential meaning in a poem using sustained close reading as the vehicle.
Read the lines on page 60 beginning “He said, Allow me to present” and answer the question below. Which of the following best describes what the funny man actually gives the narrator, and why it is funny?
- A He gives a currant bun while announcing it as a rose, making the gift absurdly misnamed.
- B He gives a real rose, which is funny because he calls it a currant bun.
- C He gives a shoe, because the poem is entirely about wearing the wrong objects.
- D He gives nothing, and the humour lies in his empty promise.
A. He gives a currant bun while announcing it as a rose, making the gift absurdly misnamed.
What each wrong option reveals
- B Suggests the student reversed the object names, confusing what was said with what was done.
- C Overgeneralises the shoe-and-hat inversion motif to an object not present in this stanza.
- D Indicates the student missed the stanza’s action entirely and recalled only the promised item.
Also saved as 7 periods or 10 periods.
- 2True, False and the Funny Man — First Comprehension Check
Reading For Comprehension - 3Tone, Rhyme and the Poet's Craft
Reading For Comprehension - 4Inversion and Synesthesia — Close Reading of Extracts
Reading For Comprehension - 5The Final Twist — Extract 2 and Reflective Questions
Reading For Comprehension - 6Listening to a Funny Mix-Up — Sequencing a Personal Anecdote
Listening - 7Telling Jokes Aloud — Voice, Timing and Pair Performance
Speaking - 8Writing a Limerick — AABBA and the Art of the Unexpected Ending
Writing - 9Phrasal Verbs with TAKE — Meaning, Match and Use
Vocabulary Grammar - 10Building More Phrasal Verbs and a Scale of Movement
Vocabulary Grammar - 11Wit and Wisdom — Humorous Characters Across Indian Traditions
Beyond Text - 12The Upside-Down World — A Chapter-Wide Synthesis
Synthesis
- 1. The Day the River Spoke (Learning Together)
- 2. Try Again (Learning Together)
- 3. Three Days to See (Learning Together)
- 4. Animals, Birds, and Dr. Dolittle (Wit and Humour)
- 5. A Funny Man (Wit and Humour)
- 6. Say the Right Thing (Wit and Humour)
- 7. My Brother's Greatest Invention (Dreams and Discoveries)
- 8. Paper Boats (Dreams and Discoveries)
- 9. North, South, East, West (Dreams and Discoveries)
- 10. The Tunnel (Travel and Adventure)
- 11. Travel (Travel and Adventure)
- 12. Conquering the Summit (Travel and Adventure)
- 13. A Homage to Our Brave Soldiers (Bravehearts)
- 14. My Dear Soldiers (Bravehearts)
- 15. Rani Abbakka (Bravehearts)
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