Educational Galaxy

A Funny Man — EG's own notes, in simple words

Book: Poorvi (CBSE, Class 7)  |  Chapter 5  |  Unit 2: Wit and Humour  |  Medium: English

Diagram (labels are printed on the image): A cheerful man making children laugh. A general picture of kind humour, not a scene from the book.

Laughter shared together. A general picture of good humour.

What the lesson is about

This poem by Natalie Joan describes a funny kind of man who comes walking down the street. Everything about him is upside down: he wears a shoe upon his head and hats upon his feet.

He is polite in a funny way. He raises the shoe and smiles at the speaker, and says, 'Allow me to present Your Highness with a rose.' But what he holds out is not a rose at all — it is a currant bun, which he holds to the speaker's nose. The speaker staggers back against the wall and answers, 'Well! I never saw a rose with such a funny looking smell.'

Then the funny man begins to sing a song and sits down on the ground. The speaker has never heard such a funny feeling sound. When the speaker asks, 'My friend, why do you wear two hats upon your feet?', the man does not answer in words at all: he turns the other way about and hops home on his head.

The humour works by mixing the senses and turning the world upside down: a shoe becomes a hat, a bun becomes a rose, a sight becomes a sound, and a smell becomes something you 'look' at. Nothing is unkind — the man is cheerful, polite, and harmless, and the speaker is delighted, not frightened.

Story / lesson in order

1. A funny man comes walking down the street, wearing a shoe on his head and hats on his feet.
2. He raises the shoe, smiles politely, and offers the speaker a 'rose'.
3. The 'rose' is really a currant bun, held to the speaker's nose.
4. The speaker staggers back and jokes about a rose with a funny looking smell.
5. The man sings a song and sits down on the ground — a funny feeling sound.
6. Asked why he wears two hats on his feet, he turns about and hops home on his head.

Chart / Table: Upside-down in the poem

Item	What it means
On his head	A shoe, where a hat should be
On his feet	Hats, where shoes should be
The 'rose'	Really a currant bun
The 'sound'	A funny feeling sound — heard and felt at once
Going home	Hopping on his head, not walking on his feet

NCERT language points — Let us learn

• Phrasal verbs I: match take up, take after, take in, take over, take off to their meanings — begin to study or practise something, resemble a family member, understand, assume control, become successful quickly. Then fill blanks with the right phrasal verb, changing tense if needed.
• Phrasal verbs II: match verbs (look, run, put, break, call) with adverbs or prepositions (after, away, up, for, in, on, into, down, off, out) — for example, look after means take care of. Frame five sentences of your own.
• Ways of walking: the poem uses walking, staggered, hopped. Arrange sprint, trot, jog, run, hop, walk, stagger in increasing order of pace.
• Rhyme and rhythm: read the poem aloud and mark the rhyming pairs — street/feet, polite/sight, rose/nose, ground/sound, said/head. Notice how rhyme makes the jokes land.
• Limerick writing: a limerick is a nonsensical funny verse of five lines. Study Edward Lear's Old Man with a beard limerick, find its rhyme scheme, and write one of your own.

NCERT activities — listen, speak, write, explore

• Let us listen: a girl narrates a personal incident. First select the picture that matches the narration, then arrange the events in order: ate lunch, took off shoes, put shoes in the room, laughed at the mistake, placed the plate in the room, prepared for the presentation, put the plate in the kitchen.
• Let us speak: tell a joke in pairs with three voices — narrator (matter-of-fact), the man (louder, respectful), God (deep, pleasant) — for the million-years / million-rupees joke. Then create and tell a joke of your own.
• Let us write: study the limerick, identify its rhyme scheme, and write a limerick of your own.
• Let us explore: collect three funny poems or jokes that never hurt anyone, and explain what makes each one funny.
• Word play: act out the poem's upside-down actions — shoe on head, hats on feet, hopping home — and let classmates guess each line.

Practice set — try it yourself

1. What does the funny man wear on his head and on his feet?
   Hint: Think about shoes and hats, swapped.
2. What does he offer as a 'rose'?
   Hint: Think about something sweet to eat.
3. What does the speaker say about the 'rose'?
   Hint: Think about a funny looking smell.
4. How does the funny man go home?
   Hint: Think about hopping, not walking.
5. What is a phrasal verb? Give one example from the poem.
   Hint: Think about walking down, taking out, or sat down.

Questions with Answers

1. Which character trait of the funny man is most appealing, and why?
   His cheerful politeness: even while dressed upside down, he raises his shoe, smiles, and speaks politely — 'Allow me to present Your Highness with a rose.' The fun never turns rude, which is why the speaker enjoys it.
2. How do his unusual actions affect the mood of the poem?
   Every surprise lifts the mood: shoe for hat, bun for rose, song on the ground, hopping home. The poem stays light and playful because each odd action is harmless and unexpected.
3. What alternative title would you suggest? Give a reason.
   A good answer is 'The Upside-Down Man' or 'Hats on His Feet', because the poem's whole joke is reversal: everything worn, offered, or done is the opposite of normal.
4. Why has the poet included dialogues in the poem?
   The two short speeches make the scene live: his polite offer and the speaker's witty reply ('a rose with such a funny looking smell') let the reader hear the joke instead of only being told about it.
5. What does the poet convey by highlighting the man's unusual behaviour?
   That humour does not need cruelty: a cheerful person who breaks small rules of normality — politely, and without hurting anyone — can turn a dull street into a happy moment.

Questions with Answers — Extension (NCERT exercise types)

1. (True / False) The funny man wears hats on his head. — False. He wears a shoe on his head and hats on his feet.
2. (Fill in the blank) He held a currant bun to the speaker's _______. — Nose.
3. (Extract-based) 'I never saw a rose with such a funny looking smell' mixes which two senses? — Sight ('looking') and smell ('smell').
4. (Matching) Match: street — feet; polite — sight; rose — nose; ground — sound; said — head.
5. (Analogy) Shoe : head :: hats : _______. — Feet; the poem swaps the two.
6. (Order) Put in order: (a) He sings and sits on the ground (b) He offers a 'rose' (c) He walks down the street (d) He hops home on his head. — (c), (b), (a), (d).
7. (Phrasal verbs) Match: take up — begin to study or practise; take after — resemble a family member; take in — understand; take over — assume control; take off — become successful quickly.
8. (Vocabulary — pace) Arrange in increasing pace: walk, stagger, hop, jog, trot, run, sprint. — Walk, stagger, hop, jog, trot, run, sprint (stagger is unsteady rather than fast; the book's task is to order by pace).
9. (Reason) Why does the speaker stagger back? — Because he is surprised: a 'rose' that is really a bun, held to his nose, is funny and unexpected.
10. (Summary — choose the correct word) The poem's humour is (cruel / kind). — Kind: the man is polite, nobody is hurt, and the speaker is delighted.

How to use this page: Read the summary, say the Key Terms in your own words, then try the practice set without looking. Use the Questions with Answers to check yourself afterwards. Ask your teacher or parent to check your answers.