Rudyard Kipling 1865 - 1936

British Imperialism When ‘‘Rikki-Tikki-Tavi’’ was first published as part of the second volume of Kipling’s Jungle Book in 1895, Great Britain commanded the most powerful empire the world had ever seen. The Indian subcontinent was one important part of the empire, which thousands of ‘‘Anglo-Indians,’’ like Kipling himself, called home. The form of imperialism during Kipling’s time was characterized by forceful imposition of British government and British culture upon the natives of a region.

Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India in 1865. India was ruled by England at that time. It was a British colony. He was educated in England and married an American ; he lived for awhile in Virginia.

Kipling returned to India in 1882. He worked for a newspaper. Kipling wrote poetry, novels, and short stories. Kipling was the recipient of many honorary degrees and other awards.

Kipling was chiefly known as a writer of short stories.

Kipling wrote Jungle Book in 1894. It became a children’s classic around the world.

Walt Disney’s cartoon version of the story was produced in the 1960s.

Readers loved Kipling’s tales about the adventures of Englishmen in distant parts of the world. He was a very popular writer in his time.

Kipling won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907.

Kipling died on January 18, 1936.

Language Arts 7 Vocabulary Words from “Rikki-tikki-tavi” by Rudyard Kipling

mongoose

scuttle verb to move with short, rapid steps The mongoose scuttles across the yard when fighting the cobra.

cower verb to crouch down, as in fear or shame The puppy cowers in the corner when he is scolded.

flinch verb to draw back, as from something painful, dangerous, or unpleasant; to wince Getting a flu shot made the patient flinch.

gait noun a particular manner of moving on foot The athlete’s limping gait indicated that his pulled muscle was bothering him again.

lunge verb to make a sudden forward movement; to charge The cobra lunges at the mongoose, trying to bite it.

fancy verb to picture mentally; imagine to want or to like (we rarely use this form of the word today) I cannot fancy ever winning the lottery. I fancy a Diet Coke after school.

valiant adjective brave; courageous The fireman made a valiant rescue of a woman from the burning house.

brood noun all of the young of an animal that are born or cared for at the same time The brood of ducklings waddled across the street to swim in the pond.

fledgling noun a young bird that has recently grown its flight feathers The fledgling fell from the tree on his first attempt to fly.

cunningly adverb in a clever way that is meant to trick or deceive The girl cunningly pretended to not know how to play pool, and then she proceeded to win all the old man’s money.

consolation noun a comfort Going to Splashtown for the day was no consolation for missing our trip to Disney World.

revive verb to return to life or consciousness We threw water on his face to revive him after he fainted.

mongoose-cobra fight