Discuss these questions in small groups before you answer them.
(i) When is a grown-up likely to say this;
Don't talk with your mouth full.
(ii) When are you likely to be told this?
No one thinks you are funny.
(iii) When do you think an adult would say this?
The last two lines of the poem are not prohibitions or instructions. What is the adult now asking the child to do? Do you think the poet is suggesting that this is unreasonable? Why?
Why do you think grown-ups say the kind of things mentioned in the poem? Is it important that they teach children good manners, and how to behave in public?