Mrs Tilchers Class Flashcards
The classroom glowed like a sweet shop
Simile creating a cozy, homely, safe, welcoming atmosphere giving us an idea that the writer’s attitude towards primary school is positive at that time. Draws attention to the perception that everything is nice, good, the way it should be, and there is nothing to worry about.
The laugh of a bell
Auditory imagery creating a mood of happiness and security. Personification that links to laughing children, suggesting to us that nothing is treated seriously.
The scent of a pencil, slowly, carefully, shaved
imagery sparking my imagination of the writer’s time period when they used only pencils and not pens for writing in primary school. Personally for me, brought back my own childhood memories of spending lots of time sharpening and neatly arranging all my coloured pencils on the desk. Helped me visualise the atmosphere of the time and how it differed from modern day schooling.
Brady and Hindley faded, like the faint, uneasy, smudge of a mistake.
compares scary world of adults to the friendly, safe, and secure classroom. Brady and hindley were murderers who went viral in the news at the time, and Mrs Tilscher was trying not to reveal this horrid tragedy to the children, as it would ruin their innocence. But we soon find out we cannot hide mistakes like this, just like we cannot rub out a mark we make when we are adults, compared to when we are kids we use pencil so we can easily rub out mistakes and are forgiven for our actions. As adults, we are not so easily forgiven/ can get away with serious damage we have caused. Children felt safe in the classroom but were aware they were not completely protected from the dangerous outside world.
The inky tadpoles changed from commas into exclamation marks.
linking the natural world to the children- who started the year as small, weak, and insecure, and gradually developed into loud, strong, and bold adolescents. Symbolism ties together the changes experienced by the writer and their peers, suggesting a loss of innocence, into stronger, more opinionated young adults.
Mrs Tilscher smiled, then turned away
Contrast emphasises the positive experience even more- when there is an absence of a person you love most, you feel abandoned, forced to move on to adulthood, as you no longer have a warm-hearted, loving teacher to rely on.
The sky split open into a thunderstorm.
shows the children coming into puberty and teenage angst
