In Mrs Tilcher's Class Flashcards
State quotes based on the theme “Relationship”
- “This was better than home” - Short sentence suggests safety/happiness
- “Mrs Tilcher loved you” - Word Choice emphasises the close relationship between teacher and pupil
- “She’d left a good gold star by your name” - Word Choice suggests positive atmosphere created by Mrs T.
Give a brief summary based on the theme “Relationship”
‘In Mrs Tilschers Class’: The speaker - a child - describes her last year in primary school and in doing so reflects on the nature of her relationship with her teacher, classroom and the relationship she has with herself.
Give a brief summary based on the theme “Childhood”
The speaker - a child - describes her last year in primary school and the joyous memories she has of this time. We also see the start of the transition into adolescents.
State some quotes based on the theme “Childhood”
- “travel up the Blue Nile” - Long sentence mirror children’s long journey through childhood.
- “The scent of a pencil, slowly, carefully, shaved.” List of adverbs prolongs the line mimicking the slow act of sharpening a pencil. A universal memory of childhood.
- “As the sky split open into a thunderstorm.” - Word Choice of split has connotation of breaking, damage, loss of innocence, cannot return to past/childhood.
Give a brief summary of transition?
In this poem, the persona is in her final year of primary school, starting to make the transition from primary school to secondary school, adolescent and adulthood.
State some quotes based on transition.
- “As the sky split open into a thunderstorm” suggesting they are transitioning into adolescent.
- “Inky tadpoles changed from commas into exclamation marks” metaphor - links to child growing up. Punctuation - links to setting and learning.
- “untidy, hot, fractious”
- “Heavy, sexy, sky” Word Choice suggests a storm is building. “Heavy” refers to the burden of new knowledge. “sexy” refers to sexual awakening.
Give a brief summary on “powerful memories”
Here, the persona clearly recalls her final year of primary school and the fond memories she has of her experience in this class, in particular, the relationship with her teacher.
State some quotes based on powerful memories?
- “In Mrs Tilscher’s Class” Title of the poem locates it in a nurturing school environment. The poem explores a young child growing up in a nurturing primary school environment.
- “A skittle of milk”
- ” The laugh of a bell” - Personification - projecting child’s laughter onto it, creates a happy atmosphere, establishing an uplifting carefree world, where children are allowed to grow and find themselves within a nurturing setting.
- “The scent of a pencil, slowly, carefully, shaved.”
give a brief summary on “sentence structure/enjambment”
Duffy uses enjambment where there is a deliberate line break in order to place emphasise on particular words for effect. In this poem, she generally uses it to draw attention to the nature of change.
State quotes that link with “sentence structure/enjambment”
“you found she’d left a good gold star by your name” Word Choice suggests positive atmosphere, sense of magic created by Mrs T.
“A rough boy told you how you were born” Word Choice suggests sheltered background, snobbish behaviour, Immaturity, lack of knowledge of world. Links to growing up and gaining knowledge of sex.
“You asked her how you were born” This time when she goes to the teacher for help and security. The line break is deliberate here to mimic the new division between teacher and pupil.
Give a brief summary on the theme “Growing up”
We see the speaker - a child - gradually starts to come into their own as we go through the play. By the end of the poem she is finally able to transition from primary to secondary.
State some quotes based on the theme “Growing Up”
- “travel up the Blue Nile” Metaphor compares children’s journey of growing up with an adventure along the Nile.
- “Untidy, hot, fractious”
- “Impatient to be grown” Parenthesis creates an emphasis that the speakers fear has melted away and turned into eagerness to leave the world of Mrs T’s class behind.
Give a brief summary of the theme “Imagery”
In this poem, Duffy uses Imagery to show the transition from child to young adult.
State some quotes based on the theme “Imagery”
- “inky tadpoles changed from commas into exclamation marks”
- “as the sky split open into thunderstorm”
