Memories of Mrs. Tilscher's Primary School Classroom
The poem "Mrs. Tilscher's Class" by Carol Ann Duffy captures the nostalgic reminiscence of a primary school classroom through vivid imagery and descriptive language. The speaker recalls the structure, joy, and innocence of their last year in primary school under the guidance of Mrs. Tilscher. The use of second-person pronouns, short sentences, and comparisons to everyday experiences creates a vibrant and engaging portrayal of a classroom where learning is intertwined with happiness and exploration.
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Title The classroom is a primary classroom and, from the content of the poem, the poem seems to take place in the last year of primary school. Title locates the poem within a school environment. In the poem, the unnamed speaker remembers her experiences in the classroom of a teacher called Mrs Tilsher. A pattern seems to be established (regular and predictable, like a timetable in primary school). However, this is disrupted, like the school children s lives. Four pairs (eight lines) feels rounded off; seven lines feel unfinished, creating an unsettling feeling. In Mrs Tilscher s Class There are 4 stanzas of regular length (so you can call them verses .) Each verse has 8 lines in each. This layout suits the structured nature of the primary school day. by Carol Ann Duffy 4 stanzas 8 lines in stanzas 1 + 2 7 lines in stanzas 3 + 4
Use of the second person pronoun ( you ) creates a chatty tone and draws the reader into the poem. This long first sentence mirrors the journey the children take and the length of the sentence suggests that the children trace the route slowly and carefully. Stanza 1 Short (one word) sentences mimic the way the teacher said the words and waited for the pupils to repeat them. Common in primary classrooms. The word choice of chanted tells the reader that she is singing. Primary teachers often use a sing-song voice. You could travel up the Blue Nile with your finger, tracing the route while MrsTilscher chanted the scenery Tana. Ethiopia. Khartoum. Aswan. That for an hour, then a skittle of milk and the chalky Pyramids rubbed into dust. A window opened with a long pole. The laugh of a bell swung by a running child. This simile compares the milk bottles to white bowling pins. Bowling is a fun game that children enjoy, so this make the classroom environment sound happy and fun. Informal tone. Tells you pupils day were arranged into chunks of time. This appeals to the sense of hearing and is also personification. The sound of the bell is being compared to someone laughing. People laugh when they re happy so this helps to create a happy, carefree atmosphere.
Short sentence emphasise how enthralled the children were. The word choice of enthralling describes how interested the children were in the books (and learning in her classroom). They obviously enjoy being there. This simile compares the classroom to sweetshop. Children love being in sweetshops and there is a wide variety of tempting thing on offer in them, so this makes the classroom sound like an exciting place. Informal tone. Tells you how much the pupils enjoyed being in Mrs Tilscher s class. Stanza 2 The short, simple sentences helps the reader to imagine the simple coloured shapes. This was better than home. Enthralling books. The classroom glowed like a sweetshop. Sugar paper. Coloured shapes. Brady and Hindley faded, like a faint uneasy smudge of a mistake. Mrs Tilscher loved you. Some mornings, you found she d left a good gold star by your name. The scent of a pencil, slowly, carefully, shaved. A xylophone s nonsense heard from another form. Word choice these are words only a primary school teacher would use. The use of commas slows down the sentence, mirroring the slow sharpening of a pencil. This implies the pupil is young and having to concentrate to do this simple task. This is personification. The word nonsense suggests a fun atmosphere, but also that the song is being played by a small child who cannot play very well. (Sense of hearing.)
This metaphor represents the children getting bigger / growing older. The frog metaphor is revisited in the next line. The use of the image of commas and explanation marks tells you about size but also complements the classroom setting (where commas and other punctuation marks would have been learned). Setting / word choice gives details about time passing; term fits with the school setting. Stanza 3 Word choice this word was specific to a school setting / is not in common use anymore. Over the Easter term, the inky tadpoles changed from commas into exclamation marks. Three frogs hopped in the playground, freed by a dunce, followed by a line of kids, jumping and croaking away from the lunch queue. A rough boy told you how you were born. You kicked him, but stared at your parents, appalled, when you got back home . Sound echoes the sound of the boys voices breaking. Evokes a certain stage of life where you gain knowledge about the facts of life. Long sentence represents the long lunch queue. Unable to deal with these emotions, the speaker reacts physically to this difficult information, showing emotional immaturity. Parenthesis / word choice. Emphasises the strong feelings of disgust felt by the speaker at the realisation that his / her parents must have had sex. Complex sentence complex thoughts. Word choice tells us about the speaker (she is from a sheltered background).
Metaphor. Electricity has connotations of danger; small children are often warned about the dangers of electricity. However, it also suggests excitement ( the atmosphere was electric ). List suggests that the speaker feels uncomfortable. Personification / word choice. Feverish has connotations of: sick, ill, hot, exciting. Stanza 4 July time is passing again. July = end of the school year. That feverish July, the air tasted of electricity. A tangible alarm made you always untidy, hot, fractious under the heavy sexy sky. You asked her how you were born and Mrs Tilscher smiled, then turned away. Reports were handed out. You ran through the gates, impatient to be grown, As the sky split open into a thunderstorm. Personification the sky cannot be sexy. Represents the speaker s emerging sexuality. Word choice alarm suggest a warning siren going off / that the speaker is in a panic. Short sentence / setting. End of the school year. Mrs T is turning away literally and metaphorically the pupils are growing up and she cannot answer all their questions anymore. This metaphor represents the dramatic feelings of growing up. Thunder is powerful, scary, exciting. The word split also suggests something breaking that can never be fixed (loss of innocence?). Using the pronoun you informal tone. Also universalises the poem s theme of growing up. Parenthesis emphasises the stage in life where children are eager to grow up. Builds on word choice of ran .
Whats it all about? It documents the speaker s metaphorical journey in their final year of primary school. It begins with the safe, familiar environment of the primary classroom. As the year goes on, the atmosphere changes, becoming more unsettling.
Themes Childhood Growing up Innocence Self-realisation Nostalgia
Possible questions An important experience from the past A poem in which an aspect of life has been revealed A poem which is thought provoking A poem which is relevant to young people A poem which deals with an emotion such as happiness, sadness, joy, nostalgia A poem which deals with an unpleasant event
