1. In Mrs Tilscher’s ClassBy
Carol Ann Duffy

2. By studying this poem you can answer questions on:
An important experience from childhood
An aspect of life
Growing up
Setting
Nostalgia
A poem which deals with emotions
A prominent character

3. Learning Intentions
You will have to show that you understand the main concerns of the poem through analysis and evaluation of aspects of the writer’s techniques such as:
WORD CHOICE
THEME
IMAGERY
STRUCTURE
IDEAS
or any other relevant feature.

4. let’s

5. You could travel up the Blue Nile
with your finger, tracing the route
while Mrs Tilscher 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.

6. 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.

7. 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 .

8. 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.

9. How is this poem organised? How many verses / stanzas?
STRUCTURE:
How is this poem organised?
How many verses / stanzas?
How is the idea developed?
What words or phrases give the images or theme emphasis or clarity?
What is the structure?
Line length / rhyme scheme? Is there any rhythm / repetition / enjambment?

10. MEANING: Does it have a message? What is the poet discussing?
What is the poem about?
Does it have a message?
What is the poet discussing?
Is there an overall theme and idea in the poem?

11. So what are main themes?

12. So what are main themes? Growing up Childhood innocence
Life experiences
Emotions

13. Find 4 quotes which support EACH of these themes and explain why they are good supporting evidence.

14. IN MRS TILSCHER’S CLASS by Carol Ann Duffy.
The task we are going to concentrate on as we begin to examine this poem is:
Choose a poem that deals with a childhood experience. Discuss to what extent the poet’s description leads you to a clear understanding of the poem’s theme.
In this part of the task we shall look at how Duffy establishes the setting and atmosphere in the first two stanzas.

15. word choice, sentence structure and imagery.
IN MISS TILSCHER’S CLASS by Carol Ann Duffy.
In the first two stanzas Duffy shows us the safe, comfortable world of early school years, through
word choice,
sentence structure
and imagery.

17. You could travel up the Blue Nile
with your finger, tracing the route
while Mrs Tilscher 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.

18. 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.

19. BE CAREFUL HOW YOU STRUCTURE YOUR PARAGRAPHS!
Write a Paragraph…
Choose two of these and write a paragraph for EACH, showing how the poet creates this sense of security in the comfortable childhood world.
BE CAREFUL HOW YOU STRUCTURE YOUR PARAGRAPHS!

20. word choice, sentence structure and imagery…
IN MISS TILSCHER’S CLASS by Carol Ann Duffy.
In the last two stanzas Duffy shows us how childhood changes as we move to adolescence through her use of:
word choice,
sentence structure
and imagery…

22. 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 .

23. 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.

24. BE CAREFUL HOW YOU STRUCTURE YOUR PARAGRAPHS!
Write a Paragraph…
Choose two of these and write a paragraph for EACH, showing how the poet creates this sense of security in the comfortable childhood world.
BE CAREFUL HOW YOU STRUCTURE YOUR PARAGRAPHS!

25. Plan Your Answer
Choose a poem that deals with a childhood experience. Discuss to what extent the poet’s description leads you to a clear understanding of the poem’s theme.
Answers to questions on Poetry should refer to the text and to such relevant features as word choice, tone, imagery, structure, content, rhythm, rhyme, theme, sounds, ideas . . .

26. 10. Choose a poem which takes as its starting point a memorable experience. Discuss how the poet’s presentation of the experience helps you to appreciate its significance.
11. Choose a poem which encourages you to think differently or to understand something in a new way. Discuss how the poet’s ideas and techniques led you to change your thinking or understanding.
12. Choose a poem which is written in a particular poetic form or which has a particularly effective structure. Discuss how the poet’s use of form or structure contributes to the impact of the poem’s central concern(s).