In Mrs Tilscher’s Class (SQA National 5 English): Revision Note
Exam code: X824 75
Here is a guide to Carol Ann Duffy’s poem ‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ to help prepare you for the SQA National 5 English exam. It includes:
Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations
Writer’s methods: an exploration of Duffy’s techniques and methods
Understanding the poem: an exploration of the themes and ideas within Duffy’s poem
Linking the poems: an understanding of how ‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ connects to Duffy’s other prescribed poems for the Scottish text section
Overview
In order to answer questions on any poem it is vital that you understand what it is about. This section includes:
An overview of the poem
A ‘translation’ of the poem, section-by-section
A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Carol Ann Duffy’s intention and message
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ overview
Carol Ann Duffy’s poem ‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ is about the development of the speaker’s identity during the final year of primary school. She describes how Miss Tilscher’s class was a place of inspiration and safety. She presents the speaker’s growing awareness of the possible excitement and potential danger of the adult world she will soon encounter.
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ translation
Lines 1-6
“You could travel up the Blue Nile
with your finger, tracing the route
while Mrs Tilscher chanted the scenery.
Tana. Ethiopia. Khartoum. Aswân.
That for an hour, then a skittle of milk
and the chalky Pyramids rubbed into dust.”
Translation
The poem opens with a description of the speaker’s memories of learning new things from Mrs Tilscher
She recalls how the day was split between different lessons and breaks, where they drank milk
Duffy’s intention
Duffy’s speaker presents learning as an adventure as she can “travel” to far-away places
When the speaker recalls that Mrs Tilscher “chanted the scenery” she implies that her teacher is an inspiring guide on the journey of learning
When Duffy describes “the chalky Pyramids rubbed into dust” she suggests the end of a lesson, when the blackboard is wiped clean:
This is the first of several references in the poem to experiences ending
Lines 7-8
“A window opened with a long pole.
The laugh of a bell swung by a running child.”
Translation
The speaker recalls details of the school day, with the ringing of a bell dividing lessons and breaks
Duffy’s intention
The detail of “A window opened” suggests potential and possibility in the children’s future beyond school
Duffy personifies the bell, making it “laugh”:
This suggests the happy, carefree world of the school:
The bell is “swung by a running child”, which implies energy and movement, contributing to the joyful memory of school
Lines 9-11
“This was better than home. Enthralling books.
The classroom glowed like a sweet shop.
Sugar paper. Coloured shapes.”
Translation
The speaker prefers school to home as her books feed her imagination
Duffy presents the classroom as a place of light, colour and new experiences
Duffy’s intention
The “Enthralling books” emphasise the classroom as a place of excitement, knowledge and new imaginative experiences
Duffy uses the simile “glowed like a sweet shop” to describe the classroom:
This presents learning as something delicious to be devoured and conveys the speaker’s desire for variety and excitement
The descriptive phrases “Sugar paper. Coloured shapes” enhance the image of the school environment as being bright, exciting and varied
Lines 11-12
“Brady and Hindley
faded, like the faint, uneasy smudge of a mistake.”
Translation
This line refers to the notorious child killers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, who committed their crimes in the mid-1960s:
In the classroom, the speaker can forget about frightening aspects of the outside world
Duffy’s intention
This allusion presents the classroom as a place of safety, where disturbing aspects of the outside world “faded”:
However, the speaker cannot quite forget about the “uneasy” world outside
Brady and Hindley are “faded” but linger as the “smudge of a mistake”, like the trace of pencil which remains after something is erased
With this allusion, Duffy reminds us that the adult world still exists, even in the safety of the classroom
Lines 13-16
“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.”
Translation
The speaker feels loved by her teacher
Mrs Tilscher gives her gold stars for being “good”
The speaker recalls the sensory experience of being at school:
The smell of a sharpened pencil and the sound of a xylophone being played
Duffy’s intention
The short sentence, “Mrs Tilscher loved you”, has an impact at the start of the line and conveys the speaker’s affectionate memories of her teacher and her feelings of belonging in her class
The description of the “pencil, slowly, carefully, shaved” suggests care taken in the action:
This may emphasise the way the speaker feels that Mrs Tilscher takes care of her
Lines 17-21
“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.”
Translation
The school year is moving on and over Easter, the tadpoles grow and eventually become frogs
Three frogs are released into the playground and the children follow them, mimicking their sound and movement
Duffy’s intention
Easter, in the Christian tradition, is a time of rebirth, and Duffy presents this in the developing frogs:
When they change from the “comma” shape of tiny tadpoles to bigger, longer “exclamation marks”, a hint of danger is suggested, as the exclamation mark could denote fear or warning
The growing frogs, leaving the pond and seeking freedom, act as a metaphor for the growing children:
The world outside the school is enticing, but may also be dangerous
Lines 21-23
“A rough boy
told you how you were born. You kicked him, but stared
at your parents, appalled, when you got back home.”
Translation
The speaker recalls how she was told the facts of life by a “rough boy” and how this resulted in feelings of confusion and anger
Duffy’s intention
Duffy continues the theme of growth and rebirth by describing how a boy tells the speaker “how you were born”:
This introduces her to the adult world of sex and procreation
Realising that her parents have had sex to bring her into being, she looks at them differently and is “appalled”
Duffy’s speaker is recalling a pivotal moment in the movement from childhood to adulthood, when she discovers adult sexuality
Lines 24-26
“That feverish July, the air tasted of electricity.
A tangible alarm made you always untidy, hot,
fractious under the heavy, sexy sky.”
Translation
The speaker is experiencing the beginning of puberty
Duffy’s intention
Duffy uses words like “feverish”, “electricity” and “fractious” to imply feelings of excitement and anticipation, but also trepidation
The speaker is renegotiating her place in the world as she matures:
The “heavy, sexy sky” suggests both the excitement and the potential burden of her emerging sexuality
Lines 26-28
“You asked her
how you were born and Mrs Tilscher smiled,
then turned away. Reports were handed out.”
Translation
The speaker asks Mrs Tilscher about the facts of life, but the teacher does not respond
Duffy’s intention
Mrs Tilscher’s smile confirms her kindness, but that she “turned away” indicates that the speaker is outgrowing the comfort of the primary school space:
Duffy is implying that Mrs Tilscher cannot protect or guide the speaker in the adult world
Lines 29-30
“You ran through the gates, impatient to be grown,
as the sky split open into a thunderstorm.”
Translation
The speaker leaves her primary school “impatient” for the next phase of her life
Duffy’s intention
The poem concludes with the speaker’s ambivalent feelings towards growing up and leaving the known world of primary school
She “ran through the gates”, suggests eagerness, and that she is “impatient to be grown” into a young adult
Duffy employs pathetic fallacy to indicate the speaker’s mixed feelings:
When “the sky split open into a thunderstorm”, Duffy implies impending action which may be both exciting and frightening
Writer’s methods
This section is divided into three parts: form, structure and language. When you write about a poem, aim to expand your interpretation of what the poet is writing about by exploring how they present their ideas and why they have made the technical choices they have.
Focusing on the poet’s ideas and how they express them will gain you far more marks than examining individual poetic techniques. Look at the analysis in the sections below, which is organised by the main themes of ‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ and demonstrates the methods and reasons for Carol Ann Duffy’s choices of:
Form
Structure
Language
Form
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ is a recollection of the narrator’s experience at the end of primary school and her ambivalent feelings towards growing up. The classroom is a metaphor for childhood.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
|---|---|---|
Childhood and identity | The poem recounts the narrator’s experience of her last year in primary school:
| Duffy opens the poem exploring the speaker’s excitement about learning in Mrs Tilscher’s class:
|
Structure
The structure of the poem illustrates both the vitality of the speaker’s memories of school and the feeling of the acceleration of time as she prepares to leave that environment behind.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
|---|---|---|
Change and identity | The poem has four stanzas with similar line lengths:
| Duffy evokes the speaker’s experience of primary school and how her memories of feeling safe and secure there develop as she becomes more aware of the wider world |
Duffy uses a second-person address (“you”) throughout the poem:
| ||
Duffy uses caesurae to decelerate the pace of the poem and add emphasis:
| Duffy uses the structure of the poem to indicate the passage of time and the shifting responses of the speaker towards maturity and the adult world | |
Duffy uses enjambment to accelerate the pace of the poem, indicating the speed of time passing:
This also has the effect of indicating the narrator’s confusion or uncertainty:
|
Language
Duffy uses imagery and metaphor to present the child’s perspective of change, developing identity and loss.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
|---|---|---|
Childhood and memory | Vivid imagery conveys how the child speaker responds to the comfort of being in Mrs Tilscher’s class:
| Duffy shows how the speaker’s experience in Mrs Tilscher’s class allows her imagination to develop |
Duffy evokes strong memories through appealing to the senses:
| Duffy shows how happy memories are evoked through the different senses | |
Identity and loss | Duffy uses emotive language to evoke the speaker’s experience of her identity developing:
| Duffy shows the speaker’s emotional responses to learning about the adult world that she must join, leaving her childhood behind |
Repeated references to Mrs Tilscher in three of the four stanzas indicate the speaker’s gradual movement away from the safety of childhood:
| Duffy uses the figure of Mrs Tilscher to chart the speaker’s movement away from childhood and into the adult world |
Understanding the poem
Showing a clear understanding of the poem’s main ideas and themes is central to gaining good marks in your SQA National 5 English exam. Aim to demonstrate your thoughtful engagement with the way Duffy uses techniques to get her meaning across. The following main themes of ‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ are explored below:
Childhood and memory
Identity
Change and loss
Childhood and memory
Duffy presents the poem as a series of remembered moments from the speaker’s primary school experience:
This is shown through reflective phrasing such as “You could travel up the Blue Nile / with your finger”:
This suggests the speaker is looking back on childhood from a later perspective
The speaker recalls specific classroom details and routines, “she’d left a good gold star by your name”, suggesting how memory preserves ordinary moments that later gain significance
Duffy uses concrete imagery to recreate the atmosphere of the classroom, “The laugh of a bell”, showing how childhood memories are often grounded in sensory experience
Through memory, the speaker revisits childhood as a self-contained world that once felt complete, even though it is later understood as temporary
Identity
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ presents a vivid recollection of the speaker’s experience of the development of her identity in the final year of primary school
Duffy shows how Mrs Tilscher’s class was a place of excitement, imagination and safety for the speaker, nourishing her identity
However, Duffy indicates that the speaker still has an awareness of aspects of the adult world, suggesting that she cannot remain protected in childhood forever
Duffy shows the speaker’s recollections of first learning about sex and indicates that she is on the verge of puberty:
She experiences an ambivalent mixture of fear, confusion and excitement about the prospect of being “grown”
Change and loss
Duffy explores the changes taking place in her speaker as she grows older:
The prospect of leaving her childhood behind and reaching maturity is presented as both exciting and frightening
Duffy shows how leaving the safety of Mrs Tilscher’s class may offer opportunities to explore the world:
However, the adult world also contains frightening and disturbing elements
Duffy presents the speaker’s first understanding of sexuality as a loss of innocence which is disturbing and shocking to her:
She cannot avoid the inevitable transition to maturity, and she is also excited by the potential of the adult world
Examiner Tips and Tricks
In the Critical Reading exam, you must write about two different genres. If you choose a Carol Ann Duffy poem for the Scottish text question (Section A), you cannot write about Duffy or any other poem in the critical essay question (Section B). Your Section B answer must be on a different genre.
Linking the poems
Students often use Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry to answer the Scottish texts section of the SQA National 5 Critical Reading exam. If you choose, though, you can write your critical essay question on Duffy’s poetry instead.
If you decide to write about Duffy for the Scottish text section, the final question asks you to demonstrate a wider understanding of her poetry. That means linking more than one poem together by focusing on her ideas and how she communicates them (her techniques).
The six poems Carol Ann Duffy poems on the SQA syllabus are:
‘Before You Were Mine’
‘Originally’
‘Mrs Midas’
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’
‘Medusa’
‘Havisham’
Here are some parallels between the six poems, organised by shared themes:
Theme: Identity and change | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
‘Before You Were Mine’ | ‘Originally’ | ‘Mrs Midas’ | ‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ | ‘Medusa’ | ‘Havisham’ |
Identity shaped by motherhood, as a once carefree woman’s sense of self is transformed by responsibility | Identity altered by childhood displacement, as migration and language loss reshape the speaker’s sense of belonging | Identity as a wife is lost and reshaped when her husband’s greed destroys their marriage | Identity develops through coming of age, as childhood innocence gives way to growing awareness | Identity becomes distorted and destructive as jealousy and self-loathing consume the speaker | Identity is consumed by betrayal, leaving the speaker trapped in bitterness and revenge |
Theme: Loss | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
‘Before You Were Mine’ | ‘Originally’ | ‘Mrs Midas’ | ‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ | ‘Medusa’ | ‘Havisham’ |
Loss of youth, freedom and time; a daughter mourns the mother’s lost self | Loss of homeland, language, and sense of identity | Loss of love, intimacy, and trust through greed and regret | Loss of innocence as the child transitions to adulthood | Loss of love and humanity as jealousy consumes the speaker | Loss of love and sanity following rejection and isolation |
Theme: Relationships | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
‘Before You Were Mine’ | ‘Originally’ | ‘Mrs Midas’ | ‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ | ‘Medusa’ | ‘Havisham’ |
Mother–daughter relationship shaped by love and sacrifice, as the daughter reflects on her mother’s lost independence | Family relationships are challenged by migration, cultural change and emotional distance | A marital relationship is destroyed as greed leads to emotional separation and regret | A supportive teacher–pupil relationship provides care and guidance during childhood | A romantic relationship is corrupted by jealousy, suspicion and obsession | A relationship defined by betrayal leaves the speaker trapped in bitterness and emotional fixation |
Sources:
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ by Carol Ann Duffy (opens in a new tab)
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