In Mrs Tilscher's Class Flashcards
You could travel up the Blue Nile with your finger, tracing the route while Mrs Tilscher chanted the scenery.
“You” - creates conversational tone. Braws the reader in; we all have shared experiences of Primary school.
“travel up the Blue Nile” - metaphor - compares the teacher tracing a map to the journey the teacher creates in their minds. Emphasises enjoyment, escapism etc.
This long first sentence mirrors the ‘journey’ the children take and the length of the sentence suggest that the children trace the route slowly and carefully.
“chanted” - word choice - suggests singing. Highlights Primary school environment. Also suggests repetition - strong memory.
Tana. Ethiopia. Khartoum. Aswan.
Short (one word) sentences mimic the way the teacher said the words and waited for the pupils to repeat them.
Exotic places = adventure of learning journey.
That for an hour, then a skittle of milk and the chalky Pyramids rubbed into dust.
“That for an hour” - informal tone - tells you that the pupils days were arranged into ‘chunks’ of time.
“skittle of milk” - metaphor - compares the milk bottles to hite bowling pins. Bowling is a fun game that children enjoy, so this makes the classroom environment sounds happy and fun.
“chalky” - word choice - suggests passing of time & magic/wonder created
“dust” - word choice - connotates chalk dust but also suggests it seems real to the children.
The laugh of a bell swung by a running child.”
personification - the sound of the bell is being compared to someone laughing. This helps to create a happy, carefree atmosphere/enjoyment of school.
This was better than home.
informal tone - tells you how much the pupils enjoyed being in Mrs Tilscher’s class.
Enthralling books.
“enthralling” - word choice - shows how interested the children were in the books (and learning in her classroom)/obvious enjoyment.
The classroom glowed like a sweet shop.
simile - compares the classroom to a sweet shop. Sweetshops are colourful places, filled with tempting and wondrous goods. The classroom is full of things that can trigger imagination, creativity and interest.
Sugar paper.
short (simple) sentence - helps the reader to imagin the simple coloured shapes.
Brady and Hindley faded, like the faint, uneasy smudge of a mistake.
“Brady and Hindley” - context - Moors murderers. Contrast with the safety of the classroom.
“f” and “u” - allieration and contrast - the alliteration of the “f” sound contrasts with the short “u” sound adds to her sense of confusion about the murderers. Mrs Tilscher keeps them safe, but cannot shelter them from the outside world forever.
Mrs Tilscher loved you.
past tense - movement of time, a fleeting moment.
Some mornings, you found she’d left a good gold star by your name.
use of a comma - emphasises the children’s anticipation/excitement at the prsopact of receiving praise.
“good gold star” - word choice - magic and wonder. A sense of wanting to please and succeed.
The scent of a pencil slowly, carefully, shaved.
sentence structure - the use of commas slow down the sentence, mirroring the slow sharpening of a pencil. This implies the pupil is young and is having to concentrate to do this simple task. They also are taking great care.
Sensory image - shared experience.
A xylophone’s nonsense heard from another form.
” A xylophone’s nonsense” - personification - ‘nonsense’ suggests a relaxed atmosphere, but also that the song is being played by a small child who cannot play very well.
Sense of hearing - fun and exploration.
Over the Easter term, the inky tadpoles changed from commas into exclamation marks.
“Easter term” - setting/word choice - gives details about time passing. Easter is also a time of change/rebirth.
“inky” - word choice - suggests uncertainty about the future
“tadpoles” - word choice - suggests sexual reproduction as well as growth
Metaphor - represents the children getting bigger/growing older. Move from insignificant comma to bold exclamation mark mirrors growth, change of atmosphere in the playground and the shock the child feels at learning about sex.
Three frogs hopped in the playground, freed by a DUNCE, followed by a line of kids, jumping and CROAKING AWAY from the lunch queue.
“dunce” - word choice - this word was specific to a school etting/is not in common use anymore.
“croaking” - word choice (sound) - echoes the sound of the boys’ voices breaking.
“away” - tone becomes more serious - use of emjambment reveals this.
