Poetry
Critical Essay Questions
2001-2006
’In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’
by
Carol Ann Duffy
Pupil Unit
Includes Formative Assessment
Strategies
Poetry
 Critical Essay Plan
 2006 Q13
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’
by
Carol Ann Duffy
Selected Poems for Higher English – Pupil Unit
Critical Essay Questions 2001-2006
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ by Carol Ann Duffy
2
Higher English 2006 Question 13.
Choose a poem which deal with a childhood experience.
Discuss to what extent the poet’s description of the experience leads you to a
clear understanding of the poet’s theme.
*****
There are 2 parts to the question above:
1) How the poet describes a childhood experience.
2) How it leads you to a clear understanding of the main theme.
You must ensure that you address both parts in your answer.
*****
Your plan should be very detailed and should indicate…



what you will write about in the Introduction
Topic Sentences for each paragraph
What you will deal with in each paragraph (There is no need to
copy out all the information from the Tables and mini-essays as
long as you have indicated that this is where you will find the
information).
what you will write about in the Conclusion

Remember you must…



show Understanding of the central concerns/themes of the
poem
Analyse and Evaluate the techniques used by the poet
make your Personal Response to the ideas and/or techniques
very obvious in each paragraph
Selected Poems for Higher English – Pupil Unit
Critical Essay Questions 2001-2006
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ by Carol Ann Duffy
3
Plan
Title of text and poet
The subject – Schooldays and growing up- something every
child experiences. Poet shows how early childhood certainties
are replaced by curiosity, emotional turmoil, and the need for
independence with the approach of adolescence.
Introduction How …? – The poet uses a variety of techniques, word
choice, sentence structure, symbolism and imagery.
Clear understanding – is the experience described in the
poem clear?
…does the poet make you aware of the main theme of
the poem . Do you clearly see the main theme ?
Topic Sentence – should contain the idea that a universal
experience is being described. The informal tone invites the
reader to become involved in the experience. Word choice
and Structure are important in bringing this experience to
Paragraph 2 us.
Look back at you Mini Essay and Table.
Show how setting and atmosphere are developed. Mention
that the poet has given you a clear understanding of the
situation.
Topic Sentence – should have the idea that time is moving
on, and how Duffy uses imagery and structure to highlight
this.
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 4
Conclusion
Look back at your table and mini-essay.
Remember to mention how you feel about the way the poet
has dealt with the passage of time.
Topic Sentence – should have the idea that Duffy extends the
theme of the passage of time, how she brings in ideas of
change and growth, and how the atmosphere changes.
Mention the poem coming to a climax.
Look back at table and your mini-essay.
Remember to include your view on the how the poet brings
you to a clear understanding of the poem’s theme.
 Sum up what you have written in your essay. (Use
words of task and Topic Sentences from the body of
your essay.)
 Personal Response should be restated
 There should be no ‘new’ ideas in the conclusion.
 Quotes should not be used in the conclusion.
Selected Poems for Higher English – Pupil Unit
Critical Essay Questions 2001-2006
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ by Carol Ann Duffy
4
Critical Essay
 2006 Q13
Model paragraphs
 Introduction
 Paragraph 2
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’
by
Carol Ann Duffy
Selected Poems for Higher English – Pupil Unit
Critical Essay Questions 2001-2006
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ by Carol Ann Duffy
5
Critical Essay - 2006 Q13
Model paragraph – Introduction
Your introduction should state what you are going to write about in the
Critical Essay – basically, it should shape the structure of your essay
indicating the subject of the paragraphs you intend to include and reveal your
opinion on how the poet describes a childhood experience, and how it leads
you to a clear understanding of the main theme .
Get straight to the point!
Indicate the ideas you will write about (U).
Identify the techniques you will write about (A) & (E).
Make clear your point of view. (PR)
A poem which I feel describes a childhood experience is ‘In Mrs Tilcher’s
Class’ by Carol Ann Duffy. In this essay I shall look at how the poet
describes this childhood experience – that of early school days and all its
certainty, to the emotional turmoil of adolescence -and leads us to a clear
understanding of the main theme, change and growth, with reference to
aspects of the writer’s craft such as imagery, theme and word choice.
Selected Poems for Higher English – Pupil Unit
Critical Essay Questions 2001-2006
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ by Carol Ann Duffy
6
Model paragraph – Development of main theme through use of
structure and various aspects of writer’s technique,
Get straight to the point in your Topic Sentence!
Show your knowledge of the text (U).
Identify the techniques you will write about (A) & (E).
Make clear your point of view. (PR)
Keep the question in mind – refer back to the task.
(Relevance)
Duffy develops the theme of change and growth through structure and
word choice. This poem starts in a very informal way, with the poet engaging
us by the simple use of the word ‘you.’ This informal mood engages the reader,
and we are introduced into the cosy school world where ‘Mrs Tilscher ‘chanted
the scenery’ of the ‘Blue Nile’. The use of this word ‘you’ also makes the reader
feel that the poet is addressing us directly. We are shown the routine of the
school, ‘that for an hour, then a skittle of milk’, the metaphor of ‘skittle’ a very
apt one. Dealing with both the actual shape of the milk bottle and keeping the
idea of children’s toys in our minds. The images come fast, we read about
‘Pyramids rubbed to dust’, and the personification of ‘the laugh of a bell’. We see
in this first stanza a clear description of a universal childhood experience which
everyone can relate to and understand. This description of the safe setting and
secure atmosphere is continued in the short statement, ‘this was better than
home’. It contains all the certainty of a child’s point of view. We read about how
the ‘classroom glowed like a sweetshop’, once more very childish imagery, the
word ‘glowed’ a particularly strong one, it brings to a mind a warm comfortable
image. The short sentences continue,
’Sugar paper. Coloured shapes.’ The images and memories from school are
concisely described in comfortable language.It is a place full attractive memories
and experiences. The outside world does encroach into this perfect world. We
read about, ‘Brady and Hindley’, however, they are dismissed as an ‘uneasy
smudge of a mistake’, and this clever euphemism, describing multiple child
murders, is firmly rooted in the world of school, in this childhood experience that
we all have. We see, however, that awareness is beginning to develop in the
mind of the poet. Behind the simple joy there is an ‘uneasy’ feeling. This is
leading us to the central concerns of the poem, although the poet still has
childhood certainties. ‘Mrs Tilscher loved you’, for example. The poet continues
with sensual images, ‘the scent of a pencil’, and ‘a xylophone’s nonsensense’.
These images help fix the setting – a school classroom, and lead us to the
central idea of the poem, which is growing up. The poet uses the line, ‘ the inky
tadpoles changed from commas into exclamation marks’, this is not only a
physical description of what happened to the tadpoles ‘over the Easter term’, it
also serves as a metaphor for what is happening to the children, as they too are
changing. The fact that the poet also manages to keep the description within the
concerns of the classroom ’commas into exclamation marks’ I found to be
especially effective. Duffy continues to comment on the growing up process, how
‘a rough boy told you how you were born’. Once more we see the stripping away
Selected Poems for Higher English – Pupil Unit
Critical Essay Questions 2001-2006
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ by Carol Ann Duffy
7
of innocence, as we are told how you, the reader, ‘stared at your parents,
appalled’, at the realisation of the world of sexuality. We see the child growing,
the safe world of the early years is disappearing. Duffy describes the onset of
puberty to us in an extended metaphor. We read about ‘that feverish July’, this
pathetic fallacy capturing the feelings of the growing child. A very good example
of synaesthesia, ‘the air tasted of electricity’ reinforces this state of turmoil.We
read about this stage of life as being, ’fractious’, ‘untidy’ and ‘hot’. The choice of
word here conveying this confusing time with great accuracy. Pathetic fallacy
comes into play once more as the poet describes the ‘heavy,sexy sky’ where we
know it is the subject of the poem who is feeling ‘heavy’ and ‘sexy’. At the end of
the poem, the poet writes about how the child would ‘run through the gates’,
these are not merely the physical gates, they are also the gates which lead to
the adult world, as the child is now ‘impatient to be grown’. The extended
metaphor, by which the poet compares the growing child’s emotions to an
approaching storm, is very effectively ended by the last line of the poem, ‘the
sky spilt open into a thunderstorm’. The poet has captured, with, in this writer’s
opinion, great skill, the suddenness and violence of the emotional storm which
puberty is.
Selected Poems for Higher English – Pupil Unit
Critical Essay Questions 2001-2006
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ by Carol Ann Duffy
8
Poetry
Peer and Self-Assessment
Formative
Selected Poems for Higher English – Pupil Unit
Critical Essay Questions 2001-2006
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ by Carol Ann Duffy
9
Peer and Self-Assessment - Formative
How did you get on? Working with a partner, use the checklist below to
assess whether or not you have included all necessary information in your
Critical Essay. (Look back at your Plan, tables and mini-essays.)
There are 2 ways to use the checklist. Either (1) write down the evidence
from your Critical Essay and what you need to improve in the boxes below or
(2) use the key provided to highlight where the evidence can be found on
your Critical Essay. The second method allows you to see at a glance where
there are weaknesses to be addressed.
If you have followed the advice given in this booklet, you should have very
little to improve in your Critical Essay.
Evidence from
your essay…
Is it answering the
question asked? – The
question will ask for 2/3
main areas. Have you
structured the response
round these demands?
Relevance is the key
word!
Are there topic sentences
which relate to the task
and to the main areas
covered in the paragraph?
Have you shown
knowledge of the central
concerns (U) of the text?
Have you used relevant
quotes?
Is there evidence of
analysis (A)? Have you
used critical terminology?
Is there evidence of
evaluation (E)?
Is there evidence of
personal response (PR) to
the techniques and/or
ideas?
Have you referred back to
the task – followed a ‘line
of thought’ in every
paragraph?
What I need to
improve…
Grey
Red
Green
Blue
Yellow
Brown
Grey
Selected Poems for Higher English – Pupil Unit
Critical Essay Questions 2001-2006
‘In Mrs Tilscher’s Class’ by Carol Ann Duffy
10