mrs titcher

The poem In Mrs Tither’s class portrays the themes of nostalgia for schooldays and the transition from childhood and adolescence. Duffy uses sensual imagery so that we can experience it ourselves. The first stanza begins with ‘’Mrs Tilscher chanted the scenery. Tana. Ethiopia. Khartoum. Aswan.” The punctuation used between each place gives a rhythm allowing the reader to hear Mrs Tilscher chanting them, which seems relaxing. This may reflect what the children feel in Mrs Tilscher’s class: safe and relaxed. However, it also creates an unsettling atmosphere which may present their feelings towards their transition from childhood to adolescence which is facing an uncertain future and also physical and emotional development. Duffy also uses the pronouns ’you’ and ‘you’re’. It is clear that Duffy is writing from her own experience but by writing in second person it enables the reader to experience what she felt in the classroom.
In the second stanza, Duffy emphasises the safety and warmth that the children feel in the classroom by the line ‘the classroom glowed like a sweetshop’. The simile in this line relates to children’s idea of heaven: a sweet shop. This shows that the children see the classroom as a safe place, containing objects that children find interesting such as ‘coloured shapes’ and ‘sugar paper’. It also reflects the children’s happiness in the classroom. Duffy emphasises their safety further by the quote ‘Brady and Hindley faded, like the faint, uneasy smudge of a mistake.’ In 1967, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were notorious for murdering and abducting children below the age of ten. Everyone was aware of this, resulting to children being aware of danger, which makes them unable to feel safe. Duffy uses this case and a simile to emphasise their safety, showing that the children feel like no one will harm them in the classroom. This may reflect what Duffy felt as a child in Mrs Tilscher’s class. The last two lines of the second stanza reinforce the idea