The teachers always used the same phrases, for everyone like fair and quite good. And sometimes they have nothing to say, so they say must try harder. One thing a teacher should never say in a report is, Unmanageable because it cuts both ways, it could mean that the teacher can’t teach, or the student is disobedient and bad. Some teachers only come to school, to teach because they feel they have power and authority. But some teachers hate coming to school and just for the money and wish they were not alive. And only a few teachers live a life that’s just school, but not understanding their pupils and all teachers think, that its not a great life to teach, they also think they only get peace when they die and all teachers look back and say they could have done better.
As mentioned before, the first cliché mentioned, is, “has made a sound beginning”. This is the resemblance of birth; this means that life is nearly always off to a good start, as birth is normally given successfully to most parents. This cliché then turns to, “fair”, and “ quite good” which translates to, a reasonable childhood, as most childhoods are. This then leads to “unmanageable oaf” who reflects the trauma of going through puberty, and turning into an adult. The next stage is represented by, “must make more effort” this sums up all the stress when it comes to bringing up a family, and all the problems that follow it.
“Born at a sound beginning
We move from satisfactory
To fair, then find
The subject difficult,
Learning at last we
Could have done better”
She is trying to say, as we get older, we tend to slow down.
Finding the life (the subject) difficult. When we are finally, when we are at the critical stage of our life, when we tend to look back and say, I “could have doe better”. Fanthorpe finishes the ending of this poem by using (with the rest) which is representing the end of human life, which is death.
The poem that I’m going to focus on now is Dear Mr Lee by fanthorpe. This is poem is about a girl
However, in this particular poem is there is one book that the child does find studying really enjoyable. It is to the Author of this book, that the poem is supposedly based. It is written in a mixture of letter/poem format. With aspects such as the title “Dear Mr Lee” and the PostScript at the end, indicating that it is a letter, yet the main body of text is written with a line structure more resembling that of a poem. It could be said that posing it in this way, as a letter, adds a sense of formality to the poem. But straight from the start we can see the very informal approach the child has take to present her thoughts,
“Dear Mr Lee (Mr Smart says
It’s rude to call you Laurie, but that’s
How I think of you, having lived with you
Really all year).”
She describes how she has “lived with the book”. Indicating, not only the long hours she has spent studying the book, but also all the voluntary reading, for her own pleasure, she has done. Also we should note the repetition of the word “lived” which further adds and
re-enforces the idea of her intimacy with the writings.. This is more than just a book for her, it is something she can relate to and seek comfort in. It is certainly very precious to her;
“If you could see my copy you’d know it’s lived
With me, stained with coke and Kit Kat,
And when I had a cold I often
Take you to bed with me to cheer me up”
At last I can clearly picture the child, wrapped in a duvet, with her book in one hand and a half-unwrapped Kit Kat in the other. This is a book she really likes, and this mental-picture makes us increase our understanding of this.
“[She] used to hate English, and Mr Smart
Is roughly my least favourite person,”
But now they are studying this book it is not quite so bad “your book’s the one that made up for the others”.
Throughout this poem the child goes on about her love for the book, and how the system has let her down. However this poem is not just one sided, we also get views voiced by two other people; those of Mr Smart and the examiner. Of course though, the girl is the one who actually voices the other opinions, she is writing the letter after all. It would be very odd indeed if the teacher suddenly started writing his opinions in her letter. The girl speaks of how she not only dislikes the way that students are forced to study these books. She feels that completing all these detailed analyses completely spoils the ‘magic’ of the story and breaks down the feeling of intimacy between the book and reader. And she blames he self, Mr smart and Shakespeare. After all theses tough time she is till a big fan of Mr lee. “Dear Mr Lee (Mr Smart says
It’s rude to call you Laurie, but that’s
How I think of you, having lived with you
Really all year).”
She describes how she has “lived with the book”. Indicating, not only the long hours she has spent studying the book, but also all the voluntary reading, for her own pleasure, she has done. Also we should note the repetition of the word “lived” which further adds and
In each of the poems U.A Fanthorpe has focused in on one person, and through them has relayed inadequacies in the education system. The poet has voiced her negative feelings very strongly throughout her poems to in order to highlight flaws in the system. The poems are written with a certain personal feeling of someone who has actually ‘been there’. These may be her opinions as an ex-teacher or, more likely, from remembered experiences when she herself was a girl studying at school. From whichever point of view not all her experiences of school were positive and she has highlighted some of her frustrations in the education system
