The new schoolmistress

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

Clara heard the pupils before she reached the schoolroom door. A desk scraped across the floor, somebody laughed and a book landed with a slap. When she entered, the noise weakened but did not disappear. Twenty faces turned towards her, waiting to discover what sort of schoolmistress had been sent to them.

Clara placed the register on the desk. She had prepared a firm opening speech, but its words now seemed too grand for the small room. At the back, a tall boy continued tapping his slate with a pencil. Clara tightened her grip on the register. Instead of raising her voice, she looked steadily at him and waited. One by one, the other pupils fell silent. At last, the tapping stopped.

The morning lesson began. When Clara turned to write on the board, an ink bottle rolled from a desk and spread a dark pool across the floor. Several pupils covered their smiles. Clara saw the tall boy watching her. She fetched a cloth, placed it beside him and said, ‘You are nearest.’ For a moment, he did not move. Then he knelt and wiped up the ink while Clara continued the lesson.

At midday, the pupils hurried outside. The tall boy remained long enough to return the clean cloth to her desk. ‘We had a master who shouted,’ he said. Clara closed the register. ‘Then you already know what shouting sounds like,’ she replied. He gave a brief smile before following the others. When the afternoon bell rang, the pupils came back in quietly. Clara still felt nervous, but she no longer held the register as if it were a shield.

“The passage shows that Clara gains control of the classroom by remaining calm.”

Evaluate how successfully the writer presents this idea. Support your judgement with detailed references to the passage.

In your answer, you may consider:

• Clara’s arrival in the classroom
• how she responds to the tall boy
• what changes by the end of the passage.