NPS International School

Name: _____________________________ Grade VI ___

Geography Lesson
Brian Patten

Our teacher told us one day he would leave

And sail across a warm blue sea
To places he had only known from maps,
And all his life had longed to be.

The house he lived in was narrow and grey

But in his mind’s eye he could see
Sweet-scented jasmine clinging to the walls,
And green leaves burning on an orange tree.

He spoke of the lands he longed to visit,

Where it was never drab or cold.
I couldn’t understand why he never left,
And shook off the school’s stranglehold.

Then halfway through his final term

He took ill and never returned.
He never got to that place on the map
Where the green leaves of the orange trees burned.

The maps were redrawn on the classroom wall;

His name forgotten, he faded away.
But a lesson he never knew he taught
Is with me to this day.

I travel to where the green leaves burn,

To where the ocean’s glass-clear and blue,
To places our teacher taught me to love –
And which he never knew.
 NPS International School

Question 1:

The house he lived in was narrow and grey

But in his mind’s eye he could see
Sweet-scented jasmine clinging to the walls,
And green leaves burning on an orange tree.

i. Pick out an example of contrast used by the poet in this stanza.

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ii. What does the phrase ‘mind’s eye’ suggest about the teacher’s character?
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iii. What does the phrase ‘sweet-scented jasmine’ suggest in this poem?
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iv. Explain the line, ‘And green leaves burning on an orange tree’.
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Question 2: (To be done separately)
Based on your reading of the poem, describe a characteristic of the teacher. You
must write in the PEEL format.
 NPS International School

ANSWER KEY
Question 1:

The house he lived in was narrow and grey

But in his mind’s eye he could see
Sweet-scented jasmine clinging to the walls,
And green leaves burning on an orange tree.

i. Pick out an example of contrast used by the poet in this stanza.

The ‘narrow and grey’ of the teacher’s house is contrasted against the
‘Sweet-scented jasmine’ in this stanza. While the teacher’s house is
symptomatic of claustrophobia, the fragrance of the jasmine travels freely
and brings joy to anyone who inhales it.
ii. What does the phrase ‘mind’s eye’ suggest about the teacher’s character?
The phrase ‘mind’s eye’ suggest that the teacher had vivid imagination and
was able to visualise what he imagined.
iii. What does the phrase ‘sweet-scented jasmine’ suggest in this poem?
The phrase ‘sweet-scented jasmine’ is an alliteration which shows how the
teacher was craving for freedom from the drab life that he was stuck in.
The sweet-scent is free and travels in air symbolizing the freedom that the
teacher yearns.
iv. Explain the line, ‘And green leaves burning on an orange tree’.
The line ‘And green leaves burning on an orange tree’ show the vividness of
the teacher’s imagination and his desire to seek escape from the ‘narrow
and grey’ to brightness of green and orange. This line also shows the
magical beauty of nature and how the colours of nature is a cure to every
sadness. This line could possibly suggest the season of fall when the leaves
turn orange or might literally suggest an orange tree in full blossom which
seems like burning the leaves in orange fire.
 NPS International School

Question 2: (To be done separately)

Based on your reading of the poem, describe a characteristic of the teacher. You
must write in the PEEL format.
In the poem ‘Geography Lesson’, we see the teacher as devoted to his job of
teaching his students. On multiple occasions, we notice that the students
wonder why the teacher never left although he had said that he would be
leaving. Moreover the poem bears testimony to the teacher’s dedicated
work though the lines ‘a lesson he never knew he taught/ Is with me to this
day.’ None but a dedicated teacher could have inspired the student to the
extent experiencing the real learning and make the student remember ‘to
places our teacher taught me to love’. Thus, wee can say that the teacher is
dedicated to his work.

In the poem ‘Geography Lesson’, we see the teacher possessing vivid

imagination. The teacher expresses his desire to sail ‘across the warm blue
seas’ to places ‘he had only known in maps’. He had spoken of the ‘sweet-
scented jasmine’ and the ‘green leaves burning on orange trees’. Such
descriptions involving colour to create the magical effect can be achieved
by someobe with perfect imagination. Therefore, we can say that he has
vivid imagination.