The History Teacher by Billy Collins poetry outline

Thesis: In The History Teacher by Billy Collins, an ironic situation emphasizes the importance of learning historical events and to make sure history does not repeat itself.

1.      In the poem, the history teacher understates events of the past, ironically emphasizing the important significance of the events to history.

a.       The history teacher teaches the Ice Age as the “Chilly Age, a period of a million years / when everyone had to wear sweaters” (3-4). The speaker emphasizes the importance of the Ice Age with this understatement. The Ice Age was much colder and significant than the ‘Chilly Age’ the teacher describes.

b.      Also, the history teacher teaches that the “Spanish Inquisition was nothing more / than an outbreak of questions” (7-8). This is concerning, so it causes the reader to question the education that the children are receiving. The Spanish Inquisition was much more than questions.

2.      Also, the speaker uses verbal irony to describe the bullies in the history teacher’s class.

a.       At recess the children would torment “the smart” (16). Since the author separates ‘and the smart’ syntactically from the rest of the stanza, it is meant to stand out. The children in the history teacher’s class are not smart since they do not learn correct information. This distinction highlights the ignorance of the children.

b.      The speaker explains the history teacher is “Trying to protect his students’ innocence” (1) by teaching incorrect historical information. This is ironic because the children are not innocent, for they bully the children on the playground who know the correct historical information. By not learning history, the children are beginning to perform acts that could later on lead to the repetition of historical events.

3.      In addition, the speaker supports the argument by overstating the naivety of the teacher.

a.       The history teacher goes home “past flower beds and white picket fences” (19). This imagery emphasizes that the teacher is completely unaware that the students are bullies. The teacher truly does believe the innocence of the children is being protected.

b.      The poet ends the poem explaining that the history teacher is going to teach “that soldiers / in the Boer War told long, rambling stories” (20-21). This is to alarm the reader because surely history will be repeated in the children if the history teacher does not start teaching historical events correctly.